Just six days after the world heard of his bathroom cruising antics, Idaho Senator Larry Craig has resigned.
In his statement, Craig preferred not to highlight his Republican colleagueâs calls for his head. Instead, the 62-year old anti-gay politico placed blame on his legal battle to clear his lewd name:
âŚTo pursue my legal options as I continue to serve Idaho would be an unwanted and unfair distraction from my job and for my Senate colleagues.
âŚ
It is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30. In doing so, I hope to allow for a smooth and orderly transition for my loyal staff, and for the person appointed to take my placeâŚ
Craig also apologizes to his constituents and his colleagues. He did not, however, explicitly thank his wife, Suzanne. The poor woman ended up getting steamrolled by his struggle to stay afloat:
âŚSuzanne and I have been humbled by the outpouring of support we have received from our friends, our family, staff and fellow Idahoans â we are profoundly and forever grateful.
We sure hope Suzy Câs busting his balls at home, cause Craigâs deserve some busting. Oh, wait, thatâs what got him into this mess in the first placeâŚ
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Full statement after the jumpâŚ
For most of my adult life, Iâve had the privilege of serving the people of Idaho. I am grateful for the opportunity they have given me. It has been a blessing.
I am proud of my record and accomplishments and equally proud of the wonderful and talented people with whom I have had the honor and privilege to work and serve.
I chose to serve because I truly love Idaho. What is best for Idaho has always been the focus of my efforts, and it is no different today.
To the Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues and, most importantly, my wife and our family, I apologize for what I have caused.
I am deeply sorry.
I have little control over what people choose to believe, but clearing my name is important to me and my family.
Having said that, to pursue my legal options as I continue to serve Idaho would be an unwanted and unfair distraction from my job and for my Senate colleagues.
These are serious times of war and conflict â times that deserve the Senate and our full nationâs attention. There are many challenges facing Idaho that Iâm currently engaged in, and the people of Idaho deserve a Senator who can devote 100 percent of his time and effort to critical state and national issues.
Therefore, it is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30. In doing so, I hope to allow for a smooth and orderly transition for my loyal staff, and for the person appointed to take my place at William Borahâs desk. I have full confidence that Governor Otter will appoint a successor who will serve Idaho with distinction.
I apologize to the people of our great state for being unable to serve out the term to which you have elected me. I hope you understand my decision to step aside.
Few people have had the pleasure and privilege to represent Idaho for as many years as I have. Each day, each week, each year brought new challenges and opportunities to create a better life for Idahoans. I have enjoyed every moment and cannot adequately put into words how much I appreciate you giving me this chance. I hope you do not regret the confidence you have placed in me for all these years. I hope I have served you and our state to the best of my abilities.
Lastly, Suzanne and I have been humbled by the outpouring of support we have received from our friends, our family, staff and fellow Idahoans â we are profoundly and forever grateful.
Thank you.
No, Mr. Craig. Thank youâŚfor ending the Culture Wars.
ProfessorVP
Here’s a really happy ending: Larry dumps his convenience-wife cow, moves to Iowa, meets a cute guy with a Daddy complex, marries and settles down. They can buy a third world baby from wherever Brangelina shops, and to complete the picture, one of those miniature dogs you can dress up. Now wouldn’t that be an improvement over quickies in airport and railway terminals, with the stench of pee and Lysol, and the sound of farting, as has been Craig’s sex life for the last forty years?
BillieXX
Call me a chump but I feel sorry for the bastard.
NeoAurelianus
Outing gay Republicans (who often have blatantly homophobic voting records, but that’s redundant…) is [b]soooooo 2000.[/b] Does anyone really care?
Seriously, I feel sorry for his wife and family but not him. He’ll survive. I’m 51 and have been openly gay since my 20s. As a child I knew I would never date or marry a woman because I would not lie to myself, first, or to anyone about such an intrinsic part of myself.
I should be more compassionate because I was lucky enough to have parents who simply avoided the topic completely until I eventually forced them to listen (by my late teens). I know many kids today, of both sexes but especially males, are pressured by parents, peers, and others to adhere to rigidly defined gender-specific roles and face consequences ranging from nothing to being thrown out on the street for defiance.
What is sad to think about is how many young boys today will end up Larry Craigs of the future. I believe there will be fewer than in my generation but don’t really have a clue.
ProfessorVP
Billie, feel sorry for babies with spina bifida, or those purchased by movie stars as p.r. props.
