Dear Senator Craig,

I feel compelled to write concerning your less than forthright nature. Respectfully, sir, your story stinks as much as the location in which it occurred.
At times like this, I am taken back to my fourth grade days, when I learned Idaho’s state song by heart. Your actions sir are particularly relevant to the lilting refrain……..

“and here we have Idaho, winning her way to fame”…..

Thanks a lot Larry, but this situation isn’t really serving the romantic notion of an idyllic state.

That is what galls me to no end. Craig’s lame excuse of “…I shouldn’t have pled guilty…”. Does he think that the good citizens of Idaho are idiots? He certainly must. He has spent 27 years in the U.S. Congress. He couldn’t figure out how to get an attorney? Those are actions of a guilty man. Hoping beyond hope that it will be swept under the rug and forgotten. It is time for him to come clean and admit who he is and what he has done, then resign.

jiminy!!!

Jiminy God!!!!

What do you do if you drop your wallet in Senator Craig’s office? Kick it into the hallway before you pick it up!

Thanks Sara. Those were the two exclamations that jumped out at me this morning; been uttering them all day.

It is not at all believeable that he failed to seek the advice of counsel. Indeed according to the police report he specifically followed up with them so he could have his attorney establish contact. http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/08/28/craig.incident.report.pdf

Also his post conviction denial of guilt is classic criminal defendant behavior which, if it comes to the sentencing Court’s attention, demonstrates a lack of remorse for his crime and typically results in harsher punishment.

Moreover the circumstances of arrest don’t jive with the senator’s protestations of misinterpretation. His “wide stance” leads me to believe he was sitting in the stall with his pants up. He did not flush upon exiting the stall either, leading the cop to conclude he was not there for the bathroom’s intended purpose.

Ignoring the hand gestures its all very odd behavior for a sitting senator who was aware of an intense investigation and who just vehemently denied anonymous sexual contact a month before.

It strikes me that if we give him the benefit of the doubt then Craig admitted guilt when he shouldn’t have. There is another plea available to Defendants called an Alford plea in which the Defendant can admit to the facts making the crime without admitting guilt. He didn’t avail himself of this opportunity. But if the allegations are true, which he has admitted under oath of his own free will and without any duress, Mr. Craig has had a lifetime of telling lies to his family, friends, colleagues, supporters, and the citizens as a whole. Form your own judgment.

I’m with you Dave. To say that he didn’t have counsel is just insulting. I’m sure he really wanted a trial. It would have all come out under oath.

Colleen, a quick correction. The US Constituion gives the Governor sole appoinment power without consultation to fill a vacant Senate seat. As long as they meet the req. 32 yrs old etc. Otter can appoint his wife, himself, or pick anyone from anywhere in Idaho regardless of political party.

Well, now it’s the Statesman’s fault:

NY Times
By DAVID STOUT and CARL HULSE
Published: August 28, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — Senator Larry Craig said today that he regretted his guilty plea in connection with an airport bathroom incident, and he accused an Idaho newspaper of hounding him mercilessly in recent months…..

Mr. Craig said today that The Idaho Statesman, a daily newspaper based in Boise, had been relentlessly pursuing rumors about his personal life for months, and he implied that the paper’s efforts might have clouded his judgment.”

excerpt from NYT article in full here:
http://tinyurl.com/35pfzc

Oh yeah, Lori Otter for Senate! At least she’d stay out of the men’s room. (Though I’m pretty sure she wears the pants in her household)

The Senator made yet another poor decision Tuesday, when he chose to attack The Statesman for his woes. He should actually be thanking them for using restraint in shelving the story until news of his arrest surfaced.

Imagine the situation reversed: The Statesman runs their story in the spring, possibly stirring some national interest, THEN Craig gets arrested. I doubt that a plea deal would have been so easily arranged following that scenario.

There has always been healthy skepticism and criticism of the daily paper, but I sense that the court of public opinion is not with The Senator this time.

Porc and Guardian,
Sorry guys, it wasn’t cigars. Otter’s defense was whiskey-soaked chew, high-heeled cowboy boots, followed by stocking feet on sharp gravel and flashing police lights. The year was 1992 for the arrest, and the spring of 1993 for the conviction. I do believe the Ada County at the time were Vern Blisterfeldt, Garry Glenn, and Roger Simmons.

Colleen was very close, but Roger Simmons didn’t take office until January of 1993, after winning his first term in November of 1992. The three commissioners in ’92, at the time of Butch’s arrest, would have been Vern Bisterfeldt, Gary Glenn and John Bastida. New political trivia question: Does anyone know where Butch had been hanging out that evening, BEFORE his arrest?! 😉

Butch wasn’t at Shorty’s before his arrest. I’ll give you a hint. He was in Meridian.

Gary Glenn is now the president of the American Family Association of Michigan. I couldn’t tell you his bathroom habits, but perhaps Vern or Roger could fill you in. At both the old Admin building and the new courthouse, the commissioners’ offices have had a private restroom for the commissioners.

Depot,

It is possible to still claim you are not guilty if you are pronounced guilty by a judge or jury while steadfastly maintaining your innocence. However, that option disappears when you pronounce yourself guilty.

His claim now that he is innocent means that he was either lying then, (Is that contempt of court? More trouble.) or that he is lying now.

It is either one, or the other.