If Congress is a representative sample of America, then our nation has a serious problem. If Congress has become a deviant distortion of American culture and society, then our political system has been horribly perverted. In either case we are in trouble.
Disclosure of the arrest and lewd conduct accusations of Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is the latest in a very long litany of disgusting examples of immoral, illegal, stupid actions and poor judgment by people that should adhere to a higher, not lower, standard of conduct.
Mrs. Barack (Michelle) Obama recently asserted, “If you can’t run your own house, you can’t run the White House.” That was a rather obvious in-your-face assault on the Clintons and their well-documented marital problems and other ethical challenges. Frankly it’s a worthwhile proposition to consider.
Larry Craig’s denial is as suspect as were the denials that came from the former President - “I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” Craig signed a guilty plea in June, and now says that was a mistake because he did nothing wrong. This isn’t about whether he’s gay or not, but it is about credibility, personal responsibility, and sound judgment. If elected officials don’t exercise good judgment regarding their personal lives, why should they be entrusted with judgment that impacts the lives of their constituents?
What’s going on in Washington and elsewhere is not just a GOP problem, it’s not just a problem with politics, it is symptomatic of the degradation of our culture. It’s a twisted assumption that anything can be excused away, covered up, hidden under the carpet, or doesn’t even matter because it’s “personal.”
There is also a segment of our society that thinks such perversion is acceptable so long as the perpetrator doesn’t pretend to be “holier than thou.” Part of the crowd that is attempting to defend Craig – and others that have been caught in compromising situations – are willing to accept the deviance, perversions, adultery, anything so long as the perpetrator is just up front admitting that they are a mess. Craig is being attacked more for his denial of his actions, than for what police reports assert he did in a public bathroom.
It’s not an “Ozzie and Harriet” world. People do bad things. They make serious, grievous mistakes. We know that. However, it is time that we stop excusing and accepting them. Propositioning – or even putting oneself in a situation where you appear to be propositioning – another man in a public restroom is appalling and unacceptable; particularly so from a United States Senator. The people cannot expect any representative to always vote as they think they should, but they do have a right to expect them to be honest, dignify the office and the institution, and behave with decorum befitting the trust placed in them.
The most senior member of the Senate, Robert Byrd (D-WV) was almost uncontrollable as he denounced from the Senate floor Michael Vick’s involvement with a dog fighting ring as “barbaric.” Byrd went on to say that he had witnessed one execution but wouldn’t mind seeing another “if it involves this cruel, sadistic, cannibalistic business of training innocent, vulnerable creatures to kill.” Judging from the continued media and public interest in the Vick saga, a whole lot of people share Sen. Byrd’s outrage.
What of Congress, and what of America, if animal cruelty evokes such passion, but the most serious moral and ethical breaches bring little more than a shrug of the shoulders? A garden is saved by pulling the weeds. To protect the chickens, the fox is kept out of the henhouse. Nobody lets the rats invade their home.
Congress needs to tidy up. Having dishonored the Senate and his constituents, Craig owes an honest confession and sincere apology, and likely a resignation. His term expires in 2008, and he supposedly is still considering whether or not to run again. Senator, the answer to that is the same word you used when the police officer flashed you his badge in that Minneapolis bathroom… “No!”
The disgusted voters’ judgment awaits. It will likely be harsh and directed at the guilty as well as the innocent. The institution as well as the faith of the voters who elected them requires a level of dignity and respect that is seriously wanting. If leadership and members will not manage the affairs of their own house, then they shouldn’t be allowed to manage the affairs of the People’s House or the Senate, either.