From today’s Chicago Tribune non-editorial editorial gossipping about US Sen Larry Craig (R-ID) and his ‘accidental’ guilty plea to lewd behavior in a Minneapolis airport men’s room (allegedly soliciting sexual favors from other men in the restroom):
Craig is up for re-election next year. If he runs, perhaps he’ll argue that what he does on his own time is his own business.
Idaho voters can ponder his words, and then have their way with him. (emphasis added)
Insert bad joke along the lines of “I’m sure he’d like that” here…
Of course, Sen. Craig did himself no favors in discussing Pres. Bill Clinton’s heterosexual proclivities. From Meet the Press, 1999:
MR. RUSSERT: Larry Craig, would you want the last word from the Senate be an acquittal of the president and no censure?
SEN. CRAIG: Well, I don’t know where the Senate’s going to be on that issue of an up or down vote on impeachment, but I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure reslution and it’s a slap on the wrist. It’s a, “Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You’re a naughty boy.”
The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy.
I’m going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
Naughty indeed.
Now, the conservative partisanry is full-throttled foaming at the mouth in the wake of another one of their staunchest spokespeople ending up as little more than a hypocrite.
Conservative talking head Kevin McCullough writes:
Conservatives on the other hand punish those who act out. The truth of that statement the very evidence that Denny Hastert became majority leader in the House. (Gingrich and Livingston were both tossed overboard.)
Senator Craig pleaded guilty to soliciting bathroom sex. GROSS. Resign, be done with it. And I’m not the only who says so…
No defense, no speculation, no waiting for the winds of change to blow. Resign Senator Craig, resign today. (links are McCullough’s)
One problem there, Mr. “Conservative Whack Job”… (McCullough begins his post railing against “liberal whack jobs” who point out Sen. Craig’s hypocrisy.)
Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), whom Mr. McCullough conveniently ignores, was making inappropriate advances to underage Congressional pages for years and the Republican leadership did little more than try to keep it quiet and even asked him to run for re-election even when he wanted to resign. Then-Speaker Denny Hastert didn’t force Mark Foley’s resignation, a call from ABC News led to Republican Foley’s decision.
For that matter, former GOP Speakers Newt Gingrich and Bob Livingston were tossed overboard because they were adulterous hypocrites who were dragging down the Republican party’s polling numbers. Heck, Newt Gingrich is one of the leading non-candidates for the Republican nomination, saying he may jump into the race ‘if needed’.
I could care less if Sen. Craig is gay or bi or whatever. But when people like Larry Craig unleash vitriolic hate against their fellow Americans simply because they’re gay it’s appalling and runs counter to the American Spirit (the Statue of Liberty’s inscription doesn’t end with “…Except you gay folks”). For him to have done it out of some sort of shame-filled self-denial is simply pitiful.
Sidenote: ArchPundit makes a good point about arch-conservative ‘undercover homosexual lifestyle investigator’ and gay bar frequenter Petey LaBarbera:
The problem here, for Petey, is that as a guy who makes a habit of going undercover to investigate homosexual practices, he might want to be careful about supporting such convictions [as those supported by the anti-gay Idaho Values Alliance]…
Compare that with Lee’s comment at horsesass.org:
…it’s becoming more and more obvious that there’s a segment of the Republican Party whose main motivation in politics appears to be making laws that are an attempt to keep themselves from their particular dysfunctional behaviors.
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August 29, 2007 at 10:36 pm
dwlawson
It is true that they are hypocrites and I make no apologies for them.
Now, how about we address other hypocrites?
How about Al “Climate Change” Gore who jets around creating far more green house gas emissions than those he lectures. Add in his monstrous electrical consumption. Add in his son’s 100mph hybrid car driving…I have a hybrid and my MPG drops significantly even at just 70mph. Toss in RFK JR. in this category.
How about Sylvester “armed to the teeth” Stallone arguing for civilian disarmament while holding a conceal carry permit only given to his fellow elites in CA.
Don’t even get me started on John Edwards.
August 29, 2007 at 11:20 pm
robnesvacil
Please, do go on… How many more twisted “facts” can you dredge up?
- Al Gore’s “jetting around”… As if he’s the only high-profile person using jets. Please. At least he’s working on the problem instead of ignoring it or blaming cow farts or sun beams like some (many?) conservative partisans are doing. Do you also complain that Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines is working to fight global climate change by adjusting their business practices and airplane procedures?
As for his “monstrous electrical consumption” — just how was it that conservatives at the “Tennessee Center for Policy Research” got a hold of his private electrical bills in the first place? And given that he offsets his use (do you?) he is again, doing something about it. (By the by, your claim of “monstrous consumption” originates with the cost of his power bills. His bills are actually higher because he buys extra green energy credits… so in reality you’re complaining that he pays more so he can offset more of his electrical use. Oops.)
Did you ever stop to think that his “monstrous electrical consumption” might be coming from windmills, solar panels, geothermal generators or other sustainable electrical generation? No, you clearly didn’t. Perhaps you also complain that solar-powered calculators “waste” electricity because there’s no off button.
- Al Gore’s son is not him. He’s a dolt for speeding that fast (as is anyone who speeds, myself included) but his father was not in the car egging him on. You want to whine about junior then do so as his own man, responsible for his own actions.
Kudos to both you and he for driving a hybrid. According to many conservative partisans you’re both elitists and snobs for doing so. Congratulations.
