I hate to disagree, I really do. The problem isn't that he was looking for sex, but rather, looking for sex in the bathroom, which is why the cop was there in the first place.

Also, at best, he's a hypocrite for his anti-gay stance. Another stupid hypocrite Republican? Count me out on feeling sorry for him.

They probably want to get rid of him now to avoid dealing with another hypocritical-Republican-sex-scandal come 2008.

Why is looking to find someone to have sex with in a bathroom any different than finding someone to have sex with in a club? It's not. Even though I do think he was trying for a hookup, I'm not at all convinced that he wanted to do it in the bathroom. What if he had found a willing participant and then suggested they go to a hotel?

Point being, you have to draw the line at where something becomes illegal. Arresting him at the point they did would be like them arresting you for saying, "Hey baby" to a pretty girl because you might want to get it on with her there.

I'm sorry, but until he did or said something that indicated he actually wanted to have sex in public, I don't consider anything illegal.

For the record, they are now saying he's stepping down today. If he hadn't, the RNC was going to demand it. McConnell has already admitted that the formal Republican Senate Caucus had "begun actions to handle the situation" and they were just waiting on him to take the lead in resigning. They have forced him out.

Ah, yes, once again the repubs eat their own because they are too gutless to ask for a helping of Chinese cooked demos.

Adam,

He plead guilty and was convicted of a misdemeanor and paid a $500 fine. As far as crime goes that ranks right up there with jaywalking and littering.

If we're going to clean house in Congress lets start with those that are cooking shady land deals, illegal wiretapping of political opponents, accepting illegal campaign donations from fugitives, employing illegal aliens, and otherwise peddling influence.

There are a lot worse crimes in Congress and being hypocritical on gay rights is not one of them.

I know there is worse -- on both sides. But the politics of the situation makes him a liability the Republicans don't need after the disaster that was 2006. I'm looking at this from a purely political standpoint here, not the ethical or moral standpoint. I'm just saying -- politically, I understand the damage control.

I still don't feel sorry for him, though, because he's an idiot in the best case scenario: Did nothing wrong, plead guilty? Makes him an idiot. Middle scenario: He was looking to cheat on his wife, which makes him a dick. Worse case: He planned on having sex in the bathroom, which is gross (though, Craig having sex *anywhere* is pretty gross to me -- ew). In all three cases he's behaving stupidly for a politician.

Also, despite my lack of sympathy, I do think there's something wonky with the way he was arrested, the timing of it hitting the media, and the cop. Especially after hearing the audio. All that said, though, I can still see why the Republicans would do this as damage control.

Not that I'm exactly a fan of the current Republican party leaders, though. These are the incompetents that made "Speaker Pelosi" possible.

The deal about this is that allegedly (this is not something I can confirm from my own experience!) when gay men go looking for sex in the bathroom, they usually intend to have sex in the bathroom. That's somewhat different from nightclubs where people go looking for a sex partner and then (usually) go looking for a room. If it's the bathroom at an adults-only establishment, I'd say that's between them and the owner - maybe they ought to pay rent and a cleaning fee, but it's nothing the cops should be involved in. However, this was at an airport. Kids use those bathrooms. (Which is also different from "hooking up" at a nightclub.)

OTOH, there's an issue of priorities. I suppose that the Twin Cities have all their other crime under control so they can spare the manpower for the faggot patrol? Not likely.