The Daily Show: Defending Larry Craig
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Oct 17, 2007 6:04pm
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Heather)
Jon Stewart and The Daily Show took a look at the unintentionally funny, yet all-too-sad interview disgraced Sen. Larry "Bathroom Scandal" Craig gave to Matt Lauer. I don't know about you, but at this point, I'm just angry at the ego that Craig has to have to continue to put his family through this kind of circus...especially when his responses just make no sense. What kind of man would humiliate his wife by having her go on network TV with this exchange?
LARRY CRAIG: I saw a piece of toilet paper on the floor and it happened to be under my heel. And I don't know if you've seen it before, but I've seen it: somebody walk out of a booth, with a piece of toilet paper stuck to their foot.
JON STEWART: Oh yes, I've seen that too. That would be embarrassing. And you sure wouldn't want to put your family through that indignity. Seriously, speaking of family, if you need proof that Larry Craig is NOT gay, here it is: he's married! To a woman! A she-woman! Let me tell you about Suzanne Craig. Even faced with an accusation by a man claiming to have had sex with her husband, she kept the faith.
SUZANNE CRAIG: I knew immediately that it was not the truth because the description he gave of Larry and some areas that only I might know about were wrong. On three counts.
Keep in mind, that description did not come from the cop in Minneapolis, but another accuser from the Union Station men's room in D.C. How many men have to make those kind of allegations (because there are others) before poor Suzanne's faith is shaken? How dare he humiliate his wife by having her appear on TV to refute these allegations for him?
Login or Register to post comments.
What a cocksucker. ;-)
This is what an unprincipled, morally bankrupt loser looks like. As Craig circles the GOP drain he will take the rest of his cohort with him. Craig IS that piece of toilet paper on the bottom of the GOP shoe.
Kind of reminds me of the "Birds" scene in Mel Brook's High Anxiety.
All of these guys he's never met before coming out of nowhere, accusing him of engaging in homosexual conduct for no apparent reason. No matter where he goes, there's another one just around the corner. He just can't seem to escape these people.
Poor guy!
Sen. Craig doesn't approve of the lifestyle - it leaves a bad taste in his mouth!
Bill @ 3:
For no reason except that he pleaded guilty.
More power to ya Larry.
Or at least more time on camera. Every time yer seen on TV the GOP loses another GOP voter- or maybe it's 1,00 GOP voters. Either way, here's thanks fer yer meritorious service. 'Atta boy.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 4:
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
Can I use that one?
Greg @ 7:
you're welcome to it :) it was a lucky comment, I bat about 200
In that same interview Craig as much as called the cop who arrested him a liar. I assume we will hear that story soon. I suppose since Craig is the kind of person who cruises for sex in restrooms it would only go to reason he would also pick ANYTHING up (toilet paper) from the same floor? How many of you have picked ANYTHING from a public restroom floor?
The scariest part is that most of Idaho is like his wife. He could just about do everything wrong in the book and still have the support to get elected there. There is a lot of denial in red state country.
Moral Compass @ 9:
I was going to eat some chips I found on the bathroom floor but then I realized I don't have S-Chip either so I left them there for someone else.
Everytime Larry opens his lying mouth all the other GOP sleezebags don't seem quite as sleezy.
I would like to redact my statement about "the kind of person who cruises for sex in restroom." The GOP have created this climate of intolerance that has forced gay men like Craig to express their sexuality in closeted and shameful ways. I still think he is ODD for picking anything up off the floor of a public restroom.
As far as Larry Craig goes, I'm wetting my pants with glee that the Republicans are totally locked into holding their 2008 National Convention in Minneapolis to pick their candidate for President less than 10 miles away from the Minneapolis Int'l Airport's Men's Room.
heheheh.
I've never looked forward to an RNC before, but this next one promises to be special.
Now I'm gonna go all contrarian on you people, because nobody's mentioned what I'm about to say....
One thing that really bugs me about the cop that busted him, is yes, Craig was right, sumbitch did entrap him and *did* pull one of the slimier cop tricks I've ever seen in trying to put words in Craig's mouth.
