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Tag(s): Cheating; Craig-Larry; Ethics; Hypocrisy; Legislation; Marriage; Media; Men; Other; Personal; (more...) Policy; Republican; Resignations; Sanctions; Sex; Sex (less...)
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September 1, 2007 at 09:05:02

Craig Resignation Exposes Double-Standards

by Constance Lavender Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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It will have been at least six days since Senator Larry Craig, a conservative Republican, family-values US Senator from Idaho burst onto the scene titillating the media and public with noir images of a rain coat claden sixty-two year old public servant lurking in airport restrooms.

The senator will resign today.

That decision is the correct one; and it exposes the hypocrisy and cynicism of an ideology that espouses civic and personal virtue, while simultaneously violating the norms that the party promotes.

Some have suggested that three cases of alleged misconduct (Craig, Senator David Vitter, and former Representative Marc Foley) does not constitute a pattern significant to warrant a charge of hypocrisy and cynicism. That leaves out, of course, Congressman Duke Cunningham, Senator Bob Packwood, former Representative Robert Livingston, and the former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

Irony is not lost on a closer look at the present cases and their outcome.

Both Craig and Foley, involved in homosexual misconduct, resigned from their respective chambers, and that is proper. But Senator David Vitter likewise deserves at least an investigation from the D.C. Madam incident, and certainly referral to the US Senate Ethics Committee.

There is not one reservoir of outrage for one set of offenses, and a second reservoir of outrage for another; they are all equally condemnable, and should result in similar sanctions.

David Vitter's misconduct, which he has essentially acknowledged, is no less heinous because he admitted it, than Craig's conduct is damning because he denied it.

Defending marriage, the very institution Republicans call to protect by guarding it against the type of behavior David Vitter exhibited, comes closer to the goal of the pro-family-values measures, like DOMA, that the Republican Party supports, than does defeating hate crimes legislation and banning gay marriage ,which essentially expands and embraces marriage, whether hetero- or homosexual, and encourages the type of closeted, shameful behavior engaged in by Craig through his own guilty plea.

There is no moral difference, in other words, between David Vitter's consorting with a prostitute and Craig's soliciting public sex with another man, since both were cheating on their wives outside the bonds and promises of their marriages.

And the moral violation is further darkened by the policy positions both men advocate as conservative, pro-family-values Republicans. To treat them differently, or to say that one violation justifies leaving, but the other does not, is hypocritical and cynical.

Of course, Republicans are not inherently more depraved or immoral than are others of differing political persuasions, but what marks Republicans for added scorn is their own party's self-righteous condemnation of behaviors that are neither unnatural nor (should they be) illegal, but are nevertheless translated into specific conservative Republican, pro-family-values policy positions that are irrefutably anti-gay.

And considering the seven cases cited above that does constitute a pattern of misjudgement, hypocrisy, and cynicism.

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15 comments

Editor of Common Sense Political Thought, mostly Republican (but not always), mostly conservative (but again, not always), always interesting.
Dana PicoEditor of Common Sense Political Thought, mostly Republican (but not always), mostly conservative (but again, not always), always interesting.

In an amazing demonstration of bi-partisanship, . . .

. . . Miss Lavender lists all of the other Republicans who became enmeshed in sex scandals, in telling us that all should be treated the same.

One wonders: has she never heard of Wayne Hays (having a secretary paid to do no work other than service him) or Wilbur Mills (a drunk who was infatuated with a stripper) or Barney Frank (having a male prostitute work out of his Washington home) or Garry Studds (who was having sex with (not just flirting with, like Mark Foley, but actually having sex with) a 17 year old boy, or Ted Kennedy (who killed a woman on their way to whatever they had planned)?

There is, of course, a difference: four of those five (Mr Hays the exception) not only didn't resign, but ran for re-election -- and won.

by Dana Pico (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 164 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 11:45:01 AM

Constance Lavender is an HIV-Positive pseudonymous freelance e-journalist from a little isle off the coast of Jersey; New Jersey, that is...In the Best spirit of Silence Dogood and Benj. Franklin, Ms. Lavender believes that a free country is premised on a free press.
Constance LavenderConstance Lavender is an HIV-Positive pseudonymous freelance e-journalist from a little isle off the coast of Jersey; New Jersey, that is...In the Best spirit of Silence Dogood and Benj. Franklin, Ms. Lavender believes that a free country is premised on a free press.

it's not the sex...

...but the double-standards and hypocrisy, of those who claim on the one-hand to hold some moral superiority by virtue of being a family-values conservative, yet engage in the same sort of conduct that they condemn, that is disturbing, Dana.

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 12:12:13 PM

Comment is hidden

Oh, please!

