Gay Idaho Student Targeted in Hate Crime Threat

A gay student at the University of Idaho has been threatened with violence, the school's Argonaut paper reports:

"It was a little before 9 a.m. on Sept. 29 when sophomore Kory Larabee went to his dorm room and found the words, 'Faggot. F---ing kill you,' scrawled across his message board. 'I came out when I was 15,' Larabee said. 'This is the first time I’ve ever been truly afraid. I don’t feel safe walking out at night … it’s violating.' An international studies major and resident adviser for Wallace Residence Center, this was not the first time Larabee has been harassed at the University of Idaho. As a freshman he said he endured a similar situation, although in that instance the perpetrator didn’t leave a threat behind, so he chose not to tell anyone. 'It’s so easy to get stuck in a stereotype,' he said. 'It bothered me, but I just told myself to move past it. I know I’m not the only one who’s ever made that decision.'"

The threat qualifies as a felony hate crime. The school has installed cameras in the area. Students and the school have come to Larabee's defense. Said the residential director: “It’s deeply concerning that someone has been threatening within our community. We work hard to create a safe environment, and we are going to protect it.”

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Senator Larry Craig to Tap 'Fund for Justice' to Clear His Name

Senator Larry "not gay" Craig will never give up.

After receiving a "Public Letter of Admonition" from the Senate Ethics Committee in February for using leftover campaign funds to finance the quest to have his guilty plea overturned in the Minneapolis airport gay sex sting case, Craig began the formation of a fund to replace it.

The Idaho Statesman reports: "Sen. Larry Craig says the Senate Ethics Committee has cleared him to form a legal expense fund to back his year-long effort to reverse his guilty plea for misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Craig calls the new fundraising committee the Fund for Justice, according to Congressional Quarterly. Craig told CQ on Thursday that he's soliciting donations. 'I'm working at it now,' said the Idaho Republican who is retiring in January after 28 years in Congress."

Craig is required to file a public report disclosing activity, including names of contributors, to the fund in mid-October.

Continued, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Helena, Montana Library Holds Hearings on 'Joy of Gay Sex' Book

The Lewis and Clark Public Library in Helena, Montana held a public hearing on Tuesday night over whether the book The Joy of Gay Sex should remain on library shelves.

It was the echo of a hearing last March in Nampa, Idaho, when, after weeks of debate, the book was pulled from the shelves but was still made available to visitors — from behind the librarian's desk.

The Billings Gazette reports on Tuesday's hearing:

"More than a dozen people testified in favor of removing it. Helena resident Wayne Beckman was one of them, saying the book shows immorality. About 20 people spoke in support of keeping the book, including Mike Cronin of Helena. He said the public library does not have an obligation to serve as a parent. The request to remove the book came from Paul Cohen, of Helena, who found the book on a visit to the library in February. The book was reviewed by the library's collection review committee, which recommended keeping it...Because Cohen challenged the decision by [the library director], the library board of directors held the public hearing."

The book has been in the library's circulation for 15 years. A decision is expected to be made on October 21. Those in Helena would be wise to look at a recent decision made by the Nampa library to return the book to the shelves.

In that case the ACLU stepped in and threatened the lawsuit. The library said it was returning the book to the shelves "as a matter of fiscal responsibility."

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Larry Craig Men's Room Sex Case Back in Court Today

Arguments are to be heard today in court in St. Paul, Minnesota regarding the appeal of U.S. Senator Larry Craig's disorderly conduct conviction surrounding his solicitation of an undercover cop for sex in an airport bathroom, the Star Tribune reports:

"The case will be heard in St. Paul by Court of Appeals Judges Thomas Kalitowski, Natalie Hudson and Louise Bjorkman. The judges generally take cases under advisement and issue written rulings within weeks. Craig is asking to withdraw his guilty plea in the case stemming from his arrest in the summer of 2007 in a men's room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Hennepin County District Judge Charles Porter already has rejected Craig's request to withdraw the plea."

Wonder how Craig's tell-all book is coming?

Recent Larry Craig news
Mike Jones: Larry Craig 'Ate My Butt' [tr]
Larry Craig: No More Getting Jerked Around by the Gas Nozzle [tr]
Strange Bedfellows [tr]
Larry Craig Writing Tell-All Book About Men's Room Arrest [tr]

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Larry Craig: No More Getting Jerked Around by the Gas Nozzle

The Senator from Idaho discusses our reliance on foreign oil, AFTER THE JUMP...

Your Nozzle or Mine? [talking points memo]

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Twin Falls, Idaho Parade Allows Gay Float with No Markings

Pride vs. Prejudice. Which won?

Every year, Twin Falls, Idaho holds a Western Days parade featuring floats from local community businesses and groups, and until this year banned local gays and lesbians from having their own float, citing the area's "conservative, religous and family values."

