You Go, Boy!

Sen. Craig says he'll appeal, lashes out at Romney
updated 5:52 a.m. EDT, Mon October 15, 2007

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Sen. Larry Craig says he will file an appeal Monday over a judge's refusal to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from his arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting.

In an interview Sunday with KTVB-TV, Craig repeated he will not resign his post in the Senate and said he will continue to work his legal options.

"It is my right to do what I'm doing," said Craig, an Idaho Republican. "I've already provided for Idaho certainty that Idaho needed -- I'm not running for re-election. I'm no longer in the way. I am pursuing my constitutional rights."

In another interview, Craig's wife, Suzanne, said the senator didn't tell her about the arrest until the story was about to break in the media.

"I felt like the floor was falling out from under me. ... And I felt like almost like I was going down a drain for a few moments," she told NBC's Matt Lauer.

Sen. Craig told Lauer it was a "tough call" not to tell anyone about the incident.

"I didn't want to embarrass my wife, my kids, Idaho and my friends," Craig said. "And I wrestled with it a long while. ... I should have told my wife. I should have told my kids. And most importantly, I should have told counsel."

The senator also discussed his relationship with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Craig was Senate liaison for Romney's campaign, a post he abandoned when the scandal came to light.

"I was very proud of my association with Mitt Romney," Craig told Lauer. "... And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again."

Lauer's interview with the Craigs will be broadcast Tuesday night on "Matt Lauer Reports" and Wednesday morning on "Today."

Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in June.

After the matter became public, Craig tried to withdraw his plea. But a judge in Minnesota refused, saying Craig's plea "was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and ... supported by the evidence."

This has to be the best GOP news I've heard all year. Senator Craig's reversal on his promise to resign has him back on CNN. Plus, he threw out some venom for Romney. What is this man thinking? Innocent or not, gay or not, public opinion has been set. His party has abandoned him. His political career is in free fall. Now he's just being vindictive; more power to him. *snicker*

Social Justice

Larry Craig enters pop-culture lexicon
published Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Among the most famous excuses ever given for questionable behavior, "I have a wide stance" must fall somewhere between the schoolchild's favorite "the dog ate my homework" and President Clinton's "I didn't inhale."

But Sen. Larry Craig's contention -- made just after his arrest in a restroom sex sting -- has permeated the public consciousness, showing up as more than just the punch line to late-night talk show jokes.

The online Urban Dictionary defines "wide stance" as a euphemism for a closeted homosexual. David Kurtz of the blog Talking Points Memo called Craig's wide-stance claim "The Best Legal Defense of 2007." And Beau Jarvis, who writes about wine, travel and food on the blog "Basic Juice," notes that the phrase has become less than innocent and proposes "cleansing" it by using it to describe a well-balanced wine.

Craig uttered the now-famous phrase after an undercover police officer at the Minneapolis airport arrested him on June 11, according to police reports.

Sgt. Dave Karsnia claimed Craig entered a neighboring stall after peering at him through a crack in the door, then slid his foot underneath the stall divider, tapping it several times before moving it so it touched the officer's foot. Then, Karsnia said, Craig waved his hand underneath the divider. Karsnia said he recognized the gestures as a coded invitation for gay sex.

During questioning, the senator said he simply has a wide stance when using the restroom and that the officer must have seen him reaching to pick up a piece of paper on the floor, according to the police report.

Craig pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct, then unsuccessfully tried to withdraw his plea after the incident became public. Though he initially said he intended to resign, Craig vowed last week to serve out the last 15 months of his term.

Will "wide stance" last as long in popular usage?

"You search the blogosphere or even newspapers and you'll find a lot of references to it," said Grant Barrett, co-host of the nationwide public radio show "A Way With Words" and author of several slang dictionaries. "People are toying with the words, seeing how it feels on the keyboard."

Craig's office declined to comment.

The question to any new slang is whether it will last five or 10 years, Barrett said.

"How can we not mention Watergate and the -gate suffix? That's the single most successful new political word ever," Barrett said. "Over time, the use makes the original meaning become diminished -- even curse words, with use, their value diminishes and they become ordinary."

So far, about six weeks after the scandal broke, the slang shows no sign of slowing down. The Oct. 8 edition of The New Yorker magazine featured an illustration by Barry Blitt called "Narrow Stance," showing Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sitting in a men's room, looking down at another man's foot thrust underneath the stall divider.

In an Oct. 6 "Saturday Night Live" skit, comedian Amy Poehler remarked, "You do have a wide stance," as the punch line of a series of jokes about Craig. Late-night talk show hosts Jay Leno, David Letterman and others have also lampooned the senator's stance.

Still, another new slang term seems to be outpacing "wide stance" in the national lexicon, Barrett said. Unfortunately for Craig, it also stems from his scandal.

"Are you tracking the term 'toe-tapper?' That's gotten more traction than 'wide stance' so far," Barrett said. "They both have too much cachet. They're political, social, new, slangy and a little naughty."

Both phrases will likely make Barrett's short list of nominations for the most significant new word of 2007, as voted on by the American Dialect Society, he said.