That totally happened.
Craig should have really emphasized this part of the interview, the below transcript doesn't do justice to how the audio of it sounds, starting at the 7:40 mark:
What a scumbag.
Craig should have known better to not talk to him.
And I'll bet conversations like this happen every day in this country between cops looking to intimidate and get their arrest/conviction numbers up and they do it to people that don't have the kind of recourse, or presence of mind, that a United States Senator has.
If Craig had slipped up and said "yes" to that "are you successful?" question, inadvertently, that's all we'd be talking about about this.
Like I said, it's a slimy rhetorical trick more befitting an exchange between Bugs Bunny, Elmer J. Fudd and Daffy Duck, and not a sworn Law Enforcement Officer.
As much as I loathe SLuG Republicans,* from a human standpoint I really feel for the guy, wouldn't wish the last 2 months that his family and he has had on anybody.
~nwa
*SLuG Republicans = Self Loathing Gay Republicans
Run Larry, run! And don't back down. Perhaps you and Bob Allen (along with Joey Difatta) can start your own PNAC (Preverted Neocons Always Cruising) committee. You can hold your conventions in mens rooms all across the country, leading the party of morally bankrupt hypocrites to even greater heights in the 21st century. If diaper Dave Vitter is good enough for the GOP, then why not Larry Craig?
Nicole, best friends with Craig's wife, knows what embarasses her. Nicole, bff with Craig's wife, is outraged on her behalf. Craig's wife doesn't have to speak up on behalf of her husband, because bff Nicole already knows how she feels about all of this.
If Nicole actually cared about Craig's wife she wouldn't tell Ms. Craig how she ought to feel or act about it. If Nicole actually knew Ms. Craig sensible people might actually care about what Nicole has to say about how Ms. Craig feels about appearing on TV to defend her husband.
I don't know if he's innocent or guilty, but it does seem like the more he denies it in public, the more people will start to believe him. It's the old Republican tactic of using doubt to scrub their dirt clean (or just obliterating the idea of truth).
Larry Craig's facial skin looks baby soft.
Urban Pink @ 17:
I disagree. The truth's too much fun. And, well, he pleaded guilty. That makes him either a liar or gay. Sadly, Republicans consider only the latter a sin in their leadership.
His wife is pathetic...and I say she made her bed..and now she can lie in it...even if he is there...I mean she did not have to come on the show....she has just become part of the show....and that was her choice..and lordy she had quite a bit of facework to be on...or there was magical lighting and makeup....shame on her...and him..aren't we just tired of this pompous blowhard...
I am a manly man but I love Jon Stewart and his writing/production crew :)
With the sadness of our day to day headlines and events, it is so good to laugh at the fucking absurdity of it all. Thanks c&l for my weekly dose of guffaws...
okay I correct myself...ahem..I should not have called him a pompous blowhard..we do not know if that is true...but he is a pompous idiot...
"How dare he humiliate his wife by having her appear on TV to refute these allegations for him?"
are you joking? she's probably completely aware of his 'real' life. she's aware of her's too. she don't want to be a lousy lawyer's wife...she's a senator's wife.
if she goes along it's because she wants to go along.
bt @ 18:
You should feel it in the toilet ;)
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 4:
does that bad taste ,taste like cock
Does anyone else notice how often gay-bashing republics[sic] claim that they "don't agree" with the gay lifestyle? There is nothing to "agree" with; it's not a matter of debate that the gay community exists. Now, if they don't APPROVE, that' s another thing, small-minded and petty as it is. I guess I am wondering if I am having the problem use of the word "agree" in this case, or if the GOoPers are, or if there is some very purposeful wordsmithing going in that is over my head.
p.s. Stick it out, Sen Craig. Yer doin' a heck of a job....of reminding everybody with half a brain what colossal collection of calamitously clownish hypocrites your party appears to be.
Well, as Thom Hartman pointed out, there's a specific, notorious, obscure restroom involved. The location of said restroom, with regard to the gates that Craig used for his flights, would be telling. If it wasn't within easy walking distance of the gates, why did Craig decide to use this aforementioned restroom?
