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THE PARTY OF FAMILY VALUES?

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Bianca
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« on: August 27, 2007, 08:49:18 pm »








                     Senator Craig Arrested, Pleads Guilty Following Incident in Airport Restroom





Monday, Aug. 27, 2007; 4:48 pm
By John McArdle,
Roll Call Staff


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.

A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.

After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.

Craig was detained for approximately 45 minutes, interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted and released, and police prepared a formal complaint for interference with privacy and disorderly conduct.

According to the incident report, Sgt. Dave Karsnia was working as a plainclothes officer on June 11 investigating civilian complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s public restroom in which Craig was arrested.

Airport police previously had made numerous arrests in the men’s restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal in connection with sexual activity.

Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see “an older white male with grey hair standing outside my stall.”

The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig.

“I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes,” the report states.

Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door.

“My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,” Karsnia stated in his report. “From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me.”

Craig was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes.

“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”

Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.

“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”

In a recorded interview after his arrest, Craig “either disagreed with me or ‘didn’t recall’ the events as they happened,” the report states.

Craig stated “that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine,” the report states. Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor.

“It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper,” the arresting officer said in the report.

On Aug. 8, the day he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the Minnesota court, Craig appeared via satellite at a ceremony that took place in Idaho in which former Idaho federal Judge Randy Smith was invested into his new position as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In October 2006, Craig’s office publicly denied allegations that he was a homosexual made on a gay activist Web site — blogactive.com. Craig’s office told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that the charge was “completely ridiculous,” saying that the allegations had “no basis in fact.”

Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report.



Copyright 2007 © Roll Call Inc. All rights
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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2007, 08:52:36 pm »



REMEMBER THIS?



Sen .Larry Craig in the Congressional record regarding the impeachment of Pres.Bill Clinton.  I hope he

still has these same high standards.



"On the other hand, I believe exonerating President Clinton with a vote for acquittal does create a threat to our nation. In short, I am convinced that the nation is at risk today -- not because of the possibility of the president's removal through the impeachment process, but because of the damage he has caused to the Executive office of the President, and the damage that continues to be done by his remaining in office.

I said at the beginning of this process that it would be my goal to ensure that we proceeded in a fair and constitutional manner. I believe we have done so -- and managed along the way to generally rise above partisanship and the politics of the day. While I fundamentally disagree with many of my colleagues in the final result, I salute them for their sincerity and the seriousness of their purpose. No matter what the result, the Senate discharged its constitutional duty well.

However, reluctant as I am to say it, I do not believe this sorry chapter in our history is closed. On the first day of this trial, as I watched the Chief Justice take the chair, I was angry -- profoundly angry that this president had brought this nation to this point because of his own self-gratification, setting what was good for himself above what was good for the nation. It is unconscionable what the president has put the country through, continues to put the country through, and will continue to put the country through for his own personal and political ends. My differences with the president on this point transcend party or policy; I am saddened that this sorry chapter will continue, that the book will be open and the pages of this chapter will be turning as long as this president remains on office. Our young people, our citizens, our Constitution deserve a better end to a better story. "



Idaho's senior senator is married with three grown children and nine grandchildren. A former rancher, Craig was first elected to the Senate in 1990, after serving a decade in the House. His seat is up for re-election in 2008.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2007, 09:24:00 pm by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2007, 09:11:00 pm »








Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) — who has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with an incident where he allegedly solicited a plainclothes police officer in a men's restroom — is one of Mitt Romney's top backers in the Senate. A clip of Craig praising Romney was until just moments ago available on Romney's YouTube channel, but is now listed as "a private video."

Explaining why he's backing Romney, Craig says in the video that it's in part because "he has very strong family values."

"That's something I grew up with and believe in," Craig explains.

In February, the Romney campaign announced that Craig and Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) would serve as co-Senate liaisions for the effort.

"It is an honor to have the support and leadership in the United States Senate of Sen. Bennett and Sen. Craig," Romney said in the press release accompanying the announcement. "Throughout their years of service, they have compiled strong conservative records and have accomplished much for the people of their states and their nation. Both men have a unique perspective of the new generation of challenges confronting our nation. I look forward to working with them to find the solutions needed to ensure that our country remains a strong world leader."

Since then, Craig has lobbied uncommitted senators on behalf of his candidate, helped organize meetings between Romney and colleagues of his and joined other members in recording pro-Romney video clips for the former governor's website.

