Letters to the Editor
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The Triumphant Log Cabin
Some Republicans are actually praising Sen. Craig for not resigning and for defending his right to cruise for gay sex.
Perhaps this is the birth of a new Congressional special interest group:
The Wide-Stance Caucus - Republicans who stand up for gay rights.
Some even believe that if all of the closet, part-time, occasional dabbler,"the devil made me do it", and repressed gay Congressional Republicans join, the Caucus would actually be veto proof.
The Log Cabin triumphant.
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Definition of Moral Turpitude from Findlaw
moral turpitude
[-'ter-pe-'tüd, -'tyüd]
1: an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community
2: a quality of dishonesty or other immorality that is determined by a court to be present in the commission of a criminal offense
Example: a crime involving moral turpitude
(compare malum in se)
Note: Whether a criminal offense involves moral turpitude is an important determination in deportation, disbarment, and other disciplinary hearings. Past crimes involving moral turpitude usu. may also be introduced as evidence to impeach testimony. Theft, perjury, vice crimes, bigamy, and rape have generally been found to involve moral turpitude, while liquor law violations and disorderly conduct generally have not.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996.
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.
http://dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/results.pl?co=lawcrawler.findlaw.com&topic=3d/3d1a6764a317685d8656c1a39729f1d4
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Where would the Downing Street memo and other such evidence
land if it were to be prosecuted as evidence that Bush lied under oath, as prisent of the United States to the entire world that he planned to pursue diplomacy before entertained the thought of war. He either lied to Blair, or he lied to the world. Is this grounds for a misdomeanor? Worse?
His oath office, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." makes a promise to do more than bait and switch information to bring a country to war. There has got to be at least a misdomeaner in there somewhere.
As a result, I think the Dems should change their strategy. They should initiate a law suit to sue Bush on behalf of the people of the United States. Obviosly impeachment is, for whatever reason, off the table, so a class action law suit which lists as many US citizens that are willing to sign the petition should be brought forth. Suing him for gross negligence, lying under oath, and misrepresentation of what is granted to us all under the Constitution, is in order. What fun.
Let the courts decide the merits of the case. I want to sign the petition first. It was my idea after all...
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Yes but Tim,
Republicans have no morals. So, really, how can they claim he has committed "Moral turpitude"?
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Wrong.
Sorry, but as fun as it is to watch the Republicans squirm on this one, I have to agree with Sen. Specter (and Barney Frank, for that matter). What Craig seems to have done is pretty icky, but it doesn't especially violate the public trust. He hasn't been stealing or taking bribes.
You nail Craig on this one, you also have to explain why Ted Kennedy and his drinking buddies shouldn't have been expelled years ago.
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WOW...isn't THIS ironic!
Craig says he wants to stay and most Republicans want him to leave because they don't need the embarrassment and now think immoral.
On the Democrats side, I see them making fun of a gay man who is trying to hold onto his position and who want him to leave because he is gay.
So both the Democrats and the Republicans want him to leave? Never thought I'd see both sides agree like this.
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A Republican failing to keep his word?
So the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee "believe[s] the best thing for [Craig] to do is keep his word. I could not feel more strongly about it."
Given the current administration's record to date of keeping its word, I have to wonder why anyone in the party is surprised that the word of one of its members appears to mean so little to him.
His word is no different than his guilty plea: something he gave once and now wants to retract.
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What is moral?
Despite the fact that I would love to see Senator Craig out of the Senate, and a more liberal senator replace him, I have to support what he is doing. In a society where heterosexuals having sex in the back seat of a car, or on an airplane is something that makes us smile, there is a double standard at work here. Second, there is no proof that he was soliciting for public sex. He probably was, yes, but he could just as easily have been trying to pick the guy up to take him somewhere private, which is not illegal. Finally, this is clearly entrapment. The fact is that by doing nothing the officer was entraping him since any normal man would have reacted to Craig's actions, peering through the crack in the door, nudging his foot, waving his hand under the wall.
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Moral Turpentine
It's what Republicans use to obscure the hypocritical corners they paint themselves into.
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I'm not so sure about that
"What Craig seems to have done is pretty icky, but it doesn't especially violate the public trust."
That depends on his constituents. If Mr. Craig campaigned on a "values-oriented" ticket and was elected by voters who expected him to uphold those values, then I would say has has violated their trust.
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re: Where would the Downing Street memo and other such evidence
stevio
"They should initiate a law suit to sue Bush on behalf of the people of the United States. Obviosly impeachment is, for whatever reason, off the table, so a class action law suit which lists as many US citizens that are willing to sign the petition should be brought forth. Suing him for gross negligence, lying under oath, and misrepresentation of what is granted to us all under the Constitution, is in order.
Let the courts decide the merits of the case. I want to sign the petition first. It was my idea after all..."
Yeah, keep dreaming. For the SAME reason that impeachment is off the table, this lawsuit would fail. First of all there is no precedent set to allow Congress to sue the President. Second, there is no way you could prove gross negilgence, lying under oath, and misrepresentation since there is NO EVIDENCE supporting these alligations. Finally, even if you COULD get this suit into court, don't you think it would be elevated to the US Supreme Court...and just WHAT do you think THEY would say about all this?