This year they allowed them to participate, with one stipulation: the float could not have anything on it that identified the group as gay or lesbian.

According to Today's 6 News: "Tens of thousands of people line the streets to see high school bands, firefighters, local businesses and other groups that are all easily identifiable, with just one exception. A float that carries a big question mark because the parade committee only let the southern Idaho gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community center participate if they didn't make any reference to sexual orientation or gender identity. No rainbows. No colors. No flyers with their message. 'They didn't want us in it at all,' member Mitch Sylvester told 'Today's 6 News.' 'I don't know if they let us in to relieve some pressure that they got put on them by media and other influences last year.'"

The only people vocally supporting the group, the Times News reports, were a group of high school students.

KIVI reports: "The float participated in the parade without incident."

Which makes sense. Nobody knew what it was.

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Idaho GOP Candidate Wants Separate School Bathrooms for Gays

Why is it that Republican lawmakers in Idaho are so obsessed with men's room activities?

70-year-old Idaho Republican Walt Bayes, who in 2006 went on a 59-day anti-abortion hunger strike, says different bathroom and shower facilities should be provided for gays and straights in schools. Bayes was asked on Friday about a passage in his campaign literature which reads, "It is absolutely wrong to force any student to share the same bathrooms and showers with homosexual teachers or students."

Bayes is running for the Idaho House of Representatives.

The Idaho Press reports: "Bayes said that when he was 18 it would have been 'an absolute catastrophe' for him to have showered with girls. But he said he wasn’t completely sure how the issue of homosexuals and heterosexuals using the same facilities in schools should be addressed. 'I don’t really have an answer for it, but we’re going to have to do something if there’s going to be a considerable number of our people who are going to go that way (homosexual),' Bayes said. 'We’re going to (need) some kind of separation.'"

The other candidates in Bayes race have dismissed his comments.

Said rival Jeff Justus of Meridian: "We have a lot more important issues than that."

You may have missed...
Massive Idaho 'Lawn Topiary' Won't Go Away [tr]
GOP Montana Lawmaker Plays 'Gay Prank' on Fellow Legislator [tr]
Larry Craig Has Resumed Senate Life as if Nothing Ever Happened [tr]

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Massive Idaho 'Lawn Topiary' Won't Go Away

Last July, some prankster teens created a 60-foot "sculpture" on the lawn of the Governor's Mansion in Boise, Idaho, with weed killer and workers have not found a way to take care of it:

"The area was recently replanted with grass seedlings and covered with straw. A previous attempt by landscapers to obliterate the image only enhanced it with a dark green outline, after which it was covered with a bright blue tarpaulin for several weeks. 'Humor is humor, and people can laugh and we move on,' Rick Phillips, communications director for J.R. Simplot Co., told the Idaho Statesman. The grassy graffiti appeared in July after someone applied extra-strength weed killer. Officials said at the time it was too late in the growing season to attempt to remove the image. Snow hid the oversized phallus over the winter, but when it emerged again in the spring some neighbors had had enough....The affected part of the hillside belongs to Simplot, an agricultural conglomerate which donated the hilltop mansion to the state in 2004. The mansion is currently unoccupied because Gov. C.L. 'Butch' Otter lives on his ranch in Star."

I hear there's a departing U.S. Senator from Idaho who would just love a neat place to retire. I'm sure he could take care of it.

AFTER THE JUMP, the agricultural art in its previous incarnation...

Giant phallus etched below Idaho guv's mansion removed [idaho statesman]
(image source)

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News: Johnny Depp, Eureka Springs, Clark Gable, Bounty Killer

BOOK: Clark Gable was gay for pay. "David Bret’s angle on Clark Gable is this: Gable was 'gay for pay' and 'rough trade,' and he enjoyed having sex 'for bucks.' In addition, he 'would sometimes scrub his penis until it bled' and used a device to prolong erections. If these tidbits from the book’s first few pages aren’t too much information for you, you’re in luck. This breathtakingly trashy biography does not skimp on sordid anecdotes."

Johnny Depp the new, uh, face of Trojan condoms?

Gawker goes to the NYC Black Party.

T.R. Knight steps out with boyfriend Mark Cornelsen: We all have AIDS.

Survey shows increased support for gay marriage in Ireland: "Eighty-four per cent of respondents to an opinion poll conducted this month by Lansdowne Market Research said they supported civil marriage or civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. This is the same figure as a similar survey carried out in November 2006. However, 58% said gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry in registry offices, compared to 51% in the previous survey."

Did Heath Ledger father a love child?

