And while none of us here in the real world are shocked that yet another Republican who has been a bastion of "morals" and "family values" for most of his political career turns out to be a hypocrite, what is amazing at the extremely quick knee-jerk reaction from the right-wing party of compassion and love to get rid of the closet-case as quickly as possible. I mean, his toe-tapping mating call happened on June 11, he pleaded an innocent guilty on August 1, and almost exactly one month later, the man is forced to resign while simultaneously trying to shoe-horn himself back into a closet that just won't have him anymore...
Of course, when "rumors" and "allegations" surfaced at least a year ago about some same-sex encounters between Senator Craig and others, a few persons of the moral majority were all up in arms that we liberals were smearing and lying about a good family man... See here and here for just two examples...
Now that he's been busted, he at first did the honorable thing: he pleaded guilty! He was going to accept the punishment for soliciting sex in a public area, and put the whole thing in the past--there's just one problem with that: You can't have your cake and eat it too. Between his atrocious anti-gay voting track record and his insistence that "he's not gay," one has to wonder: why in the hell did you then plead guilty?! Who in their right mind pleads GUILTY to something they claim they didn't do?!
Well, besides a liar...
Now he's accepted the Republican leaderships decision that he resign (even though he still claims to no longer be guilty), what is the point of this while fiasco?
It's not really the fact that he's gay--that really only bothers conservatives and moral majority morons. It's not even the fact that he lied--most of we homosexuals have lied for a period of time about who we are to friends and family before finally accepting the truth of who we are and sharing that with others. We are generally a forgiving group of people, because most of us have been there, done that, and celebrate when an angel gains its wings! I'm not even bothered by the fact that he's a Republican--after all, I vote for Arlen Specter! What bothers me is this digging in of the heels, the perpetuation of the lie, and the continued harm to himself, his family, and above all, his gay constituents.
Perhaps he forgot the words of his good book: "The truth shall set you free." And while most of the so-called good book can be thrown out with the bathwater, there are still those lil nuggets of wisdom and truth that every man should live by... And not just when it's convenient for the party line...
UPDATE:
So "intent" apparently has a different definition in "politico" world than in the real world. Not only can't he keep his toe-tapping hormones to himself, he can't dial a phone to save his life! When he tried to call his lawyer to let him know he was adding "intent" to the so-called apology, he inadvertently left it on someone else's voice mail (you can easily find a clip of this recording on YouTube...). And the reason for adding "intent"? He wants to retract his "guilty" plea, and instead plead guilty to a lesser charge (as if pleading guilty "to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct" wasn't a good enough deal from not pleading guilty to "gross misdemeanor interference to privacy"...)
What should be interesting to note is that when the "not gay" senator plead guilty, the following statements were conditions of his confession:
He signed his name to these statements; now he wants to backpedal out of it the same way he probably backpedaled out of the stall when he realized he was hitting up a police officer...
- I did the following: Engaged in conduct which I knew or should have known tended to arouse alarm or resentment of others which conduct was physical (versus verbal) in nature.
- I understand that the court will not accept a plea of guilty from anyone who claims to be innocent.
- I now make no claim that I am innocent of the charge to which I am entering a plea of guilty.
Of course, his kids had the following statement to make after a long, in-depth conversation with their father:
You know what's really sad? All of my siblings and parents would have said the same thing about me in my pre-coming out years. Wouldn't have believed it to save their lives! Why?
"We've known him our whole life. He has been so trustworthy to us, so honest to us, that we believe him," Michael Craig said.
When we're in the closet, we become phenomenal actors. I could have won more than one Emmy, let me tell you. Now a person who's been in a closet for 50+ years? Good god, they should get the triple crown of entertainment trophies: Tony, Emmy, AND Oscar!! Being in the closet makes lying second nature. More than second nature: it's a survival mechanism for something we feel is life-threatening, and it becomes primary nature.
I feel so badly for his wife and kids... I would feel sorry for him, but he's made his bed... Not that he'll lie in it--politicians have a way of wiggling out of these things and pretending they smell like roses...
So while the good Senator continues to convince his family and his god and his constituents that he's straighter than Robin Hood's arrows, the rest of us know the truth. Those of us who have been there, done that...
For someone who claims to be a man of moral character and family values, like most of the others, lying is the least bad sin in his book--after all, nothing could be worse than being gay, right? I mean, that's in the top ten... Isn't it?
4 comments:
There is a part of me that thinks this guy WANTED to come out of the closet. Think about it. These politicians get paid decent money to...be politicians (I was about to say "to do thier jobs", but that would not be entirely accurate). They do shady under the table deals all the time that the public never finds out about. They probably have advisors to help them figure out how to cover it up the best. So, assuming you want to keep your sexuality a secret, why on earth would you risk doing that in a freakin' public restroom?!?! I mean, why not sneak off in a rental car, drive over the state line, and get a room in a no-tell motel? You can order up all the fancy gigalo booty you want, and no one is the wiser. Why risk being publicly outed like that...unless that was your intention all along? I admit, sometimes too much blood in one head drains blood from the other, but this guy could not have been that stupid! I'm thinking he probably got tired of hiding it. Then after the deep down desire to come out kicked in, the old habit of denying it still stuck. Hence, the "I'm not gay" quotes AND the admission of guilt. His closet diguise and his true selt are co-existing in public now.
I didn't know Robin Hood had "bowed" arrows ;)
hello jason! finally came up to see what is going on in blog land since earlier in the week i came up and did not stay long since there was a big old spider on dads desk and the computer is on dads desk so i did not sit and it took till today to feel a little bit comfortable to sit here. talking about fear of spiders leads me into thinking how sad it is to be fearful of being gay that people think about ending it all before you give the people around you that claim they love you a chance to prove it. i hope with all my heart he is honest with himself about this whole thing. it should not matter who is gay and who isn't. people that are gay are just as family minded as the next and they are just as trustworthy and all that. jason i am glad you gave us (your family) a chance to show that we love you. the crime is the lie he is living. being gay is nothing to the what lying does to you. i wish we just have people doing the job they are supposed to do and not worry what sex they like. i am sick and tired about hearing about all these peoples problems they have and not about the big issues. doesn't anyone out there have just regular fears like i have? like the fear of spiders and snakes and no country music on the radio? i have more but thats my top three. :) that same day i saw that spider on dads desk i had one aside of the washer and dryer. not to mention all the others i found this past week. well, anyway i will go. almost lunchtime. :) love and prayers
I didn't know Robin Hood had "bowed" arrows ;)
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