Larry Craig - off topic... well not entirely

American politics should be located in the sports and entertainment sections of newspapers. Most politics is a sporting contest to win, though the players play fast and loose with the rules. Trouble is the umpires only get to adjudicate at most every two years, and meanwhile the teams run wild.

Some of politics is sheer entertainment. Think of the old rogue Bill Clinton, but that  comedy series is in rerun.

Now there's the top political fundraiser for a large bunch of prominent Democrat pols, the exotic Norman Hsu, supposed apparel magnate become political philanthrophist.

Hsu turns out to be a serial swindler with a bunch of people after him for various business ponzi rackets, skipping his court dates and forfeiting millions in bail money - just other people's money. He's in good company with Hillary, Edwards, Obama etc.

And on the right the clown de jour is Larry Craig, Republican from unlicentious Idaho generating comedy as funny as it ever gets.

A conservative senator given to strictures against gays gets caught peeking and leering repeatedly through the crack in the door in the men's toilets at Minneapolis airport and plays footsie below the partition with the undercover policeman in the next stall.

Larry's arrested and cops charges of peeping and lewdness.

Then he pleads guilty to "disorderly" behavior.

It becomes news and he announces he's resigning, much to the relief of his GOP colleagues.

At least the guy is decisive. He knows when to quit.

Then he changes his mind.

Now he's going to court to try to get a judge to quash his guilty plea on the grounds he made his plea in a state of panic, fear, and anxiety and without the advice of a lawyer. But his guilty plea was filed by mail seven weeks after his shall-we-say queer behavior at Minneapolis airport.

Here's a guy who purports to be fit to advise and consent on appointments to high national office including judgeships, to OK international treaties, to write legislation even, and after the slow seven weeks of judicial grind he still hasn't had time to overcome his panic and to get legal advice on those shenanigans in among the airport toilet stalls.

One commentator (Roger Simon, Politico mag) calculates that where Craig hangs out here in Washington DC there are 44k practicing attorneys or 637/square mile, adding: "It is hard to walk a block in this town without falling over an attorney. But Craig couldn't find one? Not in 51 days?"

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F68A61B4-3048-5C12-004B95B09EB7A8CB

As Simon says, to withdraw his guilty plea Craig has to persuade a judge that "a  senator of this great nation can be a complete doofus, too dimwitted to understand simple english and too brainless to find an attorney who does."

Actually given the record of US senators (and Representatives) he may well succeed.

All comedy aficionados will be there rooting for Larry.

The plea thrown out, we'll then be able to enjoy the trial after all.

AFTERTHOUGHT: The peeping and lewdness charges against Craig are based entirely on the word of the undercover cop. There is no other evidence.

There will be an injustice if the undercover cop misinterprets or misreports what happened.

But the normal reaction of an innocent person falsely accused would be to go on the offensive - to protest immediately and loudly at being wrongly charged. Craig didn't do that, either because he was guilty as charged or because he's, well, dumb.

TOLLROADSnews 2007-09-15