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The amazing speed with which the GOP hustled Larry Craig off the stage was pretty startling. Crooks and Liars has the video of his departure. The all-out effort to push him out stands in stark contrast not only to what happened with David Vitter but also the rash of other GOP miscreants and freaks who simply find Jesus and go on with business as usual until they are indicted.
Julia digs up this bit from 2005 which might indicate why Craig got sacked so quickly:
Barr, one of the most conservative members of Congress when he served in the House, leads an increasing group of disenchanted Republicans who have had enough of Bush’s misuse of the law and encroachment of civil liberties that are supposed to be protected by the Constitution. He has joined with fellow conservative firebrand Phyllis Schlafly and the ultra-liberal American Civil Liberties Union to fight renewal of many of the rights-robbing provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
And he’s not alone. Republican Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Larry Craig of Idaho and Olympia Snowe of Maine question Bush’s actions along with Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
[]
Bush is also angry with Craig, a conservative who joined with Democrats in a filibuster to defeat permanent renewal of the Patriot Act. As a meeting recently, Bush referred to Craig as “a goddamned traitor” and told the National Republican Senatorial Committee to start recruiting someone to run against the Idaho Senator in 2008.
Such anger against those who dare oppose him is typical for a President who all too often launches into obscene tirades when his policies are questioned. Bush, on many occasions, has called political opponents “traitors" and, in private, refers to Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter as a “lily-livered bastard.”
Craig, however, is unfazed by all this and says the Patriot Act “doesn't do enough to protect the civil liberties of innocent Americans.”
Dubya is the undisputed head of the party. He gets what he wants. If Ari Fleischer is running one million dollars' worth of pro-war ads in the Pennsylvania area putting pressure on Republicans to support his pet war, it sure ain't because he's off the reservation.
Larry Craig thus becomes a powerful lesson to anyone in the party who might think of crossing the Boy King, be it over the war or FISA or anything else: do so at your own peril. I think all those "Republicans of conscience" that everyone was predicting we'd see in Magical September are going to be something of an endangered species.
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Geez, let’s apply that axe to Vitter, too…
Tillman
OK, that snippet with Craig and the Patriot Act? Whoa. Just…WHOA.
buh-bye, Senator Potato Head…..
and here I thought they went after him for getting teh sex for free instead of paying for it like the rest of them
EPU’ed
Who else noticed that Lusty Larry was wearing the exact same pants he wore on Tuesday? They didn’t look like they had made a trip to the dry cleaners in the mean time.
Same belt, too.
Changed his shirt, though.
So why’d W call Craig today after he quit? The whole lot of them make me ill
Looks like they used this as the ‘last straw’ to get rid of an occaisional dissenter. Hypocrite though he is, he’s still not falling in party line. So of course, he gets the boot.
Sorely typical of this admin.
Of course, if Idaho had a Democrat in the Governor’s Mansion like Louisiana (home of Diaper Dave Vitter), he’d be safe as houses and the GOP would be defending him tooth and nail.
Well, deep down you knew all along it wasn’t really about sex. They’ve tolerated and covered up all kinds of aberrant behavior among their members for forever, as long as they were good little Rethugs. This makes a lot more sense…
Maggie @ 6
Both Larry and his pants seem to have great trouble getting off.
aliasofwestgate @ 8
And especially since they can guarantee a “better” republican replacement, why not toss him overboard?
But I think it does make it very, very, clear that Diaper Dave stays where he does because of politics and not sex. I think we should push on this a bit, somehow.
preznit giv me turkee @ 5
You’re right, that does make him a bit of a communist.
This is a story of Johnny Rotten,
Gone but not forgotten…
oh jeebus -
Larry and his pants seem to have great trouble getting off.
Oh somebody get Glenn Greenwald on the horn.
I just found the Cinnamon Life we bought at the grocery store and then couldn’t remember where we put.
It’s all over now.
Well, I think any GOP-er who has any skeletons in his closet is going to be extremely careful from now on. “One step out of line and we will throw you under the bus.” As long as they are loyal and toe Bush’s line, they are safe as houses. One step away and they are done. Simple enough.
peanutbutter @ 3
Sure does put things in a different perspective.
DING! DING! DING!
That’s the real reason he’s being booted, the arrest and guilty plea are just the excuse. This also explains why the arrest was kept quiet until the day it was needed, when Gonzo resigned. And what shiny object has the media been following all week, rather than examine the meltdown at the DOJ?
This smells like Rove from top to bottom. (Eww, sorry. Didn’t mean to gross out anyone.)
