Give Me A Break

I've pretty much had it with the Larry Craig story. No, make that completely. The plot and cast are pretty much cliches at this point, and my real gripe about that part of it is why kill trees for this junk? It's the meta-story that is really pissing me off.

First, there's Tucker Carlson's heartwarming anecdote about his heroism in dealing with an incident in his youth. From Media Matters:

On the August 28 edition of MSBNC Live, hosted by MSNBC general manager Dan Abrams, Tucker Carlson, host of MSNBC's Tucker, asserted, "Having sex in a public men's room is outrageous. It's also really common. I've been bothered in men's rooms." Carlson continued, "I've been bothered in Georgetown Park," in Washington, D.C., "when I was in high school." When Abrams asked how Carlson responded to being "bothered," Carlson asserted, "I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and ... hit him against the stall with his head, actually.":

There's a full transcript at the link. This was apparently an occasion for high hilarity on the set, even though Abrams is reputed to be gay. And how can you not admire Carlson's personal bravery and moral resolve in going to get a friend to help him beat the guy up? How . . . manly? (And please note that Carlson has since changed his story. How unusual is that?)

There there's this story from Idaho:

The Press warns residents about a notorious rest stop that police have been watching for years. Here's the lede:

"People are scrutinizing public restrooms in light of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's arrest and conviction in Minneapolis this summer. And close to home, it's not a pretty sight. Motorists taking a break at the Huetter rest stop between Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls might want to think twice before venturing near the men's restroom."

In the accompanying photo, the rest stop looks harmless enough. But the caption makes it sound like it should come with its own SWAT team: "The Huetter rest stop along Interstate 90 has had its share of problems with sexual deviants and an anonymous source tells The Press it's still happening."

"Sexual deviants"? WTF? When Idaho is the certifiable loony neo-Nazi capital of the US, they're worried about sex in men's rooms?

Oh, wait. . . . Those are the people who worry about things like that.

(I make no judgments one way or the other on tearooms, although it's not something I've ever done. The last thing I want sex to be is quick and anonymous. Frankly, though, a public john doesn't seem like such a good idea. Save it for bath houses and the back rooms of leather bars. You can always bill them as "private clubs.")

But let's clean up the discourse a bit, as vanishingly small as the possibility of that might be when you're dealing with the likes of Tucker Carlson and the loons in Idaho. News flash: We're not "sexual deviants," in spite of the purple prose of some paper in Idaho I wouldn't wipe my butt with, and you can always just say "no, thank you" (and actually, if you're Tucker Carlson, you should be flattered). As for Craig, if he weren't such a closeted bigot, it wouldn't be such a story. But then, if he weren't in the closet, he wouldn't have to look for sex in public rest rooms.

(Am I lacking in compassion? I don't think so. I know what it's like to grow up in a closet, and I know what small towns and the small people in them can be like. I also know what it is to face yourself down and finally deal with it. Been there. Got fed up and left.)