[Vision2020] Craig may resign

Fri Aug 31 08:56:27 PDT 2007

Ok...I've been listening to this sh*t for about as long as I can and not 
made a single on-line comment...but today I will.

Sen. Craig IS NOT CONSIDERING resigning and certainly is not doing so with 
the idea that he did anything wrong.  The REPUBLICAN PARTY has written a 
statement that they would like Sen. Craig to sign and then read to the 
public and then they would like him to go away.  A HUGE part of all this 
politiking at it's worst.  It has so, so little to do with facts and the 
"crime" allegedly involved as it does with some that are in power just want 
Sen. Craig gone.

I have been in contact with his office (I have known Sen. Craig for over 15 
years now) and they are totally devastated by this mess as is his family.  
The Craigs' have been hounded by two newspapers this entire summer to the 
point of distraction.  Sen. Craig had the misfortune to get into a bathroom 
where a seemingly rouge cop with a chip on his shoulder and a grudge against 
the world (you hear in his own statements and his own voice if you listen to 
the recording) because he was given "a duty that I did not want and was only 
given to me as a 'punishment' for what the brass thought was bad behavior on 
my part".  This man obviously was out to get anyone and when he saw the 
Senator standing outside of his stall for two minutes (while the Senator was 
waiting for a stall to open up,) he saw his chance to land a big fish and 
get back into the good graces of his supervisors.  This is a very angry cop.

Again, listening to the recording you can hear that the COP made the "first 
move" (if that's what it was) and Mr. Craig's response was that "maybe our 
feet did touch - I don't recall that they did."

Also, you hear the cop say that he saw Sen. Craig's "left hand" come under 
the stall and he knew it to be the left hand because of the "gold ring on 
(Sen. Craig's) hand."  Ok...figure this out.  Sen. Craig was sitting on the 
cop's left side, facing in the same direction.  He'd have had to turn his 
body totally around, which would have put his feet to the side of the toilet 
and partially under the stall walls, and then he would have had to reach 
completely under the stall wall in order for that cop to see that ring.  Try 
it your self - IF Sen. Craig did reach under the stall with just his finger 
tips (cop's own description of what happened) there is NO WAY the ring is 
visible.  NO WAY.  At most, the ring would be seen while the cop handcuffed 
the Senator.

I have talked to several police officials both in Idaho and in other places 
and they all say the same things that I have to several of you off list - 
where is the surveillance equipment that stings like this usually use in 
order to back up these kind of "operations"?  There was no recorder, no 
camera, no NOTHING that says what this cop saw Mr. Craig do was what really 
happened.  Why isn't anyone else asking this?

Why is everyone so eager to jump on this guy's back and claim "You did it 
and you damn will know it.  NOW QUIT!"  What happened to presumed innocent 
until proven otherwise?

Yes, I do realize and acknowledge that he plead guilty to a MISDEMEANOR 
charge of disorderly conduct.  Again, you listen to the intimidation and 
ridicule that cop heaps onto the Senator and you have to understand - he did 
what he thought would best defuse the situation so his family and his state 
would not suffer like they are now.  Was it the right thing to do?  No, but 
how many of us would be willing to admit we have made mistakes (pleading 
guilty to something he didn't do) and just looked for the easiest way to 
explain them?  Sen. Craig felt he had no choice...this cop was going to take 
him to jail "unless (he) doesn't cooperate" with the cop and say things went 
they way the COP says they did.  Classic intimidation procedure.

And how about what this Senator has done for the State of Idaho for over the 
past 30 years?  I mean, IF he did this, we are not talking about him taking 
advantage of anyone under age, of a weaker status or handicapped.  We are 
talking about an alleged act of possible solicitation - when did that become 
a capital crime worthy of this type of reaction and over-reaction?  Why does 
this one act negate 30 years of dedicated service to this state and its 
families?

Get a grip, peeps - this Senator did nothing that warrants this type of 
out-crying of "Hang'em - hang'em high!"

And before we all go jumping off another cliff - get the facts.  As far as 
his Office is concerned - Sen. Craig is NOT considering quitting.  It is the 
Republican Party that wants him out and has drafted a statement - not Sen. 
Craig.

Hell, if a Kennedy had done this, we'd all be saying "Oh well - they's at it 
again." and let things continue on - business as usual.

