Crush Liberalism

Liberalism: Why think when you can “feel”?

GOP Senator caught in gay “lewd act”

Those of you who know me or who have been around here long enough know that I don’t like hypocrisy, regardless of from which side it originates.  Therefore, I have no qualms about whacking a Republican when he/she has it coming to him/her.  Right Wing Nut House reflects my sentiments here:

I have made no secret on this blog of my distaste for the Republican strategy of pushing opposition to abortion and gay marriage as litmus tests for GOP candidates and as “wedge” issues to use in campaigns.

While I acknowledge there are many millions of sincere, devout Christians (and other social conservatives) who see these issues as vital to the moral fiber of the nation and thus worthy of standing them up front and center as the party’s main identity, from a personal standpoint, I strenuously disagree. (This isn’t the part where I agree, but he’s leading up to it. – Ed.)
…
Another time I might make the argument that they are not even conservative issues but such a post is not in my pen tonight. Instead, I want to talk about the regularity with which conservative Republicans seem to get themselves into trouble over sex. The latest is Idaho Senator Larry Craig who was arrested in a Minneapolis restroom for “lewd conduct.”

“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could … see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”

Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.

“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. … Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”

The conduct doesn’t seem lewd to me and the whole story reeks of something very fishy. But the fact is, the Senator pled guilty and probably thought that it would stay out of the papers if he didn’t make a fuss.

The point really isn’t whether he’s guilty or innocent. The point is that this sort of thing becomes a huge issue because of the way the party talks about gays and the way many GOP stalwarts like Reverends Robertson and Dobson talk about sex. The perception that Republicans are a bunch of bigoted blue noses stuck in the 19th century with Victorian sensibilities about the bedroom turns off a lot of voters – especially the young.

A brief look at this eye popping poll that shows the vital 18-29 year old group turning up their noses at Republicans is very significant. I was in that age group when I became a Republican and many of my fellow Reaganites were also young, eager conservatives who drank in the enormous intellectual ferment that bubbled up from dozens of places in Reagan’s Washington. We were on the cutting edge and we knew it.

Nowadays, I don’t blame young people for turning off the GOP. The corruption, the hypocrisy, the sanctimony, and the tired old men pushing tired old ideas to an ever shrinking number of wealthier, whiter, men has the GOP in deep, deep, trouble. If I were that age again, I probably wouldn’t support Republicans either.

Perhaps the predicted disaster in 2008 will wake a few people up. Not likely based on what happened in 2006. As the left did for 30 years, the push will be for more ideological “purity,” more fealty to what passes for conservative issues today.

Just at the moment that our country needs the right’s commitment to fight a war against an implacable, unyielding foe, our own stupidity is going to allow the milquetoast left to ascend to power. For that, our children and grand children may curse us for our folly.

One of RWNH’s commenters observes that in order for the GOP to excel, it needs this kind of “internal examination” of people like Craig, Foley, etc. I don’t disagree with that.

Look, I see absolutely nothing wrong with a gay Republican. You don’t have to dig chicks to see the damage that liberalism inflicts on the body politic. However, if you’re going to campaign on “traditional family values” and what a big “family guy” you are, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to avoid public bathroom sexual hookups (especially with other dudes), now would it?

By the way, Craig was part of Mitt Romney’s campaign team, but not anymore.

August 28, 2007 - Posted by | gay, hypocrisy, Larry Craig

15 Comments »

  1. I think it’s absolutely fabulous that these lying, hypocritical republican douchebags are being exposed for what they are. It’s disgusting how they are in the closet and legislate against gay freedoms. It’s divine cosmic justice that these republicans are being caught where they belong, in a toilet, and they should be flushed. Americans wake up.

    Comment by the queen | August 28, 2007

  2. Yeah Queenie, how dare they legislate against gay freedoms. Legalize gay public restroom sex now! Gays shouldn’t have to tap their feet while pretending to take a dump to signal the guy in the next stall taking a dump that he wants to go where that poop just came from!!?? I for one do not find walking into a public restroom to take a leak to see two or three or ten men getting it on offensive or lewd.

