Media Spotlight

Last June, Idaho Senator, Larry Craig, plead guilty to lewd behavior after being arrested in a men’s bathroom in the Minneapolis airport. Although, he later said it was a mistake and only in an effort to make it go away quickly. The arresting officer said Craig had made several gestures indicating he wanted to have sex. Some of the charges included placing his hand beneath the stall and touching the officer’s foot with his and leaning his luggage against the stall door. The senator claims he was only picking up a piece of paper. Although, anybody who was completely innocent would not normally rush to plead guilty, that is exactly what the senator claims to have done.

As I watched the week unfold for the senator I knew he was in for some trouble. In the beginning he told the press, “I am not gay!” Then went on to say he made a mistake pleading guilty and that he did nothing wrong. At first, the senator seemed to believe he actually had the option to stay at the white house and see how everything played out in the court room, but by the end of the week we saw that option had disappeared. The media coverage brought forth other lawmakers that not only voiced their opinion but also asked for his resignation.

There had been rumors that the Idaho senator was gay circulating since the 1980’s. It was not until the senator entered his guilty plea that they were given credibility. This is exactly what a local paper in Idaho thought too. Allegations surfaced about 6 months ago from several sources claiming that the senator might engage in sex in public places, but the paper chose not to publish anything until they had more proof. They even interviewed the senator about it a few months ago. This may have been the reason for the senator’s lack of judgment to plead guilty without talking to an attorney or anyone else.

The media wasted no time in finding fellow senators and Presidential running mates to interview and voice their opinion. All of them negative. This could have been from the already tarnished view by Americans of the Republican Party and the current administration and a general need to stomp out any further damage the situation could cause for public support. As to whether he really is gay and solicited the undercover officer, maybe it is true and maybe it’s not. There really is not a whole lot of evidence against the senator and given that rumors have been circulating for over 20 years you would think something or someone would have been able to prove his guilt one way or another. One thing is for sure, his career is definitely over.