Could Al Gore be brought in for clean-up duty at the convention? "Let’s say the elders of the Democratic Party decide, when the primaries end, that neither Obama nor Clinton is viable. Let’s also assume — and this may be a real stretch — that such elders are strong and smart enough to act. All they’d have to do would be to convince a significant fraction of their superdelegate friends, maybe fewer than 100, to announce that they were taking a pass on the first ballot at the Denver convention, which would deny the 2,025 votes necessary to Obama or Clinton. What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party — and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? Of course, Obama would have to be a party to the deal and bring his 1,900 or so delegates along."

Madonna on the paparazzi: "The paparazzi are out of control. I haven't been to Los Angeles in quite a while, and I don’t watch television here or in England, and I was told there's now a television show where the paparazzi are the stars of the show—is that true? That they film each other doing paparazzi jobs? Which gives them more fuel. I usually found that type kept their distance—they definitely do in England, because it's illegal to photograph children. But that's not how it is here. They get this close, and don't care how much they scare your children. Being famous has changed a lot, because now there's so many outlets, between magazines, TV shows, and the Internet, for people to stalk and follow you. We created the monster."

Gay couple faces harsh realities in move from New Jersey to Idaho.

Is Regent Entertainment circling gay publications Out and The Advocate?

HIV-positive Canadian Martin Rooney takes on U.S. travel ban: "I said I was on disability. He said what's my disability. I said I have HIV. He hauled me into a backroom. ... He put on a set of rubber gloves to hold each of my fingers. Nobody else wore rubber gloves. Then he fingerprinted me, photographed me, ran me through the FBI's most-wanted list and told me to go back to Canada and not return until I came back with a waiver. I felt like I was being treated like a terrorist."

Arkansas gays converge on Eureka Springs for 'Diversity Weekend': "Homosexual and transsexual residents say that living in Northwest Arkansas has its benefits, such as the small-town atmosphere, natural beauty, and amenities such as shopping and restaurants. But many lament the limited social venues and a lack of connectivity within their own community. 'There is a fairly large population of people that are gay, lesbian or bisexual, but there is no community,' said Fayetteville resident J. Judd Harbin."

Ricky Martin battles human trafficking in Cambodia

Human rights groups halt concerts by 'murder music' singer Bounty Killer: "In Germany, Bounty Killer's performance in Essen was cancelled and other German concert dates are now in doubt as gay human rights groups are coordinating a Europe-wide campaign to halt his 'Deadly Alliance' tour of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland."

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'Pro Life' Running for Larry Craig's Seat in Idaho

A Senate candidate running for Larry Craig's seat in Idaho is so adamant about his anti-abortion stance that he legally changed his name to "Pro Life" and will appear on the ballot that way, the AP reports:

"As Marvin Pro-Life Richardson, the organic strawberry farmer from Letha, 30 miles northwest of Boise, was denied the use of his middle name when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 because the state's policy bars the use of slogans on the ballot. Now, though, officials in the Idaho secretary of state's office say they have no choice because Pro-Life is his full and only name. He says he will run for the highest state office on the ballot every two years for the rest of his life, advocating murder charges for doctors who perform abortions and for women who obtain the procedure. 'I think it's just and I think it's proper to have Pro-Life on the ballot,' he told the Idaho Press-Tribune of Nampa. 'If I save one baby's life, it's worth it.'"

Craig is, of course, not running for reelection following his Minneapolis men's room arrest. He could, I suppose, legally change his name to 'I'm Not Gay' and run as that person.

AFTER THE JUMP, an older news clip on Pro Life...

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Joy of Gay Sex Pulled from Shelf in Nampa, Idaho

No more Joy of Sex or Joy of Gay Sex for library visitors in Nampa, Idaho:

"Now after weeks of new debate – the books are off the shelves – but still available. The library board voted three to two to remove the books - but the books are not banned completely. The books will still be available upon request in the library director's office."

Although there may be a few sticky pages.

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Do you Have What it Takes to be a Larry Craig Intern?

Find out, AFTER THE JUMP...

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GOP Montana Lawmaker Plays 'Gay Prank' on Fellow Legislator

The Montana Human Rights Network and the Western Montana Gay and Lesbian Community Center are calling on Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) to apologize for a childish prank he played on Idaho lawmaker Mike Simpson:

"On a congressional trip to the Middle East last month, Rehberg left an 'Idaho Travel Package' on the airplane seat of Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. The contents included a stuffed sheep with gloves attached to it, a Village People CD, books on cross-dressing and sign language and a T-shirt that reads, 'My senator may not be gay, but my governor is Butch.' The shirt referred to Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who was caught in a men's airport bathroom sex sting, and Idaho Gov. C.L. 'Butch' Otter. Rehberg's travel bag was first reported by The Hill newspaper, which covers Congress. It said Rehberg was proud of the gift bag and quoted him as boasting, 'I spent a bit of time putting the things together.' It said Simpson was amused but not surprised at Rehberg's action."

