ruins of public toilet in ancient port of Ostia
Okay, even if no one has asked, does anyone want to know my take on the Senator Craig homosex arrest story? Well, it was actually my second thought, the less-than-honorable gentleman being a Republican, but it became paramount a few seconds after I began to read the arresting officer's account of the incident in Roll Call, the capitol Hill newspaper.
I think it's called "entrapment" when it happens to the people we think of as the good guys.
Isn't anyone else out there concerned about the fact that police officers in Minneapolis are being paid to sit inside airport bathroom stalls to trap guys interested in getting off?
[image from darkcreek]
Sure it's entrapment, and while I disagree with entrapment on so many levels by police agencies, I think this instance was perfectly justified. It appears that there is a real problem with this at that airport, an extremely public place, where children move in and out constantly. I have no problem with entrapment in this sense. He reached his foot into the next stall and rubbed the officer's shoe. Either way that's and invasion of privacy in a public place and should not be tolerated. I assume you sympathize b/c the senator is gay and you're because of your general disdain of police agencies (often justified with regards to NYPD). Entrapment is wrong when it deals with prostitution, where the criminal party is actually looking to partake with a willing party. That's not the case in this instance.
jacson, let me dispel any idea that I might sympathize with the Senator.
Now, while I can't speak to what you refer to as the "real problem with this at that airport" or to what exactly transpired between the Craig and Sgt. Karsnia, I have a real interest in some of the assumptions involved here.
I'm concerned above all with the absurdity and waste involved when a society which is as confused about sexuality as this one is continually uses the instruments of law to fumble its enforcement of what it regards as moral rectitude.
But I'm also concerned about the principal of the particular means used in this case. We have lower-level law enforcement officials being used to solicit activity that is regarded somewhat arbitrarily as a crime (and one about which different jurisdictions differ), an arbitrarily-determined victimless crime, and perhaps most pragmatically, an arbitrarily-determined victimless crime which in any event could be thwarted by other, more effective and certainly more efficient means, and with much less terror for all involved.
I agree with you in most accounts and this kind of thing says a lot about America, and much more about the character of this senator...one who has been steadfast in voting against same-sex marriages and is viewed as socially ultra conservative, even while being called out as gay and under investigations for 20 years. I will say that this is not a victimless crime in the sense you are stating it is.
What I don't understand is why he has to resign.
he said is guilty.
paid a fee.
and that's that.
end of the story.
he is Senator elected, doesn't need any votes
just go on with his life, and next time
be more careful.
come on!
its not like he killed somebody.