Larry Craig's New Stance, Part Deux
Sen. Larry "I am not gay, I have never been gay" Craig's legal team has opted for a new tactic, given that their initial attempt to have Craig's guilty plea withdrawn was essentially laughed out of court. Now they are opting to try to invoke something that Republicans haven't seemed too concerned about in the last few years: constitutionality.
MN Star-Tribune: Sen. Larry Craig will argue before an appeals court that Minnesota's disorderly conduct law is unconstitutional as it applies to his conviction in a bathroom sex sting, according to a new court filing.
This is the first time Craig's attorneys have raised that issue. However, an earlier friend-of-the-court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that Craig's foot-tapping and hand gesture under a stall divider at the Minneapolis airport are protected by the First Amendment.
Funny thing about that Free Speech argument, you never know who is going to use it...like maybe a man who described a rather crude and fumbling assignation with Craig twenty years ago, culminating in Craig taking out a twenty dollar bill and saying
‘Remember, I can buy and sell your ass ten thousand times over. You were never here. Don't try to come back here. You don't know me.'
Charming to the last, Larry.
Remember when Larry Craig use to be someone? Now he's a poster boy for STD.
Tap- tap.
(Who really cares???) He's toxic now. That's all anyone will remember. No one remembers what comes after that. Guilty, toast, fry him-- next. I mean it's America, right? When does the mall open?
Anyhow, interesting using the "dusty old Constitution". No one expects the Constitution (not these days.)
I like having him as the republican party's team mascot.
This guy is a shit weasel, plain and simple. That said, I think the way he was arrested is kinda bullshit. But I shed no tears for this fuckwad. Had it happened to a regular Joe, I'd be more vocal. In this instance, it was Kharma. I'll defend his right to zealously defend himself in the legal arena. But he is lying (lying--get it?) in a bed he made. Or tapping in a stall he made. Either way, fuck him.
Our stupid-ass country shouldn't force people into bathrooms just because they want to get their nut off. Legalize prostitution. Our country should be worried about running stings to catch real the criminals all the way at the top.
What a sad, wretch of a man.
didn't his home state, the state that elected him, recently and after this episode elect him as man of the year. a liar, an amoeba, and his home state promotes him as the best they have to offer. stupid, stupid, stupid.
LARRY CRAIG’S NEW FIRST AMENDMENT DEFENSE: TALK TO THE HAND
This guy is a flaming retard, and I mean that in the best sense of the word. To know you're gay, but actively attack gay rights while fraternizing in airport bathrooms with strange men, I just don't get it. What a power play. I could buy and sell him once he saw the size of my dick. He'd be drooling for more. What a piece of crap.
I am sorry but I really don't see how one can challenge the Constitutionaliy of something after pleading guilty. He probably should have thought of that beforehand.
Must be the O.J. connection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoAyvWpS3AY
A hypocrite. Repugs support exactly these types of laws, but then when it happens to them, well suddenly it's unconstitutional.
Charming to the last...
You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life.
-Tarkin from Star Wars
I can't attest to the veracity of the premise of this comment on Talking Points Memo, but, if true, it makes a valid point:
Sort of like going into an establishment that sells porn and sex toys, and then telling everybody that you're just there to buy some chewing gum. Uh-huh.
His using hand and foot gestures to signal that he wanted sex in a public bathroom, is protected as free speech. But he's not gay! And that's not what he was doing.
But it's protected.
But he wasn't doing it!
I wasn't sure this could get more incoherent than it already was. What fun it all is that he didn't resign.
Spin baby, spin!
This is a TEST for all those homophobic, closeted, self hating republicans who want to (finally) know if they are really gay. (In between all those times that they are voting against gay marriage and anti-gay hate crime legislation, etc.)
The Test:
If you are in a public bathroom and your penis is in another man's mouth; you MAY be gay.
If Ann Coulter's penis is in YOUR mouth; you ARE gay!
I know he's not running in the next election but he'll still have some power. Can you imagine what will happen to the candidate he throws his support behind. Please let it be Rudy.
the people around him seem almost too amused, like they're learning a new trick
I'm waiting for Larry Craig to rant against trail lawyers, dismiss his legal team and defend himself.
Needless to say I'll be holding my breath for some time.
ashton @ 10:
Captain Kangaroo @ 21:
He was forced into the guilty plea thing. He only had 2-3 months to make his decision.
This whole thing is so gay.