Said Montana state senator and director of the Human Rights Network Christine Kaufmann: "It's bad enough that Congressman Rehberg consistently votes against equality for gay and lesbian people; we've kind of come to expect that. But when he uses his gay and lesbian constituents as the subject of pranks, it's beyond the pale."

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Senate Issues Letter of Admonition to Larry Craig

The Senate Ethics Committee released a 'Public Letter of Admonition' today to Idaho Senator Larry Craig with regard to Craig's conduct following his arrest last June in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport.

The letter scolds Craig for his statement to the arresting officer regarding his position in the Senate (Craig told asked the arresting officer, "What do you think about that?") and also for his attempt to withdraw his guilty plea, about which it says this: "Your claims to the court, through counsel, to the effect that your guilty plea resulted from improper pressure or coercion, or that you did not, as a legal matter, know what you were doing when you pled guilty, do not appear credible."

The letter, signed by committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Ken Salazar (D-CO), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), also takes Craig to task for using campaign funds to pay his legal bills without prior approval from the committee.

Talking Points Memo has the letter.

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Larry Craig Has Resumed Senate Life as if Nothing Ever Happened

Politico reports that the spotlight has shifted away from Larry Craig: "Five months after reports emerged that he was arrested for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport bathroom and his 27-year congressional résumé was forever damaged, Craig has resumed his life in the Senate as if none of it ever happened."

Craig still does get leers and snickers, however, though he lets them roll off his back: "Craig hears the comments when they do come. But he never seems to flinch, even as heads turn and fingers point. He’s used to it, he said. Craig is the first to admit that there was some awkwardness upon his return, including 'ack of eye contact' and whispering from some of his colleagues. But, for the most part, he said, 'I think my colleagues are giving me the benefit of the doubt that I have given my colleagues...They’re reciprocating.'"

Which, of course, is more than he got from Officer Dave Karsnia.

In any case, Craig's indiscretions may have been replaced by other worries in the Senate, but network TV, as recently as last week, was still tapping away...

Spotlight Fades for Craig [politico]

(video via GoodAsYou)

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News: Beijing Stadium, Idaho, Amy Winehouse, Martian, Brad Pitt

CROOKS: Emails went missing from Bush and Cheney offices the very day Alberto Gonzalez "ordered the president and the vice president's staff to 'preserve all materials that might be relevant' to an inchoate Justice Department probe."

Mysterious 'alien' figure spotted in Martian landscape!

Pentagon releases statement on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, saying it is continuing to discharge gay and lesbian soldiers even though reports have shown a recent major drop in such cases. Statement: "Our policy implements the law Congress passed after prolonged research and debate. The department will continue to follow congressional mandate on homosexual conduct. We can't speculate as to why the number of discharges has declined."

Amy Winehouse in downward spiral — caught smoking crack ON VIDEO.

European Court of Human Rights rules: France discriminated against lesbian mother by refusing to allow her to adopt a child. "The judges decided that the woman was a victim of discrimination because of her sexual orientation. They said her right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights had also been infringed. France has been told to pay her damages...The court's ruling in Strasbourg on Tuesday noted that: 'French law allowed single persons to adopt a child, thereby opening up the possibility of adoption by a single homosexual.' The court criticised the French judiciary's emphasis on "the lack of a paternal referent in the household" in the case of the lesbian woman, who was identified only as E.B. The reference to the applicant's homosexuality had been "if not explicit, at least implicit," the ruling said."

Beijing builds giant nest as Olympic Stadium.

Nothing gets between Brad Pitt and his Edwins.

The coldest place in the universe was recently observed...right here on Earth: "The record-breaking lows were among the latest feats of ultracold physics, the laboratory study of matter at temperatures so mind-bogglingly frigid that atoms and even light itself behave in highly unusual ways. Electrical resistance in some elements disappears below about minus 440°F, a phenomenon called superconductivity. At even lower temperatures, some liquefied gases become "superfluids" capable of oozing through walls solid enough to hold any other sort of liquid; they even seem to defy gravity as they creep up, over and out of their containers."

The Mr. Gay International swimsuit competition - on video.

Dow plunges 465 points, then recovers most of it after Federal Reserve interest rate emergency cut: "The U.S. markets joined a global selloff amid growing fears that a recession in the United States could send economies around the world into a downturn. Though stocks regained ground as investors digested the Fed's move to cut its benchmark federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage point and as bargain-hunters entered the market, trading remained volatile and the major indexes fluctuated sharply, at times approaching the break-even point before heading down again." Bernanke setting the stage for an even bigger recession?

Did Katie Holmes fake running the New York Marathon? Plenty of evidence seems to suggest that maybe she did.

