It's Over -- Larry Craig Makes Resignation Official
It's done -- Larry Craig has made his resignation official at a press conference in Idaho.
Surrounded by family members and Republican officials, Craig somberly read the following statement into a microphone just moments ago:
What is best for Idaho has always been the focus of my efforts, and it is no different today. To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues, but most importantly to my wife and my family, I apologize for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry. I have little control over what people will choose to believe, but clearly my name is important to me, and my family is so very important also.Having said that, to pursue my legal options as I continue to serve Idaho would be an unwanted and unfair distraction of my job and for my Senate colleagues. These are serious times of war and of conflict, times that deserve the Senate's and the full nation's attention. There are many challenges facing Idaho that I am currently involved in, and the people of Idaho deserve a senator who can devote 100% of his time and effort to the critical issues of our state and of our nation.
Therefore, it is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30th.
Craig didn't address the charges against him, though his office will apparently be releasing a more detailed written statement later this afternoon.
His replacement is already waiting in the wings. Governor Butch Otter has reportedly tapped Lt. Governor Jim Risch to be appointed to the seat.
An incredibly rapid downfall for a man who, as recently as last Monday, when the story first broke, was a senior Senator with powerful committee slots who'd managed to keep his apparent double life under wraps for many years. Less than a week later, after an extraordinary pressure campaign from members of his own party intent on dislodging him and putting an end to the story, it all comes to a humiliating end.
Late Update: CNN reports that one of its reporters got the chance to ask Crag as he made his way back to his car if he stood by his claim of innocence.
"Absolutely," he said, adding: "We'll be fighting this like hell."
Denying it until the last.
Comments (17)
JGabriel wrote on September 1, 2007 1:40 PM:An Ode Commemorating The Resignation Of Senator Craig
There once was a man named Lancelot
On toilets he took a wide stance a lot
Then Senator Craig
Foot and palm did beg
Now all of his friends look askance a lot.
Senator Craig: "To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues, but most importantly to my wife and my family, I apologize..."
But Idahoans I don't represent can just fuck off.
Seriously, "Idahoans I represent"? What's that supposed to mean?
Austin Cooper wrote on September 1, 2007 4:28 PM:I couldn't agree with Craig's politics if I were drunk, shot full of horse tranquilizer and with a gun put to my head. As a human being, the spectacle of someone in that deep a state of denial -- how deeply split his personality must be to reconcile desire for approval with his sexual desires -- is truly amazing and saddening. I don't hold out much hope that this character will jump into some personal work to integrate himself.
That said, I'm glad the Republican son of a bitch is gone. I'm also glad I don't live in Idaho (" 'Butch' Otter "??), where local politics are run by conservatives that ate just one step away from being public nutters who carry sandwichboard signs and piss themselves.
jake wrote on September 1, 2007 5:12 PM:I wish him luck in his search for the real killers...
pacc wrote on September 1, 2007 7:46 PM:Poor sick Larry Craig. He's so deeply closeted, it must be terrifying for him to acknowledge what everyone else sees as plain as day. Craig needs intensive psychotherapy to help him undo the horrible internalized effects of his homophobia. Until then, at least he's safely out of the Senate so he can't do any more harm to others.
P. wrote on September 1, 2007 8:22 PM:Oh brother, National Review's David Klinghoffer is portraying the senator as a 'hero'..so ashamed of his sin he fought to make it more difficult to sin again.
"Was it hypocritical of him, as liberals are saying, to support a Federal Marriage Amendment or a similar constitutional amendment in Idaho, which respectively would bar the recognition of same-sex marriage at the federal level and in his home state? Hardly. If you were a man addicted to same-sex encounters, very likely a man who hates himself for his addiction, then shoring up traditional marriage precisely as a bulwark against your predilection makes all the sense in the world."
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmM2OTZjNGYxNmViNTA1NDM4M2YwYzgwYjkzNmYzNjI=
Look dear friends, it's way past time that we stopped crapping on Sen. Larry Craig - yes he's a hypocritical ass-hole, and yes he's unfit for office - but he was simply, in my opinion, a sorry old man looking for a warm and juicy spot to obtain an ejaculation. We Dems had one of these guys a few years back didn't we. I'm not gay but this thing is taking an undertone of gay-bashing - progressive folks should just leave it be.
It's time to just stop the nasty and reviling dumping on this miserable fool - just let it go, nothing to be gained here I assure you.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on September 1, 2007 11:07 PM:Craig afraid of sin?