    That’s why we should all be moral relativists, then we can’t be called out on anything. (Sarcasm)

    Comment by Joe | August 28, 2007

  3. Joe

    I personalty don’t give a shit what gay people do. I’m not gay and it simply does not affect me. The gay’s want to get married? Doesn’t damage my relationship with my wife one iota, and I don’t see it as something the government should be limiting. (Weather or not religion’s should be able to limit it is a separate argument and one I hold a different opinion on)

    However no one here is suggesting we legalize gay sex in the bathroom any more than we are advocating legalizing straight sex in the bathroom. Both are lewd acts that should be illegal.

    So address the issue rather than making outlandish statements to make your point. You just look retarded when you do that.

    Comment by Vince N | August 28, 2007

  4. Vince,
    As a parent of a special needs child I respecfully request you find a better method of expressing yourself than “you just look retarded”. Maybe:

    You cheapen/weaken your position…
    You sound limited in your debate skills…

    Etc.

    Thanks

    Comment by DJ | August 29, 2007

  5. Thanks Vince. What’s the issue? Hypocrisy or my outlandish leap from Queenies “legislating against gay freedoms” to legalizing gay public restroom sex?
    Hypocrisy? Yes he’s a hypocrit for professing to be a straight, law-abiding, family man, while solicitng gay sex in a public restroom. Definately a conflict between who he professes to be, what he preaches against and his alleged actions.
    My outlandish leap? I know no one here is advocating legalizing public restroom sex…yet. Our society is on a slippery slope. With how fast our moral foundation has eroded and the success of the left and gay lobby/agenda…it’s coming. The line continues to be drawn closer and closer and sooner or later you run out of room and there won’t be a line. And if you dare to speak out the left will just shout you down and dismiss it as bigotry or homophobia or ignorance.

    Comment by Joe | August 29, 2007

  6. DJ.

    Ok, If you would like to play the “PC Card”,

    Change that to read “You just appear to be making stupid, ignorant, and sensationalist comments, to promote your own agenda.”

    That better?

    Comment by Vince N | August 29, 2007

  7. Joe,

    There is a huge difference between making sure that civil liberties are applied equally to every member of our society be they white, black, gay, straight, democrat, republican, christen, Muslim, whatever, up, down, left, or right and saying its ok to whip your privates out for all to see. And one will not necessarily automatically lead to the other.

    There are sickos in every group and YES they should be arrested when they do this crap in public. I don’t want to see it and I don’t want my kids to see it. I don’t care if its two guys, or a married loving otherwise normal couple. And most liberals share the same opinion.

    To try and claim otherwise just shows your own hate and homophobia.

    Comment by Vince N | August 29, 2007

  8. Vince, first of all anonymous gay restroom sex is already trying to be normalized and thanks for making my point. Civil liberties, I agree we need them. However they just seem to be growing and growing, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Who knows what “civil liberty will pop up next”, no pun intended. We are on the slope chump and there ain’t no stopping it.
    I know, I know, right out of the lib handbook, dismiss my opinion as being intolerant homophobic hate speech. Have good one.

    Comment by Joe | August 30, 2007

  9. Vince,
    I am the farthest from PC that you would find. What I am talking about here is simply showing respect to a certain percentage of humans by not using them as a benchmark for your perceived standards of lack of intelligence.

    I really expected a “oops, sorry and I’ll try not to repeat” but I guess that is too much ask.

    Comment by DJ | August 30, 2007

  10. Joe,

    Cite your source. Where in the United States is Gay restroom sex being legalized? What lobby group is pushing for it, what bills (if any) have been introduced into what legislative body in what state?

    Comment by Vince N | August 30, 2007

  11. DJ,

    Nope…. I don’t apologize when its obvious the content of my statement was not meant to offend any particular group of people other than the person or persons it was aimed at.

    Also being over sensitive about a common and generic term because it hurts your sensibilities and you believe that it simply should not be said is almost the literal definition of Political Correctness. So if your so against it I guess this makes you a politically correct hypocrite too.