Idaho legislature floats first-ever anti-discrimination bill that includes gays and lesbians: "Leslie Goddard, director of the Human Rights Commission beautifully presented the bill after an introduction by Senator Tim Corder, a major sponsor or the legislation. Some may remember the Mountain Home Republican Senator from a City Club debate in 2006 or from his past vote to ban gay marriage in Idaho's Constitution. His support of this year's legislation speaks loudly to the fundamental fairness implicit in the issue of employment discrimination and to the progress made on understanding of these issues over the years."

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ACLU Defends Larry Craig's Right to Have Private Bathroom Sex

The ACLU filed a brief yesterday in support of Idaho Senator Larry Craig, arguing that those engaging in sexual conduct in restroom stalls should be able to expect privacy.

The AP reports: "[The ACLU] cited a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling 38 years ago that found that people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms 'have a reasonable expectation of privacy.' That means the state cannot prove Craig was inviting an undercover officer to have sex in public, the ACLU wrote...The ACLU argued that even if Craig was inviting the officer to have sex, his actions wouldn't be illegal. 'The government cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Senator Craig was inviting the undercover officer to engage in anything other than sexual intimacy that would not have called attention to itself in a closed stall in the public restroom,' the ACLU wrote in its brief. The ACLU also noted that Craig was originally charged with interference with privacy, which it said was an admission by the state that people in the bathroom stall expect privacy."

Aside from the sheer absurdity of it, I'm not sure exactly how this argument would help Craig, since he has denied engaging in any sexual conduct.

Last week Craig filed a 27-page brief with the Minnesota Court of Appeals in an ongoing attempt to withdraw his guilty plea.

Previously
Larry Craig Files Appeal in Ongoing Quest to Withdraw Guilty Plea [tr]
A Holiday Visit to the Larry Craig Men's Room [tr]
Idaho Paper Out to Disprove Larry Craig's "I'm not gay" Claims [tr]

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Larry Craig Files Appeal in Ongoing Quest to Withdraw Guilty Plea

The man doesn't give up. Larry Craig filed a 27-page brief with the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday in a continued attempt to withdraw the guilty plea over his disorderly conduct conviction in June.

CNN reports: "Lawyers for Sen. Larry Craig asked a Minnesota appeals court Tuesday to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from his June arrest in a public bathroom sex sting, citing a 'grave procedural flaw.' The Idaho Republican argues that a state law related to his misdemeanor conviction is unconstitutional and that it's 'manifestly unjust' not to allow him to be given another chance to prove his innocence."

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on some of the details in the brief:

"In the 27-page brief, the lawyers note that one element of disorderly conduct requires that 'the conduct at issue have a tendency to alarm or anger others.' The brief noted the specific use of the plural 'others.' The senator was arrested during a layover between flights on June 11 by undercover officer Sgt. Dave Karsnia. He claimed the senator's toe-tapping and hand motion in a men's room stall were indications he wanted to have sex. Craig said he was picking up a piece of tissue on the floor and the gestures were misunderstood. Craig's plea also fails to support the legal requirement that the conduct be 'offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy,' the brief said. The legal brief said that Karsnia could not be offended by the conduct because he invited it. The brief noted that in Karsnia's own statement, he said Craig tapped his foot, then 'Karsnia tapped his own foot in response.' In the complaint against Craig, Karsnia noted that tapping feet is 'a signal often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct,' the brief said. 'Thus Sergeant Karsnia undoubtedly intended that tapping his own foot be such a signal,' the brief said."

The paper adds: "Craig initially claimed he was pressured to plead guilty because of an investigation by the Idaho Statesman into his sexual orientation. The newspaper has since published the names of four men who claim to have had encounters of varying intimacy with the senator. Craig has declined to comment."

You may have missed...
A Holiday Visit to the Larry Craig Men's Room [tr]
Idaho Paper Out to Disprove Larry Craig's "I'm not gay" Claims [tr]

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A Holiday Visit to the Larry Craig Men's Room

So, on a personal note, I'm coming at you today from Montana. However, on my trip here yesterday, due to a Jamaican Air flight that stayed at the gate I was supposed to board my plane at way too long, as well as a bit of bad weather in New York, I had 10 hours to kill in the Minneapolis airport.

Of course I had to make a trip to the nation's newest tourist attraction, and what do you know, I happened to catch this jaunty Larry Craig type skippin' in. And, I kid you not, I could swear he gave me a long cruise on the way out. Anyway...

More AFTER THE JUMP...

So I went inside to check out if they had installed those new partitions they announced in September. Nope.

Still plenty of time, Senators!

Anyway, it felt a little strange to be in there so I only spent about one minute. I wasn't going to do any further research even though I had 10 hours till my flight because a) I'm not desperate and b) I'm not stupid and c) I'm not a Republican closet case. However, as far as I could tell (I only heard a grunt and perhaps what was a courtesy flush), the season is still open for any out-of-state GOPers passin' through.