Did he eat a ham sandwich?
Did he allow his wife to wear garments of two composed different fabrics?
Did he carry God's name before him as he pursued projects for vain purposes?
He wasn't afraid of those sins. Am I am sure that I do not know a single woman who thinks hooking up in the men's room for meaning less sex is a way to lay with her. Actually, the shuffle and glad hand pick up was the single thing he has done in the last forty years that wasn't a sin.
He is a two-faced ass . . . A hypocrite. His sexual orientation does not warrant his explusion . . . The lack of respect he had for the living does . . .
drv wrote on September 1, 2007 11:20 PM:"Look dear friends, it's way past time that we stopped crapping on Sen. Larry Craig"
Then Craig should stop making it so easy.
1. He's going to stick around until Sep 30 all but guaranteeing this story will be in the news for at least a full month longer.
2. He appears to be serious about trying to do something legal about his problem. That can only mean having the guilty plea withdrawn. Ignoring for a moment the risk involved in this effort, that, too, will guarantee Craig's story will remain around for a long, long time.
Exactly what the GOP does not want to happen. But we, and they, have only Larry Craig to thank for that. He seems hell bent on making himself a target.
sammyP wrote on September 2, 2007 2:06 PM:random thoughts on:
- Craig's version of men's room incident:
I'm trying to remember the last time I reached down to pick up ANYthing off the floor of a public restroom, especially a piece of...toilet paper?!
- Craig's resignation statement:
How he thanked everyone for "coming out"...um, interesting choice of words. And how he said it was his "intention" to resign Sept 30. And how he proclaimed his love for his wife. Had anybody asked??
I'm not so sure that "it's over".
Craig apologized for "what he has caused". That is an obvious reference to his guilty plea and not any other behavior.
His statement also said that he intended to resign at the end of September. What happens if the high-powered attorney he hired is successful in getting the case re-opened. That will give him an opening to retract his statement of intention to resign. At the same time this will shed new light on the Vitter prostution case and the Republican double standard.
I think it is best to wait for September 30th before proclaiming "it's over" as there appears to be more legs to this story.
Dave H wrote on September 2, 2007 3:17 PM:The lawyers will ask the court to withdraw the plea. The court will say "no." The lawyers will appeal, asserting their "confidence that justice will be done" or some other vacuous cliche. It'll be nothing but paper, nothing worth media attention as long as Craig isn't in the Senate. It will then die a slow quiet death, but the paper on file with the courts will allow Craig to maintain his innocence in public. He just can't let the last word be the guilty plea. From a legal standpoint, it's all meaningless and hopeless, but from a PR perspective, it's essential to saving face.
LB wrote on September 2, 2007 9:05 PM:Seriously doubt he's going to go anywhere with appealing his own plea agreement. He signed an agreement stating that he did not think he was innocent, that he in fact agreed he'd done something alarming and disruptive to the general public. He got a more serious charge dropped (the 'invasion of privacy') in order to get this agreement (i.e., no jail time, a minor fine and supervised probation). The price of "making it go away" and hoping for a private affair (sorry!) is that he has a conviction on record now. He agreed to those terms. Opening it up again means he will have to fight both charges, as well as open up a can of worms about why he essentially perjured himself by saying he was NOT innocent. Of course, I'm no high-powered lawyer though.
LB, I also heard that if he wants to withdraw his plea the State may reinstate the original charges, which were much more severe, and let him go to trial on those. Now Craig may feel he can beat those charges but the stakes are much higher than disturbing the peace or whatever he pleaded to. Does he really want to take that chance? From what I've seen and heard from Craig it wouldn't surprise me. He desperately wants to prove he is not gay so he just might take a chance on a trial.
As far as the "intent to resign" question, at this "intent to resign" speech, his people said they would put out some written answers to questions. Has anybody seen them? Do they clarify what he meant by "intent to resign"?
Your headline is misleading, and should be changed. He has not resigned, until he does resign, the headline should be he "intends" to resign at some point in the future.
A bit off topic, but it seems to me I remember the Senator from Wyomning died, a state with a Democratic governor, and the governor appointed a Republican to take his place. We should pressure the Idaho governor to return the favor, if in fact Senator Craig follows through and actually does resign...
Cy Guy wrote on September 4, 2007 8:22 AM:I want to second Rusty Austin's comment immediately mine. I clicked on this story assuming it was an update to the news coming out Sunday and Monday that Craig may change his mind. Obviously his speech should not yet be considered an 'official' resignation.