You don't think that the Democrats don't posture and tell us what great and moral people they are? And you might note that many of the Democratic scandals involved breaking both the law and their oaths of office -- such as Wilbur Mills using federal money to pay for his mistress and Gerry Studds having sex with a 17 year old page.

Where in your article did you mention William Jefferson, and his $90,000 of very cold cash, or Alan Mollohan, and apparent financial misdealings? As you complained about the Defense of Marriage Act and the Republicans who supported it, where was your mentioon of Bill Clinton, who signed it into law, and has a somewhat less-than-sterling record in the marital vows arena?

You said:

There is not one reservoir of outrage for one set of offenses, and a second reservoir of outrage for another; they are all equally condemnable, and should result in similar sanctions,

Well, perhaps not for sets of offenses, but you apparently have separate reservoirs of outrage based on political party.

by Dana Pico (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 164 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 1:03:31 PM

blah, blah, blah...

Dana, I'm simply NOT TALKING ABOUT money scandals or scandals about Democrats, my dear. It isn't the topic of the article. If you would like to write an article of your own, and post it on this site, by all means do so....

You have an entire website which you write on, yet on this site you simply snipe and whine because you dislike the writer's opinions.

That's why it's called OpEdnews.

Of course, I'm sure your equally balanced in your treatment of Democrats...as I've now indicated on your site.

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 1:31:39 PM

For the Record...

Dana Pico is an "opednews.com sniper," as I like to call them. She has her own website, but contributes no articles on this site...just alot of deragotory comments; good for her!

On her website today, she claims that although she did not call for Craig to resign, she's not sorry to see him go because at least he'll be replaced by another conservative Republican! She goes on, in her fine "bipartisan" tradition, to say that she wished what befell Craig had happened to a Democrat in a state with a Republican governor. More "bipartisanship"....

This is how her websirte describes itself: "

"This is the political website of Ken Vermillion and Dana Pico, mostly conservative, sometimes not, usually Republican, but not always. We believe in the Bill of Rights, we believe in capitalism, and we believe in an aggressive foreign policy. Political correctness will not be found here."

"We’ve been best friends for over thirty years, having met when we were students at the University of Kentucky. Time and families and distance had us physically separated, but we have maintained a close friendship by mail (before there was e-mail) and now via the computer. We’ve always been interested in publishing our thoughts, and this is how we have chosen to do it. (National Review, if you’d like to pay us, we’ll accept!) We aren’t the same person, and we do have some mostly minor political disagreements. For example, we disagree on capital punishment. You’ll probably see those, too."

AND THAT'S THE REST OF THE STORY.....

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:44:17 PM

whoops....

I've been told Dana is a man not a woman....my apology!

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:59:02 PM

umm...

...actually, I didn't take the time to look at all the Republican sex scandals....would have taken too long, and I'm just interested in the Republican sex scandals of the family-values conservative crowd....

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:54:49 PM

Lifelong reader, sometime writer with eclectic tastes and libertarian leanings. Don't hold my semi-notorious Berkeley history against me, I settled down so completely after 40 that I can barely recall my loosy-goosy self. But it sure beats going to the same party every night.
LaudymsLifelong reader, sometime writer with eclectic tastes and libertarian leanings. Don't hold my semi-notorious Berkeley history against me, I settled down so completely after 40 that I can barely recall my loosy-goosy self. But it sure beats going to the same party every night.

Media frenzy is hypocritical too

All the pompous posturing by politicians sets them up for these types of scandals. And since we've lost control of our government to corperate lobbyists, we extract our revenge in denying pols any private life. Meanwhile the media is overjoyed to have another excuse to avoid real news.

The name of the game is "how low can you go?" Vicariously or otherwise.

by Laudyms (0 articles, 856 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 440 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 1:40:42 PM

CD Rodgers lives in West Virginia where she works for a national poverty-focused charity. She also publishes a web site, CafeLeft.com.
CD RodgersCD Rodgers lives in West Virginia where she works for a national poverty-focused charity. She also publishes a web site, CafeLeft.com.

Political Outrage

Vitter and Craig's indescretions should illicit the same type of reaction as they were both married men who damaged their families. The how of it seems less important, and I do feel sympathy for Craig for being someone who could not openly be who he is.

On the other hand, he made policy that supported discrimination, a unique kind of self-hatred that effected other people.

The republican party threw him under the bus because he's an albatross they do not have to live with. It's cutthroat, his senate seat will be replaced by the choice of a republican governor.

Vitter favored prostitutes, much more acceptable to republicans than homosexuals I guess, and Vitter wasn't coaxed out by the party leadership, as a democratic governor would have filled his seat with a democratic replacement.

by CD Rodgers (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 88 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:23:49 PM

I agree..

Your analysis of the political fall out from the scandals seems on target.