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Idaho Paper Out to Disprove Larry Craig's "I'm not gay" Claims

Not content to let Senator Larry Craig's now famous statement — "I am not gay, I never have been gay" — stand, the Idaho Statesman has continued to ferociously pursue claims by four men that they had sex with Craig. Yesterday they published a blistering exposé which collected the five men willing to come forward and discuss their intimate relations with the Senator, complete with audio recordings:

"David Phillips is a 42-year-old information technology consultant in Washington, D.C., who says Craig picked him up at a gay club in 1986 and that they subsequently had sex. Mike Jones is a former prostitute who told the world he had sex with the Rev. Ted Haggard last year. The former Colorado Springs evangelist at first denied it but eventually confessed. Jones says Craig paid him for sex in late 2004 or early 2005. Greg Ruth was a 24-year-old college Republican in 1981 when he says he was hit on by Craig at a Republican meeting in Coeur d'Alene. Tom Russell, now 48, is a former Nampa resident who lives in Utah. Russell said his encounter with Craig occurred at Bogus Basin in the early 1980s. A fifth gay man, who is from Boise but who declined to be named for fear of retaliation, offered a recent and telling account: He was in a men's restroom at Denver International Airport in September 2006 when the man in the next stall moved his hand slowly, palm up, under the divider. Alarmed, the man said he waited outside the restroom and then identified the man in the adjoining stall as Craig, whom he had met in Idaho."

The Statesman, which gives each man's story in extensive detail, says, "As with [our] August report, the new evidence is not definitive. There are no videos, no love letters, no voice messages. Like last August, they are he-said, he-said allegations about a man seeking discreet sex from partners whom he counted on to never tell. But the Statesman's investigation, which included reviews of travel and property records and background checks on all five men, found nothing to disprove the five new accounts. The men offer telling and sometimes similar details about what happened, or the senator's travel records place him in the city where sex is alleged to have occurred, or his accusers told credible witnesses at the time of the incident."

Listen to David Phillips here, here, and here. Listen to Mike Jones here, here, here, and here. Listen to Greg Ruth here. Listen to Tom Russell here, here, and here. WARNING: Some of the audio recordings may contain graphic language.

Larry Craig released a statement responding to the Statesman's claims. Said Craig: "Like its previous coverage, these latest allegations are completely false and have no basis in reality. In fact, the paper itself states that these baseless accusations contain no definitive evidence, yet they still decided to print them anyway. Despite the fact the Idaho Statesman has decided to pursue its own agenda and print these falsehoods without any facts to back them up, I won't let this paper's attempt to malign my name stop me from continuing my work to serve the people of Idaho"

Good luck with that.

More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig [idaho statesman]
Craig: Statement's Completely False [idaho statesman]

(image via daily dish)

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Washington D.C. Man Claims He Had Sex with Senator Larry Craig

David Phillips, a man Wonkette describes as "a local IT geek and bear-about-town" has come forward claiming he had sex with Idaho Senator Larry Craig. It's perhaps the dirtiest story I've ever read on Wonkette:

"I followed [Craig] from The Follies [bar] to a Capitol Hill neighborhood, parking on the street no telling how far from his house. We walked up the alley and through the back door of a house, with him repeating several times, ‘You were never here. You don’t know me. Right?’ and me responding, ‘Right!’ in boyish submission. As we tiptoed from the back door to the stairs to the upper floor, as if somebody else was home, he turned to grope my crotch and brush my face with his hand."

And there it begins...

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Senator Larry Craig Halloween Mask

It's a PDF you can download and paste to a grocery bag. Maybe your friend can dress up as Sergeant Dave Karsnia. Make sure not to forget to stick some toilet paper to the bottom of your shoe.

It is pretty scary.

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Larry Craig and Wife Tap Toes with Matt Lauer in First Interview

Here's a transcript of last night's Matt Lauer interview with Idaho Senator Larry Craig if you missed it, and a short clip.

The interview was, for the most part, a rehash of what we have already heard before from Craig, though this time the home fires were burning and Craig was surrounded by a defense wall of artfully-arranged family photos that filled the front of the frame in many camera shots, no doubt strategically placed to boost Craig's image as a devoted husband and father. Craig and his wife seemed poised, unshaken.

And Lauer's interview was a softball event. It seemed odd that in his 49 years, Lauer had never come across the term "cruising" before - "whatever that means". The gay "lifestyle" was referred to time and time again. Also annoying were the constant apologies with which he prefaced his questions.