I expect and ask nothing of the Republicans. The same is not true for my party. There are some in my party I do not trust.
peanutbutter @ 12
There’s also the factor of party discipline in this. The Democrats aren’t half as ruthless, and we can see that plainly the way the votes split so much along caucus lines.
Both points really need to find some airplay and even over to the congress critters offices. If we can’t find a way to agree to disagree and get things passed regardless in our own party, this cutthroat discipline on the Repug side is going to take over framing and we’ll lose out badly in congress seats. Not a good thing, for what we need to do to rebuild.
Saw some speculation early on that perhaps a staffer of a Rep with an eye on the senate tipped off the Hill on the arrest.
After reading this, I’m convinced that tip came from much higher up. Rove, anybody?
I know whatcha mean, Kirk; getting your pants off can take from Tuesday to Saturday sometimes. Maybe he put Cinnamon Life in the pockets to freshen ‘em up…
Maggie @ 23
So THAT’S where Glenn put them.
Toby Wollin @ 17
Between the closet and the boardroom (routinely criminal business deals), isn’t that pretty much all the elected goopers?
[except for the independently wealthy celibates
and the indepedently wealthy neuters, I suppose]
A coincidence that the Craig resignation was announced on the Saturday of a long weekend holiday?
You know, it’s astounding that Phyllis Schlafly hasn’t vaporized from her own wretched sarin gas type fuming. She is a quite horrible person who would make a decent villain in a James Bond movie. As to her access to reality, she has her own dimension of thte DSM-IV.
CocoaBeach @ 7
LItle Boots (in best Marlon Brando voice): “here’s the offah ya can’t refuse…You must respect me as your Godfathah! Instead you disrespect me and cast your lot with the Barzinicrats!”
Maggie @ 23
sure gives “fluff-and-fold” a new meaning….
Is there a lawyer here who can tell us of a criminal statute Vitter — as best we know — has violated. And for which violation, he can and should be prosecuted.
Craig, after all, is guilty of a (minor) crime.
As I see it, Vitter very likely could be gotten for a felony.
yellowdogD @ 22
You know there is the hypocrisy and doubtless Craig deserved a certain amount of ridicule.
But to lose his job over an infraction that is as far as I’m concerned about on the same level as a parking ticket - there certainly seems to be some manipulation going on. Rovian, if not Rove himself.
And clearly a lesson to any Republicans who are tempted to break party discipline.
Jane,
So, who dropped the dime on Craig? Who tipped John McArdle at Roll Call to Craig’s arrest and plea? (McArdle has stated that he only learned of it because someone provided a tip.)
I’m thinking that it was someone with exceptional access to non-public information, a political ratfucker who can nurse a grudge like no-one else, and “issues” re: closeted gay men.
Guess who?
Seems like someone(s) at the RNC is in a sorry situation with regard to the missing emails and knowing that the Bush admin was using its system instead of the official WH site for official business. I wonder if there is someone being yanked around? Why don’t we hear anything about this?
SYDNEY (AFP) - A massive steel and concrete wall was being erected around Australia’s largest city on Saturday as Sydney stepped up its preparations for the APEC summit with an unprecedented show of security.
Australia has taken unprecedented security measures to ensure the safety of the 21 world leaders, who include US President George W. Bush, China’s Hu Jintao and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, while they take part in the annual APEC meeting.
…police are taking no chances as they aim to avoid the violent demonstrations seen in Melbourne during the World Economic Forum in 2000 and last November’s G20 economic leaders meeting.
CocoaBeach @ 7
W misses Jeff Gannon?
OKK — link, please.
Peterr @ 36
http://www.afp.com/english/new.....n81b0.html
Lots of speculation on who phoned in the tip to Roll Call. I’m going to disagree with the grand conspiracy theories here. I think it was probably someone in the Minnesota justice system who realized that this gossip was just too juicy to not pass on.
kirk murphy @ 35
I was going to go with an offer of an overnight stay in the Lincoln Bathroom.
kirk murphy @ 35
No, it was the in yer face FOAD call. “You crossed me and look what happened, heh, heh, heh,” kinda call. On the surface it sounded very polite, but the subtext was humiliation.
kirk murphy @ 35
If one digs into the Franklin scandal, one is given reason to believe both shrub and poppy have been in the arena of illegal sex (i.e., sex involving children of both genders).
not a lawyer, but isn’t hiring a prostitute is illegal except in Nevada?
I think what saves Vitter’s bacon is that the DC madam hasn’t been convicted yet. If she gets convicted, I think it resurrects Vitter’s behavior.
