The Observation Deck

Justine Cooper wrote:

Stephen Eisel wrote:

Justine Cooper wrote:The point is the Republican never should have spent the taxpayer's money going after that scandal and THEN go live in their glass houses. My point is that since then, MANY Republicans have been outed for affairs, some straight, some gay, and the same people that showed outrage at Clinton's family values, all of a sudden have nothing to say. My point is that if you are gay, be gay and proud, not hiding in politics and spouting anti-gay harmful things that hurt human lives. My point is that if society did not condemn gays so much, grown men would not be hiding in stalls (what a sad life).

I guess I have many points. But I don't want to hear any more about family values from the Christian right who hide in stalls.

And Iraq is on fire with no hoses in sight.

I heard several repubs asking Craig to resign. McCain and Norm Coleman come to mind first. I also heard several other Repubs on TV echoing the same sentiment. I think it is a bit of a stretch to compare this one incident of Larry Craig to the many things that Clinton did during his presidency. The actions of Larry Craig did not result in the security of this country being compromised. Bill Clinton did lose his law license so he was not exactly innocent on all charges. He did commit perjury while under oath (just sayin). The actions of the repubs were consistent with both Bill Clinton and Larry Craig. So try to put your biases aside and see clearly

And this senator said he had wide legs and wasn't calling anybody. They all lie. That point is mute. I am not comparing this one incident, but there have been MANY incidents and all the people aghast at Clinton now are walking around like this is normal life for senators and politicians. Oh yea, it is.

He resigned so to them it is not normal.. just sayin... If it had been a page then it would have been normal

Brian Pedaci wrote:Except now he can't make up his mind whether or not he's really resigned.

Good for him! He should not bow to the extreme right...

There have been ten sex scandals featuring Republican officeholders int he past decade, twice as many as afflicted the Democrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch your karma is what I am also saying. Those that judge others......have the most to hide.

Justine Cooper wrote:Those that judge others......have the most to hide.

Agreed! There have been many glass houses going up in the Beltway these days...

To be clear on Clinton, he perjured himself when the Republicans poked around in his private life. It isn't right, to be sure, but the questions shouldn't have been asked. His sexual affair, though horrible, had nothing to do with running the country. The investigation (aka witchhunt) was far more of a distraction than the actual event he was being taken to task for and as Justine pointed out, it was definitely a lot of pots calling the big kettle black. And Rome was burning? You mean in the decade of peace and prosperity? Yeah, if Rome was burning in the 90's PLEASE light a match and do it again. I am not giving Clinton all the credit for it, either. I think it was a nice combo in the early to mid 90's with a Republican Congress and Democrat presidency. Good balance of getting a few smaller things done along with a TON of good old fashioned Gridlock. The less Congress and the Presidency can agree upon things, the less chance of them passing endless spending bills and ridiculous laws (hello 2000-2006).

That said, the Craig thing is just plain funny. First he gets arrested for propositioning a cop in a bathroom. He gets taken to court and pleads guilty. Then he comes out publicly and said he didn't know what he was doing and by saying he was guilty doesn't mean he did anything wrong and so on and so on. Then he quits. Then he changes his mind and says he might not quit. I think his constituents have a lot to think about with Mr. Craig and none of it has to do with his sexuality. Namely, are his flip-flops comfortable?

Phil,
Good post and I agree. It was a witch hunt that embarrassed this country far more than anything else ever could. They should not have went after him like that for that and if Rome really was burning (I didn't see it either) then why would the Republicans spend all that money, time and energy on that witchhunt??? Much more time than the quickies Clinton got.

Clinton is still a humanitarian, doing good things in the world. I just don't see Bush doing that after retirement.

Going back to Karma, Craig was one of only TWO Senators who did not show up at Clinton's State of the Union address after being asked to by a Republican leader. Craig called Clinton a "nasty, bad, naughty boy". I'm just saying...watch your karma and your judging!!!!

Oh, and with thousands of religions in the world, do not shove one religion down our throats and mix one religion with politics, because it will backfire, and it has.

Phil Florian wrote:To be clear on Clinton, he perjured himself when the Republicans poked around in his private life. It isn't right, to be sure, but the questions shouldn't have been asked. His sexual affair, though horrible, had nothing to do with running the country. The investigation (aka witchhunt) was far more of a distraction than the actual event he was being taken to task for and as Justine pointed out, it was definitely a lot of pots calling the big kettle black. And Rome was burning? You mean in the decade of peace and prosperity? Yeah, if Rome was burning in the 90's PLEASE light a match and do it again. I am not giving Clinton all the credit for it, either. I think it was a nice combo in the early to mid 90's with a Republican Congress and Democrat presidency. Good balance of getting a few smaller things done along with a TON of good old fashioned Gridlock. The less Congress and the Presidency can agree upon things, the less chance of them passing endless spending bills and ridiculous laws (hello 2000-2006).

