The Idaho Statesman
This is probably the one you've already seen. Craig's not getting a lot of pity here:
Craig has only himself to blame for political mess
During a brief - and largely defiant - public appearance Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Larry Craig apologized for bringing "a cloud over Idaho."
We're sorry, senator.
This cloud does not belong to the people who have elected you for the past 27 years. It's all yours. ...
... for 11 weeks, Craig failed to mention the arrest to his family, his friends, his staff or his constituents.
...
Does Craig's arrest and subsequent guilty plea contradict his public comments about infidelity and homosexuality? When Craig tells Idahoans, "I am not gay and never have been," will they buy it?
...
And when politicians try to turn social and sexual issues into fair political game, they invite scrutiny of their behavior. Craig did not establish these rules of political engagement, but he operated under them.
The Statesman had letters, too:
Craig should quietly resign
...This is now a personal matter between God, his wife, his family; however I believe that Sen. Craig should be honorable and quietly resign from public office.
What will GOP do next?
... Could care less what the man's personal inclinations are, but if all this is true, I do care that there is in this allegation the perpetrator's self-righteousness, hypocrisy and lying from a person who presides in what should be one of the country's most venerated institutions. ...
Rove, Gonzales, now Craig - GOP bailouts in disgrace
...
Last week, Rove; today, Gonzales; tomorrow, Craig. A person needs a scorecard to keep track of the Republicans bailing out of Washington, many in disgrace.
Craig's history proves he's a man with family values
...
He is a man of distinction and has served Idaho and the United States as a champion of family values. I am grateful to have him represent our state.
Craig's guilty, regrets action only after getting caught
... Mr. Popkey is obviously giving the senator the benefit of the doubt using alleged when in fact the title should read, "Sen. Craig pleads guilty to illegal activity and now that he's caught, regrets action."
Take away Craig's pension
... Larry Craig should be impeached and thrown out without a pension as I do not want to pay for his immoral lifestyle for the rest of his shoddy, sad life.
Real crime is taking dollars from out-of-state interests
...
His real crime isn't the obscene hypocrisy with which he has lived and voted; but rather his perverse zeal in taking lobby dollars from out-of-state interests, especially in regards to his voting against salmon and steelhead recovery. ... Dams, mining interests, anti-wilderness legislation, out-of-state electricity, and subsidized farming have always been signaling him "on the other side of the stall."
...
Couer d'Alene Press
Trust violated, there is no future, Senator
The national headline Tuesday from The Associated Press online said it well: "Arrest Clouds Idaho Senator's Future."
...
We don't think that, at this point, it matters. We urge Sen. Craig to remove all the clouds and resign. ...
It is a recommendation based upon the fact that the people of Idaho cannot trust their most powerful representative in the nation's capital.
...
Worse, he tried to keep the whole thing secret. And by all appearances, he nearly got away with it. ...
...
Our thoughts today go out to the many people Sen. Craig has let down. He should give them solace by exercising, in his final act as a public service, true leadership: resigning and letting someone else complete the remainder of his term.
They got letters, too:
No wonder he never returned e-mails
...Silly me, I should have tried the men's room for a personal reply.
Restricts rights, has double life
...
Craig has time and again voted to restrict and deny the rights of others while leading his double life and using his position to protect himself.
I truly hope that everyone that goes through the horrendous effort of putting an X on a ballot will think about what that big red R really stands for and what it has done to our state and country.
Times-News
Guilty or not, Craig has himself to blame
Sen. Larry Craig’s press conference on Tuesday was almost painful to watch. ...
Apart from the visible anguish that Craig's actions in Minnesota caused himself and his wife, Suzanne, the senator on Tuesday didn't seem to grasp the real-world implications of his guilty plea.
...
Voters liked the senator, and they trusted him, rumors of his private behavior notwithstanding. Idahoans are, by and large, honest people who believe in personal accountability.
Now it's time for Craig to take responsibility for his personal conduct instead of blaming the media and the police.
The Lewiston Tribune
The whole thing is hidden behind a password, but here's the first paragraph:
The Question on Craig: How much deception?
Larry Craig is kidding us, isn't he?
Can Idaho's senior U.S. senator expect his constituents, even in ruby-red Idaho, to buy his story that he was arrested for soliciting gay sex in an airport toilet stall on the basis of a misunderstanding, and that even though he was innocent, he pleaded guilty two months later without ever seeking help from a lawyer?
Bonner County Daily Bee
Where is our leaders' moral compass?
We were thunderstruck Monday afternoon at the Bee when we received word that Sen. Larry Craig had pled guilty earlier this month to a charge of disorderly conduct after he was arrested in June at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men's public bathroom.
...
We deserve some straight answers from our senator and need more than "I should not have pled guilty."
This space in the Bee is reserved for a straight-forward explanation ... or an apology from Sen. Craig.
And now, let's hear from The Washington Blade, a GLBT paper:
Is David Drier next?
...
The most common question that readers are emailing to me: Who's next? It's fair to assume that Craig isn't the only closeted gay member of Congress, but there are members we've described over the years as "openly closeted," meaning they decline to answer "the question." ...
What people need to understand is that living a double life in the closet makes you do strange and self-destructive things, like pleading guilty to crimes you later deny or refusing to answer a simple question about your sexual orientation. ...
Craig's arrest is no surprise
The news that U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges stemming from an investigation into sexual activity at a men's restroom in the Minneapolis airport will not come as a surprise to those like me who have heard the gay rumors about him for years. ...
Craig is a conservative Republican with an abysmal record on gay issues and a 100 percent favorable rating from the Christian Coalition. Oh, and he's married. ...
The hypocrisy of a closeted conservative politician voting against the interests of the gay community while engaging in some of the most stereotypically harmful behavior attributed to gays is maddening. We will now have to endure breathless reporting about tawdry toilet sex on CNN, thanks to Craig.
It's time for Craig to come clean with himself, his family and constituents and stop issuing laughable denials. Then he could begin to redeem himself by signing on as a co-sponsor to ENDA and the hate crimes bill.
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