Sen. Craig on tape: 'You shouldn't... entrap people'

A cop sitting in a toilet stall is "entrapment"?

This man is a United States Senator, and he has that little concept of reality?

Entrapment? What a laugh. A card carrying member of the bedroom police getting caught with his pants down. Trolling for gay sex in a public restroom is reprehensible. What a hypocritical wretch. I'm disgusted by the conduct of my loathsome party of miscreants! I will not vote for another Republican candidate until we take back our party from liars like Craig and the Bush Whitehouse. I'm embarrassed to be a registered Republican.

I'm not going to pull anyone's leg this time, especially in the men's room. You never know if there's a republican in the next stall.

I'm not a Republican and wouldn't have voted for Craig, but I do feel that he is being railroaded and see no reason why he should bow to pressure and resign.

I feel bad for this guy, which is weird. This whole issue reflects so badly on the Republican Party not so much because of what Craig did or didn't do, but because of the hysterical reactions of the people in his party who can't disown him fast enough. I genuinely believe he only pled guilty to get this out of his life, and look what happened. The cop made it sound like it would just go away, and Craig believed him. I don't think he ever meant to admit any wrongdoing. It's a stupid issue. And it doesn't speak well of the people who bailed on him (Romney, McCain) without even trying to see it from his point of view.
He probably doesn't really deserve my sympathy--I'm sure some of his rhetoric along the way has capitalized on red state homophobia, so maybe there's justice here. But when I listen to that tape, I just hear a very scared man in a very human moment. And I feel sorry for him.

Ground control, this is Mitt Romney, I think we have a problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2b1N74bQUE

Poor Craigy, he's a naughty boy, a naughty boy and a nasty boy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUxBRu1lHCw
The Nascar Party is going to be holding their convention in Minneapolis next year....hahahaha!

Since no gays are defending him, he must be gay.

Senator Craig should stall. He should keep it up. He should never waiver.

I urge people to call/email Craig's office and urge him to hold off as long as he can:

(202) 224-2752 craig.senate.gov/email/

It's the Republican way.

Do I feel sorry for him? Yes, but more so for his family. Having said that, I do think he is one more lying example of a hypocrite Republican.

The issue here is not a matter of the plea or of the passing of a business card. According to the prosecutors report the Senator shuffled his foot under a stall and touched the other guys foot. Then he grouped his hand around under and into the other guys stall, palm up. Then he offered his card. Now he is telling us that all that behavior was not solicitous? Please.

Come on folks, lets get real and look at the facts:

1. A guy is arrested for soliciting a plain clothes officer for sex in a public restroom
2. The guy knows enough about whats going down to think he is being "entrapped" (read the transcript).
3. The guy contradicts what the officer states he observed, and even changes his story along the way
4. This particular guy happens to be a senator gives his card to the officer in what appears to be an attempt to influence the outcome
5. The senator then smears gay people by equating being gay with what he is accused of (lewd conduct). (Yes straight people have been known to be lewd).
6. The senator thinks all of this is OK, and forgivable, and that he is being smeared by a newspaper. (Note: I doubt the arresting officer knew about the newspapers alleged smear campaign)

This Senator should resign. Not for what he did or didnt do. Because he cannot tell the truth to himself, to his wife and kids, to the arresting officer, and to the people of his state.

Shame on him.

Like Nelson Muntz would put it: HA! HA!

Tommy Atkins:

I am a registered Republican. I believer that, if Craig went cruising the bathroom for some action, he should step down. However, after listenting to the tape, I have this eerie feeling you might just be right.

My biggest problem with Craig is that as the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, he encouraged using "wedge issues" to undermine Democratic challengers. One of the biggies was to promote the gay scare.

He was also first in line to crucify Clinton. The guy's a liar a hypocrite and a spudnut.

It is amazing how far and how fast Romney ran from this guy, though. The two had worked together on Romney's campaign and were reported to be good friends. I guess Romney doesn't want to leave any doubt that he's been handed the "family values" baton. He's already assumed the tough guy role with his "two Guantanamo's" stance.

I live in Idaho and this is a
conservative state i think more of Craig’s Republican colleagues moved away from him today in the wake of his guilty plea earlier this month to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct because of his lying and not telling the truth. Graig should step down for lying.

