I just don't know what to think...
...yet another public figure on his way to biting the dust...

I used to live in Idaho. Conservative Idaho. Our family was religious, and Mom and Dad ruled with a strict hand. Maybe we are all "who we are", and what we are is the result of some sort of hard-wiring installed at a young age that we can't change. I was raised in a conservative climate. And in that climate, certain things were just WRONG. They just were. I just don't know how to accept the open-ness of today's society. I still get embarrassed easily, when it comes to things of a sexual nature. I'm just not that open of a person. Brian Wilson, chief Beach Boy, once wrote a song titled, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", and yeah, I can identify with that. And in a million years, I would never THINK of having an encounter similar to the one Idaho Senator Larry Craig is alleged to have had. To me, that kind of stuff is just seedy, dirty and filthy. Maybe, before I use a public restroom again, I'm gonna make sure that NO ONE ELSE IS IN THERE! I don't wanna even have to THINK about that stuff!

Well, all the talk show hosts and talking heads of the various news programs are all weighing in with another hot, juicy scandal, this time involving Idaho Senator Larry Craig. Allegedly, Mr. Craig was nabbed by a "sting" operation in the mens' restroom at the Minneapolis airport. Gosh. People and their proclivities. Aren't we, as human beings, supposed to have control over ourselves????? You read about these kind of things almost every day; whether it be a glad-handing Politician......or a Catholic Priest...or a Boy Scout Leader, or a Teacher...I just don't get it; why do people in such visible occupations take the chance of forever wrecking their dreams because they wanted a QUICKIE with someone they shouldn't be having that quickie with? Is it a death wish? Do they WANT to be caught? Can't they CONTROL themselves? We're fast becoming a society that trusts no one, and it would appear that our leaders aren't setting a great example here. And, just think of it...a leader in Mr. Craig's position, whether he is guilty or not, is forever tarnished. He just IS. And he should have KNOWN better than to PUT himself in that situation in the FIRST PLACE.

I don't care what people do behind closed doors (and I'm NOT talking about the closed door of a restroom stall). What they do, in private, is their business. I suppose that I am pretty-much a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of a person. I guess my perspective on this is pretty narrow...I am who I am, after all. If you're gay, and I know you, please don't tell me. I don't want to have to deal with it. I probably am homophobic to a degree; I can't HELP it. And I'm surprised every time I'm made aware of a situation like the one Senator Craig faces...how embarrassing it must be, to have to DEAL with all the speculation he's facing, because his sexuality is now being questioned IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. The entire gay issue is one that just won't go away, because it is more than just an intellectual issue; it is one that goes to the center of one's being in that it deals with core beliefs; to me, 'gayness' is just WRONG. That's just the way I feel, and will probably always feel.

Senator Craig is a bright guy. He is articulate, he speaks well, and he must have done something right to have served in public office all these years. And its' sad when this kind of scandal happens to someone who serves in a representative capacity. Look at Bill Clinton's fling with Monica. His reputation was forever tarnished by that, although I understand it had gotten soiled some time before that in Arkansas, when he was governor. Spokane, Washington's former mayor Jim West was a bright guy who couldn't control his compulsions, and it is very possible that the intense disgrace he must have felt after being taken to task for his liasions with young men only hastened the cancer that was eating up his body. I am not turning cartwheels, thinking, "yep, they got what they deserved"; rather, I'm sad when someone who should know better, trips and stumbles over themselves, for they indeed have become their worst enemy. And it IS sad. I'm not licking my chops here. This is just awful stuff. And life goes on.
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Everyone's weighing in on this whole Larry Craig issue, so I wanted to try and articulate how I feel. And, after everything comes to light in this case, things'll get back to normal until it happens all over again to some other high-profile person. These are the times in which we live, aren't they?