Requests for comment on Craig were not immediately answered by the Romney campaign.
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Trent
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« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2007, 11:03:40 am »

What's up with all the closeted gay men in the Republican party?  It's getting to be an epidemic.
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Bianca
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« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2007, 12:15:31 pm »




They don't have the 'guts' to come out of the closet and live as normal a life as they can.

What I resent is the H Y P O C R I S Y and all the gay bashing and hatred.

So if they get caught - and this one was as low as one can get (in a public bathroom?), they

had it coming:


                                          K A R M A   I S   A   B I T C H  !  !  !
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Bianca
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« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2007, 12:50:26 pm »








                                     Larry Craig quote from Meet the Press in 1994.



"I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is

probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy."
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« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2007, 01:03:56 pm »








It just keeps getting better and better. This is just pathetic. Just days after his guilty plea for cruising an undercover officer in the men's room of the Minneapolis airport, Larry Craig wrote a constituent a letter propping up the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.




Steve Ralls at The Frontlines:


In what could be called another of Craig’s "he said/he said situations," the Senator corresponded with a constituent (and SLDN supporter) earlier this month about why he’d never support repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

In the August 17 letter to his constituent, Craig wrote that,



"The armed forces exist to wage war. It is unacceptable to risk the lives of American soldiers and

sailors merely to accommodate the sexual lifestyles of certain individuals." He also noted that, "I don’t

believe the military should be a place for social experimentation."
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« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2007, 03:23:01 pm »

I don't believe in gay-bashing myself either.  Having said that, I would be lying if I didn't say I had some issues with gays myself.

I don't know why people make their sexuality so much a part of their lives.  What you do should define you, not what you do in bed.

But, that aside, I don't think anyone should be having sex in a public bathroom. I don't know why they would even want to, seems pretty weird. 

The Republican Party, for all it's bs about family values, sure attracts a lot of hypocrites and freaks to it.  I would never vote a Republican, period.  From top to bottom, all these guys are is dishonest.
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« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2007, 07:59:15 pm »

               






 


                        The Real Tragedy Behind Craig's arrest: The Death of The Singing Senators





August 28, 2007 | 02:46 PM (EST)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read More: Breaking Politics News, Larry Craig, Samuel Alito, U.S. Republican Party,  U.S. Senate, Trent Lott, Jim Jeffords, John Ashcroft

         



Today is a terrible day for America, public bathrooms, a cappella music everywhere.

The arrest of Senator Larry Craig by an undercover police officer for lewd conduct in a public men's bathroom is the final nail in the coffin in which rots the once vibrant barbershop quartet known as the Singing Senators.

Also called the Vocal Majority, the Singing Senators, or SS, consisted of John Ashcroft, baritone; Trent Lott, bass; Jim Jeffords, tenor; and Larry Craig, lead.



The quartet's beginning were as humble as the senators themselves. They started out harmonizing to "Happy Birthday" at the birthday party of fellow Republican senator Bob Packwood, a framee in his own right, who would be forced to resign over sexual harassment charges based on bogus evidence like his diary and accusations from 11 different people.

The crooners had their formal debut at the Kennedy Center and then went on to record an album Let Freedom Sing in Nashville and perform on The Today Show. As their popularity skyrocketed, the SS started performing more  frequently, raising millions of dollars for Republican causes and charities. They may have sounded in tune, but something was out of key.

And that was Jim Jeffords, who became an Independent, betraying not only the GOP but the SS. Days before Jeffords defected, a hopeful Lott predicted Jefford would stay in the party "After all, I mean, what would we do in the future about the Singing Senators? We need Jim to be part of that harmony."


 But Jeffords abandoned the quartet, and in a flash the Singing Senators were over, a blast from the past. Lott never saw it coming.

But Craig would not be silenced and, the quartet's lead, used to leading, launched a solo career, writing his own songs, the most notable perhaps, an homage to Judge Samuel Alito, (to the tune of the West Side Story's "Maria"

The most beautiful sound I've ever heard/Alito, Alito/Alito, I just met a judge named Alito/And suddenly the name will never be the same/Alito, Bush just picked a judge named Alito/Alito, say it proud, that Republican saying/Say it soft and there's Democrats praying/Alito, may the Senate confirm Alito.