Larry Craig.
I love this guy. What a great gift.
Well I'm glad to hear it; He did nothing wrong. Is it disorderly conduct or free speech to politely approach someone and ask for gay sex? Now, what's the difference between that and foot tapping/stall divider touching when the man in the other stall reciprocates? He's an anti-gay hypocrite who will get what's coming to him from his party and electorate, but the case should be thrown out.
I commend that ACLU for taking principled stands to defend the civil liberties of its political adversaries (Craig, Limbaugh, North, etc).
screech @ 24:
He just keeps on giving.
Erm... what the hell is he holding in that picture? Some sort of latex hand-shaped toy? Like in Borat?
It doesn't make sense that he hasn't been forced from his position.
I believe Larry must have some serious extortion material on several powerful GOP leaders.
What his he doing still dancing around on the national stage as if nothing has happened?
If Craig is successful in his appeal, won't this cast doubt on all other public restroom arrests? Won't the Minneapolis courts have to reverse all other cases? And wouldn't that be an ironic fallout from holier-than-thou but gay-ass repug Craig's fight for his lasting image as he leaves Congress? Open up all the public restroom for sex! Thank you Craig!
Of course, this is far more important than Senator Jay Rockefeller taking big teleco money and pushing for retroactive immunity for telecoms who aided and abetted the Bush regime in spying on you. If C&L doesn't care, why should we?
Democratic Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/dem-pushing-spy.html
That Larry is just soooo.... Dreamy!
Larry Craig assumes multiple positions until he achieves satisfaction.
He's a real IdaHO Hall of Famer.
- Tom
It would be ironic in the highest degree if Larry Craig were the man to finally be the plaintiff that is successful at tearing down all of the old laws that harassed gay men.
As odious as Craig is otherwise, I might have to tip my hat to the man if he is successful.
This move of his is a positive one for the gay community throughout the US.
The directors uncut version:
Remember, I can pound your ass ten thousand times over right here. I'll try not to come on your back. You don’t need to blow me.
Five2Nine @ 9:
Umm, would that possibly be a reversal of your screenname? LOL!!!!
Seen this Salon.com comic strip ?
(The new gay stereotype)
“On the way back through with shit all in my briefs" How could Drudge not turn on the siren with this kind of detail?
Larry's an instant gratificationist like all repubs. They don't think laws will ever apply to them. They don't think that their tax cuts added 3 trillion to the debt. They don't think that the Iraq war could go badly
What on EARTH is that bizarre sex-toy-attached-to-IV think he is holding and smirking at??! Wow. Kids these days... That picture is waaaaaayyy creepy. Some sort of remote control under the stall signaling robot?
Let's see, Republicans:
"Damn the ACLU! Those commie bastards, they should all be shot! America haters!"
Arrested Republican:
"CALL ME THE ACLU, QUICK!"
Pathetic, as always.
Personally, this does seem a bit like entrapment, and consensual (gay) sex shouldn't be a crime. But I have zero tolerance for people screwing in the bathroom! I go in there to do business, not people, dammit. If I have the flu between flights, two guys humping in all the stalls is NOT cool. Have sex in the park or on a roof like the rest of the thrill seekers.
That goes for airports AND bars. Well, most bars. Some dives I'd be surprised NOT to see a half-naked woman... doing naughty things... up on the sinks with an audience in the mens room. C'est la vie. At least, college "vie".
But not in airports when I'm in a hurry, you inconsiderate jerks!
I don't want to see "Larry Craig" and "stance" in the same sentence....
Everytime I see the word "stance" I think of only one thing-- tap tap tap.
Of course Craig's a lying sack of hypocrisy! Goes without saying. But he committed no crime. ACLU agrees. -- It is entertaining to watch, however...
I can see big Larry in a 3 point stance. Hut Hut Hut
Garuda @ 28:
Methinks Mr. Craig knows quite a few other GOP Senators who "aren't gay" and if they try to force him from his Senate seat, he may just publicly remember who a few of them are. I'm sure these bastions of upstanding AmeriKKKan Christian family values wouldn't want that.
Republican Handbook
Chapter XIII
Article 6
"Remember, the United States Constitution is a tool. When you need it, take it out, use it (as a bludgeon if necessary), when you are through return it to its box and ignore it."
-"Hi, would you like to have sex with me?"
-"No, thanks."
-"Okay. Bye"
Where is the crime? No violence, no intimidation, no blackmail.