Reminding people that hiring prostitutes is usually illegal would help put this in context, since the R’s are saying that he pled guilty to a crime. Had Vitter been caught in real time, he would likely have been charged with a crime. Let’s remember that.
Frank Probst @ 38
I’d agree with you IF this had been leaked closer to the arrest or plea. Someone sat on it for almost 3 weeks. It was in Roll Call the day Gonzo resigned, and then the details stretched out over several days. First the wacky statement, then the arrest details, then the audio of the interview. No, this was orchestrated. And done very well, I might add.
What is cinnamon life? Google tells me it’s a cereal and a book.
TheOtherWA @ 44
Bingo, for me.
Well at least bush will take down the whole stinking lot of them when he goes.
The article mentions Spector as one of the ones who dare confront bush.
That is TOTAL bullshit. I gave up long ago with his righteous indignation, when he did nothing to correct the abuses of this administration. All talk and no action.
It’s encouraging to see repukes cannibalize each other after backing themselves into a corner.
Good riddance.
I think Vitter has statute of limitations on his side. Can’t remember who said it, but someone trusted here at FDL.
Found this on Buzzflash, Touchtoe Larry calling Bill Clinton, “a nasty, naughty, boy.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lvMYgIAAkk
Karma comes back big time:-D
The White House has been pretending that up is down since 2001. The media won’t call them on it so it is probably time that we do. Phone calls help to representatives but not in deep red states, so we need to be more creative. It’s time for somebody to laugh at the media and say I can’t believe your buying this same old sh*t again.
Peterr @ 36
Peterr, for detailed coverage from local activists, the Sydney Indymedia site will be great.
Wilsons’s almanac looks pretty good, too!
[the first indymedia site - Seattle - was created for the ‘99 WTO protests there.
since then indymedia has grown into a global progressive DIY news and info network…
with good mods, much of the content is still useful! woo-hoo!]
peanutbutter @ 3
He did speak out against it, originally, and voted against the extension.
I was a member of a local coalition that came together to try to get it repealed. And we wrote letters to the editor telling them of Craig’s position on it to try to explain to people that it wasn’t a partisan issue but rather a civil rights issue.
The vote and issue didn’t hurt him in any way - I don’t think - because the Libertarian types in Idaho - and the West - see the Patriot Act and the horrible FISA revision as the government intruding into peoples lives - which they do
APEC is a conspiracy.
Wonder of there will be any NAFTA-CAFTA, WTO, Caryle Group, DLC and other unsavory types slithering about at APEC?
I disagree with citizen above.
I think hammering on the Craig wedge is a very effective tool to splinter the GOP with the potential to suppress wingnut turnout.
That helps dems.
It ain’t pretty, but exposing the rank hypocrisy really is vital.
Plus, you better believe that in reverse circumstances, they wouldn’t hold back.
Sure, other issues are more important, but there are lots of components to battling them, which, in my view, includes shaking up the GOP center of gravity.
Note, Bushie boy is a vindictive SOB and is having his own schadenfreude. Count on it.
OT, just wondering how low interest rates will go and if it’s time to get set on a refinance or line of credit…
BBC
OKK at 54
IMO, there needs to be a revolution.
I’m not an historian, but from what I’ve read, I believe a revolution needs (a) a central idea, and (b) a leader.
Is there any evidence of these Beloved Leader’s “L’etat c’est moi!” outbursts that goes beyond the level of hearsay? I mean, something that will finally convince the country that he and his crime syndicate present a far greater threat to the country than terrorists ever could? (Face it, terrorists can only kill Americans. These thugs are hell-bent on destroying America itself.)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 37
Looking at the picture of the workers erecting that wall/fence, it makes me think of the “walk-through” zoo, that are designed to be more animal friendly.
I can hear the park ranger’s voice now: Here we are at the APEC enclosure, where you will soon be able to see world leaders in their natural environment. They are extremely skittish of appearing in public, or engaging directly with ordinary people, because of their fear of predators. Sadly, given what some of them have done, this fear is not entirely unfounded.
Frank Probst @ 38
i agree. craig said he hadn’t told anyone including staff and family about the arrest so it would most likely have to have been someone in minnesota.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 54
As the transnationals created the WTO and NAFTA-CAFTA in order to impose corporate rule over local and national law, rest assured the will be represented in both “leaders” retinue.
The transnationals are the masters - the money party (GOP/DLC in the US; Howard in Australia) are their hired help.
Bush and Howard are the front men, though Shrub got off message when he found messiah.
The masters will be observing the help, discreetly.
