Senator Craig's resignation necessary?

I had been looking for a new poll question for my blog (feel free to e-mail me when you have ideas). I decided to do something about Senator Larry Craig. For those of you who still don't know, he is the Idaho Republican who entered a guilty plea to disorderly conduct, stemming from allegations he solicited sex in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.

Is it fair that Senator Craig was shunned by his colleagues for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor? If it was some other misdemeanor, or if he had been prowling around the women's bathroom, would it have caused his resignation? After all, Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana), showed up in the contact lists of a Washington, DC, madame. Where are the calls for his resignation? Perhaps people in Idaho and people in Louisiana just have different expectations of their Senators' behavior. After all, in Louisiana, every elected official is innocent until they find a body. And just to show I am not merely anti-Republican, Senator Ted Kennedy did plead guilty to leaving the scene of a famous auto accident in 1969, a one-car accident in which he was driving and his passenger was killed, which he did not report for several hours. Senator Robert Byrd, the octogenarian from West Virginia, left the scene of an accident, citing an obscure Constitutional provision that prohibits detaining Members of Congress for minor infractions of the law when Congress is in session. And Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana still holds his seat in spite of a bribery investigation that turned up gobs of cash hiding in his freezer.

As I'm sure you can guess, I believe it is better for people to figure out who it is that God made them to be, and if that is homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, asexual, whatever, to accept it, move on, and act on it in an appropriate way. When people try to partition off that portion of their life, well, it ends up coming out in inappropriate ways such as Senator Craig's alleged behavior.

But despite all the calls among his fellow Republicans for his resignation, and the silence of many Democrats who are not eager to defend a Republican Senator with an anti-gay rights voting record, the question arises (no pun intended): was his resignation necessary? Today we finally have one Senator, Arlen Specter (occasional Republican from Pennsylvania), saying that if Craig is telling the truth, he should withdraw his guilty plea, and fight it in court. As usual, not many Republicans are listening to Senator Specter. Senator John Ensign, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, whose job it is to elect Republican Senators, said Craig's resignation was "best for himself, best for his family, and best for (the Senate)." Presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a "values Republican," had the best quote: that Craig "did us all a big favor by leaving the stage and taking this issue away from further discussion." Yes, so Christian of the Rev. Huckabee (also an ordained pastor) to be thinking of his party's political fortunes rather than the suffering of one person accused, rightly or wrongly, of inappropriate behavior. Heaven forbid the Republicans be forced into a discussion of why they consistently vote against allowing gays and lesbians who want to be who God made them to be, and live a loving life dedicated to a partner to do so, yet they are more than willing to cover up allegations of same-sex sexual harassment by Congressman Mark Foley. Now for a really good display of hypocrisy (if the preceding was not enough), check out this site before they take it down, or watch Sen. Craig's endorsement of Mitt Romney.