- Sly wouldn’t need to be “armed to the teeth” if guns weren’t so damned easy to come by in this country. Any nut can get not just 1, but as many as he/she wants — as just about every gun murder in this country proves.
Pouring more gas on a fire doesn’t put it out, it makes it worse.
- As for John Edwards, you can whine about the fact that he has earned a sizable income by being smart but it only goes to show the hypocrisy of the “free” marketers who only support people making money when they like the people who are making the money… At least Sen. Edwards acknowledges we have an income-gap imbalance in this country and is working to do something about it. Others on the Republican side, just as wealthy as Sen. Edwards, ignore this and yet the media (that group you think is somehow “liberal”) let’s them get away with it for no apparent reason. Fighting poverty while being wealthy enough to do something about it doesn’t make one a hypocrite — it reveals one to be compassionate about equality and responsible enough to work for it.
…But you don’t seem to consider any of these things when jumping to your knee-jerk conclusions and regurgitating the rants of others, now do you?
September 2, 2007 at 2:08 am
dwlawson
Oops, sorry I didn’t get back to see your rant until now. I wouldn’t want you to feel that your position is not being heard.
So what exactly is the difference between facts and “facts”?
Of course Al Gore isn’t the only person creating tons of CO2 by jetting around in his private jet. I did mention JFK Jr. too. Al gets to take the heat as the poster boy for all of the jet setters who fly around burning holes in the ozone while telling the rest of us to cut back.
When first I heard about carbon credits, I investigated them, thinking they were pretty interesting. However, my conclusion is that they are somewhere between indulgences and a scam. If you don’t know, in olden days the Church would sell indulgences to the rich who then could commit a sin. I have to say, carbon credits might be closer to indulgences than to an outright scam. Instead of buying permission to rape a peasant, you can buy permission to rape the environment.
If you are going to conserve, then conserve yourself, don’t pay others to conserve for you.
I did hear of some kind of survey that indicated that people who bought Prius’ did so more for status reasons than for conservation reasons. Supposedly part of the reason that the Toyota Hybrid (what Al Gore owns) outsells the Honda Civic (what I own) is that the Honda doesn’t look obviously like a hybrid. Perhaps. However, having owned my Honda for 3 years now, I have come to the conclusion, for various reasons, that the Toyota technology is superior to the Honda technology. I bought the Honda over the Toyota for two reasons: 1. No waiting period. 2. The Toyota steering wheel was in my lap. I’m 6′5″ and seem to fit into the Civic pretty well. I also did not want a bubbly “Euro” car.
No energy is free…even green energy. Unless Al is generating his own power (which he is not—he even apparently opposed having a wind farm near his property) than his over consumption is problematical. If you create a green grid, then abusers of that grid contribute to demand. Green power is not completely benign to the environment.
Here I digress a bit. I am rethinking my support for bio fuels. 1. They are driving up the price of food. 2. Reports are that some countries are actually contributing to global warming by chopping down forests to grow bio fuel crops.
One must not let hysteria get in the way of common sense.
September 2, 2007 at 9:42 am
robnesvacil
JFK Jr. is dead. You mentioned RFK Jr.
Vice President Gore was paying extra to buy energy from green sources, DW. Like I said, do you complain that solar-powered calculators “waste” electricity because there’s no off button.
No source of electricity (or “energy” in general) is completely benign to the environment — that is true. Your Honda hybrid Civic still dumps exhaust into the atmosphere. Home solar-power systems still use batteries which eventually create waste as they expire.
I agree in part with you on bio fuels — many use more fuel resources in the crop to fuel conversion process than the fuel resources created by that conversion. It’s a negative sum game.
You may interested to know that oil-rich Algeria is beginning to investigate solar-powered electric production; something I’ve suggested for some time now (using oil profits to invest in green tech). Gee, solar power in the Sahara? Whodathunkit? (Interesting to note that, til now, one of the leading opponents of doing such a thing has been our “ally”, Saudi Arabia. The House of Saud could do just as well turning a profit in green-based energy innovation if only they put their mind to it. Instead they invest in never-ending wars through entities like the Carlyle Group — theory being that if you blow something up it has to be rebuilt, an investment two-fer.)
September 2, 2007 at 10:38 am
dwlawson
Woopsie on the RFK/JFK thing.
I object to the solar-powered calculator analogy to Gore’s green energy sources. I’ll state again, for the record, that were Gore creating his own energy it wouldn’t matter how much he used. But he is using a grid that has other consumers (presumedly) and thus his consumption affects others. It creates more demand, raises prices, and the generation of his green power is not without ecological impact.
The only impact of a solar-powered device like the calculator is during its manufacturing process (computer chip mfg is notoriously pollutive) and when it gets tossed into the landfill. I loathe our toss-away culture. A good friend of mine repairs stereo and other electronic gear and his business has gotten tougher and tougher with the disposable consumer electronics devices made nowadays. Why bother repairing a $500 DVDplayer when you can toss it and buy another for $79? Never mind that the $500 model lasted you 5 years and if repaired will last another 5 years. You can buy a $79 each year and come out ahead. Meanwhile our landfills fill up. Actually the DVD analogy is not a good as the VHS player was a few years ago since DVD tech is improving so there is some pressure to buy new models for new features while VHS peaked.
You won’t find me disagreeing with you at all regarding Saudi Arabia and our President’s conflict of interest (bordering on puppeteering?) This is why, even though biofuels aren’t ideal, I’m in favor of them from the aspect of reducing our dependence on oil. I think they make a good bridge to what I feel will be the ideal fuel source: hydrogen.