When Bush effectively made the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution null and void, the media barely blinked. When Alberto Gonzales claimed that the right to Habeas Corpus did not exist, the press wasn’t all that stirred up. Just the administration shredding the Constitution here, folks, nothing to get excited about.

But, boy, do they love a sex scandal! Even such that when a Republican senator is caught soliciting sex in an airport men’s room, it becomes a week-long media frenzy like no other–even though the actual impact on the country is about zero. Idaho has a Republican governor, so if Craig resigns or is otherwise forced out, he’ll just be replaced by another Republican, not that Idahoans are really going to elect a Democratic senator anyway. And this scandal takes place far enough away from any election that it won’t make a difference in terms of sullying the party in general and hurting its chances. So really, this story has “back page” written all over it… but it remains top news in the media and will stay there for a few days.

Interestingly, Republicans are pretty much turning on Craig, wishing privately and sometimes publicly that he’d just have the decency to resign, to leave town. This in contrast to their attitude concerning Louisiana Senator David Vitter, who was also caught soliciting sex illegally; with Vitter, they defended him strongly and pooh-poohed calls for his resignation. And it’s not just because Craig solicited man-on-man sex and Vitter solicited hetero sex. Rather, it’s because Craig’s governor is a Republican, so the seat is safe, while Vitter’s was a Democrat, and they would lose a seat. That’s the overriding principle here, and not one of perceived “morality.”

Now, Craig–aside from being a knee-jerk Republican and therefore blaming everyone in sight, including, of course, the media–is practically pleading with the public to believe that he’s not gay. Almost as if that’s more important than anything else here, that nobody thinks he’s queer.

Now, I may get into trouble for this, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s telling the truth there–as may be several other conservative figures in power who have been similarly caught standing behind another man with their pants down. What we’re talking about here is not something that is automatically homosexual in nature, at least as far as orientation is concerned. Remember, sex, for many people, is almost inextricably intertwined with power and control, especially anal sex. For heterosexual men in particular, receiving anal sex is the ultimate signal of submission.

And that may be what a lot of this is about: thirst for power and control intermixed with a twisted sense of sex as perverse, sinful, and shameful–you know, core conservative values.

(Yes, yes, I am fully aware that I am tremendously oversimplifying and perhaps mischaracterizing an incredibly complex and involved psychological landscape. Hell, I have no idea if it was anal or oral sex he intended to solicit, or if anal, whether he was to be the pitcher or the catcher. Still.)