Near the end, some fresh territory:

Matt Lauer: You have taken, senator, several opportunities to say, come out point blank and say, "I am not a homosexual."
Larry Craig: Uh-huh (affirm).
Matt Lauer: Which raises two questions in my mind. One of them, and you're going to have to forgive me for this, are you technically not a homosexual? Is it possible you're bisexual?
Larry Craig: It's no to both.
Matt Lauer: The other question is do you think it would be something that would be awful? In other words, do you view it as something that would be awful to have to admit that you were gay?
Larry Craig: I don't agree with the lifestyle. And I've said so by my votes over the years and by my expressions. Have I viewed it as awful? I viewed it as a lifestyle I don't agree with.
Matt Lauer: You wouldn't view it as one-- something that would be a source of great shame if you had to admit it?
Larry Craig: I'm not sure that I've ever looked at anyone else's sex life as great shame.

What is a shame is that no efforts were made to point out that the gay "lifestyle" to which they refer — the clandestine naughtiness in airport men's rooms — is an activity taken on, to my knowledge, by men who identify as straight. Being gay is an orientation, certainly not something that is chosen, which "lifestyle" of course implies. What is a choice is to not come clean about one's orientation. What is a choice is for a lawmaker to work feverishly for "family values" and against gay rights while engaging in homosexual liaisons in airport men's rooms.

Tom Shales at the Washington Post brings up some good points about this in his criticism of the interview:

"Craig himself brought up his voting record and said of homosexuality, 'I don't approve of the lifestyle.' Lauer should have followed up; why did he call it a 'lifestyle' and what about it does he disapprove of? At one point, reading from Craig's history, Lauer said the records included 'a guy who claims you 'cruised' him -- whatever that is.' This, it seemed, was Lauer's way of winking into the camera and saying, 'I'm not gay.' You hardly have to be gay in 21st-century America to know what the phrase 'cruising' means. It was even the title of a movie starring Al Pacino. Lauer needs to worry less about his own image and more about getting valuable information when conducting an interview. It seemed highly likely that Craig and his wife agreed to sit down with Lauer because they knew they had nothing, really, to fear."

Sen. Larry Craig's interview with Matt Lauer [msnbc]

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Larry Craig: Romney Threw Me Under Campaign Bus, Ran Over Me

Larry Craig and his wife have talked to Matt Lauer in an interview to be broadcast Tuesday evening. In excerpts published by CNN, Craig discusses his arrest, saying it was a "tough call" on telling anyone about it:

"I didn't want to embarrass my wife, my kids, Idaho and my friends. And I wrestled with it a long while. ... I should have told my wife. I should have told my kids. And most importantly, I should have told counsel."

Craig also laments the fact that Mitt Romney, for whom he served as Senate campaign liaison, turned and ran when the scandal hit: "I was very proud of my association with Mitt Romney. And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again."

Craig's wife used an interesting metaphor when describing her reaction to the news of her husband's arrest: "I felt like the floor was falling out from under me. ... And I felt like almost like I was going down a drain for a few moments." Flush!

In another interview over the weekend, Craig told KTVB Boise that he would file an appeal of his case Monday morning: "We don’t know what the appellate court will say to me. Honestly, the appeals courts tend to defend the courts below them. It is my right to do what I’m doing. I’ve already provided for Idaho certainty that Idaho needed, I’m not running for reelection. I’m no longer in the way. I am pursuing my constitutional rights."

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Larry Craig and Wife to Discuss Men's Room Arrest with Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer has snagged the first interview with Larry Craig since his disorderly conduct arrest in a Minneapolis airport men's room in June.

According to MSNBC, "The interview with Matt Lauer, anchor of NBC’s TODAY morning program, was scheduled to air Tuesday night on NBC stations. The network said Lauer would also interview Craig’s wife, Suzanne."

Craig, who was recently chosen to be inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame, reacted to a judge's decision not to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in the case by saying he would stay in the Senate and continue to fight charges leveled against him:

"I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively. Over the course of my three terms in the Senate and five terms in the House, I have accumulated seniority and important committee assignments that are valuable to Idaho, not the least of which are my seats on the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. A replacement would be highly unlikely to obtain these posts. In addition, I will continue my effort to clear my name in the Senate Ethics Committee - something that is not possible if I am not serving in the Senate. When my term has expired, I will retire and not seek reelection. I hope this provides the certainty Idaho needs and deserves."

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Larry Craig Chosen for Induction into Idaho Hall of Fame

You may have heard that a group in the famous potato state has chosen to induct its senator, Larry Craig, into the Idaho Hall of Fame.

The AP reports: "The nonprofit Idaho Hall of Fame Association picked Craig in March, months before he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after a Minneapolis airport police officer accused him of soliciting sex in the men's restroom, the organization's board chairman said. 'Larry Craig has made a great contribution to Idaho over the period of 20-some years. At the time it was considered, this other matter had not come up,' Harry Magnuson told The Spokesman-Review newspaper Saturday. But some Republicans said the honor is inappropriate now. Kootenai County Republican precinct committeeman Phil Thompson said Idaho Hall of Fame officials should consider at least postponing the induction. 'Maybe in 10 or 15 years we can think of this hall of fame stuff. Now is not the time,' he said. 'It's a sad day to be a Republican.'"