Meanwhile the Good Ol Boys get richer and richer.
AP - 55 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Oil prices surpassed $90 a barrel for the first time Thursday as the falling dollar drew new foreign investors and speculators to dollar-denominated energy futures.
Clinton. (Oil Per Barrel) 1998 11.61
I wrote a bunch of stuff about the Larry Craig Dinner Theatrics Parade because, when viewed from a certain perspective, a gay-rights-denying-in-the-closet-homosexual-Senator-from-Idaho has a certain ironic ring to it. But that time for me has passed. Now he remains out there, denying-denying-denying, and I'm beginning to feel a touch of Caine Mutiny sadness--when will this strange, awful constriction that strangles human beings for feeling what they feel going to end? Craig has been in apparent denial for so long that he almost stands next to himself in that stall, not really party to his own actions, a dissociative device that is gut-wrenching, for his very humanity is cleaved, and because why exactly? A few verses in a text written by Semitic priests back when they thought seizures were caused by devils?
Andrew Sullivan (btw: fuck him for his war lust) had a piece up that was relevant to the Craig matter. You can find it here.
That Larry Craig actively supports positions that disenfranchise people who are sexually different from what is considered "acceptable" is a larger projection of his inner hollowness. I cannot celebrate this man's public demise. I can only mourn that another man is leading, and has lead, "a life of quiet desperation."
++++
Look VERY closely at Sen. Craig in the interview...you can faintly notice a slight moistness at the corner of his lips....kinda like each time he left the mens bathroom at what ever location...also wasn´t that a change in his story...that the paper was stuck to his shoe...dothehop is right...
Sometimes I wonder if I'm in a long, bad dream and I just can't wake up.
Everything's going as planned man.
House hunters find "buyer's paradise" in Detroit
Neal wants family homes with a market value of up to $90,000 and will pay up to $15,000 for them.
"If the price is right, I'm buying," he said. "When the market rebounds, I'll probably sell them."
Robert Festus came here looking to buy homes to rent out in upscale suburbs of Detroit.
"The homes I am looking at should be worth up to $300,000, but I'm going to steal them for around $100,000," he said.
Like Neal, Festus said he plans to wait for the market to pick up before reselling his properties.
While the market is down, property auctions in the Detroit area are the stomping ground of people like Pat Karbon, 28, and Dave Ehrlichman, 27, who buy small family homes valued at around $80,000 to $90,000 for up to $15,000 then "flip" them - sell them quickly on the market for around $40,000.
"In five years of doing this I've never seen prices so good," Ehrlichman said waiting to bid on a house.
Larry Craig's next defense:
"I've converted to Mormonism and I now have four wives...all of them women."
Moral Compass @ 9:
I'd like to state for the record:
Just for the sake of argument, let's say that Craig isn't gay, never had been gay, is totally innocent of all charges, he really was just taking a wide-stanced poo-poo and that we believe his story about peeling toilet paper off the floor. Personally, I would not want to be represented by a senator who doesn't have the good sense to leave a wad of germy toilet paper on the floor of a public restroom. BLECH!
L.A. Confidential @ 32:
This is from a real article? Damned parasites. They'd probably roam a battlefield taking valuables from the corpses without blinking an eyelash, too. NO concept of the misery that allows them to prey on this market in this fashion.
Saw this at liberalavenger.com
WWJD? (gay sex edition)
October 17th, 2007 by sirkowski
What Would Jack (Bauer) Do?
Seems the Republican presidential hopefulls want to prove they would do absolutely anything to stop a terrorist attack.
Retired General James “Spider” Marks, who has just been named a new national security adviser to Mitt Romney’s campaign, asserted in a 2005 interview that he would readily torture prisoners to save a soldier’s life or stop a terror bomb, saying: “I’d stick a knife in somebody’s thigh in a heartbeat.”
So here’s my question to those Jack Bauer wannabes.
Would you have sex with a man to stop a terrorist attack?
And before any wingnuts claim this is silly and would never happen, remember the time-ticking bomb scenario never happened either.
