Well said, Pat.
What if Craig were to just switch parties. If he were a Democrat?
As a recovering alcoholic whose personal behavior did not always match my personal beliefs, I have to agree with Pat on this count. Indeed, here on FR I've stated that IMHO, alcoholism is like homosexuality in that all the "nature vs. nurture" studies, explanations and theories are somewhat irrelevant and that the individual must recognize and deal with the spiritual shortcomings that drive the behavior. Having said all that, my personal experience is such that the self searching and kinds of life changes one needs to make are probably of the magnitude that would have an impact on a senator's ability to execute the full responsibilities of the office at the same time.
As you wrote, this is well said by Mr. Buchanan.
Senator Craig may be a disappointment (especially to his family, friends, and constituents), but the charge of hypocrisy strikes me as hollow. The Democrats have a difficult time condemning him for his actual behavior, since they have in the past excused far worse; so they fall back on the general accusation of hypocrisy.
That said, I think Mr. Craig is finished in politics. Republicans and conservatives tend to have higher standards for their elected officials than do Democrats and Leftists. He will probably retire from the Senate; if he doesn't, the Republican voters of Idaho will turn him out in the next primary election.
I think conservatives aren’t the ones to yell “hypocrite” at someone expressing a standard that they don’t always meet. I think that is the liberals tactic, because they have no principle to stand on. Part of their argument is that if the advocates of high standards can’t keep them perfectly, it is better to have low standards or no standards at all. Why use a weaselly tactic? Because directly advocating low standards will not gain a politician any support. Even a leftist instinctively supports high standards, but desperately wants to be judged by low standards. The leftist twists logic to make believe not being a hypocrite is a good thing even if your standards are so low it is unavoidable. Therefore they can cling to one high standard and pretend they are better than those “hypocrites” who actually have to have some sort of self discipline.
Conservatives, on the other hand, judge harshly on high standards and expect excellent behavior out of their leaders. Whether or not someone supports high standards in public, they will be judged on low standards in their private life. They will also be judged on advocating low standards. Conservatives simply will not put up with it anywhere it is found.
I think it’s instructive how quickly the elites of the GOP “threw him under the bus”— We already have suspected homosexuals in the GOP that we have managed to tolerate reasonably well. Barney Frank runs a prostitution ring out of his home, and we throw out a powerful Senator accused of playing footsie.