    Comment by Vince N | August 30, 2007

  12. Where in the United States is Gay restroom sex being legalized? What lobby group is pushing for it…

    Vince, though I understand the question was directed at Joe (and I’ll back away and let you two duke it out after stating this), I want to point out something that happened in Tallahassee a few years ago.

    There is a city park in Tally called Tom Brown Park. Families go there all the time. Well, apparently so do perverts, especially gay ones. The cops had an undercover sting that busted a fair amount of gay men doing “the Larry Craig deal” in the bathrooms at the park (but going farther than the tapping of the toes, shall we say).

    What did the local gay rights group have to say? They didn’t say “We condemn public sex between anyone, gay or straight”, which would have been the proper thing to say. They didn’t even say “Memo to fellow homos: ixnay on the stall sex, m’kay?” Nope, instead they blamed the Tallahassee cops on trying to “foster an atmosphere of intimidation against the gay community” and for having the unmitigated gall to enforce public sex laws and disrupt their cherished “tearoom ceremony” (which is apparently what they call that act, I guess). In my view, this idiot gave the impression that the gay community was chock full of public sex fiends and that they should be free to do that.

    Do I think this idiot was giving a view that was truly reflective of the gay community? No, I don’t. But lots of people did come to that conclusion, and when you consider how he was all gung-ho about it, I can see where folks would come to the conclusion that “Hmmm…maybe gays really are all about this perverted public bathroom thingy, if this group is coming forward to defend the indefensible.”

    Anywho, your question of “where in the US is gay restroom sex being legalized?” is answered with a “nowhere.” Your question of “what lobby is pushing for it?” could be answered with “Well, at least one that I know of, in Tallahassee.” Or, more fairly, if this group doesn’t want it legalized, they’re like the shills for amnesty in this country and just don’t want the law enforced.

    OK, you and Joe (and DJ, too) can go back to fighting now! ;)

    Comment by Crush Liberalism | August 30, 2007

  13. Johnathan,

    Thats a good point. However I don’t see where a gay group getting all whiny about the law being enforced counts as a lobby actively pushing to lobby it. I would look at that as one group of people who made an idiot comment without thinking.

    If they were too prideful to back off after that and go whoops, well then thats even more ridiculous.

    We have people in this country who think… ohh pick some weird thing, gay animal sex should be legal, but that doesn’t translate into any serious threat of it becoming legal and no one makes the issue out of that that the gay issue does.

    So to Joe I would amend my question. What lobby group is actively working for such legalization “outside” of shooting off at the mouth………. Wow bad choice of words…………. complaining about any specific incident.

    Comment by Vince N | August 31, 2007

  14. Vince,
    the word was “normalize” not legalize. I never said they were actively trying to “legalize” it. Normalizing is the informal process going on right now that seeks to trivialize, even dismiss this behavior, slowly chipping away and weakening the moral resolve of society. Sometimes it takes years, even decades, but sooner or later the loudest voices will be saying, “gay public restroom sex, ah, what’s the big deal”.

    Comment by Joe | September 4, 2007

  15. Joe,

    And I think your being paranoid.

    People have been screwing in public restrooms for… well probobly for as long as there have BEEN public restrooms. Doing all manner of screwing, straight, gay, up, missionary, or otherwise.

    Do I think its a big deal? Not particularly because 9 times out of 10 they do their business, get up and go and no one is the wiser. This falls in the category of “victimless crime” so long as no 3rd party sees it who dosen’t want to. However if it happens enough that a place gets a reputation for that kind of thing (and thus the chance of a 3rd party seeing it goes up) then the police step in the curb that activity, which is really in the end the reason they do it. Not so much because its “wrong” but most people don’t want to walk into a public “restroom” to see people having sex. I’m cool with that as well, I know I don’t want to see it and somehow I doubt thats really going to change or “normalize.”

    Frankly? I think your making a fuss over this sort of thing because your one of those types that like to cram your morals down other people’s gullet……. Hmm kinda like the guy who got caught trying to screw an undercover cop in the bathroom.

    Funny how that can seem to come full circle dosen’t it?

    Comment by Vince N | September 4, 2007


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