Back in the eighties during the page scandal, he called a press conference and was not even accused.
Talk about a guilty conscience, he should just come out and say he lied like Vick.
Nobody is buying it Craig.
Geez.
Dustin de Wynde @ 14:
First, yer most definitely not the first to mention what ya said. The first on this thread, yeah, but many took the same stance when the audio and traqnscript of the conversation were first released.
And, quite honestly, as long as Craig was Mirandized before the conversation took place, I'm cool with it. A real lawyer wouldn't have fallen fer this little trck 'o' logic...And, as it turned out, neither did Craig.
There are a few lessons to be learned from this case. First, if you live under a spotlight and cop a plea to a lesser offense fer the sake of tryin' to sweep the whole affair under the rug, it don't work. Yer plea is still a matter of public record, and any journalist with a workin' knowledge of a state's open records act will find out.
Second, if yer gonna troll fer sex, come up with a fresh way of doin' so.The foot-taps under the wall of the stall are a well established- and legally recognized- form of communication. Use yer imagination, Senator. Or, in the event that ya have none (or, in Craig's situation, a rather unoriginal one), come outta the closet and go to a place where cruisin' fer sex is legal.
Come on, Nicole. It is precisely that man's megalomania that has made him his fortune. She has been the beneficiary of his hypocrisy in the past. She can just sit there and take it now. Just like Hillary had to. No. I do not equate this in any way to Clinton's affair.
He's a hypocrite, plain and simple. It should have been over at that point.
I personally hate the fact that this is still a story. Again, what a dumb country. It's a shame that this country will have to have a complete and total economic collapse before anyone realizes what is really important. What a bunch of spoiled, lazy assholes we all are. I include myself whole-heartedly.
L.A. Confidential @ 28:
-----------------
ah the good ol days. i was commuter then and remember filling up for $0.96 a gal. that was the lowest i remember, but the station was close to a I-75 exit, i'm thinking stations on into town were cheaper than that.
and why oh why didn't i invest in war stocks and oil futures in 2000? damn having a conscience.
I think Larry Craig is tremendous! I hope he never gives up his Senate seat and, furthermore, I hope he keeps trying to challenge his guilty plea in court. This freak is the best thing to happen to the Democrats in years! Yeah, you go, Larry! Keep this in the spotlight! Between this, and the fact that they can't seem to run a Presidential candidate who is SANE, the GOP leadership must be damn near ready to have a stroke.
Bonkers @ 34:
Yup. And who would run their hands along the bottom of the cubicle partition, where the pee-pee splash collects?
And how the hell can you have a "wide stance" when you're on the toilet with your pants pulled down? To spread your legs that wide, you'd either have to have your pants up all the way, or take them off completely.
Annoyed Canuck @ 42:
I'm sure, if questioned about it, the Senator will have a medical reason fer havin' to get naked in the crapper- and an excuse fer the nipple clamps, too.
I hear Craig is getting hands on councilling from Ted Haggard!
While the market is down, property auctions in the Detroit area are the stomping ground of people like Pat Karbon, 28, and Dave Ehrlichman, 27, who buy small family homes valued at around $80,000 to $90,000 for up to $15,000 then “flip” them - sell them quickly on the market for around $40,000.
--------------------
a bad economy never hurts the savy rich. if stocks are down--buy up huge blocks, housing market crashing--buy houses. this is not new. remember the farming crisis back in the (70-80s) family farms went belly up, lots of farm land was acquired by big agribiz like monsanto and archer daniels midland.
another shitty little thing about the agribiz. you know all those farm subsidies and low interest loans and stuff made for the family farm...the system got really complicated with more and more forms and ways to get or be denied approval--unless you have an attic full of lawyers.
all the farmers i knew also worked at other jobs, worked their farms and IF they used gov. subs. they had to do the equivalent of filing income taxes several times a year. general attitude, they want to keep their farms but feel like fools running a farm for fun, not profit. that'd be great if it was fun as it is it's just non-profit. this one guy told me he didn't know why he bothered except that his old dad was still alive and sentimental about the farm.
sorry, i neglected to give credit to LA Confidential at #32 for the bit about Detroit.
