It also doesn't help that Republicans are automatically held to a higher standard of personal behavior. A Democrat's criminal behavior, let alone mere misconduct, is always none of the public's business, and if mentioned, one is told to promptly move on.

Mary McLemore, Pike Road, Alabama, USA

Well, hopefully now the Republicans can get some distance between themselfs and the religious right. When one starts mixing religion and nationalism...well it usuallly does not end well.

This way the Republicans can be more of a standard right-wing party instead of the Bible holding nutters with guns they portray them selfs as around here (I live in the southern US, Virginia to be exact...no not posh Northern Virginia)

Alex Jonasv, Lynchburg, Virginia, USA

Hypocrisy? Perhaps Mr. Baker should visit the dictionary. Senator Craig never voted against gay bathroom sex, he voted against gay marriage. Being a participant in gay sex and being against gay marriage does not a hypocrit make.

paul sammon, seattle, washington, USA

Hmm...What happens in New York when the subway is crowded? On the London underground everyone gets squashed together in a horizontal heap. Now suppose this happened to Mr Craig. What would happen if he decided to sue the man/woman squashed next to him for assault? There are times when one needs to apply plain common sense.

Edmund Burke, Kingston upon Thames, England

Its embarrassing to have policemen sitting in bathroom stalls waiting for their feet to be tapped. It use to be a highly placed politician could tryst with an aid or intern and often avoid any scandal. Now we have reduced them to fishing in bathrooms. To me this is a sign of the total loss of any sembalence of dignity and expectation of privacy in our society. Its not healthy. Its not healthy to be too interested in others dark side. All of our hands are dirty from simply participating in this so called modern society and financing it with our labor and taxes. The tendency to expell our own demons by still burning witches at the stake is still very much with us. We use to allow little corners of room for people to be left alone in living their lives, now with this modern zero tolerance approach to living, we are losing our freedom, our freedom to just be.

Brian Stewart, los angeles,

Well, I live here. So, yes, the Republicans are cruising to defeat. Thank you.

Ted Clark, Minneapolis, USA/MN

It was inevitable; handed power on a mandate to lead America out of its own filthy, immoral quagmire, the Republicans have failed to live up to their own impossible standards. Perhaps what's more shocking than the list of sordid revelations is that the voters genuinely believed their politicians could be so squeaky clean.

Julian, Twickenham, UK

I just want to say what an incredibly well written article this is. I'm not hugely into American politics, or the melodramas therein, but this is as well written a piece on any topic I have read in any context for a very long time. I shall keep my eyes open for Mr Baker's work in the future.

Chris Taylor, Worthing, England

"You can’t adopt a firm stance on public morals in the hope of soliciting votes, while adopting a wide stance in public lavatories in the hope of soliciting blokes. "

- Genius end line there!

Great article and I agree strongly that the Republicans are in danger of tarnishing their image through self-inflicted hypocrisy in the same way as the Major-era Conservatives did.

Stephen Warrick, Newcastle, UK

Mr. Baker, if you believe that a majority of Americans will vote for Hillary Clinton vs. almost any Republican front-runner, then there is a bridge in Brooklyn that I would love to sell to you. You have also not allowed for the fact that there is as much scandal in the Democratic Party and all will come out during the run-up to the general election.

Norman S, Naples, Florida

Note the sequence of events: first Karl Rove surprises everyone by resigning, then Alberto Gonzales surprises everyone by doing the same, then Larry Craig surprises everyone (except the Idaho media) by revealing himself to be a (water) closet case. (Sorry, can't resist.) With Rove no longer around to protect such incompetents and miscreants, we can expect the next few months to be filled with more departures and sordid revelations of this sort. At this rate, the Democrats could nominate a tin of hominy for president and still cruise (sorry) to victory.

Tariq, Toronto, Canada

Hate to say it, but the last time I looked, there appeared to be roughly a million dead bodies in Iraq because of a certain set of senators.

A milion... roughly.

Er....What were you saying that this bloke had done?

Mark Grindell, Shipley, England

Are they more corrupt, venal or whatever or do the media cover theor scandals more thoroughly?

