Conservative Politics Today

**The purpose of this article is to discuss the events leading up to the arrest of Senator Larry Craig and why every man in this country should be afraid he could be next.

I want it to be perfectly clear that I am not defending Senator Larry Craig. Senator Craig reached a plea agreement with the courts. In that plea he admitted to being guilty of disorderly conduct. Therefore, the question of innocence or guilt is not on the table. **

Placing your suitcase against the door inside a bathroom stall.
Tapping your toe while seated on a commode.
Touching the foot of another in a stall next to yours.
Your fingertips touching the bottom of a stall divider.

These are the apparent “laws” Senator Larry Craig violated in a public bathroom in the Minneapolis Airport that precipitated his downfall and they could darn well be the very ones that trigger yours.

I have searched for the the specific codes violated by Senator Craig. In my quest I have searched the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport website as well as Minnesota State Law. I have found no evidence, at all, that the above acts are a violation of any law.

I would think Airport Security would have provided those codes to the media at the same time they released the audio tape of the interrogation. They did not. It seems to me the media would have asked Airport Security to provide those codes. They did not.

I know many of my readers travel often by plane. We have all seen the large signs stating “Do Not Leave Your Baggage Unattended.” When checking your baggage you are specifically asked if you did.

Gentlemen, what do you do with your carry on luggage when you go to the bathroom? I place it inside the stall in front of the door. If I put it on the sides I have no room to move. If I place it in front of the commode I would have to use the sink. In front of the door is the only logical place to put it but that is no longer an option as placing your suitcase in front of the stall door is apparently a violation of the law.

Gentlemen, have you ever tapped your toe while sitting on the commode? Come on, be honest? I’ve even heard a few whistles and some singing as I walk past the men’s room. You can’t whistle or sing without tapping the toe.

Granted Senator Craig was not whistling or singing when he tapped his toe. As a matter of fact, Senator Craig did not utter a sound while in the bathroom until he saw police identification slide under the stall divider. I don’t suppose it possible the Senator was happy or content or had a tune drifting through his mind, not that it matters since toe tapping in the men’s room is apparently a violation of the law.

I have stepped on hems, coats, purses, purse straps, feet and who knows what else while in the stall of a public restroom. Of course we women like to spread out and make ourselves comfortable. It’s tough though because there never seems to be enough room for our suitcase, purse, coats and us in those tiny cubicles.

I can only imagine how confined a man must be in one of those tiny enclosures, especially with a big black suitcase blocking the door. I mean he may have to actually spread his feet a bit or swing to the side. And if he is wearing a nice pair of slacks he may do this anyway so they don’t fall to the floor, in an effort to keep them from getting dirty on the bathroom floor.

From what I understand, some men also do this in an effort to position their pants so the contents of their pockets will not spill out onto the floor. This must be stopped immediately as you may accidentally touch the foot of your neighbor and this is apparently a violation of the law.

I have a very close friend that suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. When he is having an episode he must touch things exactly three times. What he has to touch and when varies. Sometimes it’s a few things; Sometimes it’s everything. He may flick the light switch three times, or open and close a drawer three times or use his finger tip to trace a flaw in the counter top three times. I can only hope for his sake he never has a compulsion to rub the bottom of a stall divider three times because apparently this is a violation of the law.

Gentlemen, you know as well as I do that all of these “violations of the law” occur in every public restroom every day across this great nation and there is no salacious motive behind these actions. Heaven forbid you are caught doing any of these things, or find yourself in violation of some other yet to be created law, because yours could be the next life to be destroyed.

It’s so easy to pound your chest and say “I know what I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.” Really? How do you know? People have confessed to greater crimes than this and they were later proven innocent.

Imagine sitting there on the commode, minding your own business, thinking about the big sales pitch you have to present in 2 hours. You have spoken to no one since entering the restroom. You are unaware of performing some benign task such as tapping your toe. Then out of the blue you are being escorted out of the stall and next thing you know you are sitting in front of an officer, under arrest, being accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom.

What makes this so much worse is that the law forbids surveillance videos in a restroom so now it boils down to “he said, you said.” You have nothing to prove your innocence other than your word. Who is the judge going to believe? Usually benefit of the doubt goes to the officer; an officer who could well have just misinterpreted your benign actions and assumed them to be something he was specifically looking for.

Men, wake up and wise up. One minute you’re sitting in a stall minding your business and the next you’re having to tell your wife, family, friends, boss, etc that you have been arrested for soliciting sex in a public toilet. To top off this grand event you find your picture is on the 10:00 p.m. news and your name is printed in the next morning paper.

Hit him where it hurts - right in his manhood. What a brilliant plan for extortion these cops have come up with. What a brilliant way to hold someone hostage and have them quietly give into their demands for ransom. What other choice do you men have?

Sure, you can hire an attorney. You may even succeed in getting the charges dropped after paying thousands of dollars in attorneys fees and undergoing much mental and emotional suffering. But despite the outcome, that shadow will forever be hanging over your head no matter how innocent you may have been.

Sex in public restrooms happens. It is illegal. It should be illegal and anyone caught soliciting or engaging in sex in a public restroom should in fact be subject to the consequences of the law. But on the other side of that coin the innocent should not be shanghaied by non-existent laws on fear of having their lives destroyed.

What is terribly frightening is that most of the men I have discussed this with have stated they were not aware of any such “code.” Those that did know had no knowledge of specifics. It is in the best interest of men everywhere to educate yourselves on this topic. Like it or not, you have just been thrown into midst of this seedy underworld.

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