He's that darth kind of evil.
He can stab one in the back with a birthday smile on his face.
He should have lied and said he was asking for tp, I wouldn't have been the wiser.
leggy craigy is a good little bs, lying repug, like he should be.
The tragedy is that this man is a US Senator.
He makes laws and dictates policies.
Is he really dumb or just entitled. Either way he should go.
He may be well schooled (a lawyer) but poorly educated,
That he would have the balls,
-to open his mouth instead of remaining silent,
-to not only try and talk himself out of this with the cop, in trying to justify his conduct or hand gestures,
-then plead quilty to a crime,
-then think no one would find out (knowing that the newspaper was on his trail or tail)
-then say it was his intent to resign,
-then try to get out of his quilty plea,
-then not resign,
-and now a TV interview (in which he and wife were coached endlessly by PR people) where he attempts yet again to explain away conduct that is inexplicable.
We can never again look at a defendant, who pleads quilty, from the petty thief to the premeditated murderer and say he did it. They probably pleaded quilty because he (she) felt that there is no other way.
That's our justice system for ya!
Now lets see what Mr. Craig thinks about all the other not quilty people who pleaded quilty. Maybe he'll submit a S. Bill to free all of those other people who don't have the status and connectiones of a Senator, but still plead quilty.
Annoyed Canuck @ 42:
HAHAHAHAHA
Who would sit their bare ass on a public toilet?
lol, keep singing tweety, history is going to judge you as a wide-stance comma on the march towards gay rights :)
No one knows the true motives behind Mrs. Craig's actions. Maybe she's trying like hell to keep her family together, who knows? Either way, it's hard to believe this is still a story. I have a new story: Lots of people have been hypocrites at some point in their lives.
He's really not Gay....
These are two deeply sick and pathetic individuals. Their kids have to be hopelessly screwed up.
fuck him. it's about the incredible hypocrisy! period!
Suzanne Craig needs to get a leopard print dress like Mrs. Vitter. Mrs. V is a stylish beard
Chris from Ohio @ 31:
I'm with you Chris. I have said many times that I pinch myself to wake up and it only hurts, it doesn't help.
This certainly isn't what life was meant to be. We are on this incredible ball of dirt in space with all the magic of nature and life and we have to spend it like this, just ain't right :/
The Ghost @ 56:
Me too, we are down the rabbit hole, through the looking glass in bizarro world.
Now we have reid stepping on Sen. Dodd's move to block the cave in over FISA..
WTF
Another celestial moment thanks to Jon Stewart -- poor Mrs. Craig is afloat in the denial river!
How dare he? How dare she?
As most people who've ever been divorced know: Denial is a powerful thing. A very powerful thing.
myshadow @ 57:
I think one big change will come from enough of us getting pissed off and using these great info blogs as a stepping stone to a true revolution. Things like MeetUp's, MySpace, Tribe, etc. should be excellant choices as well. But it has to happen soon. If it wasn't for Gage we might have gone sooner.
Also, not being mentioned are the military personnel who are on our side and doing what they can. I really believe that a large group of Pentagon level officers will fight this to the point of a take-over.
Sen Craig is morally bankrupt, as is the Republican party. The realization of this is slowly taking place all across America. Many of the comments above suggest that Craig was/is horrible to subject his wife to this humiliation. But have you considered she is just as morally bankrupt as is he? Maybe she fully realizes what her husband is and does. But to her, what she might get out of this arrangement matters more to her.
My take on this whole thing is the utter contempt Craig has for the voters that he would assume that he can hoodwink them into believing his preposterous explanations. But then again, his voters are the same ones who voted for GW twice. He must conclude that they are among those that Lincoln told us could be fooled all the time.
Annoyed Canuck @ 42:
I believed I have the answer for Larry Craig's WIDE STANCE.
perhaps he was wearing MC Hammer Pants along with his jacket and tie. Those things will allow you to sit and have a wide stance.
case solved. Larry Craig is not gay.
