Posted on 08/28/2007 3:40:16 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
NEW YORK In a statement to the press late this afternoon, Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho blamed the Idaho Statesman of Boise for his legal and political troubles stemming from his arrest in a sex-related matter at an airport men's room in Minnesota in June.
He denounced the longstanding probes by the Statesman -- he called it a "witch hunt" -- for inspiring him to plead guilty to the offense even though he said he was actually innocent. He said he had been "viciously harassed" by the newspaper. "I am not gay," he said twice. "I love my wife."
The Statesman had looked into allegations about Craig but did not run a lengthy report until today -- the day after his arrest in June became public. But Craig pointed to today's story, and suggested that the paper's probes and the "rumors" they produced had caused him to want to put the matter behind him -- so he pleaded guilty to the men's room charge and told no one about it. "In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision," he said.
Craig also said he would not step down as senator and still planned to serve his state in Washington, and walked away without answering questions from the media...."
(Excerpt) Read more at mediainfo.com ...
Sorry...but dicing the words of the charges will not change that or make it go away. Craig was foolish to ever plead guilty in the hopes it would go away. Any news reporter or investigative journalist is going to look into what a 62 year old grandfather and senior Senator was arrested for disorderly conduct...and then uncover the facts of the case.
For his lapse in judgement alone, he should resign and spare himself, his family, the state of Idaho, the nation and the GOP the circus that is sure to result if he continues to "dig in".
I would like to know how he came to connect in Minneapolis and what the details of the connections were. If it makes it clear he had to go out of his way to get to that restroom, then the rest is academic.
I don't see him brazening this one out. How he expected a guilty plea, a year's probation, and a stay of sentence for 10 days in the slammer for a sitting United States Senator all to remain unreported is quite simply beyond belief.
"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
One look at your picture screams otherwise.
That was my point.
They are hypocrites for condemning that behaviour from a Rep. but when their own do the same or worse, they defend them.
“They made me do it” is a liberal rationalization. It works for the Rats because they can’t afford to have standards(it might offend one of their special interest groups), but, having standards also leaves you open to harsher criticism when you violate one of those standards. Look at what the democrat Sen. Kennedy got away with.
All sniping of Craig aside (I definitely think he was trying to do something), shouldn’t someone have to do more than hand/foot signals under a stall to be arrested for lewd conduct? I’m all for getting rid of perverts, but doesn’t there have to be some kind of agreement, like an exchange of money or a verbal commitment, or engagement in some kind of sexual behavior? Shouldn’t the officer have been recording the exchange?
This whole setup seems unfair to me. Either plea to a lesser charge or take the chance of winding up on sex offender list for the rest of your life?
How easy would it be for a dirty cop to abuse this kind of setup?
And yet what another shameful and embarrassing moment for our Republic!
It just proves again, how professional politicians have bastardized our form of government. And yet "the people" keep sending them back until they fall all over themselves proving they are indeed only human after-all.
We need to rid ourselves of the "ruling class". Enforced term limits by the voters every third term is the only way it will work, it seems.
I suppose it is possible that he was told his plea would silence the news media. I put nothing past the corrupt news media. It is far more likely that he took a guilty plea because he was guilty. He can’t escape it at this point anyone. He witnessed against himself with his guilty plea.
I demand a complete resignation of Larry Craig.He knew the rules.He is not above the Law!!!....Doug was this released just in time for Hillary’s court date 7 Sept. 2007 to be on the back-page of the classified section of the local rags???..This women is hideing something big for this story to break at this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............
Im still unhappy with him over his support of the Shamnesty Bill now this. He needs do all of us in Idaho a favor and resign or at least not run for re-election.
I can see it now:
O'Reilly will have the 'body language woman decifering Craig's denials. Chrissy Matthews is already laying into him. Air America, blah blah blah blah, blah.
Larry: Time to get the hell out!
Did someone hit him with a newspaper when he stuck his hand into the next stall to wave?
It’s far enough away. The big day will be about Sept. 17 when the judges make a decision.
He sure did!
My trip out west this year took me through Idaho (westbound on I-90 and eastbound on I-84 and I-86 to I-15 northbound). You have some nice scenery—deserts and mountains. I especially liked the view from Lookout Pass on I-90.
I’m sorry your state has Larry Craig for a Senator. The only thing worse than the homosexual agenda is a closeted homosexual who pretends to be a hetero family man. I could at least respect him if he would just “come out”, divorce his wife, and either get help or be useful in some organization such as the Log Cabin Republicans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.