Jonathan
Think revolution? Think detention camps. It is just what they’re waiting for. Might want to rethink the parameters of that revolution thing.
Craig vs. Vitter.
Jane, is it possible that Bush put out the word to his party operatives to dig up dirt on Craig, and that this is how this weeks-old case entered the public limelight? The timing of the outing of this seems odd to me, both the time distance between the actual event and when it hit the newsstands, and the timing of right before Labor Day weekend and the return of Congress to Capitol Hill. How did this case actually get into the newspapers?
They (the GOP) got Craig out because they knew they could. They just reminded him of the couple of strikes he had against him.
But, Vitter, who they think they’re ‘safe‘ with is going to be yet another embarrassment further on down the road.
The media needs to get on and stay on Vitter.
e.c. @ 59
My guess is that the White House knew shortly after if happened.
Next week would be excellent timing for Larry Flint to drop the dime on another Republican family values hypocrite or several. BAM BAM BAM. Keep punching them as they stagger.
There are few things more disdainful than a sanctimonious, lying hypocrite a/k/a republican.
Maggie @ 62
What I have in mind, vaguely, is not the sort of chaos and bloodshed at the 1968 Chicago Democratic convention.
Rather, a tidal wave that sweeps all before it.
Bush has contempt for the American people.
But I think tyrants like him quietly fear the people.
September 1st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
aliasofwestgate at 21 says:
Yeah, but I don’t think Democrats have enough if any party discipline, party loyalty, or unity of purpose. At least some degree of all of those needs to be, or a party doesn’t really exist. That’s why they’ve been acting like wet cats trying to get away from the water!
But then, of course, how to get there from here? Which brings me to another point: Any bets someone is blackmailing Hagel bigtime? I saw his brother on TV a few months ago talking about the fact that he thought his brother had made up his mind to run based on a phone conversation they had (this was right after the press conference that didn’t really materialize in the way it seemingly should have.) Very little has been heard from Hagel since. Seems mysteriously quiet to me.
“Republicans of conscience” ceased to exist when all Republicans sold their souls to the Bush family.
Bush has contempt for the American people.
But I think tyrants like him quietly fear the people
ABSOLUTELY!!!
helloooo firepups…..sooooo anything new ;o}? hehehehehe…ole wide-stance bit the dust huh….ok vitter -your move is next….
Badwater @ 69
Republicans haven’t had any conscience since Barry Goldwater.
hear hear hackworth!
One of the chief challenges for folks at FDL, in my opinion, is to figure out how to reach out to all the nameless and faceless Americans who are trying to get by and who think all their problems are caused by intellectual elites.
Maggie @ 55
Yes! Use the Craig’s stall / Sen. McConnell’s nellie/ Rep. McHenry’s rough trade ‘n “sleepover” frictions to divide the Goopers’ social networks.
Setting them fighting among one another in gooperland drains resources they’d use to fight us here in the Republic.
Hurt their morale, divert their energy, divide their support networks, remove their leaders.
AND keep focused on tyranny at home, Imperial War in Iraq, and Cheney’s need to bring human civilization to the same ruinous condition he’s brought upon his own flesh.
We’re the Lake. We can do it.
Just know, I’m havig a great time kicking larry’s political corpse around the blogosphere. I could do it each mionute for a week and still not equal the number of forest groves Senator Potato Head laid waste.
Hope he kneels the rest of his sorry life on a desolate clear-cut floor in high summer. At noon.
Nice to see a real eco-criminal go down.
juslin @ 71
Looks like old Craig couldn’t go the distance.
TheOtherWA @ 40
As is Bush’s custom!
Let’s put the blame exactly on the right shoulders: IDAHO voters. They elected this sanctimonious prig for 18 YEARS! He was their kinda guy, and he did their bidding. Larry Craig = Idaho.
juslin @ 71
The important element is that Idaho’s republican governor will appoint another republican hypocrite and all is well. Craig was expendable. He stepped out on a limb. Its expedient to cast him aside. He is no longer useful to the thugs.
Because the democratic governor of LA would appoint a democrat, they’re glued to Vitter. They must be tied to Vitter and his diaper antics in the school of public opinion.
Why was a diaper so funny when the astronaut lady was purported to be wearing one? It should be funnier for Vitter. Let’s all yuck it up.
I’m with hack, I hope another hypocrite trump card floats onto the table early next week and staggers them, again.
How about Huckleberry Graham?
Hatch? Specter?
next stop for craig - off to de-gaying camp where foley is stashed….hehehehe but first the “stalls must be widened…..ok i’m having a tad too much fun with this!
