Political Science

Greetings, beloved! I am back from a little trip to Chicago where I had major fun. But more on that later.

While I was there, the news broke about United states Senator Larry Craig pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct stemming from an incident in the men's room of the Minneapolis airport in which he was accused of hitting on a vice cop in an adjacent stall. Naturally, Senator Craig, pictured here in his mug shot, with his American flag lapel pin and all, is a right-wing, gay-bashing, pro-family Republican. At least he was on the surface. Now he may fairly be considered to be a self-loathing, hypocritical closeted homosexual who attempted to engage in furtive anonymous sex with a complete stranger in a public place.

Craig says this is a complete misunderstanding and that he is not gay nor has he ever been gay. But c'mon. If he had nothing to hide or if he truly didn't have anything to hide why opt to plead guilty to a lesser offense just to make it go away?

This subject came up at dinner one night while I was in Chicago. My friends that I was staying with had invited their buddy Doug over so that I could meet him. I was warned in advance that Doug was "a real right-winger" but that he was a nice guy.

Which was true. I enjoyed my visit with Doug immensely. Presently, the dinner talk turned to politics. Doug must have been warned about me because he broached the subject of the Presidential race with an impish look on his face.

"So, who do you think will be our next President,hmmmmm?"

My mind had not been completely fogged by the wine yet so I decided to tread lightly. I told him that I thought it would be Hillary.

"I disagree," he said. "She's too angry."

"Why do you guys always view a woman with strong opinions as angry?" I asked. " Besides, she has a slew of money. And you have to concede that she never makes a mistake."

"I'll agree with you there."

"In any event," I said. " The next President will be a Democrat even if it's not Hillary. The economy is scary. The invasion of Iraq might be the biggest blunder in military history. The government's response to Katrina was unconscionable. And if all that wasn't enough, your firebrand social conservatives can't keep it in their pants. You guys are handing the election to the Democrats."

He took a sip of his wine. "I agree," he said. " You are absolutely right."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I agree. And it galls me to say so."

One of the few sensible conversations I have ever had with a Republican.