.
Sen. Craig: "I an not gay. I have NEVER been gay."
... I just plead guilty to soliciting other MEN for SEX.
I curious as to know what legislation Craig supported condemning toilet paper feet?
.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 8:
- it can also be a pain in his ass. ;)
I really feel sorry for his wife Suzanne. She actually believes her husband. The whole nation is laughing at him, and she sits there like a 'rock' of defense. Immovable.
Amazing how these republicans can just sit there and lie lie lie.
Nicole:
While I can understand your being angry at Craig putting his family through his drama, consider the benefits of this maroon staying in the public eye:
McConnell will be so distracted at wondering when Craig will "out" him, that he'll continue to make mistakes like the one swiftboating a 12 year old.
Lindsay Graham will get trapped in DADT, and will be equally distracted to the point he might get caught with a hooker or a young Congressional page who was also a "friend of Mark Foley's".
Hastert's jumping ship because the distraction is bringing back up potential corruption he facilitated when he was Speaker of the House?
Craig just puts an active face on the hypocrasy that is the ReThug party. My anger is that the Democrats will not take advantage and will continue to accept getting their asses kicked from coast-to-coast.
I don't know why Craig doesn't want to give up his Senate seat. Apparently he gives up his seat on a regular basis.
And fuck his wife. Somebody needs to.
Dustin de Wynde @ 14:
I agree. While I think Craig is a total scumbag the police tactics were just as slimy. I'm thinking of the dozens of other guys who got busted in the same sting operation. As distasteful as you might consider restroom cruising, cruising for sex isn't illegal. As far as I know Craig and the others weren't caught having sex, they were allegedly just looking for it.
The ACLU offered to defend Craig on these grounds but apparently Larry declined since he'd then have to admit to more than he was willing to. I was looking forward to an ACLU fight since if won it would be precedent setting and might put a halt to similar sting operations across the country, whether in a park or shopping mall or restroom. If a straight guy comes on to a women in public its called flirting. If a gay guy does it, its lewd and punishable. And frankly a good publicized court fight might have helped all the closet cases in the restrooms to come out seek more appropriate venues.
Here some ACLU statements from CNN:
The ACLU friend-of-the-court brief was submitted to the Minnesota 4th District Court.
"The real motive behind secret sting operations like the one that resulted in Sen. Craig's arrest is not to stop people from inappropriate activity. It is to make as many arrests as possible -- arrests that sometimes unconstitutionally trap innocent people," [ACLU Executive Director] Romero said in a written statement.
Police must be able to demonstrate beyond a doubt that the sex was going to happen in public, he said. Regardless of whether it occurs in a bathroom or a bar, solicitation for private sex is protected speech under the First Amendment, the ACLU argues.
If the police really wanted to stop people from having sex in public bathrooms, they "should put up a sign banning sex in the restroom and send in a uniformed officer to patrol periodically," Romero said.
Please
Stop
Please
Stop?
Regards,
Perspective
Since he is using picking up a piece of toilet paper as his alibi , I want to know what he did with it after he picked it up.
Oh, who gives a flying f*ck about Larry Craig and this bathroom incident anyway! It's not like this story is anything new; we all know that reich-wing republicans are closetted, self-hating homosexuals anyway.
This Larry Craig stuff bores the hell out of me.
I have worked very hard for the Republican Party but never more after all the lies and wars they give us.
So now I coin the phrase
"Foot taping Republican "
I will let you define what it means on Wickapedia
a
Vitter, Craig, Haggard, Foley, Tobias ....
G.O.P. = Grody Ol' Perverts
y'all wish you could party like we do
Dumb Donkey. He got caught soliciting a police officer for sex in a public restroom. That's illegal. The cop did nothing wrong. How would you like to have had your 8 year old son walk into that bathroom and watch some "in-denial" homophobic senator getting blown by another man.
Shove your ACLU shit up your smoke stack and pull the gerbils out while you're at it. Hail to George Bush!!
I think Larry should run for president with mark foley as his running mate.
Login or Register to post comments.