This article underlines the clash between two wings of conservatism: the libertarian and the social conservative.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Which is why, even though I am a born-again Christian, I treat a large component of the Social wing of Conservatism like the plague. To be honest, a number of them are very similar to communists in their belief that Big Brother should 'take care' of everything and ensure all is as 'white as hysop.'
I wish the Republican party stood by the key tenets of Conservatism (a good starting point would be fiscal conservatism and small government, but I guess we are not much different from the Dems on that one), but it seems as if that is a thing of the past.
BTW: What the lady officer was doing (walking about topless) ....is that not entrapment? Or, at the very least, indecent exposure(even though it appears from the article it is NOT illegal for women to walk around topless in that area, which ups the ante on the level of irony present)? Furthermore, if they are trying to catch gay men having public sex, isn't a topless lady (term used losely) acting as bait a tad bit tantamount to hunting bear with a pellet gun (i.e. wrong tool for the wrong target)?
The thing is this, some (note: SOME) members of the Social wing of conservatism are actually Communists who just happen to not adhere to some of the more Leftist aspects of communism. for instance, they would fit better in a real communist environment, but the problem is that communists are anti-religion and thus automatically anathema.
However, if you look at their penchant for Big Government, Government control over what other people do (look, I really do not understand why it is Government's role to ensure people do not masturbate, although apparently certain towns think that it is alright if Government states that it is not in the best interest of people to use sex toys ....goodness ....that is Big Brother at his best ), and other factors.
Not all social conservatives are like that, and in fact most are not, but there is a number of them that (were it not for the anti-God factor in communist set-ups) would fit very very very well over there.
I'll probably get flamed for that, but some people on the social conservatism wing are actually Flaming Liberals that just happen to believe in God.