Idaho Politics: Commentary

Novak: Senate R’s Knew Craig “Had This Problem”

By Jill Kuraitis, 10-07-07

It seems there’s more to the never-ending drama of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s refusal to slink away in shame.

Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after his arrest in June in a Minneapolis airport men’s room. The undercover officer said Craig was soliciting sex, but the senator maintains his innocence. Last week, a judge denied Craig’s petition to reverse his guilty plea.

Novak said that?
Conservative newspaper columnist and political talk-show regular Robert Novak said Sunday that Larry Craig’s Republican Senate colleagues knew about Craig’s “weird conduct” and their cover-up is “coming back to haunt them.”

Appearing on Bloomberg TV’s “Political Capital” program, host Al Hunt asked Novak to comment on Craig’s future.  Hunt, Novak, and commentator Margaret Carlson had this conversation:

Novak: The public’s kind of sitting around saying, what bad thing can happen to us now…and that’s the latest bad thing…they thought he was gone, and he isn’t gone, they’re going to have to do something about it… they can’t just let him sit around for the rest of the two years, they’re going to have to make some kind of resolution, they’re going to have to get him in a room and slap him around and say get outta here, because he is..

Hunt: …but not a bathroom…

Novak (laughs) …or some kind of place, because he’s an embarrassment to the Party…it’s even conceivable…it’s hard to think…they could even lose that seat.

Carlson:  But…slapping him around figuratively or literally hasn’t worked so far…and that’s because Larry Craig saw…that living in the shadows, he was ashamed of what had happened and didn’t fight it.  And then if he had, like many statutes like this, vagrancy and whatever, these are unenforceable when you challenge them, they’re vague…and nothing happens….he regrets pleading guilty, he was too ashamed.

Hunt:  Margaret, did they slap around David Vitter of Louisiana too, who was with prostitutes?

Carlson: The Republicans are a little more forgiving of heterosexuals than homosexuals, that’s the first thing.  And there’s a Democratic governor in New Orleans, so they were afraid if they slapped around Vitter too much, that seat would go Democratic.

Novak:  I have talked to several of my sources in the Senate…and I…this came as a huge surprise to me as I said on this program…they knew about it. They knew he had this problem… it was, it was in the closet, it was not just a homosexual relationship, it was this weird, weird conduct and they didn’t do anything about it.  So the Republicans, again like in the case of Congressman Foley, their cover-up is coming back to haunt them.

There he goes, all inappropriate again
Craig is scheduled for induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame, and he plans to attend the October 13 ceremony in Boise.  Run by the nonprofit Idaho Hall of Fame Association, its motto is “Idahoans on Loan to the World.” Northern Idaho mining powerhouse Harry Magnuson, who contributes to both Republicans and Democrats, is a board member, and said the decision to honor Craig was made months ago, before Craig’s arrest became public.

The idea that BSU football coach Chris Peterson, BSU president Bob Kustra, and two others will receive the same honor alongside Craig, might have a few people just a tad…livid, do we think?

I’m just a little irritated myself.

Even though it won’t work, sign here if you’re mad
Nampa, Idaho’s says he is starting the process to impeach Craig, even knowing it’s a long shot.  The process he intends to follow is explained on his website. After gathering the required signatures, “Idahopower-less will demand, in the name of the people of the United States of America, that the House of Representatives immediately start Impeachment and or Expulsion proceedings against Senator Larry E. Craig. We will also use the power of your signatures to demand that the Senate Ethics Committee make all of its hearings on Senator Craig open to the public.”

Only one Senator in history has been impeached, and explusion requires a yea vote by two-thirds of the members.  With the Senate’s near 50-50 split, that doesn’t seem remotely possible. But Bristol believes the effort must be made, even though his website says he “makes no moral judgments.”

Huh? 

Brad, your effort to be fair is appreciated, but in this case, I think it’s okay.

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