Senator Craig - in and now out of the closet - resigns as Mitt Romney's liason - Idaho Mormons choke, Mitt's Messianics stay mum (so far)

US Republican Senator Larry Craig,62, a married father-of-three adult children and 9 grandchildren has admitted pleading guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. He has paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year, while a 10-day jail sentence was stayed after a court appearance on August 8th at Hennepin County Municipal Court in Bloomington, Minnesota.

On Monday night 26th August Craig resigned as a Senate liaison for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Romney's son Josh canceled a trip to Idaho on Tuesday.
While in the men's toiletsof the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh terminal in Minneapolis St Pau Airport on June 11th he behaved in a manner that convinced an udercover cop, Sgt Dave Karsnia #4211 who was working a detail "involving lewd conduct" after the Airport Police Department had received civilian complains and arrests had been made.

The cops full report on the incident can be read here.
Cops Mug shots.

This is a straightforward account of the grisly way that closet homosexuals conduct their very public yet very private lives.

Craig handed me a business card that identified himself as a US Senator as he stated,"What do you think about that ?"

Not much it appears, because he proceeded to photograph and fingerprint him and then released him pending formal complaint for Interference with Privacy (MSS 609.746) ad Disorderly Conduct (609.72) at 13.05 one hour and 5 minutes after he had entered the toilet.

In his petition to the court to enter a guilty plea, Craig admitted that he "engaged in (physical) conduct which I knew or should have known tended to arouse alarm or resentment."

He also was required to stipulate in the statement that he would "make no claim that I am innocent of the charge to which I am entering a plea of not guilty."

Which is by any stretch unambiguous .. but when he made a statement today he said "I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport," he said, adding it was a "lapse in judgment" to plead guilty for committing a lewd act in a men's bathroom.

He said pleading guilty was an overreaction to a monthslong investigation by the local Idaho Statesman into his sex life. "I am not gay. I have never been gay."

However he has been confused before about homosexuality, charges ... activities ..er.

In 1982, Craig pre-emptively denied rumors that he was under investigation as part of a federal probe into allegations that lawmakers on Capitol Hill had sexual relationships with congressional pages, saying the "false allegations" made him "mad as hell." see pic. You Tube NBC news piece here

The House at the time censured Rep. Dan Crane, R-Ill., and Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass., for having sexual relations with teenage pages.

Craig's office publicly denied assertions by Internet blogger Mike Rogers on October 17th that the senator is gay. ..."I have called on Senator Larry Craig to end his years of hypocrisy by leveling with Idahoans about who he really is."..."I have also met with a man here in Washington, D.C., who says the same -- and that these incidents occurred in the bathrooms of Union Station."

Craig's office through press secretary Sid Smithdismissed speculation about the senator's sexuality as "completely ridiculous."..."almost laughable".
See also Daily Kos October 17th 2007
and Pams Blend the same date.

All of which doesn't look good when compared with his voting record applauded by the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council. Craig's record is straight down the line ...

* Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
* Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
* Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
* Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
* Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)

Katie Halpern The Real Tragedy Behind Craig's arrest: The Death of The Singing Senators tells the wonderful and very funny story of the Singing Senators, of whom Craig was a member along with Trent Lott, John Ashcroft and Jim Jeffords.

Edwin W Edwards, Governor of Louisiana when campaigning is remembered for many things but often for his lapidary remark... "[I could not lose this election unless I was] caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy." What is it with these guys ? What do they get from cruising dirty restrooms for furtive, transitory sex - and the risks of exposure and public and family humiliation.

Mitt Romney has said nothing ...er ... publicly, anyway. Whether Grandad Craig will have the honour to represent Idaho again will be very much in the balance.