I don't like Larry boy but that's all he did: He flirted and he got rebuffed.
Isn't that how we all have sex?
There is only fodder for scandal because it is male-to-male sex.
mitsch @ 47:
Mitsch, it wouldn't be an issue at all if guys like Craig didn't build their political careers on hating gays. If you're going to make other people's sexual preferences a public issue, you damn well better make sure you're 100% hetero. It's not the sex - it's the hypocrisy.
47 mitsch
I agree and it pisses me off. What pisses me off more is that the Republicans including Larry Craig try to make being gay a crime and/or something to be ashamed of. I have very little sympathy for this man. Had he not looked into the stall of another person in the bathroom i would be on his side, but he violated the privacy of another. Sexual intrusion is wrong.
I think his legal team's new tactic should be for him to plead insanity... after all, it would probably work.
#14
I've never understood why NO ONE has asked him WHY he was in MSP changing planes? Did he go there specifically for THAT bathroom? Was he traveling between Idaho and Washington DC? If so, since when does that plane lay over in MINNESOTA????
He is so dang creepy.
Ick.
gene214 @ 48:
I think Larry helps the gay cause. Now every homophobe is suspect of being gay himself.
Wasn't Shakespeare who said it best: "Me thinks the Republican doth protest too much."?
Ya got to love that Constitution, oh wait isn't that what the liberals hide behind?
the ACLU larry!
heh... heh...
heh...
McMike @ 25:
McMike @ 25:
I rather agree with this position and kudos to the ACLU. Of course to use this First
Amendment defense he is going to have to explain exactly what those signals were intended to convey and I, for one, would pay good money for a ringside seat in that court. I do hope that the ACLU is willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court. I really want Alito's opinion on this one.
"51 Tommy Says: #14
I’ve never understood why NO ONE has asked him WHY he was in MSP changing planes? Did he go there specifically for THAT bathroom? Was he traveling between Idaho and Washington DC? If so, since when does that plane lay over in MINNESOTA????
He is so dang creepy.
Ick."
If you want to see wierd places planes make connections book a non first class flight anywhere in the US and find out.
Thank jesus he's not gay!
He must have serious dope to slay other GOP's.
He'd be out by this time if this was just his ass here.
What else does the GOP hide?
The Progressive Prayer:
Dear God (choose your diety, or simply delete the word God and make it a millisecond of silence)
Please PLEASE let Larry Craig's lawyers go back for appeal after appeal after motion after motion...
forever and ever
AMEN
It's 11pm, do you know where your toe-tapping republican congressman is?
Craig studying a prosthetic in the photo, fantasizing...
"Hmmmm....yeah, gotta say this hand feels nice to the touch....such a smooth, velvety finish...that cupped palm should cradle my sack so nicely....and damn, look at that erect thumb!...I know where that baby's goin...hell, yeah...bring on the lube, baby!"
Freedom of the Freak
Bush should pardon
Scooter LibbyLarry Craig and get the whole thing over with…Free
ScooterLarry Craig!xoites defends Constitution @ 56:
Since when does a Republican Congressman book a non-first class flight? :P
I think we need about a hundred people outside his office singing Carlos Mencia's "If you think you might be gay then you're gay." song over and over.
jeaton @ 43:
Where have you been for the last 7 years? In a repugnantcon world, tapping Is a felony according to 'the bush' and 'the dick'.
I have a joke for you all. Larry Craig. That's it, that's the joke. One need say nothing else to get a reaction.
nick @ 44:
Ha Ha Ha.....he's playing tight end, of course...
If I communicated my desire to have gay sex, though I'm totally so not gay, that's protected by the First Amendment. Thus, I could not have been convicted of communicating my desire to have gay sex in the bathroom, even though I admitted to it.
The court might tell you, Larry, that you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater, and can't tap your foot and make hand gestures in a public toilet communicating your (not gay, never have been gay) desire to get it on with the person in the next stall.
The communications a person - who is totally not gay - which indicate his desire to have gay sex in the toilet, while protected by the First Amendment, must be balanced against the legitimate governmental interest in controlling the gay sex, in particular that which takes place in public toilets, as a matter of maintaining order, decency, hygiene, good taste, and good Christian hetero sex (which should only be done for the purpose of procreation, because God only made it feel so goddamned good to push procreation and to tempt us to lust after each other, covet one's neighbor's wife, commit adultery, masturbate, fornicate, commit sodomy, in the Lord's name I pray!).