Feel sorry for rubes duped into fighting the bogus War on Terror. Feel sorry for coal miners
entombed in mountains. Feel sorry for people who don’t bring about their own problems and cause problems for others.
hisurfer
Professor – empathy is a virtue, not a vice. Feeling sorry for a person is not the same as condoling their actions.
I’m not sure this is a “Happy Ending.” It’s all so Eisenhower-era: cocksucker gets busted & is driven from town in shame. It’s as if Stonewall and Mattachine Society and Pride &c never happened.
I’m not sure what a positive ending for me would have been, or even if one were possible. I certainly can’t imagine a McGreevey-style “I’m gay and off to the Pines, fellas!” coming out. That would just be creepy. And few in America are ready to hear anything as brutally honest as “I love my wife but sometimes I just gotta taste some cock.”
Dawster
i certainly don’t feel sorry for him… at all.
i’m still worried about what it means for our civil liberties when someone can be arrested for toe tapping.
i feel bad that someone in this country can be taken down off a cop’s perception and interpretation of events.
i’m totally upset that someone sat on this story for over a month to successfully distract us for the next W’s administration upset.
i feel bad about what it means for me next time i go into a public bathroom, making sure i don’t do ANYTHING that could be conceived as trying to solicit sex… like saying “hi” or being openly gay.
but i don’t feel bad for the guy personally.
ProfessorVP
Dawster, I assure you, if you go to a public bathroom and use it for the purpose for which it was intended- to piss, take a shit, or wash your hands, and mind your own business, you don’t have to worry about being busted. I have no idea what you mean by “being openly gay” in a bathroom. Straights and gays have the same anatomy and use the bathroom properly in the same manner. If you mean openly displaying your Judy Garland CD in the bathroom… well, you could always keep it covered. Is that what you mean?
Hisurfer, FYI, sympathy means feeling sorry for somebody. Empathy means being able to put yourself in that person’s place, feel what that person is going through. So, if you are able to feel like a rich, powerful politician who has
deceived the moral Christian rubes of Idaho while having sex at airport and railroad bathrooms and
worked for decades to trample on the rights of fellow gays, then Hi, you are quite the empathetic one.
Old-man
I did not have sex with….. Yes I smoked dope, but only once, and I didnt inhale…..
I hate hypercrites.
Any way just wanted to say hi, to every one. Oh by the way, I`m not gay………… But my boyfriend is
XXX
Dawster
professorVP, when it comes to cops, you can’t assure me of anything. i was surrounded by 3 cops one time… FOR WALKING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.
why? because i was brown-skinned walking in a white area. brown-skinned people can’t afford to live on the beach, and i had no business being there. after showing identification, answering questions, and being escorted back to my home (where i showed i had a key to get in), i was let go.
how naive to think that a person can go into a public bathroom and use it for it’s intended purpose and not get busted. i don’t hide that i’m gay, and in places that are small and narrow minded, they are going to connect being gay with bathroom sex… and that sucks.
i hate hypocrites as much as the next “old-man”, but if someone is going to get busted… i want them to get busted with some measure of proof… not off hand signals.
Charles Wilson
I vote with Professor VP
cjc
Nothin’ says lovin’ like sex on a turlet đ
Bryan
lol@cjc
ProfessorVP
Thanks for your vote, Mr. Wilson. I ought to run for something. My slogan: A free-range chicken in every pot.
Dawster, I would never presume to assure you that you’d never get busted for being brown and appearing to be where you didn’t belong. Unfortunately, I can’t. All I said was that if you use a public restroom for its intended function, unlike Larry Craig, you needn’t worry about the fuzz.
Bill Perdue
ProfessorVP
I’m going to ask Lambda Legal and the National Coalition of Anti Violence Programs if they can make an educated guess and tell us if the rate of anitgay entrapment fostered by bigoted police officials is going down, and if I can get an answer you’ll see it the next time the question comes up. I’m not talking about fucking in the head, but entrapment based on totalitarian chistinan ‘values’.
I read the gay press regularly and I’ve seen quite a few articles from New York/New Jersey, Florida and Chicago, among others on the subject so it’s not quite a dead issue. Those reports and the stats in recent reports by the NCAVP, The US DOJ, NY based Advocates for Children, GLSEN and the painstaking report by Amnesty International on police abuse, violence and entrapment seem to indicate that we’re still subject to a good deal of official injustice. I’ll try to see if we can get a better picture of whither or not entrapment by bigots is a big part of that.