Craig: ‘Any less disgusting’ if a liberal?

Last night on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Gary Bauer, the founder the conservative group American Values, was brought in to talk about how the Larry Craig scandal might affect the GOP and “value voters.”

You can see the video here.

In the course of the conversation, Bauer covered a lot of topics and points, but what got me was what he said near the end.

My partial transcript (just from listening and typing):

Christian voters understand the concept of human sin… I think the emphasis on hypocrisy is interesting; what I find interesting is not hypocrisy… I find disgusting our culture when police have to have stake outs in a bathroom because men are engaging with sex with each other… The fact that it is not new doesn’t make it any less disgusting or disturbing. Hypocrisy in Washington isn’t new either… I think hypocrisy in Washington is as old is politics. What is new is a society that is confused about moral values and the poisoned air of our culture… I believe that Senator Craig ought to step down… I think when you plead guilty under these circumstances, you have a credibility problem… The only reason the Republican party is competitive is because they get the votes of millions who believe in these values… From a Christian theological standpoint all men have fallen short… Craig’s behavior is unacceptable and he ought to pay a price for it, but if this was a liberal Democratic senator that was in favor of same sex marriage, would soliciting sex in a public bathroom be any less disgusting?

Bauer’s little rant is nothing more than an attempt to spin this issue away from Republican hypocrisy. Yeah… send in the conservative to save the Party’s butt.

No… the behavior wouldn’t be any less disgusting if it were a liberal Democratic senator doing it, but what wouldn’t be as disgusting is the hypocrisy built into it all. Craig stood on the floor of the Senate and attempted to put a certain group of people into a second-class citizenship over and over. His voting record is filled with anti-gay vote after anti-gay vote and, at the same time, he is trolling around public restrooms doing the exact things he preaches against on the Senate floor.

A liberal Democratic senator wouldn’t be guilty of that absolutely disgusting and downright hypocrisy. This is the exact reason why Craig’s situation is different from any hypothetical situation Bauer can make up in his twisted little head.

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Posted in Anti-LGBT, LGBT, Politics, Sexuality, United States |