He's Out

Larry Craig that is - whatever he may be claiming from day to day:

On Tuesday a serious case of quitter's remorse set in:

Senator Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) is reconsidering his announced intention to resign, if he can clear his name of criminal and ethics charges before the end of the month, a spokesman said last night.

Other Craig aides, however, sent mixed signals yesterday about the strength of the senator's desire to remain in the chamber as he pursues a legal challenge to his guilty plea stemming from an undercover sex sting in an airport restroom, as well as an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee. ...

Dan Whiting, Craig's Washington spokesman, told The Washington Post in an e-mailed statement last night: "As he stated on Saturday, Senator Craig intends to resign on September 30th. However, he is fighting these charges, and should he be cleared before then, he may, and I emphasize may, not resign."

But another Craig aide said clearance of the Minnesota conviction and by the ethics committee would only "impact" his final decision.

"It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign," Sidney Smith, Craig's spokesman in Boise, told the Associated Press. "We're still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign September 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we're able to stay in the fight - and stay in the Senate."

My reaction to this story was a shrug and an eyeroll. Craig was already a national laughingstock and a, well, bottomless source of potty humor and gay jokes for years to come. If anything, this writing and wallowing in a futile attempt to undo both his original action and all the rakes he's stepped on since has overshadowed even that and rendered him even more pathetic.

Most risible of all, though, is Craig's inability to recognize the handwriting he himself scrawled on the wall. There is no chance of him remaining in the Senate, even if the Minnesota jury were to take the extraordinary step of overturning his own guilty plea. He's got no moral authority and no personal or professional credibility left. He's made Ted Kennedy look respectable and sober, for heaven's sake. He could strip down on the Senate floor, tie a bandana around his wingwang and let his balls hang free and not look any more ridiculous.

If Craig were going to fight, the time to decide that was before he announced his resignation. Indeed, that resignation should have been immediate, not with a month window in which to try and futiley weasel out of it.

Apparently it took three days for somebody to explain the facts of live to Senator "Wide Stance":

Senator Larry Craig has all but dropped any notion of trying to complete his term, and is focused on helping Idaho send a new senator to Washington within a few weeks, his top spokesman said Thursday.

"The most likely scenario, by far, is that by October there will be a new senator from Idaho," Craig spokesman Dan Whiting told the Associated Press.

The only circumstances in which Craig might try to complete his term, Whiting said, would require a prompt overturning of his conviction for disorderly conduct in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport, as well as Senate GOP leaders' agreement to restore Craig's committee leaderships posts taken away this week.

Those scenarios are unlikely, Whiting said.

No bleep, Sherlock.

Can you imagine what the orientation for incoming freshman senators is going to read like now? Talk about a legacy that will never die....