That said, the Craig thing is just plain funny. First he gets arrested for propositioning a cop in a bathroom. He gets taken to court and pleads guilty. Then he comes out publicly and said he didn't know what he was doing and by saying he was guilty doesn't mean he did anything wrong and so on and so on. Then he quits. Then he changes his mind and says he might not quit. I think his constituents have a lot to think about with Mr. Craig and none of it has to do with his sexuality. Namely, are his flip-flops comfortable?

The internet boom of the 1990's had nothing to do with Bill Clinton. I know that Al Gore invented the internet but the economic boom of the 1990'was aresult of indivuals taking risk and starting internet businesses not a result of anything that Bill Clinton did. Clinton engaged in sexual affair (no biggie). The WTC was bombed in 1993 and Clinton did nothing. Riyahd, The US Air Force base in Dhahran, The USS Cole, the US embassy in Beirut, and The US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were all attacked and Clinton did nothing. It really was a decade of peace lol.. Tell that to the people of Kosovo..

Justine Cooper wrote:There have been ten sex scandals featuring Republican officeholders int he past decade, twice as many as afflicted the Democrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch your karma is what I am also saying. Those that judge others......have the most to hide.

And unlike the dems, the repubs call it as it is and have acted consistently with both Dems and repubs. The republican leadership asked Craig to resign. Can the same be said for the dems?

Justine Cooper wrote:Oh, and with thousands of religions in the world, do not shove one religion down our throats and mix one religion with politics, because it will backfire, and it has.

Both parties are guilty of shoving their beliefs down our throats...

That said, the Craig thing is just plain funny. First he gets arrested for propositioning a cop in a bathroom. He gets taken to court and pleads guilty. Then he comes out publicly and said he didn't know what he was doing and by saying he was guilty doesn't mean he did anything wrong and so on and so on. Then he quits. Then he changes his mind and says he might not quit. I think his constituents have a lot to think about with Mr. Craig and none of it has to do with his sexuality. Namely, are his flip-flops comfortable?

it was the definition of is that changed his mind

Yeah, if Rome was burning in the 90's PLEASE light a match and do it again. I am not giving Clinton all the credit for it, either. I think it was a nice combo in the early to mid 90's with a Republican Congress and Democrat presidency. Good balance of getting a few smaller things done along with a TON of good old fashioned Gridlock. The less Congress and the Presidency can agree upon things, the less chance of them passing endless spending bills and ridiculous laws (hello 2000-2006).

The lack of action of the 90's gave us the 2000's... 9-11 to this subprime bust... Things looked good in the 90's.. We failed to take Al Qaeda serioulsy in the 90's and got 9-11. Look at all of the subprime mortgage companies that popped up as a result of the internet boom of the 1990's and look at the result now. Our government has failed us both dems and repubs. The internet boom was about the American spirit not the American government. The government gave us the frame work for the internet, cell phone and fax machine. It is the American spirit that made all of these things billion dollar markets..

Did the Democrats call for any of these individuals to resign???


Barney Frank - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Admitted to having paid Stephen L. Gobie, a male prostitute, for sex and subsequently hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used the congressman's Washington apartment for prostitution. A move to expel Frank from the House of Representatives failed and a motion to censure him failed.

James McGreevey - Democrat - New Jersey Governor . Admitted to having a gay affair. Resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, rumors of being blackmailed on top of fundraising investigations and indictments.

Gary Condit - Democrat - US Democratic Congressman from California. Condit had an affair with an intern. Condit, covered up the affair and lied to police after she went missing. No charges were ever filed against Condit. Her remains were discovered in a Washington DC park..

Melvin Jay Reynolds - U.S. Representative from Illinois .Convicted on sexual misconduct and obstruction of justice charges and sentenced to five years in prison.

Gerry Eastman Studds - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. The first openly gay member of Congress. Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page.

Frederick Richmond - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York. Arrested in Washington, D.C., in 1978 for soliciting sex from a minor and from an undercover police officer - pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Also - charged with tax evasion, marijuana possession, and improper payments to a federal employee - pleaded guilty.

Neil Goldschmidt - Democrat - Oregon governor. Admitted to having an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old teenager while he was serving as Mayor of Portland.

To be clear on Clinton, he perjured himself when the Republicans poked around in his private life. It isn't right, to be sure, but the questions shouldn't have been asked. His sexual affair, though horrible, had nothing to do with running the country. The investigation (aka witchhunt) was far more of a distraction than the actual event he was being taken to task for

Incorrect, the impeachment of Bill Clinton started because of the Paula Jones lawsuit. Paula Jones had accused Bill Clinton of raping her when she was an Arkansas state employee who worked for Gov Bill. She filed suit in 1994. Linda Tripp a former Whitehouse employee who taped conversations between herself and Lewinsky came forward on her own. Janet Reno gave Kenneth Starr approval to expand the scope of the Whitewater investigation. The impeachment was not a result of Republicans poking around Bill's life but the actions of Bill. He lied under oath saying that he did not have realtions with Monica.

Stephen, please point me to where any Democrat has issued a statement that Craig should or shouldn't resign. The calls to resign and the ethics investigation were all initiated by Republicans.