Larry Craig: Toe-Tapping In An Airport Restroom Is A Legitimate Senate Activity

Lawyers for former GOP Sen. Larry Craig will argue tomorrow before a federal court that his activities in that Minnesota airport restroom were a legitimate part of his job as a U.S. Senator. Seriously. The Federal Election Commission has charged Craig with illegally using $216,000 in campaign funds in his attempt to have his tearoom toe-tapping guilty plea withdrawn.

“Craig was arrested for purely personal conduct unrelated to his duties as a federal officeholder,” FEC attorneys argued in a legal brief, adding that “nothing about his officials duties caused him to engage in that personal conduct in the airport restroom, or to subsequently plead guilty, or to thereafter try to withdraw that guilty plea.” Craig’s attorneys, in their own legal briefs, counter that Craig was “engaged in official, Senate-sponsored travel” at the time of his arrest. While stressing that “they do not claim that using a restroom while traveling is strictly ‘official’ conduct,” the defense attorneys insist that the arrest and subsequent litigation “directly implicated” his public office.

Craig is now a lobbyist for coal mining and timber companies. (Via Mike Rogers)

Tap, Tap (Tappin' In The Tearoom)

Drag queen Candy Samples gives us a preview of the Republican convention.

MSNBC's Tucker Carlson: I Smack Down Cruising Homos

The gays-as-dirty-potty-cruisers angle seems to be overtaking the coverage of Sen. Craig's arrest. Last night on MSNBC, Tucker Carlson recounted having, with friends, beaten up a man who allegedly hit on him in a men's room, much to the hilarity of his co-hosts. Carlson described himself as "the least anti-gay right-winger you'll ever meet". Yeah, cuz gay-friendly guys beat up guys that hit on them. Gawker headlined their coverage of this as "Tucker Carlson Beats Up Gay Men With His Friends". As Gawker notes, it sure sounds like Carlson admitted to a crime on-air, doesn't it? Carlson claims his tearoom-troller was arrested. Surely somebody out there can find proof of this, if it actually happened.



I like this comment on the Gawker post:

Dear Tucker,

Just a quick note to remind you about:

a)Dancing With The Stars
b)Your bowtie collection

Sincerely,
Your Repressed Homosexuality
.

CNN On Airport Cruising And Craig's Press Conference

CNN interviewed the head of Atlanta's Hartsfield airport security to ask about their recent restroom sting operations, which have netted 45 "CEO's, bank presidents, and college professors" among others. To his credit, the airport cop says, "You would think that it would be a gay issue but overwhelmingly, more and more, we're seeing that these are people with families." The niggling implication that gay men don't have families aside, it's good to see him frame this as an issue of closeted "straight" men. He also describes the gay public cruising website (unnamed, but obviously CruisingForSex.com) as a "valuable resource" for the police. (Video via - Towleroad.) And just for fun, here's then Representative Craig's 1982 denial of having had sex with male minor Capitol Hill pages. It's kind of amazing that it took 25 years for Craig to get busted.