"It's a whimsical vote that we do each year," said Barrett, who is a vice president for the society.

So what makes a new phrase last? It has to be useful, Barrett said, and it has to be able to stand alone, without a reference to its origin.

"There's a lot of political slang that hasn't lasted," he said. "The test will be when the story's old hat and then we'll know for sure." (Rebecca Boone, AP)

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

While I know it's wrong to derive pleasure from this man's suffering, I can't help myself. Like Dan Savage said in a podcast, incidents like this become a cutting retort. Whenever we're confronted with vociferous outrage or stinging rebukes from the religious right, we can counter with examples from within their own camp. "Oh! You are really making some noise Senator. You must be gay, too! Like that Craig guy. Or that Haggard guy." *jigs*

Britney Loses Custody Of Children

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Britney Loses Custody Of Children

A judge ruled Monday that Britney Spears must surrender custody of her two sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline because of her alleged substance abuse. What do you think?

Tessa Stokler, Taxidermist "Isn't there another relative or perhaps a perfect stranger the kids could live with?"

Sam Adkins, Systems Analyst "God, I hope there's some high-stakes poker game Federline could lose."

Chuck Strange, Clothing Inspector "At least now she'll have time to do more drugs and have more kids."

The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Lazy

The only printed new media I consistently bother with anymore is the Advocate. Really don't have a gay network of friends and I hate it when str8 co-workers hear about things before I do, so I've had a subscription for years. When I got the latest issue a few days ago I was excited to see how the interview with Hillary went. I was disappointed enough to actually write feeedback to the editor for the first time in more than a decade of readership. Went something like this:

Finished the latest issue and am liking the impact Luke Hayman brought; the pace and content of Forward section was very engaging. Yet the cover story was disappointing. It was basically a personal essay by Sean Kennedy reasoning how it's safe for our community to love Hillary despite her stance on same-sex marriage. While I thought it was well written and basically agree, the big, bold, yellow letters on the cover say INTERVIEW. So… where's the interview? The one that Stockwell said, "marks the first time a presidential front-runner has sat down with the gay press so early in the campaign." I missed that interview.

Guess I'm going to have to actually research Hillary on my own. *sigh*

Senator Craig Arrested

Friday, August 31, 2007

Senator Craig Arrested

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) was arrested for lewd conduct at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport for allegedly attempting to cruise an undercover cop in a public restroom. What do you think?

Liza Boors, Systems Analyst "I don't have any problem with his behavior, as long as he wasn't trying to marry the guy."

Tom Hawkins, Bus Driver "Are you thinking what I'm thinking? What was a senator from Idaho doing in Minnesota?"

Joe Palazzo, Meter Reader "This situation begs a much bigger question: Why is our police force so tempting?"

The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Gays Under Rocks, In Shadows, Literally Everywhere

Senator Craig appears to be off of CNN's radar but the local and gay media are still tracking in. Currently Craig's counsel is making the last few attempts to get the original guilty plea rescinded. Funny how this is still dragging on. After his carefully worded “I have never been gay” press conference. And after his adopted kids stepped onto Good Morning America with redirection from the “ZOMG is Dad the Gay?1!?” to this being exclusively about an “accusation of a lewd, immoral, illegal act.” Whatever.

Giggling about this over dinner with a friend when she pointed out something I hadn't even considered: tapping your feet in a public restroom does not constitute a lewd, immoral, illegal act. A lot more than that must have gone on… but what? Wish I could get my hands on the police report since I don't believe the “wrong place at the wrong time” claims. Desperate defenses and outlandish assertions aside, Craig plead guilty. A college-educated man with over 30 years experience in the political system made a crap shoot and lost. Time to move on, Senator.

The first comment on the original article still makes me smile: “Didn't I read this story yesterday and the day before and the day before that? Oh no wait those were all stories about other married republican conservative christians showing their family values to strangers in public bathrooms.” Politicians are going to be loosely representative of their constituency, which means a de facto 10% are homosexual. That 10% needs to fucking represent their minority. Hopefully (sic) there will be some decent human beings in the remaining 90% to back them up.

At a minimum, stop demonizing homosexuals and give us the civil rights we so richly deserve. Not as entitlement but as members of the human race. Regardless of what prophets or whores claim, we're normal people with jobs, dreams, hopes, CD collections, and all that life stuff. We're doctors, lawyers, baristas, grocery clerks, neighbors, friends and family members. Besides, we need room for hypocrisy in other, more pedantic areas… *snicker*

• Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
  William Hazlitt

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Madonna An 'Ambassador For Judaism'

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Madonna An 'Ambassador For Judaism'

Madonna, meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, told him that she was an ambassador for Judaism, despite not being Jewish herself. What do you think?

Adam McCaulley, Marketing Executive "I hope Jews reject that claim. The economy of La Isla Bonita is still in ruins after her tenure as finance minister in 1987."

Jake Palley, Bouncer "I guess that explains why her private jet firebombed Lebanon on the way to Israel."

Shira Rosenthal, Data Secialist "As the self-appointed ambassador for Madonna, I will speak for her and say that she's lost her mind."

The Onion - America's Finest News Source