But whatever will be served as hors d'oeuvres at the induction ceremony?

Might we suggest a recipe donated to the Congress Cooks cookbook by Senator Craig himself: the Super Tuber.

It's made (you can't make this stuff up) by shoving a hot dog into a hole in a potato.

Says Craig of the starchy delight: "Super Tuber is a great snack that uses one of my favorite vegetables: The Idaho Potato. Of course, I suppose any type of potato could be used, but I cannot guarantee that a Super Tuber made with anything but a true Idaho potato would taste as good."

Photo of the super tuber via slog.

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Novak: GOP Knew of Larry Craig "Weird Conduct", Ignored It

On Bloomberg TV Saturday, right-wing pundit Robert Novak said that Senate Republicans knew about Larry Craig and his trips to the men's room for some time, but never took any action:

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

Odds are there are more Craigs and Foleys out there. It's only a matter of time.

(via Think Progress)

SNL's "Weekend Update" also took on the Larry Craig debacle over the weekend. Enjoy.

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Republicans Faced with Dilemma Over Larry Craig

Republicans have no idea what to do with the Senator from Idaho who is digging in his heels:

"The Idaho Republican's decision gives his GOP colleagues two unpleasant choices. They can resume pressuring him to leave, and risk being seen as disloyal politicians who go harder on alleged homosexual misdeeds than on heterosexual wrongdoings. Or they can basically ignore him for months, and endure more TV comics' taunts about a conservative senator convicted in a case involving public bathroom stalls. Judging from comments in the first hours after Craig's announcement, Republican senators seemed unsure exactly where to land. Outright confrontation with Craig, however, seems unlikely."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has branded Craig's conduct as "unforgivable", canceled a press conference yesterday and declined comment on Craig's recent decision.

Yesterday...
Larry Craig Reacts to Court Ruling: I'm Not Going Anywhere [tr]
Judge: Idaho Senator Larry Craig Cannot Withdraw Guilty Plea [tr]

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Larry Craig Reacts to Court Ruling: I'm Not Going Anywhere

Idaho Senator Larry Craig issued a statement this afternoon following the court's ruling rejecting his request to withdraw a guilty plea for disorderly conduct stemming from his arrest in a Minneapolis airport men's room in June:

"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options. I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively. Over the course of my three terms in the Senate and five terms in the House, I have accumulated seniority and important committee assignments that are valuable to Idaho, not the least of which are my seats on the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. A replacement would be highly unlikely to obtain these posts. In addition, I will continue my effort to clear my name in the Senate Ethics Committee - something that is not possible if I am not serving in the Senate. When my term has expired, I will retire and not seek reelection. I hope this provides the certainty Idaho needs and deserves."

As we mentioned earlier, this means Craig could be around to plague the Republicans well through the 2008 elections.

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Judge: Idaho Senator Larry Craig Cannot Withdraw Guilty Plea

A Hennepin County, Minnesota judge has rejected Larry Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea for disorderly conduct stemming from his arrest in a Minneapolis airport men's room in June:

"In a 27-page order, Judge Charles Porter found Craig had entered the guilty plea "accurately, voluntarily and intelligently" and it was too late to withdraw his admission. Craig, who says he is not gay, argued that he entered the plea without legal advice, fearing that the allegations would be made public. Once his plea became public, the Idaho Republican announced he would resign at the end of September -- but then said he would await Porter's ruling before deciding whether to leave the Senate. The judge heard arguments September 26 concerning Craig's June 11 arrest for allegedly making sexual overtures to an undercover male police officer in an airport men's restroom."

Now the question remains, will Craig step down? Craig could hypothetically appeal the decision, according to the Idaho Statesman's Dan Popkey, and put in motion a court process that will allow him to stay in office until the end of his term:

"...the likely scenario is Craig will head to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. He can expect oral argument within two or three months after filing his challenge to an unsatisfactory ruling. An appellate decision would come within another 90 days, extending Craig's battle to spring. Next step: the Minnesota Supreme Court, with arguments to come two or three months after a second appeal. The average time between argument and a decision is 4› months. That gets Craig to term's end in January 2009. At that point, assuming his guilty plea stands, Craig can say he fought the good fight. Meantime, he will have remained in office, continued to collect his salary, and boost his pension that's based on years of service."

We'll likely know soon.

UPDATE: Craig issues statement...

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s "Narrow Stance"

Barry Blitt presents a nice conflux of the men from Idaho and Iran f