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The New York Times
Editorial
Disowning Senator
Craig
EDITORIAL,
nytimes.com on the Web. August 31, 2007
The Republican Party is in quite a
rush to keelhaul Senator Larry Craig for his run-in with the vice squad in an
airport men’s room. Disclosure of the senator’s guilty plea to disorderly
conduct set off a frenzy to demand an investigation by the Senate’s somnolent
Ethics Committee and to strip Mr. Craig of his committee seniority. Some
of the senator’s peers simply demanded that he resign.
No similar leadership chorus for judgment has been heard about any number of
other scandalous revelations on the party’s plate.
There’s the F.B.I.’s inquiry into whether Senator Ted Stevens swung a
quid-pro-quo deal for a government contractor who eventually renovated his
Alaska home. There’s also Senator David Vitter’s presence on the client
list of a Washington brothel. Mr. Vitter, a social conservative, pleaded
guilty to “sin” (heterosexual) and no leadership call ensued for a thorough
in-house ethics inquiry. Certainly, no Republican called for the
resignation of Mr. Vitter, who comes from Louisiana, which has a Democratic
governor who would then replace him. Mr. Craig is from a safe state with a
Republican governor.
Mr. Craig’s explanation of his behavior may make little sense to the average
voter trying to fathom how he was taken in by a police sting against lewd public
behavior. The senator quietly copped a disorderly conduct plea after
taking two months to consider his arrest and his options. Once it hit the
media, he claimed his judgment was clouded but his heterosexuality unblemished.
Being stupid as a member of Congress is hardly a reason to be ridden on a rail
from Washington. But Republican presidential campaigners are urging Mr.
Craig to resign fast as a swift boat. One senator offered the ultimate
rebuff between political pros by returning Mr. Craig’s campaign donation.
Underlying the hurry to disown the senator, of course, is the party’s brutal
agenda of trumpeting the gay-marriage issue. To the extent Senator Craig,
a stalwart in the family values caucus, might morph into a blatant hypocrite
before the voters’ eyes, he reflects on the party’s record in demonizing
homosexuality. The rush to cast him out betrays the party’s intolerance,
which is on display for the public in all of its ugliness. But it also
betrays their political uneasiness as the next election approaches.
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