There's A Senate Ethics Committee?

It sounds too good to be true...a committee that investigates Senators with questionable ethics. The fact that such a committee exists should prove that the Senate is up to the task of making sure they hold their own accountable when it comes to breaking the law. Even more shocking, the GOP demanded to use said committee to investigate the actions of Larry Craig, who pled guilty to a misdemeanor lewd conduct charge so he could escape prosecution of soliciting sex in a men's restroom. So who on the committee is going to lead the charge and start taking names?

Well....no one really. Apparently it was just a bluff made by the GOP and Larry Craig called it. Oh, and the Democrats do not plan on doing anything about it either, lest they look like the pot that called the kettle black.

From The Huffington Post:

The secretive Ethics Committee, comprising three Democrats and three Republicans, may recommend discipline against a senator for "conduct or activity which does not directly relate to official duties, when such conduct unfavorably reflects on the institution as a whole."

Despite that broad standard, Brand told the committee in September that it has never acted on allegations unrelated to a senator's "official action."

Boxer said through a spokeswoman Friday: "We are in the process of conducting a preliminary inquiry, and this stage is always closed to the public. If, at the end of the preliminary inquiry, the Ethics Committee decides to move into the adjudicatory phase, any hearings held would be public unless the committee votes to close them. But that is a decision that is made after we have completed our preliminary inquiry."

The Ethics Committee traditionally moves slowly, with some cases taking years to resolve. The Craig matter seems no exception.

Well so much for upholding that standard of ethics we hope our elected leaders have...or not. True, it isn't like Craig murdered someone or anything, it was just soliciting sex in an airport bathroom. The incident is amusing but no one really got hurt (other than Craig's wife, family, the people of Idaho, integrity of the Senate and Larry's inner child).

Oh well, just another day in Washington.

Speeding In a Bathroom Stall

Senator Craig's story keeps growing legs and I couldn't be happier. Him and his lawyer won't shut up about the incident and Republicans are furious. The outbursts from the Craig camp in the last couple of days has been nothing short of hilarious. His kids came out to defend dear old dad, then he left a voicemail at a wrong number talking about how he'll come out of all of this because Arlen Specter wants to support him. Now his lawyer is comparing all of this to a little traffic offense. It just gets better and better.

From RawStory:

Comparing Sen. Larry Craig's arrested in a public restroom sex sting to a "traffic offense," the Idaho Republican's lawyer says his client should stay in the Senate and fight ethics charges against him.

"It seems to me that we ought to seek to have the committee dismiss this outright, given the fact that this arises not from his official duties but from his private conduct," Craig's attorney, Stan Brand, said on the Today Show Wednesday, noting that the Senate previously sought to expel only members involved in treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

"If the Senate of the United States is going to begin taking up every traffic offense and petty offense committed by senators in their private capacity ... I think the Senate needs to go full time session to deal with those alone," he said.

Stan Brand has a lot of chutzpah to compare this to a traffic offense. Soliciting sex in a men's room is hardly the same as being pulled over for speeding or running a red light. If the two were the same....I could be in a lot of trouble (thank god I don't drive anymore...).

Stan just wants to get his client out of being investigated by the Ethics Committee. Well he can forget about that. His crime is unbecoming for a Senator and he should expect to have his conduct fully examined. The time for covering up for bad behavior needs to come to an end. It isn't about his sexual preference (even though he must be very confused about that), it concerns the trust of his constituents and the respect for the Senate.

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