schunnig gedrag = lewd conduct, deel V, slot.
*Dit is de reactie van toonaangevende Republikeinen op de aankondiging dat de Republikeinse senator Larry Craig (sex, mannen, toilet, politie, boete) ontslag zal nemen.
Not only does forcing Craig’s resignation entail no cost for Republicans, the whole scandal is actually good for Republicans and terrible for Democrats. So sayeth the National Review. The disgraced Larry Craig was Mitt Romney’s co-chairman, but Rich Lowry assures his readers that the true beneficiary of the Craig scandal is the Mitt Romney campaign. Jonah Goldberg then adds that the candidate truly hurt by the Craig scandal is Hillary Clinton.
It must be so soothing to get your news from National Review and always be assured that things are going exactly how you want them to, and even bathroom sex scandals involving leading figures from your own Pious political movement actually are politically beneficial and only harm the opposition.
When Hugh Hewitt admitted that he wants Larry Craig to resign but does not want the adulterous, serial-prostitute-hiring David Vitter to do so, he was subjected to ridicule and scorn from many different corners — on the ground that this inconsistency is obviously attributable both to anti-gay animus and rank political self-interest (Vitter’s replacement would be chosen by a Democratic Governor, whereas Craig’s would be chosen by a right-wing GOP Governor). Even some right-wing blogs noted the absurdity of that position: “Hugh Hewitt wants Craig to resign immediately but David Vitter to stay on. Huh?”
Yet that contradictory and nakedly unprincipled posture has now become the official position of the GOP leadership, led by its pious “moral values” wing. A whole slew of very upstanding Family Values Senators are parading around making a flamboyant showing of pressuring Larry Craig to resign (knowing that it will entail no political cost), all while remaining completely silent about David Vitter’s at least equally “undignified” and confessed adultery and lawbreaking (acts which, just like Craig, he concealed from his family and colleagues in the Senate until he had no choice).





september 1st, 2007 at 3:31 pm
John McCain, who admitted to being a serial adulterer during his first marriage, is calling on Craig to resign. No one in the “values community” is calling on senator Vitter to resign, although they are supposed to be strict adherers of the ten commandments. At which point do you make hyper-hypocrisy a federal crime?