It’s not our actual birthday, but we totally thought it was when we heard that U.S. Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his hasty decision to quit over allegations he allegedly solicited gay sex in a Minneapolis airport men’s room. Oh, happy day! Not only that, but according to the New York Times, he’s fighting the ethics complaint filed against him by members of Republican leadership, including our own U.S. Sen. John Ensign.
Craig’s attorneys note that there is no precedent for the ethics committee to investigate purely personal conduct, and they would almost have a point except for one thing: Craig displayed his Senate business card to the police sergeant who arrested him, in an obvious and ham-handed attempt to get out of trouble. This puts the Craig matter within the jurisdiction of the committee.
But Craig’s attorneys make unarguable points when they suggest that the Ethics Committee should be investigating, say, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. He’s certainly been accused of some bad things, which would most certainly constitute official misconduct if they’re true. Where’s the call to ethical action on that from Republican leaders?
Recall that Ensign said on TV over the weekend that one of the things he’s proudest of was the Republicans’ swift action in filing for the ethics complaint. That surprised us, because we always thought he was most proud of his low, low golf handicap and his hair, in that order.
But forget that! This means that Ensign will have even more trouble in coming months as he vainly tries to get Republicans elected to the Senate against a backdrop of war, sex crimes (heterosexual), sex crimes (homosexual), official corruption, Katrina aftermath and lies (his own, and others). The Larry Craig jokes will keep coming, and a potentially safe GOP seat goes into the uncertain column.
We wonder, however, if this scandal and Craig’s sudden unwillingness to get swept under the rug will force the Republicans to confront something they’d rather deny: Gayness. There’s little doubt that the "swift action" of which Ensign is so proud came because of the gay aspect of the Craig situation (nobody is calling on confessed whoremonger U.S. Sen. David Vitter to quit, even though he broke the law just as much as Craig, albeit with women).
Could Republicans finally be forced to examine their double-standard when it comes to gays, perhaps even to embrace gays in a party where the religious types have an outsized influence? Could they admit that, as Bill Maher said on his HBO talk show Friday, that people like Larry Craig the senator are the very ones forcing people like Larry Craig the man to seek anonymous gay sex in airport bathrooms in the first place? Could they finally realize that we’re all human, we all have our own quirks and hangups and issues, and that being judgmental pricks is really not the way to go?
Nah, of course not. But it was a nice thought for awhile, wasn’t it?
» Bush will stand by the troop surge, announces the Review-Journal. Well, aren’t we all surprised? But check out this most excellent rant by Keith Olbermann for the darker side to the president’s calculation. If you’re not moved to outrage, you must have no heart. Or be a Republican. Same thing, usually.
» Cool! That Law & Order guy is running for president. (For real, we think!) Given that those a-holes over at NBC haven’t seen fit to schedule the show’s return until after the football season, why the hell shouldn’t he run?
» As we predicted, an obscure Reno-area former assemblywoman has begun a statewide assault on teachers, nurses, firefighters, cops and the nice man who comes and helps lost kitties become reunited with their owners. It’s unclear why Sharron Angle hates people so much, but it may have something to do with her being unable to convince enough voters to send her to Congress instead of Dean Heller. Sure, that would piss of Gandhi. But why take it out on the rest of us?
Anyway, the good news is, she’s got to convince 58,628 actual Nevadans to essentially give themselves a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Yeah, there’s plenty of masochists in Nevada, but we’re banking on the fact that the rest of us are too smart to buy what’s by now become a Republican cliche: You can cut taxes and still have tons of money to do stuff! Trust me!It’s fiscal magic! (In fact, if you read the Las Vegas Sun’s story, you’ll find Angle is saying exactly that.)
Don’t believe her, Nevada! She’s lying, and the consequences of her war on the people will be severe.
» It’s kind of sad that we cheer a guy who’s managed to be in public office a long time simply because he hasn’t been indicted, isn’t it? Still, Bruce Woodbury’s done some good stuff, if you don’t count all those back-room manipulations to help the Las Vegas Monorail, that is. But, we suppose that this is what it’s come to in a state where both the governor and the lieutenant governor are under investigation, where senators are also lobbyists for special interests, and where "indicted" or "convicted" more often than not precedes "county commissioner" as a formal title.
» Seriously, it’s way past time for Gov. Jim Gibbons to reconsider this appointment. No, we’re not talking about the former lobbyist for a bankrupt mortgage lender being appointed to the Nevada Mortgage Lending Division, although that was nothing short of a full-on clusterfuck. No, we’re talking the appointment of Mendy K. Elliott to head the Department of Business and Industry, which has also occasioned more than a few sightings of Sir Charlie Fox.
» Well, no wonder Metro Police Capt. (and university regent) Stavros Anthony wanted to deputize all those university system employees as "reserve police officers" and hand them badges and guns. He had nobody to sit with up in first class!
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