In politics, people lie in order to gain what they think is extra political power. They deceive those they claim to represent in order to appear to be "one of the boys", however they think that is defined. I despise this. It doesn't matter which political party you talk about, they all have people who do this. No group is exempt from having idiots in their midst.
One story is a perfect example that I've been neglecting to write about for far too long.
Allow me to introduce to you ex- Republican Senator Larry Craig. The "ex-" is on purpose because he is no longer a Senator. The reason why is the story I shall tell.
He served many, many years (Almost 30) in Congress in one form or another. However, his actions don't matter much, because it's what occurred outside of Washington that this story focuses on.
June 11, 2007 he was arrested for "lewd conduct". Specifically for soliciting sexual activity from another male while in the bathroom of an airport.
He mailed in a plea to the court dated August 1.
On August 28, he held a press conference admitting to the arrest, but saying he regretted pleading guilty, thinking he should have fought it.
On September 1 he announced his resignation. Much evidence showed that his resignation was due to being pushed out by fellow Republicans trying to get rid of this scandal.
"So what's the big problem?" You may say. Which I seriously hope you are NOT thinking that. The problems here are numerous and on many levels.
First off, let's admit something: Larry Craig was not arrested for committing any real crime. He was arrested for trying to pick up a date.
Skipping that it was in a bathroom, Let's look at it seriously: Had Larry Craig tried to pick up a woman, even an under-cover cop, the absolute worst that would have happened was them saying he cheated on his wife. He would never have been arrested and most likely would have simply got laid, with no one else caring.
But since he tried picking up another guy, he was subjected to criminal proceedings. And because of the due diligence of the law enforcement involved, I'm sure the world is much safer now from theft, assault and murder.
So the law system is at fault. Now let's discuss his Republican companions.
Is companions the right word? In this case, I'd say "fair-weather friends" is a better description. Remember I mentioned how long Larry was in politics. One thing I am comfortable with in politics is this: They all spend lots of money researching each others weaknesses. This is done to help defeat them during campaigns, but also to help give leverage during law-making negotiations. In other words, to blackmail each other.
If Larry is truly gay and truly tried picking up occasional strangers and isn't a victim to a serious case of railroading, then there is no way Larry spent that many years in politics without any of his fellow Republicans learning about it.
But that is one thing I recall the most when this came public, was how "shocked" his fellow congressmen were at learning about this. Supposedly, he hid it from everyone until his Aug. 28 press conference.
Bullshit! When a member of Congress gets arrested for a gay activity (again, something you should not be arrested for to begin with) word gets around. Those mates of his knew. They didn't just find out 79 days after the arrest. I'm willing to bet lots of money a few of them knew about his activities long before the arrest. But since it was private they looked the other way. Which, by the way was the right thing to do. His sex life, public or private, was none of their business.
But when it became public, they pulled him aside and told him that this scandal would hurt the Republican party and for the good of the party he should leave. So a few days later he caved in and agreed to leave.
Here's the truth: That they pushed him out because of this scandal was what hurt the Republican party.
They pushed him out because they feared angering the more idiotic constituents that have problems with homosexuality.
Had they simply been honest. Had they publicly said "His sexual activities may require some serious discussions between him, his wife and family, but it does not change his activities, nor our opinion of him as a congressman. We stand by our fellow Republican." It would have been a huge, and I mean H-U-G-E push toward destroying the myth that all Republicans are bigots. (Not all of them are. Just some. And same With Dems. They have plenty of bigots there too.)
Had they simply admitted publicly what they admit to privately, ("Hey it's his business") they may have lost the support of a few stupid homophobes, but they would have gained the support of so many other groups. It would have been a huge gain for the Republican party and could very well have been the catalyst that destroys the Democrats, who claim to try to bring folks together while actually pushing everyone into more and more separated groups.
But no. The republicans involved in this lied. They lied about not knowing about Larry's activities. And when it became public, they lied about their feeling about it. Instead of standing up for Truth, they lied and tossed out one of their own in an effort to keep political power they don't truly posses.
You who were involved in this. You are not political leaders. You are puppets for those who have bad, evil ideas. You pander and follow when you should be strong and honest.
And instead of getting laid, Larry got screwed.
And don't think I'm any fan of the Democrats either. I have plenty of stories about their actions that have pissed me off too. But those are for other posts.