Craziest Republican of the Day: Arlen Specter

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Hey, look, it's another ongoing series here at The Reaction: Craziest Republican of the Day (CRuD, for short), and I'm looking forward to many, many, many entries, with much, much, much competition for the title, day after day after day.

Let's get started.

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Today on Fox News -- of course, where else? -- the occasionally sane Arlen Specter, sane relative to most other Republicans, said this:

I'd like to see Larry Craig go back to court, seek to withdraw his guilty plea and fight the case. On the evidence Senator Craig wouldn't be convicted of anything. And he's got his life on the line and 27 years in the House and Senate, and I'd like to see him fight the case because I think he could be vindicated.

Is Specter right? Would Craig be convicted? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps Craig could argue that it was all a misunderstanding, that he wasn't playing by the rules of gay washroom sex, that his "wide stance" is what got him into trouble, that it was a trap, that he was entrapped, that he really loves his family, really hates gays, and really could never do such a thing, it's immoral, it's sinful, it's outrageous.

In other words, he could jettison the gay washroom playbook for the conservative bigotry playbook.

Maybe he'd win.

And maybe -- just maybe -- the standards of conduct expected of elected officials, and especially of U.S. senators, is too high, and that what Craig did, if he did it (and he did, come on), shouldn't necessitate resignation. (Yes, you know, standards of conduct, the moral code that theocratic conservatives, including Craig, seek to impose on America.)

And maybe, just maybe, it would benefit the Democrats to have Craig remain in the Senate, yet another example of Republican hypocrisy and misconduct, lewd (mis)conduct at that.

But Specter is still crazy.

Does Craig really want to fight this out in court? Would he really want all that media attention? Would he really want the dirty laundry of his sordid and possibly criminal past to be pulled out into the open and exposed? -- a sordid past that includes possible cocaine use and sex with male congressional pages (think Mark Foley), and likely much more. (Back in October of last year, our own Heraclitus commented on the outing of Craig by a prominent gay activist -- you can find that post here.)

It is in the best interests of the Republican Party for Craig and his scandal to go away, and this makes Specter's suggestion yet crazier, but it would also be crazy for Craig to fight this too aggressively. Unless, so full of himself and so much in denial, Craig actually thinks he could keep everything in the closet. (But that's another matter. Craig is crazy, too. Crazy with self-hatred.)

But craziness doesn't stop Republicans, and it would be a pleasure to have the media, and not just the Idaho Statesman, poke around in Craig's closet. Just as it's been a pleasure to have the media delve into the netherworld of gay washroom sex.

(Come on, it's been entertaining, hasn't it, watching them squirm, trying to be serious while revelling in the sensationalism of it all? -- you know it turns them on in more ways than one.)

Thanks for amusing us today, Senator Specter.