Life is so simple when you remember the rules that were taught in kindergarten. One such rule: People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Senator, you might have gotten your due from years of using power and position to disenfranchise the powerless over political ideology. Learn this lesson and grow.

Here's a better video on "Dirty Larry":

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/media/video/?ID=1228

A serious question from the distaff side. In all my years using women's public washrooms, I can't recall ever seeing people standing directly in front of - and facing! - occupied stalls. We generally seem to queue up near the door and wait for the first available one.

Guys, what's your experience? Is Craig's way really the typical guy way, that is, standing up close and personal?

This kind of behavior is exactly the reason why it's so messed up to keep gays in the closet. Look what it did to him. Some people want to push gays into marriages that are unfair to their wives where they'll cheat and solicit sex from men they don't know in bathroom stalls. Sad. I'm glad I grew up in a time when I could be comfortable accepting that it would be unfair for me to marry a woman to hide my sexuality, and I can still openly find meaningful loving companionship with another person instead of secretly seeking out cheap sex. It's too bad Sen. Craig couldn't have been born into my generation.

I'm not out to defend the Senator, but I'm a little surprised that nobody's dug deep enough to notice that the arresting officer seems to have issues of his own:

http://greencycles.blogspot.com/2007/06/overview.html

Seems he's a bit . . . overzealous.

The dead wood edition of the Tribs competitor has a page three article where a man was charged with soliciting while his daughter dashed into a store and his wife was next to him. Nobody had an ax to grind yet he asked how he could have explained this to his wife if she weren't there.

He's right in his warped mind. Let people FREELY commit crimes, he'd say.

The Senator delays his ignominious exit!

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/u-s-senator-larry-craig-delays.html#links

I'll share my bathroom stories with you any time, Wide Stance Girl.

I think men will agree that our experience, generally, is that if all the stalls in a relatively small bathroom are taken, we'll do what you described. We won't stand outside the stall door. This is because a lot of men don't want to do things that might be interpreted as "gay," which is a bit silly, but they won't stand outside the stall unless it's at a ballgame and you have to do that to keep your spot in line.

However, some of my gay friends have told me over the years that there is a sort of underground network of bathrooms used by a very, very small segment of the gay community to meet for anonymous casual sex. I'm not saying it's a reflection on gay people generally, and it's no different or worse than straight people doing promiscuous things.

But I think it's true because sometimes strange things do happen in a bathroom. I've never seen the Larry Craig Two Step, and the only hand pass I've seen is one where the player moves the puck to another player with his gloved hand in the offensive zone, but some very nice public restrooms (such as a Bloomingdale's I once visited, but I can't remember the name of the suburb) are posted with no loitering signs. My cop friends tell me this is because store security has caught on that the bathroom has become a part of this network, and customers have complained about strange men congregating in the bathrooms. This particular Bloomingdale's bathroom had a big, wide, stall, all enclosed (no opening on the sides), and with enough room for two people to get in trouble if that were their intent. There were strange things written on the walls. Dates, times. Nicknames.

On one occasion downtown in Chicago, I was shopping and needed to use a restroom. I went inside a hotel to use one that was situated on a mezzanine. It was the Marriott on Michigan Avenue. It was tucked away, a little like the one at Bloomingdale's. Anyway, I did my business and noticed a goofy-looking man looking at me funny when I washed up and left. I didn't think anything of it until a few hours later. I had migrated several city blocks away, north to Water Tower Place on Michigan Avenue. It is a big shopping mall, and I was in the bathroom of one of Field's, then the mall's flagship store. (It had been four or five hours. It was a hot day. I'd had a lot of fluids. It was a natural urge to go. I was no Larry Craig.) So I find a bathroom, and it was somewhat secluded. And whom do I see? The same goofy guy whom I'd noticed at the hotel. I know he didn't stalk me for five hours. He was there because this was his thing, hanging around in certain bathrooms, looking to make a connection. I knew that because when he saw me, his eyes widened like saucers. He didn't say anything, because frankly I high-tailed it out of there, but I knew what the look was saying. It was a look of recognition and hope, or even validation, a look that wanted to acknowledge me as a fellow member of this strange underground of weird bathroom sex people. As I left he handed me a U.S. Senate business card and said, "What do you think of that?" (No, that last part wasn't true but the rest was.)

