<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why fight it at this point? Larry Craig pled to a lesser charge and paid a fine. Why not just move on and finish out his Senate term? The shock factor has already worn off. George W. Bush pled guilty to a DUI, paid a small fine, and had his driver's license suspended. This is far more serious than a guilty plea for disorderly conduct and yet the DUI didn't disqualify Bush from the presidency.<br><br>-Scott<br><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">----- Original Message ----<br>From: Sunil Ramalingam <sunilramalingam@hotmail.com><br>Cc: vision2020@moscow.com<br>Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 1:45:02 PM<br>Subject: Re: [Vision2020]
Senator Larry Craig Challenges Guilty Plea<br><br><div>Paul,<br><br>Craig was offered a one-for-one: Plead to one, the other goes away. It's a <br>standard offer here too. I'm inclined to agree with you that the conduct <br>involved in the charge he pled to is not particularly egregious; if you came <br>to me and had been charged with only that one count, we might well want to <br>fight it on a number of grounds. And yes, the cop could have built a <br>stronger case by waiting it out. Perhaps he was tired of sitting there with <br>his pants down.<br><br>But you're looking at it in a vacuum; you can't ignore the other charge, <br>which is the more dangerous one for Craig. Yes, it's possible that one <br>stares into space. I do it too, but not through a crack between toilet <br>partitions behind which sits a man I would assume to be defecating, or at <br>least half-naked. I'll
bet you don't do that often either.<br><br>The officer's testimony would contradict that explanation; he says Craig was <br>deliberately staring at him. It's possible he's wrong, but if Craig gets <br>his plea back and goes to trial, seems to me he would have to take the stand <br>to refute the cop's testimony. Does he really want to be cross-examined on <br>that point? I don't think so.<br><br>Sunil<br><br><br>>From: Paul Rumelhart <godshatter@yahoo.com><br>>To: Tom Hansen <thansen@moscow.com><br>>CC: 'Donovan Arnold' <donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com>, 'Sunil Ramalingam' <br>><sunilramalingam@hotmail.com>, vision2020@moscow.com<br>>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Senator Larry Craig Challenges Guilty Plea<br>>Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:00:46 -0700<br>><br>>I've posted on this before, but I might as well do it again, I guess.<br>><br>>I don't think that
Senator Craig should be punished by the law for <br>>something as stupid as bumping another man's foot, looking through a crack <br>>in a door, or moving his hand under the partition. Couldn't the officer <br>>have done whatever was expected next, which I presume is to come over to <br>>his stall, and wait for him to make an undeniable request for sex (verbally <br>>or bodily) before arresting him?<br>><br>>As for the peeping through the door thing, am I the only person around here <br>>that will sometimes stare into space when I'm thinking about something <br>>deeply, only to "come to" with the realization that I've been staring at <br>>someone the entire time? I'm not saying I do this every day, but I've done <br>>it before. I can't be the only one. I'm not saying that is what happened to <br>>Craig, but it's definitely possible.<br>><br>>I can also see an occasion where someone might want to plead guilty to
<br>>something they didn't do in an attempt to avoid certain people finding out <br>>about it. That doesn't speak too highly of him if he did that, but a guilty <br>>plea to a misdemeanor doesn't mean the person did it absolutely. If you <br>>think he is the kind of guy that solicits sex in a public bathroom, why is <br>>it so unbelievable that he might have lied to gain a perceived advantage?<br>><br>>Paul<br>><br><br><br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a>
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