Larry Craig’s Karma

Here’s what he said: “I am not gay. I have never been gay.” What’s wrong with that statement? To quote Shakespeare, “I think he doth protest too much.” Either you’re gay or you’re not gay. There is no, as implied by the statement above, “I am not gay now, but it’s possible I was gay in the past.” I believe Larry Craig is gay, and it is pathetic and sad that he felt he had to bash gays and be a big “family values” (whatever those are) advocate to keep his job. All the while, he’s covertly soliciting sex in men’s bathrooms.

As a straight guy, I have never encountered such foot tapping and playing handsie and footsie while in the “stall,” and if I had, I wouldn’t have had a clue what it meant. It’s very clear, however, that old Larry knew all about it. And while he would have liked to suppress his homosexual desires, apparently he’s no more able to do that than I am to suppress my heterosexual desires. So he got caught, and he is paying the price.

Shouldn’t we be compassionate toward someone like Larry Craig and his sad predicament? The answer is yes, we should. It is telling commentary on our society that gay people have to act as if they were not gay to conform to the conventional mores our culture. I’m pretty sure there is a degree of self-loathing in Larry Craig that comes from having to lead a double life.

The real irony of all this is that the price he is paying is one he helped set as a gay basher in the first place. In other words, he is now getting a taste of what he has hypocritically been dishing out for most of his career in Congress. If you ever needed an example of karma at work, look no further than this episode. Then hope that we can someday have a culture and politics where honesty and integrity are the rule rather than the exception, and the only karma that comes into play is the good kind.

—John Woods, August 30, 2007