What will the GOP do about Craig now?

Have you had enough schadenfreude yet?

When you have headlines like "Bathroom Sex Senator Hires Vick's Lawyer" paired with "Idaho Sen. Craig reconsidering decision to resign," you know that things are getting deliciously downright ugly for the anti-gay GOP pols and leadership, and it's their own fault.

Remember, as Joe said earlier, the person who threatened an official investigation to -- ahem -- get to the bottom of Craig's same-sex cruising was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. And Larry Craig was shaken to his core when his colleagues came for him with the torches and pitchforks (NYT):

"Larry was shocked by the deafening silence by some and rush to judgment by others, even in his own leadership," said the person, who is a confidant and adviser to Mr. Craig and asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the behind-scenes deliberations. "He had to evaluate what it would be like to go back into that environment."

His friends called for his head.

The purge of gays from the GOP is the new standard for the much-courted Base. Look at the Idaho Family Values Association:

Even setting Senator Craig's situation aside, the Party should regard participation in the self-destructive homosexual lifestyle as incompatible with public service on behalf of the GOP.

That clearly goes beyond purging pols guilty of a sex-related misdemeanor -- it's specifically about homosex. Or is it? The ridiculous public claim by the defenders of sex worker customer David Vitter is that he didn't plead guilty to the crime. OK. I'll let's take that at face value, since yes, Craig's criminal intent was to have sex in a public restroom, it's behavior that is offensive to most people who don't expect or want to be exposed to that in a public venue. However, that's not what the Idaho Family Values Association or the Base is drawing as a line in the sand.

The GOP is now forced to make a choice -- defend its witchhunt as conditional upon whether someone is convicted of (or pleads guilty to) a tawdry misdemeanor, or affirm that same-sex behavior -- illicit or not -- is fine as long as you don't get caught. I wouldn't want to be in that slippery position with Daddy Dobson's crowd.

After all, Mike Huckabee said, Craig "did us all a big favor by leaving the stage and taking this issue away from further discussion." This issue. What's Huck going to say now that Craig's not ready to pack his bags?

The political undercurrent here is that Mitch McConnell's threat to Craig -- an investigation that ensured additional public exposure and humiliation that forced the initial quasi-resignation -- is actually a signal to the rest of the conservative closet cases in the GOP's midst -- don't get caught in a sex-sting or we'll dump you, no matter that you loyally voted against LGBT issues. You -- and your closet -- are expendable. I wouldn't want to be a Log Cabinette having to shill for these folks. The knickers are now definitely in a twist as they have to deal with a defiant Craig. Has he decided to kick open a few closet doors of his friends on the Hill now that they've publicly stabbed him in the back? Let's see how many former "outraged" GOP pols start treading lightly or fall silent. That should tell you something.

Dem presidential candidate Mike Gravel addressed the self-loathing GOP on Real Time with Bill Maher. Maher asks Gravel why gays, particularly these Republican Sexual Hypocrites, would join a party that doesn't want them. Gravel responds:


GRAVEL: "Because they are hypocrites, they talk about these values...it's very sad. There's nothing wrong with the sex, it's the problem of the hypocrisy. They need to come out of the closet -- then they'd be normal. [Applause.] ...It truly is a tragedy because it's our culture that drives them into the closet, and being in the closet brings out all these perversions. There's nothing wrong with the sex, it's the way they approach it, and the hypocrisy and them pointing...like Craig, you know. He was the one talking about Clinton being a "bad boy...bad boy." [audience laughter].

MAHER: "It's guys like Larry Craig, the senator who force guys like Larry Craig the man into the airport toilet."

More from the Blend here.

[UPDATE: As many of you have noted, Roll Call has Craig's voicemail to the wrong number, where he left this message, intended for his attorney, Billy Martin. It's clear that the Idaho senator was leaving the door open to fight for his seat:

"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears by all that he knows that I have been railroaded and all that.

"Having all of that, we have reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on Sept. 30. I think it is important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon, and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras.

"I think it would help drive the story that I’m willing to fight, that I’ve got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape, it has that potential. Anyway, give me a buzz or give Mike a buzz on that. We’re headed to my press conference now. "Thank you. Bye."

Hahahahahahahaha.]