The Never-Ending Adventures of Sen. Larry Craig

This will be a short and sweet entry, as we are getting ready to take our son for his first day of school in the next hour - literally.

As a conservative, it may seem relatively un-kosher to bash other purported conservatives, but if there is one thing I can't stand, it is hypocrisy amongst those who claim to have some moral high ground - particularly in public officials like lawmakers/politicians, clergy, teachers, etc. It is not really the scope of this short entry to discuss why I am not endeared to these folks - I have written a much more lengthier blog entry detailing that. I do want to quickly focus my attention to the latest high-profile case which has busted a public official, and a conservative at that.

If you don't know who Sen. Larry Craig is, look him up on Wikipedia for more details. Anyhow, the gist of the case against him is that he, as a grandfather of nine, and a supposed conservative who has backed "family values" and anti-gay legislation, was busted in a Minneapolis washroom by a cop (who was assigned to look for these exact things at that exact location since there have been repeated instances there). He had allegedly signalled to the cop that he was looking to engage in some sexual activity while he was in one stall and the cop was in the other.

I heard the interview that the cop who arrested him had. The cop was so upset with him when he started denying the incident happened like how the cop described (the officer said that he is disappointed that he doesn't just admit how the incident happened like the others). The officer was visibly annoyed and disgusted at how Sen. Craig would not tell the truth. You should check out the interview, available on CNN.com - the officer was very specific in describing the incident in great details and he saw all this first-hand - otherwise, why arrest him? Anyway, subsequently, Craig did enter a guilty plea (which since the time this has been made public, he has backtracked on saying he was confused and he will fight to reverse the plea). He has also resigned from his job as Senator.

What i find laughable in all this is the lame-brain excuses Craig makes. He was accused of making two body language moves while he was in the stall directly to the left of the arresting officer. One was sliding his hand underneath the stall wall, while the other was touching his right foot with the arresting officer's left foot and then tapping it. Apparently, these two signs are common for those who want a sexual favour.

Craig claims that he did not put his hand under the stall, but reached down to grab a piece of toilet paper on the floor. Honestly...who the hell picks up a piece of toilet paper on the dirty ground of a public men's washroom? Craig also admits that his foot touched the officer's foot, but it was an accident...since he sits in a "wide stance". I don't believe this one either since even if he was a...uh...plus-sized individual, he would have to really reach over to touch the other person's foot. Case in point - there is this fella at work, who works for our client, who is, um...quite plump. If anyone has an excuse to sit in a wide stance, he does. However, as I sat beside several times in the past in the stall, his foot was not even once close to coming over to my stall (and this dude is about 6' 3", 400lbs.) He would have had to deliberately reached in with his foot.

The officer also claimed that he used his left hand to slide underneath the stall (which would mean he would have had to reach over), since the cop saw his wedding ring (which Craig says he only wears on his left hand).

Craig has denied that he is a closet homosexual. He has denied that the whole incident happened as the officer indicated. Generally, I give people the benefit of the doubt, but something about his whole story stinks.

U.S. Election 2008 - Part III

I think this is probably the third blog entry focussed on next year's U.S. elections - you may wonder why I'm not talking about the any Canadian elections - for one, there won't be a federal election for a couple of years at least (in my view), and even though there will be a Ontario provincial election, it's not terribly exciting (the Liberal guy in power is barely hanging on right now, but my gut tells me that the electorate don't really want to see a Conservative in power, so they will continue to vote in the indecisive, break-yer promises, "I want to be on camera" Dalton McGuinty. Truth be told, even though I'm a die-hard card carrying Conservative, I have some mixed issues with John Tory - he may be a nice enough guy, but I don't think he's socially as Conservative as I would like (I would still vote for him, but I'd prefer to see someone else). I'm sure I'll be writing a few more things about the Ontario elections over the next few months.

OK, where was I? Oh yes, the U.S. Presidential elections next year. Well, it would look as if McCain is not a factor anymore (was he ever?) - he's still in the top 3, but he's dropping positions fast. So I think it will really be between Mitt Romney (former governor of Massachusetts) and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. It seems like former actor and senator Fred Thompson will be on the ticket, though he has unannounced, but I don't think enough people see him as a viable force, based on his lack of experience (though I'm sure his trophy wife will garner a few donations). But I think it will be down to Romney and Giuliani. With both as potential likely candidates to be on the ticket, I'm lukewarm on both - yes, I think either would be better than any of the Democrats, but Giuliani especially is a very liberal conservative, if there was such a thing. But there have been a recent development that has been a bit of a blow to Giuliani. His own daughter has thrown her support behind Barack Obama. Doh! Mitt Romney has also been picking up a lot of momentum on Giuliani, questioning whether he, as New York mayor, made the city a hotspot for illegal immigration. Giuliani is definitely on the defensive on that one. But I look at the U.S. and think, would they really vote in Romney, a mormon?

Ah, I really wish that Condolezza Rice, Colin Powell, or Bill Frist would put their name in the ring (I know Dick Cheney will not be doing so and has indicated numerous times). Or Sam Brownback would mysteriously start getting voter support. At this point, it seems as if the Democrats are picking up steam and the floating question seems to be - who will be the President - Obama or Clinton. I'm really hoping it won't come down to this.

Are Romney and Giuliani the best that the Republicans can offer in this election? My gut tells me that neither will stand much of a chance here against Hillary or Barack.

Mark My Words - Joe Lieberman Will Become a Republican

It's interesting - I was watching the 2000 U.S. elections and there are two things that I remember, aside from being glad that Bush won. 1) Al Gore was a complete nutjob - OK, my wife saw him on Oprah and thought he was the dream, but I tend to me a bit more objective about these kinds of things...OK, seven years later, he's on the Apple board, he's had celebrity status over his global environmental "intitiatives" and I guess he's now writing a kids book. He's been a bureaucrat in Washington all is life, but I'm not sure whether he actually says anything substantive - he likes to talk and use modern-day phrases and terms and looks like a techie compared to his contemporaries, but I think he's all flash and no substance. 2) Joseph Lieberman. I totally resented the fact that the Republicans did not have this guy. He is probably more of a true Republican than Giuliani or McCain is (both of of which are very soft on their social issues - look at their voting records and family life). I was laughing when I found out that James Dobson would not support McCain. I would have to agree with Dobson here. And there is something about Giuliani I don't like. I'd rather see Sam Brownback, but he doesn't have a chance to win the GOP nomination (sad to say but true). Anyway, I remember watching Lieberman on the debates and in addressing crowds and thinking, "if there was ever a Jewish dude who would really break down the stereotype, it is him"). Interestingly enough, in the next few years, we would see him siding with Republicans on a number of things (including the 2003 plan to go to war, as well as recent statements that he will vote against the Democrat's bill to set a timeline for troop withdrawal. Since he lost the primary in mid-2006 (forgot the guy he ran against - Ted something??), he has ran as an independent and has tremendous support from the Republicans. I think he was re-elected (albeit as an independent) back to the Senate during the 2006 mid-term elections. But I suspect that come 2008, there's probably a good chance he'll become a Republican. I have never saw him as a true Democrat, and I think it would be a tremendous boost to have him join the GOP. Heck, if I was in the U.S., I'd vote for him, maybe even as Prez (of course, I'm not even sure if he wants to run a Prez, but he ran for VP, so ya never know...