Back in June I wrote about Stephan Orsak’s unfortunate encounter with the Minneapolis Airport Police. They were unreasonable, hostile and made the LA Sheriff’s Department look like friendly grandparents. (For those of you unfamiliar with LA Sheriffs, they’re pretty notorious for being a rough, tough, and sometimes brutal police force).
Now I’m listening to the tape of Senator Craig being interviewed after his so-called “solicitation” of an undercover cop and I’m absolutely incredulous. This cop is completely out of line. I haven’t heard anything on this tape that would suggest he did anything improper or toward soliciting sex from anyone. Now I realize there are some nuances with regard to how signals are sent and read, but try as I might, I’m having a great deal of difficulty understanding why he pled guilty to anything at all!
One thing I do know: That cop was trying to bully him into confessing to something he didn’t do in a similar fashion to what was done to Orsak. I suppose Sen. Craig should count himself lucky that he wasn’t tossed to the ground and hog-tied.
With that said, this is a political hot potato because members of Craig’s own party insist on making it one. If they’d just lay off the wholesale condemnation of gays and lesbians, this would be complete non-news. Instead, the guy’s entire career is on the line over a trumped-up charge which surely appears to be manufactured by a heavy-handed airport cop.
Craig didn’t do anyone a favor by pleading guilty when there’s no evidence he did anything. He should’ve stood up and fought back, even if he DID try to solicit sex in the restroom. It was his word against the cop’s, no money was exchanged, no sex was had…so what would they possibly convict him of? This tape proves absolutely nothing. But by pleading guilty and giving up his right to defend himself against this charge, he sent the message to the cops that all they need to do is bully people into admitting something they didn’t do.
Someone needs to look hard at these Minneapolis Airport cops. These two incidents seem to be indicators of a systemic attitude problem desperately in need of adjustment.
Technorati Tags: larry craig, stephan orsak, minneapolis, airport, airport security, airport police, railroad
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