Dale Carpenter noticed something that not only are very few bloggers are discussing, but neither are any of the prominent leftist commentators who would normally be expected to weigh in and inveigh on these things -- an almost casual insinuation of race by the officer who arrested Larry Craig, in his attempt to shame a confession out of him:

Karsnia: . . . I don't disrespect you but I'm disrespected right now and I'm not trying to act like I have all kinds of power or anything, but you're sitting here lying to a police officer. . . .

Karsnia: I just, I just, I guess, I guess I'm gonna say I'm just disappointed in you sir. I'm just really am. I expect this from the guy that we get out of the hood. I mean, people vote for you.

Craig: Yes, they do. (inaudible)

Karsnia: unbelievable, unbelievable.

Craig: I'm a respectable person and I don't do these kinds of... (Emphasis added.)

To shame Craig into telling the truth, the officer could have used a different example, like, "I expect this from some punk we get off the street."

....the officer may have expected that Craig would immediately understand the reference and be especially shamed by it as a law-abiding white person. "Not only were you engaged in this tawdry behavior but now you're acting like a black thug who lies to a police officer about it," he seems to be saying. I doubt the officer would have used the "hood" reference if he'd been talking to a suspect who was black. It simply wouldn't have worked against a black suspect, whether that suspect was from "the hood" or not. It would have backfired even if used against, say, a wealthy black lawyer in a business suit. Further, in the presence of a black person the officer would have been sensitized to using a racial reference. It only works as a shaming technique if it's one white person speaking to another, with no blacks around to object.

I also think it's interesting in the context of what Karsnia said immediately afterward. From the transcript:

LC: All right, you saw something that didn't happen.

DK: Embarrassing, embarrassing. No wonder why we're going down the tubes. Anything to add?

NN: Uh, no

DK: Embarrassing. Date is 6/11/07 at 1236 interview is done. (Emphasis added.)

I'd almost swear the officer was grandstanding a bit.

You know, as if he imagined the real audience was larger than Larry Craig?

And what about this earlier remark?

You're gonna have to pay a fine and that will be it. Okay. I don't call media, I don't do any of that type of crap.

Wouldn't want to have this nice old country going down the tubes....

Forgive my cynicism, but I'm beginning to think that perhaps Larry Craig (regardless of his level of denial) might not have been as stupid as I initially thought he was (and perhaps Officer Karsnia knew he had a big, big prize, and what the implications were). I don't know whether Craig made any phone calls, but can you imagine what would be happening now on all the talk shows if this case was just beginning to wind its way through the preliminary stages of the Minneapolis misdemeanor trial calendar?

Imagine the power of being a guy in Karsnia's position. It's none of anybody's business, but Wendy Reid Crisp, at FROM THE BACK PEW, points out that Officer Karsnia drives a really cool old hearse, and is soon to be featured in Law and Order.

The hobbies of public servants are, of course, none of our business, but old Caddy is a beauty and an appropriate vehicle for hauling off Craig's political career....plus, it may be making a tv debut soon: rumors are already out there that the Craig case may become a "Law & Order" episode ...

Perfect for cruisin' down the tubes in style!

(A car that says "we will bury you"?)

Seriously, I like the car. The officer has good taste. (Of course, the gas mileage must suck, but you can't have everything.)

MORE: I'm tempted to say that this whole thing reminds me of the Roman games, but I can't. I mean, consider my position. Not only do I write a blog that looks suspciously soft on Rome, but I've already been accused of being a Mafia-supporting Democrat, and I might easily be accused of having sympathy for the Romans....

(So I've been self-censored. Immortal gods!)

UPDATE: For God's sake, is there any limit to this "outing" nonsense?

Via Glenn Reynolds, I read that John Aravosis is now claiming that Senator what's-his-name (as if it matters who it is this time) is gay, so it's probably another "hypocrisy" to allow him to go to Iraq in violation of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Sorry, but these people have become insane. They're as meddlesome as the most meddlesome 1950s vice officers.

And they are most definitely the new McCarthyites. I'd say gay McCarthyites, except there's not much gay about what they're doing; I'm old enough to remember when the word "gay" involved sexual freedom. Nowadays, it's rapidly becoming code language for sexual tyranny and invasion of privacy. (I can remember when cranky old reactionary types used to complain that the word "gay" no longer meant "gay," and that a perfectly good word had been ruined by the new meaning. I disagreed, but I think it's ironic that they're now ruining the perfectly good word's once perfectly good new meaning!)

These guys deserve to have someone like Joseph Welch come along and say, "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

In that regard, I'm delighted to see Arianna Huffington standing up for a little common sense:

I'm no fan of Larry Craig. Indeed, I disagree with almost everything he stands for. And I'd much rather he not be in the United States Senate. But I'd also rather have had his exit be the result of his constituents voting on his ideas and policies, instead of a ridiculous sting operation in an airport bathroom.