Booman Tribune ~ Comments ~ Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic

Gift Cards * New Arrivals

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story:

True Compass: A Memoir
by Edward M. Kennedy.

Read Barack Obama's vision for America:

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

Boran2 and maryb2004 recommend:

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
by Jasper Fforde

Must-have information for all presidents-and citizens-of the twenty-first century?

Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines
Richard A. Muller

rae recommends:

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire
by Morris Berman.

On BooMan’s shelf:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES
Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.

Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")

Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)

Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)

"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen

The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review

BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual
$79.95 * Sale: $59.95

Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)

The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan

Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----

Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review

Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus

Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"

Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)

The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids
by Madeline Levine

Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com
:

We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:

Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic | 45 comments (45 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic (none / 0)

I'm trying to listen with an open mind to a lot of people in the gay community that are uncomfortable with these sting operations. I know it harkens back to darker days.

But this is simple. Airport police receive multiple complaints about sexual activity in a certain bathroom. They're totally obligated to put a stop to it.

There may be instances where people get unjustly arrested, but there isn't a public restroom in the country where it is appropriate to engage in sexual activity...least of all, heavily trafficked mass transit hub restrooms.

by BooMan on Wed Aug 29th, 2007 at 05:55:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic (none / 0)

I hear you. But here's the thing -- he wasn't arrested for sex. There was no sex. Because all it takes is a cop making a case that there was "intent", and you're arrested for lewd behavior.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think -- given the bigger picture with craig -- that this is a questionable arrest given the law. But it does, IMO, bring up questions about the way these sting operations go, and what that means socially;

What constitutes "solicitiation", and why is that, in itself, an illegal activity, when it involves adults who can, one would assume, say "no"? How can we assume that it was going to lead to sex in the restroom, when it's quite possible (again, doubtful in this case, but still feasible as far as the law goes) that the end result could've been a motel room or whatever? Why is it illegal to hit on somebody in the men's room, but not elsewhere?

Complaints about sexual activity in a bathroom, yes, I think there should probably be a response, IF the complaints seem legit. Where I have a problem is when the response makes something as vague as "solicitation" an arrestable thing. Had the cop taken this to a point where it was unquestionable that Craig wanted sex in the public restroom, I would have less of a problem.

The other problem here is frankly that... to put it bluntly... it's damn hard as a queer to take "police discretion" as an okay thing in these cases. Police departments quite often have problems with homophobia, and there's some serious historical nastiness involved in that. IF we accept that "solicitation" is illegal in itself, then at the very least, IMO, we need to have a set of standards that must be met to confirm that it is, in fact, solicitation of public sex. Because arrests over "lewd conduct" have been a way of bludgeoning the gay community for a long time, and that's far from over.

by Spit (spit36@gmx.net) on Wed Aug 29th, 2007 at 06:06:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic (none / 0)

Like I said, I can hear the historical harassment bleeding through the emotional responses and I'm trying to listen to that.

My view is that the real crime here is that Craig was peering through the cracks in the stall at someone that was on the shitter. Now, unless you get it on film, that's a hard one to prosecute.

But if I am on the shitter and I look up and see Larry Craig leering at me I am going to be very, very pissed off. I think it's a crime, and I think it should be punished. A $500 fine and a little community service is a just punishment, in my estimation.

But the cop has to take it a little further to get a prosecution, because he has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Craig isn't just checking to see if the stall is available.

That's the sting part of it.

My bottom line is zero tolerance for sexual activity in public restrooms, and a big part of why is that once you start looking the other way on that, you start getting these loiterers that are going to peer into stalls.

As long as there is no entrapment involved, I am fully supportive of these sting operations. I know there are opportunities for abuse, but it's really pretty simple. Don't look for sex in public restrooms...ever. It's not an acceptable practice.

by BooMan on Wed Aug 29th, 2007 at 06:32:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic (none / 0)

I just have one question. Craig pleaded guilty - and I'm guessing it was to a "lesser" offense than what actually happened. So I'm wondering if what we've heard that was written in the cop's report was the whole story.

Doesn't information itself have a liberal bias? Steven Colbert

by NLinStPaul on Wed Aug 29th, 2007 at 07:20:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic (none / 0)

No idea.

Craig was most certainly guilty, of at least what is outlined. What bothers me isn't really about Craig -- for whom I have zero sympathy, given that, at very least, he's as responsible for the conditions leading to his arrest as anybody -- but about the way these laws are applied, both historically and currently, in an unequal way toward gay men.

by Spit (spit36@gmx.net) on Wed Aug 29th, 2007 at 07:25:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Tucker Carlson's Gay Panic | 45 comments (45 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

. Home
. About
. Contact
. Advertise
. FAQ
. Search

Username:
Password:

. Make a new account
. Reset password

Recommended Diaries

Israel thumbs its nose at Obama, again
by shergald - Mar 18
14 comments

Saturday Sports: Basketball? No... The House of...
by btchakir - Mar 20

Will Bloggers Rescue the Lehman Story?
by danps - Mar 20
1 comment

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.241
by boran2 - Mar 20
3 comments

Friday Foto Flogging
by AndiF - Mar 19
57 comments

Thursday Dog Bog (with Toy Box)
by keres - Mar 18
16 comments

US General: Dutch Gays in Military to Blame for Massacre...
by Oui - Mar 19
7 comments

Senate Races Without a Democratic Candidate Yet
by Senate Guru - Mar 16

Recommended World Diaries

Thursday Dog Bog (with Toy Box)
by keres (AU) - Mar 18
16 comments

US General: Dutch Gays in Military to Blame for Massacre...
by Oui (NL) - Mar 19
7 comments

"Sic Semper Tyrannis"
by Oui (NL) - Mar 18
1 comment

Recent Diaries

Saturday Sports: Basketball? No... The House of...
by btchakir - Mar 20

Will Bloggers Rescue the Lehman Story?
by danps - Mar 20
1 comment

Meet Shayna Bailey, Slow Food International
by borderjumpers - Mar 20

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.241
by boran2 - Mar 20
3 comments

Getting Water to Crops
by borderjumpers - Mar 19

Friday Foto Flogging
by AndiF - Mar 19
57 comments

US General: Dutch Gays in Military to Blame for Massacre...
by Oui - Mar 19
7 comments

"Sic Semper Tyrannis"
by Oui - Mar 18
1 comment

Israel thumbs its nose at Obama, again
by shergald - Mar 18
14 comments

Innovation of the Week: Providing an Agricultural Answer to...
by borderjumpers - Mar 18

Thursday Dog Bog (with Toy Box)
by keres - Mar 18
16 comments

Juan Cole avenges former IDF Corporal Jeffrey Goldberg
by shergald - Mar 17
2 comments

1,000 Words About Uganda
by borderjumpers - Mar 17

It's Just A Kiss
by Forgiven - Mar 16

Senate Races Without a Democratic Candidate Yet
by Senate Guru - Mar 16

Creating Game Plans for Investment and Policy to Improve Food ...
by borderjumpers - Mar 16

1,000 Words About Zimbabwe
by borderjumpers - Mar 15
2 comments

Journalistic Standards of the Progressive Media
by rootless2 - Mar 15

AIPAC Calls Spat a Distraction from Iran
by Oui - Mar 15
16 comments

Pentagon Official Ran Private AfPak Spy Network
by Oui - Mar 15
7 comments

More Diaries...

Booman Tribune Homepage
admin@boomantribune.com
powered by Scoop

More blogs about Blogs at Technorati.

Technorati Profile