We all know about Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's resignation in the aftermath of guilty plea in a men's room sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.
What is much less known in Red State America is Craig's long-time ties to the National Rifle Association. As a conservative western legislator, Craig has long worshipped at the altar of the gun lobby.
Oklahoma's reliably pro-NRA McCarville Report Online, for instance, conveniently ignored Craig's NRA ties.
Craig has served on the NRA board since 1983. He's a lifetime member of the NRA. He been the water-carrier for various NRA legislative initiatives over his long career in the House and Senate.
True, Craig's confusing sexual life—he says he's not gay, though he was playing "foostie" in the men's room—has nothing to do with his pro-gun positions.
Still, as one cheeky blogger has noted: Yikes! Perverts with guns!
14 comments:
After reading that post twice, I'm still not sure what your point is. Is it that the NRA is bad because, after Senator Craig got in hot water, it didn't rush out a poster of him with the caption, "I'm the NRA"? Or that about four million NRA members didn't write letters to the editor in support of Senator Craig? Or is your point that gay or bi-sexual people shouldn't support the NRA? Or that the NRA should have nothing to do with gay or bi-sexual people?
Seriously, it's not very clear.
Support of the NRA is pretty much a given in those northwestern states. Brian Schweitzer, the current Democratic governor of Montana, ia also a strong gun advocate.
Airports should put metal detectors on the doors of men's rooms. Otherwise, when "deviated preverts" play "foostie" (sic), somebody's "head" could get blowed off.
Maybe its the fact that being a supporter of the NRA has absolutely nothing to do with the story of his resignation, and the activities which gave rise to the incident. Was he holding a gun at the time?
I like to drink iced coffee. But did you also know that I don't like to go to the circus?
We admit to a mixing of apples and oranges, as it were. But note that we acknowledged this gap of logic in our original post. Moreover, we don't suggest a causal link between cruising the men's room and advocating gun rights. That said, Craig is a significant political figure, both in the Senate, and in the long-term leadership of the NRA. This makes the details of his life considerably more salient than the private details of, say, private individuals in Boise or Tulsa. Various public questions come to mind: Who is the real Larry Craig? Conservative (but confused) heterosexual or deep-in-the-closet homosexual, or worse, secret liberal? Will the NRA leadership dump Sen. Craig as he leaves office? Should they? Is his guilty plea grounds for pushing him off the NRA board after more than two decades of loyal service. In sum, we submit that Craig's entire public life (and at least some of his private life) ought to be reconsidered in light of significant new information.
You better believe the NRA will boot him off the board. Homosexual acts and guns are as dissonant a combination for gun nuts as the name 'John Wayne Gacy.' They won't want to get chocolate on their peanut butter.
Craig came out today with both guns a-blazin': he's going to un-resign! Good news for the Dems, bad news for the Petraeus propaganda offensive.
Jon Stewart, what a week to take your vacation!
The NRA is keeping thier powder dry for the time being. We'll see what happens to their $$ intake.
The NRA will do nothing. I would be surprised.
You guys need to simmer down, and quit projecting and promoting homophobia where none exits.
You are not doing them any favors.
Craig has been a heavy hitter/lifter for the NRA, for sure. All the same, I bet he will want to "spend more time with his family" ere long. Hey, I could be wrong, but that's my guess.
PS, I applaud the NRA for holding Sen. Craig near to their bosom (if that is indeed what they are doing.) Who knows, they may show the GOP how to co-opt the gay community. Don't know how the "base" will take it though. Probably not that well.
Homosexual acts and guns are as dissonant a combination for gun nuts as the name 'John Wayne Gacy.'
I guess you haven't heard of--what are they called? The Pink Pistols?--a group of homosexual "gun nuts."
Ah! Here, for your perusing pleasure, are the Pink Pistols.
Are you still sure that "Homosexual acts and guns are (a)dissonant...combination for gun nuts"?
People all over the religious spectrum share an appreciation for gun rights.
I stand corrected and will keep tabs on Craig's future in the NRA.
The Pink Pistols came into being due to the "vulnerability of the gay community" to "violent anti-gay attacks," and so have a different gun perspective than the average NRA member.
Here is the NRA's dilemma with Sen. Craig in a nutshell from the Pink Pistols site:
"The leaders of the NRA are well aware of the growth of Pink Pistols and it presents them with something of a dilemma. On one hand, they are happy to see a traditionally anti-gun segment of the population swinging over to the pro-gun side. However, if they embrace this new group, they risk alienating some of their current members who actually do fit the right-wing stereotype."
http://www.pinkpistols.org/newspapers/cnsnews.html
If Craig steps down from the Senate, as now seems likely, his ability to push through bills for the NRA will be gone. As an NRA lobbyist, he is likely to be much less effective due to his highly publicized restroom antics.
Will his effective past NRA advocacy outweigh his pariah status among many of their rank and file? Does the membership love guns more than homophobia? Time will tell.
Maybe Craig should join the board at Pink Pistols.
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