RockPaperScizzors @ 48
amazing how much it resembles this one, http://youtube.com/watch?v=QvRH-8eF6l0 about 7.30 in.
first a spanking….and then the oral sex
juslin @ 81
lol, that’s a real d*ck slapper.
and speaking of vitter - La dems are strangely quiet….whats up with THAT? or does rep jefferson have something to do with dems silence? just wondering…..
Jonathan @ 57
Jonathan - here’s a central idea. The rulers of the US empire are the most ruthless, violent rulers in the history of our planet.
Physical aggression plays to their main strength - and they are in a defensive, entrenched position.
We stopped the WTO - global corporate rule - with 60,000 people over just two days.
The only thing the protesters broke was windows (and only a handful). That didn’t help, by the way.
We’ll defeat these war criminals in the national and international courts, in the impeachements to come, and in non-violent mass action to protect American values and the Constitution.
Maggie @ 42
Also, if he’d been caught with his pants down, so to speak. As far as I know, so far they only have the fact that a prostitute had his phone number in her book, and that phone records may show that they had been in phone contact. I don’t think they have enough to officially charge him with any crime yet, and I don’t know how old the phone records are, but I really doubt they’ll ever have legal charges against Vitter, or they’d have arrested him already.
Badwater @ 69
I think that’s called an oxymoron
Kirk Murphy,
As I think I understand, you’re an M.D. psychiatrist.
Question: If a smart young man discovers that he’s gay and learns that by being weak he’ll get fucked over, might he not seek power at any cost to his soul?
Craig’s voting record looks pretty standard republican except for the patriot act (hard to type that with a straight face) and drilling in Alaska. Course that would piss Cheney off big-time!
Craig is ushered off the scene and the Idaho Republican Party installs another right wing nut and the electorate in Idaho reelects the nut in 2008. If the “sacred” electorate weren’t so brain dead perhaps things could change but with a dumbed down public fascism marches on.
Veritas78 @ 79
Well in that case you would blame people like me for Darrell Issa…
the next to fall? Rep Patrick McHenry
http://downwithtyranny.blogspo.....te-to.html
Kirk at 86
In terms of a central idea, I was thinking of something simple, like the 1960s anthem, “Power to the People.”
kirk@85
9/15 demonstration is a beginning of a long process to stem the corrupt tide of bushco…rep conyers said impeachment is NOT off his table….
Calling Larry Flynt.
So what thoughts went through Miss McConnell’s dizzy little head while she was busy tut-tutting this week?
Was it “No tea rooms this weekend? Oh, dear!” or “Larry, Larry, Long Tall Larry! Well, we’ll always have Fargo!!”
Jonathan @ 89
I believe smart people make all manner of “ethicsectomies” in order to satisfy power - or stay in power.
Jeebus, that’s what the “medical directors” who deny your health coverage have chosen to do - they sold their consciences to Big Insurance for a nice fat salary.
hadn’t thought about the Eco-criminal Side of Lusty Larry, Kirk. Good point!
Could someone please write this on a postcard and send it to Specter? Might make his think twice before weaseling back to vote in Bush’s favor on every issue.
In this case, however, Bush is a good judge of character
Seems like if he apologized, he’s guilty:
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) apologized last night after his telephone number appeared in the phone records of the woman dubbed the “D.C. Madam,” making him the first member of Congress to become ensnared in the high-profile case.
The statement containing Vitter’s apology said his telephone number was included on phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates dating from before he ran for the Senate in 2004.
“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter, 46, said in a statement, which his spokesman, Joel DiGrado, confirmed to the Associated Press.
OT - Cinnamon Life Greenwald is kicking arse and listing names on cspan 2.
Jonathan @ 56
Revolution! Hell, I’d settle for a coup d’état at this point!
New Thread…
http://www.firedoglake.com/200.....n/#respond
Who actually thinks the American electorate, dumbed down and more knowledgable about Brittany Spears, Oprah and reality tv than issues that actually effect their quality of life, have the wisdom to throw off the conservative ideology that will ultimately usher in fascism and the ultimate demise of the republic. It would seem that many if not most Americans have abandoned the notion of a free people and now just want to feel protected by an overlord in a hostile world.
Ann in AZ @ 102
Russian troops, barefoot, poorly led and ill armed, returning from the debacle of WWI turned their weapons on the ruling elites and ushered in the Russian Revolution
Jonathan @ 67
So you’re looking for the French Revolution, replete with pitchforks and lanterns!
OK, guess we’ll have to make that the Russian Revolution, then. Just tell me where to show up!