I can't resist... A Post About Larry Craig... sigh

So today, lawyers for Larry Craig are asking a Minesota judge to allow Craig to withdraw the guilty plea he submitted after being arrested in a sex sting at Minniapolis- St. Paul airport. Judges do not normally grant approval for such requests.

While I can't deny deriving a significant degree of pleasure, and indeed (dare I say?), blissful glee, at witnessing yet another conservative, anti-gay Republican turn out himself to be gay, the saga of Larry Craig is representative of a very sad, and common, phenomenon in America and the world today.

Growing up gay in America, especially in certain social circles and during particular eras, carries pressures and stresses unimaginable to those who don't themselves experience them. James McGreevey, former governor of New Jersey, who resigned after his extra-marital afair with a male employee became public, wrote a brief , but very illustrative and enlightening piece in the Washington Post, "A Prayer for Larry Craig", in which he attempts to describe the turmoil associated with growing up gay. It's definitely worth reading in its entirety. McGreevey's "Prayer" is that "Larry Craig and his loving family come to peace with his truth", and, "To those who judge him harshly, I ask that they fill their hearts with compassion and equanimity."

McGreevey is in a unique position to experience empathy with Craig. Personally, I have a difficult time forgiving gay politicians for actively participating in the persecution of gay people. Then again, I have difficulty forgiving conservative republicans at all.

However, I just can't feel that the prosecution of Larry Craig makes any legal sense. Foot tapping is not illegal. Indeed, soliciting sex in public is not illegal. Having sex in public is, and I suppose, should be, illegal. But nothing Larry Craig did constitutes a violation of any law that I am familiar with. The fact that the flimsy legal basis for the prosecution of Larry Craig is being ignored by the public, and the media, is the most significant and disturbing facet of this story.