So that's today's Tales from the Men's Room, Wide Stance Girl. See you by the paper towel dispenser.

Senator Craig's ordeal needs more scrutinty before moving fast to judgement. Subsequent to listening to the EXACT words on the tape after reading a TRANSCRIPT - there is an apparent design to promote whatever story best suits the reporting source. The transcript leaves out some words with [inaudible] excuses when it appears if the reporting source had good ears there should have been not problem understanding the language banter.

Even the national TV news is entangled with JUST THE STORY and to hadeus with the FACTS.

In all fairness, the jokes should be put in another basket for tilling and a very agressive investigation should procede to discover WHO IS TELLING WHO THE WHOLE TRUTH. Truly remarkable that all beleive that what the police officer said cannot be anything but the truth - and all that Craig says is just GET ME OUTA HERE litany.

If Craig is indeed determined guilty of mis-conduct then the matter should be dealt with accordingly. But if this issue is a result of pure entrapment then heads should bounce all the way to the top. This sort of unprofessional gotcha and sordid piece of police work is low level and should not be condoned.

Craig's most telling statement is when he say's "You solicited me."

It seems Craig fully concedes solicitation between two males was occurring, the only dispute is who initiated the solicitation.

Craig first projects fault and blame for the solicitaiton, then entrapment. His defenses failed.

Wait a freaking minute, you "entrapment" people. To be entrapped means that you took the bait. The bait here was achance at anonymous homosexual sex. So the senator was not seeking, but was willing to be seduced into a homosexual encounter. Is that what you mean?

Or maybe the Senator thought the officer was just making a request for constituent service that he could pass along to Senator Coleman or Senator Dayton? Get real! He bashes gays, he willing to linger with a stanger in public restroom. First, it's a restroom! Most people want to hold their breath, avoid eye contact, do their business, and get the heck out. No guy I know, including a couple gay friends, would ever intentionally touch another guy in a public restroom. Wait a minute...one of my gay friends says "it depends on how cute the guy is."

I've been reading innuendos and accusations of Craig propositioning & having sex with men since 1982, including the page scandal in 1994, when he denied involvement EVEN THOUGH HE WASN'T ACCUSED!

There's just too much smoke here to doubt the existence of a fire. And Craig is trying to blow it up our collective ass!

If he admits he's gay, and stops lying, I'll forget all about it, just like I did Barney Frank. But I doubt he's man enough for that.

I would agree with William; unless you have read the transcript, you don't even have a shadow of what happened. Could be the cop made the whole thing up. Rolando Cruz in Naperville got railroaded and was on death row (3 TIMES!) because a Dupage County cop made up a statement and had him sign it.

There is no reason why in this day and age there is not a constant, un-interupted audio recording of a police officer's conduct when he is on official business; especially in a "sting" operation. That would put a quick end to any possible entrapment.

And if you can't get it with audio, then video.

I heard the whole transcript. Craig knew he was nailed, but tried to weasel out of it. The police officer gave him several chances to tell the truth and Craig kept changing his story. Then he pled guilty. He's a liar.

A nice irony that the guy who said Bill Clinton was so naughty that he should be impeached for it is now revealed to be such a hypocrite. Ironic, but not a surprise.

The cop is a liar! If you ever entered one of these bathrooms stalls with a roller bag, You know that you must sit spread eagled. Also you know that to reach your left had around an already cramped stall. Now even more cramped with your bag in ther. How the heck would he get his left hand all the way around the bag and under the stall. So far under the stall that in fact the cop claims to have seen his thumb? I say not a chance in HEck.

I agree with "Stay the Course." Fight, Sen. Craig. Don't go gently into that night! Kick and scream until the Republicans censure you. Then show up at the Republican National Convention next year with a male escort.

You're a Senator of the United States of America, for goodness sakes! Fight like you have urged the troops to fight. Don't let them kick you out 'cos you know once you do you will never get back into the party.

Whatever Craig did or didn't do, or whatever he apologized for is now a done deal.

