Guess who came to lunch?
Larry Craig, the arrested, convicted, humiliated Idaho Republican senator who "intends" to resign Sept. 30, showed up in Washington today to apologize to lunching GOP colleagues "for any embarrassment" he caused them.
According to a CNN report, Craig did not say anything about staying in the Senate beyond Sept. 30. He's trying to overturn his disorderly conduct guilty plea in a Minnesota court. "We're working on that now," he said as he tried to walk through reporters.
"There's been a lot of favorable talk about Larry in the cloakroom," said Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, a chief Craig defender. "And I think the initial shock has worn off."
Meanwhile, the Minneapolis airport men's room where Craig may or may not have tapped his foot and waved his hand and taken a very wide stance in a toilet stall next to an undercover police officer has become a popular tourist attraction. No, seriously.
Information attendants there report a steady stream of camera-toting tourists seeking directions to the now-infamous bathroom near a food court and shopping area. "It's by the Lottery shop, right next to the shoeshine shop," said Abdalla Said, a newsstand worker.
Sally and Jon Westby of Minneapolis allowed a little extra time at the airport on their trip to Central America. They really wanted to glimpse the famous toilet. "We had to just stop and check out the bathroom," said Sally. "In fact, it's Jon's second time. He was here last week already."
So plan your next Minneapolis trip accordingly; set aside a little extra time during the layover. Maybe by next summer's GOP national convention there, they'll have a plaque up. A wide one.
--Andrew Malcolm
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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reasons why not hit on someone in a public bathroom
Posted by: Madison | September 18, 2007 at 08:45 PM
Since they're always naming public edifices (usually bridges, tunnels and the like) for politicians, how about the "Larry Craig Memorable Bathroom" or the "Larry Craig Misdemeanor Commode"
Posted by: Cal | September 18, 2007 at 10:55 PM
How about an apology to the body he serves in? Seems to me there are two parties he works with, or does he?
Posted by: Jay Donato | September 18, 2007 at 11:33 PM