We don’t permit any “bathroom” talk in these discussion boards. But, we’ll make an exception this time for the Honorable Larry Craig, the senior senator from Idaho.

This is not a story about the man’s sexuality, although it is the sleaziest one I’ve ever heard coming from a prominent Washingtonian. This is the story of a man trusted by his constituents to act in the nation’s best interest. Too many important issues are now at stake, including a national energy bill that requires clear thinking.

Craig’s mind is at best cloudy and at worst utterly tormented. He is terribly confused now. It is best for the country that he leave office. It is also in his self interest.

We all know the story: He pled guilty to a minor infraction of disorderly conduct resulting from trying to pick up an undercover cop from his toilet seat in an airport. Well, the senator got a lot more than he bargained for: national humiliation and the heave-ho from his coveted senatorial job. After the story broke, Craig agreed to leave quietly. But, yesterday, we learned once again that the man can't be truthful and has vowed to stay until his term expires in 2009.

Instead of the nation focusing on climate change and advanced energy technologies, it will now target its attention to foot tapping and hand signals in public toilets. As a tribute to Idaho’s senior statesman, I might suggest that that the bathroom in which the senator was exposed get renamed the “Honorable Larry Craig Room.”

 By show of hands, who agrees?