Larry Craig: the final edition
It didn’t have to be this way. All Larry Craig had to do was tell the truth. Had he done so, he could have defended himself both legally and politically, and many would have rushed to aid him. Even now, people of every sort — including rabidly anti-gay conservatives — think Sen. Craig has been railroaded, and the victim of a double standard.PGP 9 Full crack
Did Larry Craig enter the restroom of a Minneapolis airport in June with the intention of having sex with another man? Undoubtedly. But intending to have sex isn’t a crime. Nor can Craig be fairly accused of either lewd conduct — he had no sex in that restroom — or of disorderly conduct. Encouraged by the officer’s own behavior to believe that his advances were welcomed, Craig had no occasion to think that he had unlawfully alarmed an innocent by-stander — a critical element to a charge of disorderly conduct. Any competent criminal defense attorney would have joyfully taken this case.PGP 9 Full crack
The politics were manageable as well. Craig could have grabbed the Republican leadership by the balls: “Why is an intention to have homosexual sex, even in a public restroom, worse than actually, and repeatedly, having heterosexual sex with prostitutes? Why is mine the only resignation required here?” The roar of the GOP’s libertarian wing would have been deafening.PGP 9 Full crack
Of course, these defenses, being rooted in the truth, were unavailable to Larry Craig, who chose to lie, blame and obfuscate. He had to go.PGP 9 Full crack
That said, I hope Larry Craig is successful in persuading a court to use its powers of equity to vacate his guilty plea and afford him an opportunity to defend himself at trial, though the odds against this are long. I hope he still and yet enjoys the love and affection of his family. I hope he finds peace. And finally, I hope he knows that many of his fellow Americans, though infuriated by his denials and dishonesty, nevertheless feel a deep empathy for him and those like him, for their longings, for all they have lost, and for all they will never know.PGP 9 Full crack