Sen. Larry Craig would like to rewind the tape of the past several months, and respond differently to the embarrassing events that threaten his political career. But a Minnesota judge has shot down the Idaho Republican's only chance for a do-over, ruling that Craig can't retract the guilty plea he entered in August to a charge of disorderly conduct. Craig can't change the past - which means he has no future in the Senate.
Craig insists he's the victim of a misunderstanding at best, or entrapment at worst. If he's sincere about that, he has made the wrong moves at every turn. He should have objected strongly to his arrest in June, when he was accused of soliciting sex in a restroom at the Minneapolis airport. He should have fought a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, rather than pleading guilty in August. He should have insisted on his fitness to serve in the Senate, rather than saying he would resign if his attempt to overturn his guilty plea was denied.
Craig did not begin acting like the victim of an injustice until no other option remained. Instead, he has given the appearance of a man who is always looking for the easy way out: not standing up to a criminal charge he now claims was unfair, entering a plea he now says was false, hoping the whole episode would never come to light and then, at last, posing as the party who has been wronged. Now Craig says he will stay in the Senate, both to clear his name and to represent the people of Idaho.
It's not clear how Craig can do either. The disorderly conduct rap remains on Craig's record, and his chances of having it expunged are dim - his first attempt has now been rebuffed, and Craig signed documents indicating that he understood what he was doing when he entered his plea of guilty. Craig's Republican colleagues have stripped him of his leadership positions in the Senate, markedly reducing his opportunities to influence legislation on his constituents' behalf. The embarrassment for Craig, his party, his state and the Senate won't subside any time soon, because the Ethics Committee is conducting a preliminary inquiry that will keep the story alive. |