On July 17, I sat in the U.S. Senate Gallery - watching as Senators stayed up all night and debated whether we should bring our troops home from Iraq.
Idaho Senator Larry Craig sat all alone. As other Senators debated this life-or-death issue of war, Craig looked down and doodled on a small piece of paper the size of a coffee coaster. He did this for at least a half hour, probably more - meticulously drawing some four-sided object and switching pens from time to time.
It seems to me that a Senator from Idaho should have been engaged by the debate - using every waking minute to think about Blake Stephens, Carrie French, Kelly Morris, James Holtom, Emerson Brand, and others among the Idaho residents who have died in Iraq. But Craig doodled away, oblivious to the realities of this war.
Craig then voted against ending the war. Adding insult to injury, Craig voted earlier against a Democratic plan to give troops one year at home for every year in Iraq.
As Craig comes up for re-election in 2008, I'm curious - is someone who doodles against the troops the best person to represent Idaho in the U.S. Senate?
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