So is that artificial hand he's holding the one he jerks off with, fists himself with, or both?
Good ol' Larry keeps insisting, 'I am not gay, I have never been gay'.
Has anyone ever asked him how he feels about 'bi'?
He's sure made his mark on our society, every airport men's room now has a security guard, to post the sign 'Caution, U.S. Republican Politician on Premises' whenever one of them has to take a crap. And they are planning to remove all the urinals, to remove the temptations.
You know, he could turn this into a personal triumph if he had the balls. He could go before the American people and say that he is gay, and that the neanderthal attitudes of his Republican base had forced him deeply into the closet and culminated in his actions in the Minneapolis bathroom. He could give a heart-rending speech and apology about how he was living a life of fear as a closeted gay man and say he's sorry for all of the pain he has inflicted on other gay people by his support of the anti-gay stance of his party. Then he could say he was switching to the Dems and would vote for any measure to advance the gay cause. This would drive the RWs crazy, but there is nothing they could do about it til November 2008, when the conservative voters of Idaho would vote him out - or perhaps not, depending on their reaction to his sudden epiphany. But, of course, I doubt if any RW Repug has the decency to admit his mistakes and to the suffering he has inflicted on his fellow citizens, just like that fuckwad Bush.
This is hilarious! The Republicans are the most twisted bunch of closet cases ever!
Why doesn't Craig just come out of the closet? And move to San Francisco? And just admit he's a tortured soul who longs for man on man butt bongo banging?
We'd all have more respect for him them. The sick mofo.
I wish people would get it through their goddamned thick skulls that Craig was not charged with, nor did he plead guilty to, trolling for gay sex. Read the police report and the subsequent court documents, as well as the relevant Minnesota statutes. Craig was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, disorderly conduct, and based on the statutes in question, the charges seemed entirely appropriate.
Really, it's like there is a mass, willful ignorance striking America these days.
Remember when Larry Craig use to be someone?
Oh he's someone alright. He's the man who is trying to take the Repub party over a cliff. Good luck to him.
xoites defends Constitution @ 49:
Well, again I say sex in public bathrooms is wrong even if consensual. I've had to skip using the bathroom once because the stalls were all full for so long in a smaller airport and I had to catch my flight! Fuck these guys, that was VERY uncomfortable. That isn't what the bathroom is for.
I don't care if you're queer, straight, or other! Get busy somewhere else. Don't have sex in elementary school classrooms, don't have sex in hospital lobbies, don't have sex in the middle of the interstate.... I mean, I used to think these things pretty self-obvious. But I guess not.
Don't want to get hassled? Don't screw in public bathrooms. That's why the cops were there in the first place, this has nothing to do with Larry being gay (thought of course, the hypocrisy is rich).
Such poor judgement shows that he is undeserving of such a high office. He obviously cannot make good decisions.
Sorry, Larry. When people warned you that the Constitution protected you , too, and not just the people you have spent you political life trying to destroy, You didn't listen. Now that the shoes on the other foot, how do you feel about your prospects?
In any event, keep up the good fight to hold on to that seat. Keep this story alive.
Isn't Larry Craig out to prove that our legal system is two tiered? Those that have money and power and those that do not??????????????
Don't we already know this?
enor @ 17:
Dom @ 72:
I agree, he could. But the Republican/conservative mind isn't one that deals well with ambiguity, with revelations. Republicans/conservatives pride themselves on the false benefits of being rock solid, unchanging, steady. The fact that circumstances often change, necessitating a different response to a given situation, totally escapes them. Larry Craig probably will never admit that he is gay, if indeed he is, simply because he has invested so much time and effort in denying it.
..I guess he wants an 'activist' court, so they can 2nd guess the Minn. Legislature in enacting the law which he pled guilty of violating...Mmmmnn, so much for 'originalist' judges, a la hannity.
Seabury Quinn @ 31:
Funny! and Ewww!!! Anyway, is that an artificial hand he's operating in the photo? If so, I'm certain that a sex sting conviction using an artificial hand (swiping under the stall partition) would be considered unconstitutional! Now about the artificial foot and the tapping..
So why is the law going after prostitutes again? Hey Larry Craig can solicitate so why can't they? A US Senator can do it...
Larry Craig is like the Larry David of politicians and Christians. It's like "Curb Your Discretion".
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