Sen. Craig
I’ve been hearing about the stories surrounding Sen. Craig over these last few days, as I’m sure everyone else has. I’ve even read a bunch of stories from today’s Washington Post. There is one story on what the typical signals are for men looking for sex with other men. Who knew there were all these complex codes and signals?
On a side note, all I can think about with all this talk about public restrooms is Dane Cook’s skit on public restrooms. So funny, and oh so true.
At any rate, the main reason I am writing about this is to highlight the reactions to Sen. Craig. I’m not really looking to make a point here either - whether Sen. Craig is a bad person or not is not the topic of this posting - it’s more to write about what’s going on in my mind right now. Look, I don’t know if Sen. Craig did or didn’t do what he was arrested for. He plead guilty to a lesser charge - maybe to get rid of the story, or maybe for some other reason - who knows. Either way, he’s done a poor job of message and media management, but that’s for another posting.
The reaction to Sen. Craig’s press conference has fascinated me. Lots of people are writing about the GOP’s willingness, in fact eagerness, to throw him under the bus and force him out of office. The reaction from people in Idaho has been pretty decisive as well - the consensus I’ve read can be summarized as this - the people of Idaho have been lied to and embarrassed.
People are making judgments based on what they know, or what they think they know, or most likely, what they want to believe. Judgement will happen - it’s part of our nature. It’s pretty much impossible to not judge for the simple fact that any adult has had numerous experiences in their life that make up what they believe and value. We go through life judging new experiences through the lense of how we judged past experiences. It’s how we know not to run out in traffic when a car is coming. You don’t have to think about not running out in traffic, you just know it’s not the right thing to do.
The same thing is happening here in this instance as it does with every other moment of our life. What would be interesting to me would be to hear someone who is supportive of Sen. Craig. How did they come to that conclusion? What experiences in their past led them to judge the current situation in such a way that offering support to Sen. Craig appears to be the right thing to do. The process of how we come to a conclusion is interesting. What’s more interesting is that once a person makes a conclusion, they associate that conclusion with their identity. What do I mean? Ever try to tell someone they were wrong? What kind of reaction did you get - a defensive one right? Why? Because people equate beliefs with identity. That’s why it is so difficult to have a true discussion about religion or politics. People emotionalize these subjects so much that to question a policy or belief is interpreted as a criticism of the person holding the belief. But are the beliefs really who that person is? What happens when you lay your beliefs aside - who are you really? All interesting points to ponder. Your thoughts are welcome.