J  :]

>From: Mark Solomon <msolomon at moscow.com>
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Craig may resign
>Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:47:30 -0700
>
>Craig May Resign, Republicans Say
>
>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>Published: August 31, 2007
>
>Filed at 9:42 a.m. ET
>
>
>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is considering resigning, 
>Republican officials said Friday, after days of public and private pressure 
>stemming from his arrest in June in a police undercover operation at an 
>airport men's room.
>
>Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on Aug. 1, and while he has 
>since said he did nothing wrong, the episode has roiled the Republican 
>party and produced numerous calls for him to step down.
>
>As a measure of the pressure Craig faces, party officials said a statement 
>had been drafted at Republican Party headquarters calling for the 
>third-term senator to resign. It was not issued, these officials said, in 
>response to concerns that it might complicate quiet efforts under way to 
>persuade the 62-year-old lawmaker to give up his seat.
>
>Any resignation would clear the way for Gov. C.L. ''Butch'' Otter, a 
>Republican, to name a replacement who would serve until the end of Craig's 
>current term in 2009. Lt. Gov. James Risch and Rep. Mike Simpson were among 
>the possible replacements, according to the GOP officials, who spoke on 
>condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the 
>matter publicly.
>
>Craig has not made any public statements about his case since an appearance 
>earlier this week in Boise, Idaho, in which he said he had done nothing 
>wrong. ''I am not gay. I never have been gay,'' he added emphatically.
>
>He said any additional comment would be posted on his official Web site, 
>where the only reference to the incident as of Friday morning was a text of 
>the statement he read before the television cameras.
>
>Craig, 62, served in the House before winning his first Senate term in 
>1990, and compiled a strongly conservative voting record.
>
>He was arrested on June 11 by an undercover police officer in a Minneapolis 
>airport men's room who said the senator had engaged in conduct ''often used 
>by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.''
>
>Minutes after he was arrested for lewd conduct, Craig denied soliciting for 
>sex, saying ''I'm not gay. I don't do these kinds of things,'' according to 
>an audio tape released by police on Thursday.
>
>He denied that he had used foot and hand gestures to signal interest in a 
>sexual encounter. The officer, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, accused the three-term 
>senator of lying and grew exasperated with his denials.
>
>''Embarrassing, embarrassing. No wonder why we're going down the tubes,'' 
>Karsnia said.
>
>In the police interview, Craig, 62, never admitted doing anything wrong and 
>said his actions had been misinterpreted. However, Karsnia wrote in his 
>report that the gestures were consistent with efforts to find a sexual 
>partner in the men's room.
>
>Craig later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, which 
>he now calls a mistake.
>
>More Republicans distanced themselves from Craig on Thursday. Sen. John 
>Ensign of Nevada, who chairs the GOP's senatorial campaign committee, 
>stopped short of calling on him to resign but suggested strongly that he 
>should.
>
>''I wouldn't put myself hopefully in that kind of position, but if I was in 
>a position like that, that's what I would do,'' Ensign told The Associated 
>Press in his home state. ''He's going to have to answer that for himself.''
>
>The party's Senate leadership had previously called for the ethics 
>committee to investigate, and on Wednesday took the highly unusual measure 
>of asking him to give up his seniority in committee positions. Craig 
>complied.
>
>On the tape, Craig and the arresting officer can be heard arguing over what 
>happened in the men's room minutes earlier. Craig acknowledges that the 
>men's feet bumped but says nothing improper happened.
>
>''Did we bump? Yes, I think we did. You said so. I don't disagree with 
>that,'' Craig said.
>
>But Craig disputes the officer's account that he swept his hand under the 
>stall next to him in an apparent effort to advance the encounter. They even 
>disagree whether Craig used his right hand or his left hand.
>
>Craig said he was merely trying to pick up a piece of paper -- an account 
>the officer disputes.
>
>''I'm telling you that I could see, so I know that's your left hand. Also I 
>could see a gold ring on this finger, so that's obvious it was the left 
>hand,'' Karsnia tells Craig.
>
>''Well we can dispute that,'' Craig says. ''I'm not going to fight you in 
>court. I reached down with my right hand to pick up the paper.''
>
>Karsnia said in a police report that he recognized Craig's hand gesture as 
>a signal aimed at initiating sex. ''It should be noted that there was not a 
>piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of 
>paper,'' he said in the report.
>
>Karsnia, 29, joined the airport police department just out of college in 
>2000 and was promoted to sergeant in 2005. Last year, he earned a master's 
>degree in criminal justice, leadership and education.
>
>------
>
>Associated Press writers Scott Sonner in Reno, Nev., Joshua Freed in 
>Minneapolis, Todd Dvorak in Idaho and Liz Sidoti in Washington contributed 
>to this report.

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