We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

I'm done with the alphabet meme, which means we can get on with me picking the lint from my belly-button.

So....How about Idaho's esteemed Senator Larry Craig, huh?? Yesterday I heard on NPR that he'd been arrested back in June; something about "lewd conduct in an airport men's room". And that was IT. No details of the arrest or allegations. Excuse me?? So I immediately called my mom (who lives in Idaho), thinking surely the details had been made public there. Boise IS the state capital and all. But no. This was the fist even his constituents had heard of the incident and it happened TWO MONTHS AGO. It had been completely ignored (or more likely, censored) from the "news" forums in Idaho. Once the news broke nationally on Monday, only then did the Idaho Statesman (the Boise daily paper) and TV news report that there had been an arrest and he'd plead guilty to disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct. Although they did not prove any of the details about the lewd conduct charges. Curious, one of my relatives quickly and easily found all the details on the Internet, police report and all. Is it not the job of the journalists to track down the information and report that one of the state's most popular politicians was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct?? He is currently in his 3rd term as a Senior Senator. He won by a landslide last election, with 65% of the vote. He bills himself (of course) as a man of "family values"; heck, he's got a wife and three children to prove it. And yet, it turns out there have been whispered rumors of homosexual behavior as far back as his day as a college student at the University of Idaho. That's approximately 40 years ago! Meanwhile, throughout his career, he has repeatedly voted against gay marriage, and opposes special rights for gay and lesbian crime victims. The entire incident is eerily reminiscent of the scandal involving Spokane's mayor a couple of years ago; also a public "homophobe" who voted accordingly to deny gays the same rights that straights enjoy...meanwhile he was cruising the Internet (on his government computer no less!) for young men with whom to have casual sex. The Spokesman Review (Spokane's daily paper) had heard rumors, hired an Internet detective and blew the entire thing wide open. Now THAT'S journalism. Idaho Statesman, take note.

Of course none of this has a damn thing to do with being gay; it's about hypocritical politicians who vote against basic human rights that would (if they were honest) apply to them. What's your take on this: do you think that politicians (who are also our policy makers) have a moral obligation to be honest about their sexual orientation? Is there an obligation on the part of journalists to report details of such incidents to better inform the voting public?