When the joke's on Iowa

In yet another edition of "Hot Potatoes" (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington/ print edition) Dave Oliveria was discussing the fact that Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was discussed by Dave Letterman on his recent late night show as representing Iowa. Yeah, I was watching Letterman's slip of the tongue and thought "Idaho, Letterman, Idaho." As Oliveria noted, Iowa is a squeaky clean state. Why would anyone want to visit a radical senator with possibly gay tendencies on a state that probably wouldn't want him, esp. for president! Read "Hot Potatoes" in the "A Matter of Opinion" blog of the http://spokesmanreview.com for yourself. To put it bluntly, Craig has become a butt of some truly decent jokes.

On other views about the same Senator, Pat O'Leary wonders how hand signals, foot tapping and peeking into other stalls (occupied by undercover cops) can be considered a crime? Well, from what came down the pike in the early days of the scandal from Idaho as ultra religious state and therefore embarrassment city for Idaho voters; on various gay web sites, so I'm told, foot tapping and etc. is a definite signal of sexual desires. Mr. O'Leary is "no fan" of Craig, but still thinks he needs to defend the guy from an over-zealous and homophobic cop. So, Craig should take such a "Roundtable" letter to the Senate Ethics Committee or a judge and inform them that Washington state supporters (who never voted for him) are still giving him a clean bill of health? Washington state is "blue" for a reason? But Idaho, on the other hand is "red" with embarrassment.

Then coming to Marilyn Nimmo, who exploits Craig to take pot shots at the "gay community." When did Craig ever have anything to do with the "gay community?" And isn't it a problem with supposedly adult men who often suffer from the throws of marital infidelity that they'll often go trolling for prostitutes? In Craig's case, male prostitutes. --Oops, cop.

Signe Wilkinson was also copied for a reason: GW wants to become "filthy rich" when he leaves the White House. (He already is.) As Wilkinson points out though, GW has already busted the Treasury on the Iraq war.

Finally, James A. Nelson also of the 6 September 2007 edition of the Spokesman-Review Roundtable started crying about the building of an Islamic mosque in Spokane, Washington. And reminding the readers that this is "one nation under God" per the pledge of allegiance. Apparently, Mr. Nelson seems to think that freedom of religion doesn't apply to anyone not Christian. However, according to Benjamin Franklin, even Imans (sic?) have the right to preach (long before James Madison was to make freedom of religion an official part of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights). Our founding fathers were big on diversity: E Pluribus Unum. Not so Mr. Nelson.