Idiot Double Standard

Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) resigned his Senate seat today, effective September 30. He did so in the wake of the outrage following the disclosure that he may have tried to pick up a sexual partner in a men's room. Unfortunately, if he was trying to pick up the person in the next stall, that person was an undercover police officer. Craig pled guilty to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor.

While Craig denies that he did anything wrong, his explanations for his behavior have raised more questions than answers. Complicating matters is that Craig has been a strong opponent of pro-gay measures in Congress.

I am not going to lose any sleep over Craig's resignation. On the other hand, it is very troublesome to see how much media attention has been focused on this incident, as well as how quickly Craig's party threw him under the bus. Just a couple months ago, Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) admitted that he had used the services of the "DC Madam," who ran an alleged prostitution ring. By comparison to the Craig episode, media coverage of Vitter's indiscretions was subdued. In addition, the Republican Party did not turn their backs on Vitter as they did Craig.

So, I guess for the media and Republicans it is OK to pay for heterosexual sex, but it is not OK to ask for possible consensual homosexual sex.

Maybe it's me, but that sure smacks of a double standard.