NDK, Edinburgh, UK

The Republicans kick them out, Demo's don't Banny Frank is still there, Jefferson as well. What about Clinton lied under oath.

bernard michael, delray beach, FL. U.S.A.

Whether or not Senator Craig was properly caught in the Minnesota sting operation that has netted more than 40 alleged gays soliciting for sex, it really is improper for an informed journalist to keep repeating the canard that the Clinton Administratons troubles were all about his sexual dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. You do your readers a disservice not to mention that president's strange ability to accumulate the dead bodies of former friends and supporters, such as Vincent Foster and Ron Brown; and multiple accusations of sexual assault and intimidation from many women, his corrupt business practices, his illegal fund raising, and - not least - the trail of tainted prisoners' blood that stretches from Arkansas' jails to the thousands of dead haemophiliacs in Canada, France, and Britain. Or do those not count as immorality in your circles?

ScottQ, Boise, Idaho

"Bill Clinton never managed to lift his presidency above the flotsam and jetsam of semen-stained dresses."
That's an absurd characterisation of the man's presidency. In 1998, the year the Lewinsky scandal broke, Bill Clinton walked the streets of Gaza as a welcome guest of the Palestinian people. He was engaged in the Arab-Israeli peace process in a constructive manner that his successor would have done well to emulate. It's shallow of Mr Baker to reduce the Clinton presidency to "semen-stained dresses" (Why the plural -- did Monica have a closet full of them?) The Clinton years now seem like a golden age compared with the train wreck that is the Bush Administration. I say that as an American who voted for Robert Dole, the Republican presidential candidate, in 1996.

Raymond, St Albans,

Great article!

Senator Craig's lack of basic honesty is the most regpugnant aspect of this case.

Mark, Shepherdstown, USA

Well, you hit the obvious, but it needs to be said. The idea that Republicans are morally superior (and always socially superior) is hopefully punctured. I think that politics is too difficult to follow--I mean one really needs to pay attention--and the Republicans found an easy code for the lazy among us. The more serious problem is that most American just want to get on with their lives, rightly, and see politics as something someone else does.

stephen Petty, Landau/pfalz, germany

He should join the Democrats!

Dave, Southampton, UK

This is a typical example of the confused attitude to sexual issues still prevalent in the USA.
A silver ring should obviously be worn at all times.

Dave, Southampton, UK

The Republicans have been wildly successful at whipping up votes by pointing the finger at just about everyone that doesn't conform to their religious bases so called family values. Well folks, the cookie is starting to crumble as it did when they forced prohibition on the country in the 1920's and later when Senator McCarthy and all of the Hollywood Blacklists hit the stage in the 1950's. Buyer Beware - The one's that scream the loudest usually have the most to hide. I guess they haven't realized that if one points the finger there are three pointed back at yourself.

Dave Gosney, Palm Springs, California

Mr Burnett describes Mr Craig on the toilet as being peanuts to Prince Harry wearing a Nazi unfiorm. The trouble is Robbie that Prince Harry never claimed to be Second World War French Resistance fighter.
Good luck for 08, you lot are going to need it.

V, London,

"You can’t adopt a firm stance on public morals in the hope of soliciting votes, while adopting a wide stance in public lavatories in the hope of soliciting blokes." In cauda venenum. Excellent.

Ronnie, PARIS, FRANCE

Well Gerard, they've been an INTERNATIONAL joke since Dubya was "elected". Just took a long time for a lot of - allegedly - smart people to realise it. We the people knew pretty damn quickly. Do pay attention in future.

Jeremy Poynton, Fromeville, 51st State

As a democrat I am loving every minute! Sincerely, a louche, permissive roué.

Thomas, Boston, US/Massachusetts

This is the first I have read about the crime being two shoes touching each other. I had assumed something much more graphic. The local vice squad would surely have lost in court and it looks really em barrassing that paid officials are prosecuting shoe contact. At least the arrest should have awaited some further concrete action, presumably at least some kind of flesh contact and more securely some kind of contact that can actually fit the description of "lewd". Senator Craig probably did have a lot hidden, which led to a quick guilty plea, but the facts of the arrest could surely have not supported a penalty.

greg starr, oslo, Norway

Good article Mr. Baker. Conservatives' call for morality is a farce that needs to be exposed ever more widely so that their supporters (usually right-wing, white, working class 'family people') can understand that the leaders in which they bestow all their God-like faith, are in fact, only as moral as road-side pimps.

