i don't really feel sorry for Craig, but he is not in the military.

no such standard of conduct exists for civilian federal employees, but i am not sure that applies either, as he is an elected official, and he has no job security.

In the end what bothers me the most about these things is that the willingness to roast elected officials on personal foibles that contradict public positions seems like political extortion.

for instance, if Ted Kennedy were caught recklessly discharging an illegal gun in Massachusetts, (a state with draconian gun control laws) would we really expect him to vote against the assault weapons ban?

i should hope not, since a big majority of his constituents would strongly support it. So is it OK for the NRA to threaten to expose his arrest to pressure his vote? Is he a hypocrite?

The votes of Sen. Craig should rightly represent the sentiments of his conservative Idaho constituents, and public positions do not translate into personal hypocrisy.

as for personal hypocrisy translating into a loss of public position, that is for the people of Idaho to decide.

To imply, as Saletan has, that public positions should be taken only correlation with personal behavior is simply foolish.

The votes of Sen. Craig should rightly represent the sentiments of his conservative Idaho constituents, and public positions do not translate into personal hypocrisy.

This makes no sense whatsoever. Senator Craig is not simply a proxy for his constituents, neither is Senator Kennedy. When Kennedy gives a speech railing against the NRA, it is generally assumed that he actually believes in what he is saying. If it came out the Kennedy was actually a member of the NRA, then yes it would be hypocrisy.

Likewise, when Craig gives a speech accusing homosexuals of destroying American culture, most people assume that he actually believes this. So yeah when he privately does things that he has publicly denounced, it is hypocrisy.

not exactly. close but not quite. i'll give you a better example.

when some stupid democrat wails, whines, bitches and moans about tax cuts saying that letting people keep more of the money they earn is 'voodoo economics' and diabolical 'trickle down', then pass a 'stimulus package' sending them checks as a tax rebate when they should have let them keep the money in the first place.