I’ll always be grateful to my defensive line coach who taught me that a “wide-stance” was a dangerous thing. I guess Larry skipped that class. Maybe he was unavoidably detained in the bathroom.

Would I make love to this man? Well, the short answer is a qualified no. But can any of us say with certainty we wouldn’t make love to this man to, say, save the lives of our wife and children?

But I think the more important issue that we shouldn’t lose sight of is Larry Craig as an Everyman story of looking for love in all the wrong places.

Personally, I have conflicted feelings with regard to Senator Craig. I’ll admit there’s a certain satisfaction in seeing a man who has consistently used his office to persecute homosexuals be publicly exposed as a hypocrite who engages in sex with other men. The past year has seen a number of “family values” republican politicians in the same light, including Gary Allen, Richard Curtis, and others.

That said, I also feel pity for Senator Craig–pity that he has spent a lifetime hiding from others, and deceiving those close to him. Had he grown up in better circumstances, he might have been a well-adjusted, unashamed, openly gay man. Instead, he entered politics in a right-wing state, where he eventually had to quickly take a bride in order to deflect rumors that he was secretly gay. He spent his life hiding, trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment during his travels in strange towns and stranger restrooms. He lowered himself to behavior that is primarily the province of closeted, heterosexually-married men. He lived with constant shame and guilt. Finally, after a lifetime of shame, his secret was revealed. He was publicly humiliated, and yet so powerfully was he influenced by his generation’s bigotry, that he felt forced to tell the most blatant, most transparent lies, rather than being able to act with integrity.

As for the Senate “rebuke,” I would point out that there was no rebuke, for Senator David Vitter, another “family values” politician, who’s many years of illegally patronizing female prostitutes was made public. Rather, he received a standing ovation from fellow republican senators, when he came back to work on the Senate floor. It seems the “family values” party doesn’t mind illegal sexual misconduct, so long as it’s not GAY.

Devyn, am I to take your compliment of Nick’s comment as a subtle rebuke for poking fun at Senator Craig’s misfortune?

Tagore: ROTFLMAO

“Gentlemen of the bloggernacle, would you make love to this man?”

Well, it would be tempting. I mean he is soooooo big.

And that bold head, I’ve always had a thing for bold heads!

Dan, that was me! I just had something stuck in my eye. Sorry for the misunderstanding, but I’m just not that into you.