In Defense of Larry Craig

As a lot of commenters have noted (well before my very dulled-by-acceptance-of-statist-authority antennae were raised), the arrest of Craig was on very shaky grounds. He didn't actually... do anything illegal. He didn't make a lewd proposition, at least not an explicit one that, and certainly didn't have sex in a public place.

Via Instapundit, Vaifrank notes that Larry Craig was arrested for, it seems, tapping his foot in an illicit manner. With malice aforethought.

I really don't want to defend this guy. I'd rather he resign from the Senate. While this arrest is incredibly thin and, it seems, unjustified, the fact is he was probably intending to do precisely what he's accused of intending to do. But mere intent is not illegal, and should not serve as the basis for an arrest.

So while I don't want to defend him, I guess I have to. How a guy gets arrested and threatened with a life-changing prosecution for tapping his friggin' foot is beyond me.

It should also be noted that the stories of gay cruising the Idaho Statesman didn't report until yesterday for lack of corroboration still have no corroboration. They've taken the circumstances of his arrest as general all-purpose corroboration for any and all one-source claims about Craig. Pretty much any gay Democratic operative or sympathizer can now claim "Larry Craig raped me!" and the MSM will print it as "credible."

posted by Ace at 12:51 PM

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