The problem is the conservative right will use this as an example of how "gay behavior" is sick, twisted & perveted. They are going beyond whatever Craig's perversions are & not making any distinction between normal homosexual behavior & perverted behavior. To them it's all one and the same.

To them, if you're gay, you're right-up there with rapists & child molesters & would sooner commit homosexuals to mental institutions until they go straight. That's what all conservatives believe, but won't use that in their campaign slogans.

He should have called
Jeff Gannon.

He seemed to satisfy
the White House crowd.

I think his story sounds very believable. If you were in a stall at the airport and saw paper on the floor wouldn't you pick it up?

Some of you seem to have lightbulbs turning on about the way the police officer handled this AND the reaction that Craig had to his arrest. Guess what? IT'S ALL STANDARD PROCEDURES and the way that single men get treated ALL THE TIME.

I've been parked on Montrose Point by myself in my car, watching the Lake and the skyline, when a CPD squad car has pulled up to block me in...and after the officers looked in my windows, I was asked what I was doing there and ordered to LEAVE or risk arrest. Just for sitting in my car looking at the Lake by myself. On another similar occasion, I've had my driver's license run while a young man and woman were crawling out of their back seat less than 100 feet away...I was told to leave, THEY were never even approached by the police. Twenty years ago, I stopped to use a public restroom along a Michigan interstate highway and had to hold the stall door closed while telling someone trying to get in to GO AWAY...the State Police burst in moments later, and even though *I* was being victimized, *I* was put into the police cruiser and grilled by the trooper, who let me go finally with a warning that if he saw me there again, he would PUT *ME* IN JAIL.

Our society has become so hysterical about gay men being sexual that we've created a monster where police will entrap and harass single men without cause, and put extreme efforts to bear on chasing men out of isolated meeting places at the cost of protecting all of us from gangs, drug dealing, rapists, robbers, and drunk drivers. And innocent men...and naive men...get trapped by these overzealous police who have their own agendas, and their lives are ruined. Many have committed suicide. And police always get the last word...after all, who are you going to believe? the word of a cop trying to count beans for arrests or the "pervert" who was trying to shake off the last drop to avoid spotting his pants? (And ladies, unless you've personally dealt with that function of the anatomy, don't EVEN go there.)

If this is the way some men have to connect, I don't have a problem with it, as long as the results are PRIVATE. But the obscene amount of attention paid to this issue and the equally despicable behavior displayed by police across the country in these futile attempts to control men and their hormones...is taking scarce resources from far more important public safety problems and resulting in nothing good. We need to decide what's more important: preventing violent crime and property crime, or attacking a victimless crime akin to a housefly by dropping a ton of bricks on it. Listen to that recording of Craig, and see if it gives you some new insights on what the police do and WHY.

WHY are Repubs so stupid about sex? There are many reputable escort services in the DC area that this idiot could have called up. But instead he goes whoring. This man's career is over because he wanted to give somebody something. What an idiot. This is not the liberal press, you guys do this stuff to yourselves. And Ted Haggard has a new job in Phoenix. Good God. Get a porn tape like the rest of America.

What people like William J Clemons fail to realize or acknowledge in their posts or comments is that Larry Craig HIMSELF PLED GUILTY IN WRITING to the charges on AUGUST 8 while having NEARLY TWO MONTHS' OPPORTUNITY to seek counsel and PLEAD INNOCENT. There is no further trial or "determination of guilt" to be made. That determination came from the defendant HIMSELF. Please don't waste any more of the Senate's, Idaho's, the Nation's, your party's, or your family's time, Senator. Do the appropriate thing and resign your Senate seat as soon as possible. Follow the one good example of your colleague Mark Foley and end this sordid airing of your hypocrisy as soon as possible.

I do not feel sorry for this man. There are hundreds of black and hispanic men and women who fall prey to this scenario everyday. When the police arrest you, they are authorized to lie in order to make the charges stick. It happens. Just make a visit to 26th and California. Unfornately for the men and women there, there is no public court of opinion, no six figure pension to fall back on, talk shows do not exists that will grant them another opportunity to get out of their terrible situation. Get a taste of how it feels now.

Williams Clemons,

It's fait accompli. Larry pled guitly to disorderly conduct and he cannot unring that bell.

It's a done deal.