Larry Craig hounded out of office.

Senator Larry Craig is to be hounded out of office by the Theopublicans he served for so long. The story is that Craig will announce his resignation from the U.S. Senate taking effect on September 30th. All this over a foot tap during a police entrapment scheme.

Some on the Right have been whining that Democrats don't seem to have the same problems holding on to office when they are caught being human. True. But this is not the result of some social double standard. The reality is that Republicans eat their own. The visceral hatred that forms the ethos of the Religious Right requires them to attack and destroy the weak and sinful. And they relish every moment of it.

Craig was not hounded out of office by humanists, the liberal media, or any other such "conspiracy". He was hounded out of office by his fellow Republicans. You can have con men elected to high office who fleece the voters, sell their votes to the highest bidders, lie to the public, lie them into war, and send their sons and daughters off to die. And the Republicans don't give that a second thought. It's just business as usual.

But let someone like Craig be forced out of the closet by a police officer with bogus charges and the lynch mob is formed instantly.

Mr. Craig never actually engaged in an "immoral" act that day. The worst he did was indicate a willingness to have sex with the undercover officer. Senator David Vitter was frequenting prostitutes and got caught. What did the Republicans do to him? Nothing! They applauded him and forgave him and told him how brave he was. The anti-gay animus that motivates the Religious Right is astounding. Craig will be driven out of office merely for indicating a willingness to have sex with a man while David Vitter will stay safe and secure in his seat after frequenting prostitutes. The misnamed Idaho Family Values Association has gone as far as telling the Republican Party that they should adopt a view that being gay is "incompatible with public service on behalf of the GOP."

The immorality of the Republican Party is not found in the fact that the party is peopled with human beings who are sexual creatures, flawed, sometimes confused, and often terrified. The immorality is found in its willingness to let loose the dogs on any poor soul who doesn't live up to the moralistic facade they have created. To be more precise they ravage the man or woman who doesn't live up to that facade and gets caught. Its one thing to be human just don't get caught doing it.

The Republican Party has much to be ashamed about. What Larry Craig might have done in a toilet at an airport is well down the list.