Morning Sweep

A spectrum of responses to Republican Sen. Larry Craig's press conference yesterday:

The Idaho Statesman: "During a brief—and largely defiant—public appearance Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Larry Craig apologized for bringing "a cloud over Idaho." We're sorry, senator. This cloud does not belong to the people who have elected you for the past 27 years. It's all yours."

Hilary Rosen: "Larry Craig isn't gay. Thank god cuz we don't really want him to be. Ick. Now that he has told the country that he isn't gay in a press conference, I am so relieved."

Pam Spaulding: "Oh lord, he's denying it all, blaming the Idaho Statesman, and said categorically that he is not gay ('I've never been gay.") He has not yet decided on whether he's running for re-election. He took no questions. OK, boys, if you've done Sen. Craig in a washroom, this is a Gary Hart moment. He's seeking counsel now. How on earth can you plead guilty by mistake!"

Mitt Romney: "Once again, we've found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence." (for the Romney-Craig connection, click here)

Lady Bunny: "Of course, the very republicans who espouse rewriting the Constitution to redefine marriage as between a man and a woman so that gays can never marry keep on getting busted for homo-sex in tearooms."

Tom Toles (political cartoonist)

MediaMatters calls out The New York Times and various networks for failing to include Sen. Craig's record on gay issues in their reporting of the scandal.

In non-Craig news:

The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago may be electing a lesbian as their new bishop, which would make her the second openly LGBT Episcopal bishop in the US.

The ACLU and Human Rights Watch are looking into the death of a transgender inmate at a San Pedro, CA immigration detention center. These groups believe that Victor Arellano may have been denied vital AIDS medication and thus died while in custody.