Fruit Raids and Simon Says

Regular readers of this blog know that I am addicted to Weekend Edition. Listening to 2 hours of news on Saturdays & Sundays is what, for other folks, the New York Times Sunday edition is. I love the depth of the commentary and the way that program has guided many of my adult decisions about politics and the way I view the world (and also, the way I disagree with the world, and with NPR...). This morning, Scott Simon offered one of the most thoughtful and interesting commentaries I've heard about Senator Larry Craig and the incident leading to his arrest this summer. Simon talks about the people who have been crowing about Craig's arrest (rejoicing in his "getting his" and pointing out the hypocrisy of Craig's public and private acts). Among the many interesting things Simon says is the fact that the whole incident reminded him of an earlier era when police regularly went on "fruit raids" to arrest men engaged in sex in public places. As Simon considers the very nature of a police state and the ways in which policing sex is a dangerous precedent, he points out that Craig wasn't engaged in a sexual act, only in determining interest between 2 consenting adults. Scott Simon's thoughtful commentary really hammered home something I've been wrestling with--why, in 2007, are police in Minnesota setting up traps for gay men in public bathrooms? I really appreciated Simon's careful reflections on the case and the ways in which he questions both the arrest (and the conservative agenda it revealed) and the public outcry (and the liberal inability for compassion it revealed). I also appreciated the way Simon reminded his listeners that Senator Craig's sexuality--and whatever he may or may not be struggling with--is none of our business.