I stated the other day that I thought Larry Craig should resign from the Senate because of his behavior in a bathroom stall at an airport back in June. Craig pled guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct for "soliciting sex" at an airport restroom.
I still stand by that contention. Whether Craig's behavior should have been a crime is a different argument than the one I've made. Indeed, others have done a great job discussing the legality of Craig's behavior. After looking at a portion of the complaint, I, too, am baffled as to whether this is criminal behavior. Disgusting? Yes. But criminal? I don't think so. As Captain Ed explained,
People cannot be convicted or even arrested for signaling prostitutes for sexual services; an explicit offer of sex in exchange for money must take place. Tapping feet, hand signals, and brushing up against the toes of a prostitute on the street aren't enough to get someone arrested. In sting operations, police have to get that explicit offer before making an arrest.
I think it was stretching it a bit to charge Craig with anything. Give him a warning so he'll stop trying to hook up at airport bathrooms. After all, it was complaints from other airport patrons that got the police involved in the first place.
But that doesn't mean I don't think Craig's behavior is disgusting and he should resign. There's a meme on the Democrat side of the aisle that "consenting" adult behavior is OK any time, any place. I (and most of society) don't agree with that. If you want a date, go to a dating service or a bar or eharmony.com. Don't do it in a public restroom where my kid might run into you. I'll admit that Craig's behavior was subtle enough that children wouldn't pick up on it, but that doesn't mean I want them exposed to it regardless.
There seems to be some argument that as long as Craig did nothing wrong criminally, we shouldn't care about his personal behavior. I disagree with that strongly. One of the things that differentiates Republicans from Democrats is that we do hold our public officials to higher standards than legalistic wordplay and hair-splitting about what constitutes sex and what doesn't. As unfair as it is that Democrats don't seem to give a damn about the behavior of their politicians as long as they don't go to jail for it, I'm proud of the fact that Republicans hold to a higher standard. Having said that, I still think Craig should resign.
UPDATE: Jesurgislac has the strangest take on why men pay for sex.
Because men are convinced that they're entitled to sex. Hartmut's comment (on the Larry Craig thread on ObWing) summarizes the problem: the belief that if a man wants sex, he's entitled to buy it. Rather than presenting himself as an equal negotiating his way to mutual pleasure, he's entitled to demand sexual pleasure from someone whose job it is to provide it to him.
Men who argue earnestly that they have to have sex in public restrooms because (there are a number of standard reasons, which boil down to: "I want to have sex with other men and this is the best way I know of finding them without actually having to admit I'm not straight" or "I want to have sex with other people a lot, and this is a fast way of finding men who also want sex" or "I like the thrill of knowing we might get caught") are, really, expressing the view that they're entitled to sex far less damagingly than men who hire prostitutes or commit sexual harassment or rape. At least men who frequent public restrooms are usually after consenting partners.
This leaves out the fact that even prostitutes consent to sex. They just consent for money. Why would some men prefer to pay someone for sex as opposed to getting all gussied up and finding a date? Because there are people who just want sex and don't want to be involved with another person. And, despite what Jes says, not everybody can find somebody. Oh, maybe if they try for years, they might find someone, but they might not want to wait years between sexual encounters.
I'm not endorsing prostitution, but it seems to me that the reason men hire prostitutes is that it is less complicated than either finding dates or dealing with a mate who might not want to do what that person wants to do. Dysfunctional? Yes, but I don't see the logic in Jes' reasoning. Doesn't everyone feel entitled to sex? At least those who decide to be sexually active?
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