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 2:30:41 PM

Veteran, Political Conultant, writter. single, GWM. Escaped from Kentucky and student working on my Masters. Living in Indianapolis.
GareeceVeteran, Political Conultant, writter. single, GWM. Escaped from Kentucky and student working on my Masters. Living in Indianapolis.

They couldn't wait to Impeach Clintion

The same people who are getting busted for the things do. Are the same people who voted to impeach President Clintion. Their so called Family values are bit twisted in my opinion. So what good the goose is for the gander. No one is above the Law

by Gareece (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 46 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 5:05:26 PM

Harpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.
PappyHarpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.

It's all about hypocrisy...

...and it just so happens that when it comes to homosexual thoughts, desires, and actions, hypocrisy is the name of the game. Neither party has a lock on this hypocrisy. Dennis Kucinich is the only Democrats even willing to accept that gays are human beings first and foremost. Many thanks to you, Dennis. The other Democratic candidates either say nothing, or they pretend their meaningless bullshit is a nuanced position.

Then there are the Republicans. Not a one of them is willing to even speak about gays as if they are human. The worst of this particular lot is Rudy Giulliani, miss drag queen herself. What's even worse is how he has seemingly changed himself from a middle of the roader to liberal to someone at least as far to the right as Dick(LESS) Cheney. If this isn't hypocrisy in action, what is?

Now to get back to the topic...

There is a double standard when it comes to gay versus straight sexual indiscretion. Further, there is a double-standard depending on whether the person caught with their hands in the bad boy cookie jar is a Democrat or a Republican.

Remember Bill Clinton's indiscretions?

From the way the RepubliKKKans reacted, you would have thought that Clinton had sold secrets to the old USSR, or had outed a CIA operative. And it's not even their reaction to it that's the biggest batch of bullshit. The biggest batch of bullshit is the number of hot-blooded, lust-filled Republicans who were gnashing their teeth and chomping at the bit to get Clinton impeached. Who were the members of that "family values" fraternity? Newt Gingrich, Mark Foley, and Larry Craig. At the time, Gingrich was boning some bimbette even as his wife was lying in a hospital with cancer, Foley was putting the moves on congressional pages, and Craig was exercising his "wide stance on the toilet" maneuvers as well. Crusty pots calling a nasty kettle black...how interesting...how typical...how hypocritical!

And now we have watched as two lavender legislators from both houses have been thrown under the bus so to speak, while whore monger (and hypocrite in his own right) David Vitter only had to show up, give a mia cupla with his wife in her atrocious dress, and all was forgiven. No intimation about how his playing with the DC Madam was in diametric opposition to his supposed "family values" stand. No attempt to throw him under a bus of any kind. One mia culpa makes that much difference?

While the case could be argued that the difference might actually be the mia culpa, I really REALLY doubt that one simple "my bad" was the only difference. And while I really REALLY don't have a problem with Foley being thrown under a bus because I find pedophilia reprehensible, I really don't think that Larry Craig's "crime" should have resulted in putting tire tracks on his mid section. Was it because he was gay that he was so easy to throw under a bus? Considering the track record the Republicans have on gay issues, I think the answer is, "yes." Does this expose a double standard? Once again, as your article states, I think the answer is another indisputable, "yes!"

With all that said, I also need to say that watching as he gets squashed under the great greyhound has some measure of pleasure. In this case, the Republican hypocrisy isn't so bothersome. I have no drop of sympathy or empathy for someone who would persecute his brothers while committing the same crimes as those brothers. Karma can be a real bitch, and in this case, I hope that bitch has a bad case of PMS!

Blessed be!
Pappy

by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 8:01:09 PM

David Vitter should be immediately investigated...

....and removed from office as well. The Republican family-values crowd can not have it both ways...although apparently Larry Craig did...

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 10:25:40 PM

Harpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.
PappyHarpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.

I couldn't agree more...

...clearly, the penalties for the sexual peccadilloes of the goose should be the same as the gander, no matter what their sexual identity. That's clearly not the case in the case of David Vitter.

I really get the feeling that even if Larry Craig had put forth his own mia culpa, and oh, let's say...TRIED to show some amount of contrition for his deeds, perhaps he might not be being handed his ass on a platter. Whether or not he meant it is immaterial. Sincerity is something that can't be found in the city where Larry Craig works.

We will really never know on this one. Since the story played out as it has, Larry Craig will surely bear the shame for his deeds from now until he breathes his last.

As far as Vitter, I think he should be investigated, but let's be realistic. Considering the festering shit hole that is DC at this moment in history, some Cajun dipping his wick into a whore, then getting summarily busted is a flea's fart in an F-5 when compared to the outing of Valerie Plame...and even that's not getting investigated to any degree.

I too wish we lived in an ideal world...sad to say, this ain't it!

Blessed be!
Pappy

by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments) on Sunday, September 2, 2007 at 12:53:06 AM