Idaho: just a different flavor of hypocrite

[sigma7]

Replacing Senator Larry Craig (R-estroom) is Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch, who had this nugget of wisdom to offer about New Orleans:

Here in Idaho, we couldn’t understand how people [in Louisiana] could sit around on the kerbs waiting for the federal government to come and do something. We had a dam break in 1976, but we didn’t whine about it. We got out our backhoes and we rebuilt the roads and replanted the fields and got on with our lives. That’s the culture here. Not waiting for the federal government to bring you drinking water. In Idaho there would have been entrepreneurs selling the drinking water.

Reality check:

Hundreds of millions of tax dollars went to build the dam, and $850 million in reparations went to 15,000 Idahoans who lost property when the dam burst (11 people died). Then, hundreds of millions in tax dollars went to fix all of those federally built irrigation systems for those hardy, self-sufficient Westerners who can't even supply their own water.

Sorry, Idaho, but this may not be an upgrade.

Comments

[kateshort.livejournal.com]

Senator Larry Craig (R-estroom)

*DED*

[redmonster.livejournal.com]

Okay, enlighten me: what did R-estroom do that led to his resignation?

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Allegedly solicited an undercover cop for gay bathroom sex. Vehemently denying it, he pled guilty to a lesser charge to make it "go away", which makes him either guilty or incredibly stupid...pleading guilty when you're a Senator only makes things worse.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Oh, you've missed quite the show stateside.

dvandom hit the salient points, but there are added wrinkles to the story that just makes things worse for Craig. He's been the subject of rumors since the '83 page scandal, but has adamantly denied them. The Idaho Statesman was looking into allegations of his sexuality (they conducted, I remember hearing, 300 interviews) but held off publishing anything until after the news broke that he'd pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a plea deal. Note that this was the first anyone'd heard about the case, after he'd plead; his arrest in Minneapolis managed to sneak under absolutely everybody's radar.

After the news broke, though, Craig announced that he did nothing wrong and he wasn't guilty to the charges he plead guilty to (...which constitutes perjury, but stick with me...), and that argument flew with absolutely nobody. His statements became increasingly bizarre and fluctuating from "I did nothing wrong/I'm not gay/it's a setup by the Idaho Statesman/I've never been gay." His voting record on gay rights has been...consistent, at least -- against civil unions, against protection from hate crimes.

And then there's his, in retrospect, stunning characterization of Bill Clinton during the latter's impeachment.

Eventually Craig was driven out by the Republican leadership and will resign at the end of the month. The sad thing is the man quite obviously has issues and needs some help, but nobody's really concerned about his personal well-being.