I take as much delight as anyone in the hypocrisy of the Republicans, but I am grateful to Arlen Specter for speaking up on Larry Craig’s behalf this weekend and pointing out how weak the case is against his fellow senator. Specter changed my mind and, I imagine, the minds of others. Now I hope Craig doesn’t resign, and fights the Minneapolis police.
If you read the report of Craig’s exchange with the police officer who arrested him in the airport bathroom last June, you see a guy terrified that he is about to lose his reputation and career because he (probably) came on to another guy in a bathroom or (maybe just) bumped his foot against the other guy’s foot. Is it fair that someone should be exposed for that sort of behavior? I don’t think so; it’s ugly and invasive. The police officer’s condescension to Craig–‘I expect this from guys in the ‘hood, not from a big senator’–freezes my blood. Everyone has a private life. I guess people shouldn’t be having that private life in airport bathrooms, but excuse me if I want no part in dragging them out to the cameras.
Craig has been persecuted. Persecuted by that officer, persecuted by cartoonists, persecuted by the righteous press and by fellow Republicans. And probably persecuted by his fears over his sexuality, too. Is it our business if Craig is secretly gay? Of course it is. (And good for the Idaho Statesman for pursuing the story; that part of Craig’s persecution seems to me justifiable). Is this any way to find out about it? No, it’s humiliating.
A lot of my entries on this site are about my problems with Jewish identity. Arlen Specter reminds me of the reasons I was always proud to be Jewish when I was younger. Using your brain, not caring if you’re in the minority, standing up for common sense and law on behalf of the persecuted.
