BeatNick
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| I did not have sexual relations with that donkey. (Source: Creative Commons) |
In the midst of the Larry Craig scandal, I never anticipated Arlen Specter coming out of the closet.
The Democratic Party’s closet, that is.
To recap: in June, Larry Craig, the Republican senior senator from Idaho, plays footsie in a Minnesota bathroom with the man in the adjacent stall. That man is an undercover cop. Craig pleads guilty to disorderly conduct and vehemently denies being gay. No one believes him and his Republican colleagues call for his resignation, which he turns in September 1.
Case closed, right? Not quite. Just as it’s dying down, Arlen Specter rekindles the scandal by publicly encouraging Craig to fight the case and reconsider his resignation. To the dismay of his fellow Republicans, Craig listens and files to withdraw his guilty plea, ensuring that the controversy will remain in the headlines for months to come. Democrats and the media rejoice.
It’s a move so damaging to the Republican Party that there’s only one possible explanation:
Arlen Specter is not a Republican at all.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying that Specter isnt right. He was a prosecutor, and he knows the law as well as anyone. You could definitely claim that Craig didn’t actually do anything illegal. You could contend that Craig’s arrest was unconstitutional. You could say that Craig’s guilty plea is invalid because it was made under extreme emotional duress. These arguments are legitimate, but they’re all tangential to the key issue.
By defending Craig, Specter has betrayed his party. And by encouraging Craig to withdraw his resignation, Specter has initiated a process that will haunt the GOP when elections come a year from now. Along with the presidential race, 34 Senate seats are up for grabs. 22 of those are currently held by Republicans.
If Larry Craig has found a friend in Arlen Specter, so too has the Democratic Party.
Just come out of the closet, Arlen. We know.
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Editor’s Note: The Spin regrets the error made in referring to the involved police officer as an FBI agent. The error has since been corrected.
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September 13th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Specter started out as a Democrat prior to running for (and winning) the District Attorney position in Philadelphia in the mid 60’s.
September 13th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Undercover FBI? It was a local cop. Why would the FBI be involved in stopping bathroom sex? Do you even know what the FBI does?
You don’t even have the sequence of events right; Craig had already stated his intention to withdraw his guilty plea before Specter came to defend him.
You might want to get a grasp of the basic details of the scandal before you start gay-baiting a US Senator.
September 13th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
oops. Thank’s Bob, my error.
September 13th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
well, to clarify: my error on the FBI thing. I stand by my version of the sequence of events. Here’s a link from msnbc: (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20593999/)
A telephone call Craig received last week from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., urging him to consider fighting for his seat is affecting Craig’s decision to reconsider his resignation, Smith [his spokesman] said.