Craig scandal is small potatoes

Larry Craig has had a better year than someone? Bruce Reed, the ex-Clinton adviser from CDA, thinks so. Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois governor, for one. Eliot Spitzer, who threw away a possible presidential run to become Client No. 9, for another. In his latest “Has Been” column for Slate online, Scott and Mary Lou Reed’s son said the foot-tapping scandal that has dogged Idaho’s senior senator for more than a year is small potatoes compared to other ones that have cropped up since. Quoth Reed: “Try as he might, Larry Craig simply can’t compete on that stage. As schools for scandal go, an Idaho sleazeball just doesn’t have the strength of schedule to top the BCS rankings while the Big Ten and Big East champs get automatic berths.” And: “Besides, Craig may be the most colorless figure to stumble into modern political scandal. The man’s harshest expletive is Jiminy God! Blagojevich and his wife curse more in one criminal complaint than Craig has cursed in his entire life.” Craig was so second rate as a scandalmeister, Reed added, that he didn’t even rate a wire-tap. Craig and Blagojevich couldn’t have been more different. In his criminal complaint, Reed notes, Blagojevich said of his Senate seat: “I’m just not giving it up for (bleeping) nothing.” In the end, Reed said, that may be the best description ever given of just what Larry Craig did.

Battle of the bulge

Oprah’s admission that she’s ballooned back to 200 pounds struck a chord with Marianne Love – not that Marianne weighs anywhere near that. But the Slight Detour blogger from Sandpoint admits she weighs more than the amount spelled out on her driver’s license. Nor did her Catholicism prevent her from shaving 10 pounds from her weight when asked by a nurse during a recent office visit. On the plus side, she said, she can still fit into size 14 jeans if they’re stretch and slightly bigger than their size label says. And she still weighs the same as she did four years ago when she fudged her weight by 20 pounds to spin her driver’s license stats downward. However, before you cast stones at Marianne, O Faithful Huckleberries Reader, you should ask yourself: How closely does the weight listed on my driver’s license match my bathroom scale’s? Hmm?

Huckleberries

Scanner Traffic (at 3:49 p.m. Monday): A small, elementary-school child has his tongue stuck to a metal pole at Miles & Maple/Hayden. The reporting party (R/P) referred to “A Christmas Story” and urged rescuers to hurry. Seems the child was getting cold. Later, Huckleberries learned that the R/P had provided a coat for the boy and was told to hang tight when he asked rescuers if he should pour warm water on the metal pole … At A Butterfly Moment, blogmistress Jen heard this exchange between her boys as they watched a movie: Adam: “She’s a bad singer.” Josh: “It’s opera. Its supposed to be bad” … On my SR blog, we abbreviate Huckleberries Online as HBO, like the TV movie network. So I was curious when a Berry Picker mentioned she’d seen the vanity plate HBO driving around the Fortgrounds area. Now, I’m checking out the rumor that HBO may be the nickname that a councilman from northern KootCo gave his wife. It stands for Honey Bunches of Oats. Or something like that … Scanner Traffic II (at 5:49 p.m. last Thursday): Without introduction or follow-up, a woman’s voice asked: “Can I have my clothes back?” Now, don’t you wish you followed Scanner Traffic weekdays at Huckleberries Online?

Parting shot

Steve Hartgen, the ex-Twin Falls Times-News publisher, is odds-on favorite to propose the most ludicrous piece of legislation in the 2009 session. The lawmaker-to-be is promoting nonsense that would require online commenters to use their real names. The newsman-turned-censor (sniff!) doesn’t appreciate the fact (sniff!) that anonymity emboldens commenters to spread misinformation, particularly about the media. Which happens, of course, especially when a newspaper Web site isn’t moderated. However, anonymity also allows people in key positions in the community to post their insights without fear of reprisal (which would occur in North Idaho if some of the high-level regulars at Huckleberries Online were found out). Benjamin Franklin and the writers of the Federalist Papers used anonymity to help guide the formation of this country. Mebbe Hartgen should relearn his history while he assumes the traditional role of a first-term legislator. Which is to be seen and not heard.