Singing was just too fun for this senator to give up. As Craig explained to Senator John Thune, whom he tried to recruit to the SS, "You've got to let your hair down and enjoy it."

Then finally, only two months ago, on June 12, after a six-year hiatus, the Singing Senators made a comeback! Purged of the defecting Jeffords, their sound was purer and the trio was tighter. Craig explained, "We're not a quartet any longer. We're a trio, and there are a lot of good reasons for that." Singing at a fundraiser for the Congressional Coalition of Adoption Institute, the three singing senators performed "God Bless America," country and gospel tunes, and the sexy Oak Ridge Boys hit "American Made":

She looks good in her tight blue jeans /she bought in Mexico/ And she loves wearing French perfume everywhere we go/ But when it comes to the lovin' heart/ one thing is true/ My Baby's genuine "U.S.A."/red white and blue/ From her silky long hair to her sexy long legs/ My baby is "American Made"

                     

The SS had performed with the Oak Ridge Boys in 1997, so singing "American Made" marked a 10 year anniversary of Christian jamming.

Here's where things get fishy. This reunion show took place on Tuesday, June 12. The arrest of Larry Craig took place on June 11th, one day before! And the arrest report was entered on June 12th, just hours before the reunion concert would kick off. A coincidence? Or a vast left-wing conspiracy? The reunion concert had to have been widely publicized through the series of tubes that is the internets.

And the arrest was surely an attempt to silence Craig and the Singing Senators.

The former rancher, family values conservative Idaho senator is said to have solicited gay sex in an airport bathroom.

And yet, Craig is so straight, he voted for a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage(sorry, Mary Cheney), opposes including homosexuals in hate crime legislation. And he's so not gay that when he was accused of being involved in a sex scandal involing male pages he said that made him "Mad as hell."







Which sounds pretty macho to me. If he's gay, why did he preemptively release a statement saying he wasn't when he hadn't been implicated in the scandal anyway? Sheesh. What could be less gay?

It looks like someone wants to shut up the Singing Senators....only this time...for good.

The Barbershop ensemble, be it quartet or trio, is the most wholsomee, most patriotic of all American all-male a cappella singing traditions. The values, the freedom-loving, and the irresistible melodies and rhythms of the SS threaten the liberal, gay, Jewish, vegan establishment bent on bringing down America.

Well, they may be able to stop the Singing Senators. They may be able to frame Craig. They may be able to persecute Lott, destroy his porch and put racist words in his mouth. They may be able to recruit Jim Jeffords.

But nothing, not even pancreatis or Gonzolezean hospital-room harassment can bring down John Ashcroft. He will sing for the Senators -- he will make the Singing Senators soar.
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Bianca
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« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2007, 08:16:37 pm »




THREE VIDEOS OF THE QUARTET/TRIO @ UTUBE
« Last Edit: August 28, 2007, 08:17:54 pm by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

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Jill Elvgren
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« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2007, 11:31:10 pm »

Did anyone see Ashcroft sing "Let the Eagle Fly" in Farenheit 911?"  I guess he wrote the words and music himself.

These guys really take their music seriously!!!

On the other hand, I never knew just what went on in men's bathrooms in the airport until this story broke.
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Bianca
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« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2007, 11:44:09 pm »



Hi, Jill

There were three videos with this article, but I didn't know how to transfer them here.

I got the article from Huffington Post, BTW.

b
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« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2007, 11:48:12 pm »




Here you go, Jill:



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katie-halper/the-real-tragedy-behind-c_b_62179.html
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« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2007, 12:07:01 am »








                                      A Scandal-Scarred G.O.P. Asks, ‘What Next?’
             


 
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: August 29, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — Scott Reed, a Republican strategist, was at a dinner in Philadelphia on Monday night when his cellphone and Internet pager began beeping like crazy. Only later did he learn why. His party was buzzing with news of a sex scandal involving a Republican United States senator — again.

Just when Republicans thought things could not get any worse, Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in June in a Minneapolis airport restroom. On Tuesday, Mr. Craig, 62, held a news conference to defend himself, calling the guilty plea “a mistake” and declaring, “I am not gay” — even as the Senate Republican leadership asked for an Ethics Committee review.

It was a bizarre spectacle, and only the latest in a string of accusations of sexual foibles and financial misdeeds that have landed Republicans in the political equivalent of purgatory, the realm of late-night comic television.

