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Larry Craig scandal is unfair and ridiculous
By Brooke naland
statesman staff writer
associated press
A cop who hides out in airport bathrooms hoping to arrest gay men for improper sexual conduct. An Idaho newspaper, desperate for a story, relentlessly harassing a man and all of his friends and family in the hopes of proving he is gay. Sound sketchy? Well, as you may have guessed, those are just some of the details of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s so-called “sex scandal,” which started as absolutely nothing and got turned into something ridiculous.
On June 11, Craig entered a public bathroom of the Minneapolis airport. The motion to withdraw his guilty plea states that he glanced inside officer David Karsnia’s stall—looking, as he said, to see if the stall was occupied—placed his luggage bag in front of the stall and entered the stall to the left of Karsnia. He then, according to this same document, proceeded to tap his feet, an act that Karsnia claims is some sort of code between gay men hoping to initiate sexual conduct, and moved his foot closer to Karsnia’s stall. He also apparently moved his hand closer to the stall divider, to pick up a piece of paper, he said.
After all of this happened, Officer Karsnia arrested Craig for disorderly conduct, stating that he would drop a charge of invasion of privacy, and the newspaper would not find out about it, if Craig would plead guilty. Craig then proceeded to make the plea. At the end of the interrogation, Karsnia said to Craig that it was “no wonder why [the country is] going down the tubes.” He couldn’t be more correct. When those who are supposed to be protecting us are instead camping out in bathrooms hoping to catch gay men in the act, it’s no surprise to me either.
Currently, the Idaho senator is working to withdraw his guilty plea, and his hearing is set for Sept. 26. He is stating that the plea was made at a time when, already under stress from being hounded by the Idaho Statesman, he was not in an intelligent enough mindset for it to be within his rights.
However, the Republican party is not as forgiving as the law might be, because in their eyes, and the eyes of the American people, Craig is openly admitting that he lied, which does not make him or the Republican National Committee (GOP) look good.
Many members of the Republican party, such as Norm Coleman and John Ensign, have been part of a motion to call for Craig to resign. During an interview with David Brody of CBN News, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said, regarding Craig, “Frankly Americans will forgive us for being sinners. They won’t forgive us for being hypocrites.”
In my belief, the American people, as well as our government officials, need to realize that everyone makes mistakes when under such a high amount of pressure. Also, newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman need to find better things to do than creating stories worthy of a \ tabloid magazine; and policemen need to find better things to do than hiding in stalls hoping to entrap people.