Udaiveer Anand, London,

Preachy words from a person from a country with a dysfunctional House of Windsor perched at the very top of their institutional structure. On any disgraceful scale, Mr Craig on the toilet is peanuts to Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform with swastika in public. Dogs always smell their own work first-- but not with Gerard.

Robert Burnett, las Vegas, Nevada usa

Surely Clarence Thomas's more ribald remarks concerned the size of his own anatomy compared to a Coke can? And I think Mr Baker is wrong about Bill Clinton; the Lewinsky jokes have long faded from memory and his presidency was none the worse for the incident - Clinton simply showed that he was all-too-human, a characteristic that many Americans admire, otherwise Hillary would not be in such a strong position today.

David Cunard, Los Angeles, USA

As sad as the story about a U.S. Senator gone wrong, really wrong according to his own standards, the the media. The media often states they have known of this action for years.
Duh, and all the sudden there is an abundant amount of information collected over perhaps years. The media then pats themselves on the back. Media is just like the Senator gon wrong, media prides itself in reporting all news when in fact they do not practice what they preach. Media knows all too well they may lose the information well they have with senate membors who trust they will not tell. To cover, media attacks when the wrong news gets out about someone. Yet, media is not the innocent claimed by themselves. Anyone who leaks information about media would be done both politically and in public. It nears really funny when tragedy strikes a high level media person to see their fellow news guys and gals walk tender strokes to avoid punishing and attacking.

Bob White, Piedmont, Oklahoma,

"You can’t adopt a firm stance on public morals in the hope of soliciting votes, while adopting a wide stance in public lavatories in the hope of soliciting blokes".


Thats beautiful sir!

O , london, UK

The problem here is as with all misdemeanours - there is no deterant. The sooner the world wakes up to this fact the better. If one new you were going to be shot or otherwise permenantly removed from society, especially for murder, cruelty to children, harrassing the neighbourhood etc, then this would indeed cure the problems and probably reduce our English jail population to a small manageable few. And the European Courts of Human Rights should be disbanded and given something better to do.

Buster, Milands,

If Mr. Gerard would dig a little deeper into the Republicans who are currently running for the Presidency of the United States in 2008, he would come across the name of Ron Paul, a Texas congressman who has served 10 terms in Congress and who, according to this (unfortunately) Canadian would make a marvellous President and show America and the world a new way. His consistent record of voting according to the dictates of the Constitution (and therefore, his conscience); his refusal to unnecessarily spend taxpayers' money; his opposition to the Patriot Act, the Iraq war and the illegal income tax; his refusal to entertain lobbyists of any stripe and, not least, his more than 50 year marriage to the same woman mark him as an candidate of exceptional quality who deserves greater exposure. Despite the best efforts of the mainstream media to silence information about him, the word is spreading via the Internet (Google Ron Paul). I hope we will see him elected to the White House in 2008.

Victoria Story, Toronto, Canada

I am a conservative, grassroots activist, Reagan Republican. Our party may be cruising to defeat. If so, it is because the party leadership lost its way years ago. What I long for is a cleansing of our party of those who let power and re-election concerns rather than principle become the driving force of governance. Some have already gone--others are going.

Party leaders, many of whom are consumed with that inside-the-beltway "Washington disease," are concerned mostly about winning the 2008 presidential election and not losing more Congressional seats.

I believe there is a different outlook among local activists. Yes, we want to win, but we are not willing to sacrifice our principles or put up with unprincipled leaders to do so. And, if we do lose in 2008, we know that a Democrat president and a Democrat Congress will govern like Democrats--so far to the left that we will eventually regain control--but this time perhaps with a purged and principled Republican Party.

Terry L. Walker, Ladson, SC / USA

Senator Craig will have to answer to his Idaho (emphasis on the 'ho) constituents soon enough. Other than that political reality this incident has taught me never to listen to my iPod while sitting in the mens lavatory...

BS Aplenty, Atlanta, USA