Forget Mark Foley of Florida, who quit the House last year after exchanging sexually explicit e-mail messages with under-age male pages, or Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose dealings with the old Republican Congress landed him in prison. They are old news, replaced by a fresh crop of scandal-plagued Republicans, men like Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, whose phone number turned up on the list of the so-called D.C. Madam, or Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, both caught up in F.B.I. corruption investigations.

It is enough to make a self-respecting Republican want to tear his hair out in frustration, especially as the party is trying to defend an unpopular war, contain the power of the new Democratic majority on Capitol Hill and generate some enthusiasm among voters heading toward the presidential election in 2008.

“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said Mr. Reed, sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”

Then again, Washington does not have a monopoly on the latest trend among Republicans. Just ask Thomas Ravenel, the state treasurer of South Carolina, who had to step down as state chairman of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign after he was indicted on **** charges in June.

Or Bob Allen, a state representative in Florida who was jettisoned from the John McCain campaign last month after he was arrested on charges of soliciting sex in a public restroom.

Mr. Craig, for his part, has severed ties with the Mitt Romney campaign, despite his public declaration on Tuesday that “I did nothing wrong.”

In an interview Tuesday on “Kudlow and Company” on CNBC, Mr. Romney could not distance himself fast enough. “Once again, we’ve found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence,” Mr. Romney said. “Very disappointing. He’s no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine.”

Republicans, of course, do not have an exclusive hold on scandal. As Democrats accused Republicans of engaging in a “culture of corruption” during the 2006 midterm elections, Republicans eagerly put the spotlight on Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who stashed $90,000 in his freezer — ill-gotten gains, the authorities said.

Still, there is a sort of “here we go again” sense among Republicans these days, especially since news of the Craig arrest broke on Monday afternoon. It is tough enough being in the minority, weighed down by the burden of the war in Iraq. Now Republicans have an even more pressing task: keeping their party from being portrayed not just as hypocritical and out of touch with the values of people they represent, but also as a laughingstock — amid headlines like “Senator’s Bathroom Bust,” which ran all Tuesday afternoon on CNN. The story also ran at the top of all the network evening newscasts on Tuesday.

“I’m hoping it’s a big mistake,” said one of Mr. Craig’s Republican colleagues, Senator Lamar Alexander, traveling Tuesday in Tennessee, his home state. “But it certainly does nothing to increase confidence in the United States Senate.”

With President Bush hobbled by his own political difficulties, the party can hardly look to him to lead them out of the morass. “If we had a coach,” said John Feehery, who was press secretary to Representative J. Dennis Hastert when Mr. Hastert was the House speaker, “the coach would take us in the locker room and scream at us.”

Some Republicans are indeed screaming, particularly the party’s social conservative wing, which places a high priority on ethics and family values. Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, a conservative advocacy group in Washington, said the elections of November 2006, in which Republicans lost control of the House and the Senate, proved that voters want politicians in Washington to clean up their act.

“Exit polls show that was the No. 1 factor in depressing Republican enthusiasm,” Mr. Perkins said in an interview Tuesday. “There is an expectation that leaders who espouse family values will live by those values. And while the values voters don’t demand perfection, I do believe they want leaders with integrity.”

The perception that Mr. Craig is not living up to his own values is causing problems for him, and after his appearance on Tuesday, with his wife standing by his side, some Republicans confessed they did not know what to think.

“He sounded almost as convincing as, ‘I did not have sex with that woman,’ ” said Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative and onetime Republican presidential candidate, reprising President Bill Clinton’s remark initially denying involvement with Monica S. Lewinsky.

Mr. Craig is up for re-election next year and has promised to announce next month whether he is running again. Some, like Mr. Bauer, say he is unlikely to survive the current scandal; others, noting that Senator Vitter seems to have weathered his storm, say Mr. Craig might be able to tough it out. And at the rate things are going, says Mr. Reed, the Republican strategist, it might be only a matter of time before a new scandal pushes Mr. Craig’s woes off the front page.

“I’m a little afraid to say anything, because you don’t know what happens tomorrow,” Mr. Reed said. “That Vitter thing, that’s like ancient history now.”

Carl Hulse in Nashville contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/us/politics/29repubs.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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« Reply #14 on: August 29, 2007, 02:09:17 am »

Must have another Bohemian Grove convention coming up and he was getting ready fo rthe gay entertainment.


 Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin
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