Robert Torricelli's blog

Let me be clear. I don't like Larry Craig. He stands for everything that I abhor. It's just that there are some things that I dislike more than right wing, narrow minded, hypocritical Senators.

The more that you read about the arrest of Larry Craig in a Minneapolis airport restroom, the more troubling the situation becomes. He was engaged in no lewd act. There wasn't even a casual victim exposed to offensive conduct.

Few people who knew Larry Craig were probably surprised by the news of his arrest. Washington isn't known as a city to keep secrets and his sexual orientation was generally understood. What was surprising was the speed and intensity with which his Republican colleagues separated themselves from him.

Within hours of Craig's acknowledgement of his arrest for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport restroom, he was stripped of his Committee assignments. Senators McCain and Coleman urged him to resign.

Craig has to be wondering about the intensity of the reaction. Perhaps he might reach some understanding in the hypocrisy of his situation. His colleagues must recall his vitriolic speeches demanding Bill Clinton's resignation. He was a self appointed spokesman for the American family and he fought every attempt at advocating the rights of gay Americans.

The execution of several young school children in Newark challenged all of our abilities to understand. Senseless death in an Iraqi city or a Colombian jungle doesn't challenge us. Separations of space and culture allow us to accept the tragedy as just another mystery of life. The Newark murders were different. They were senseless, cruel and here.

At a Manhattan restaurant earlier in the year I was confronted by someone whose actions remain central to our current national calamity. While politicians and pundits debate the errors and miscalculations that led America into a foolish and dangerous war, she has remained safely out of the fray.

Former NY Times Correspondent Judith Miller offered a casual greeting and continued with her meal. She resumed her conversation but my mind returned to late 2001 and the early months of 2002.

If you weren't alive in the months that followed the Kennedy assassination, the death of Lady Bird Johnson probably held little meaning. She was the last of those few towering figures that moved through days of anguish with strength and grace.

The shadow that Lyndon Johnson cast over a political generation was so large that it transcended his death. No one could aspire to leadership without the counsel of his widow.

In the spring of 1981, I was a part of just such a mission. Walter Mondale had lost the Vice Presidency. He was traveling the country to prepare for a Presidential campaign in 1984 and I was his traveling aide.

The most driving legal force in our society has always been the law of unintended consequences.   The New Jersey Supreme Court in its Mt. Laurel decision intended to provide equal access to housing. The more immediate impact was to worsen the problem of suburban sprawl as every community sought to accommodate every income category.

The most interesting thing about history is how it turns on events that are little noticed at the time. That's exactly what happened in the Middle East last week.

There are now two Palestinian states. Hamas staged a successful rebellion and has occupied the entire Gaza Strip. The result is that forty years of Israeli defense policy is beginning to unwind.

The defense of

It's now all in jeopardy. A series of events threatens to move the front lines of radical Islam to

A failed war in Iraq, a misguided Israeli invasion in Lebanon, a corrupt Palestinian leadership, a detached American Administration and an incompetent group of Israeli leaders have inadvertently conspired to give Israel's worst enemies an opportunity. The

It's quite a situation and it dominated the news for less time than Paris Hilton's jail sentence.

Let me see if I've got this right. Bill Clinton supposedly lied during a civil deposition about a nonmaterial fact involving a personal relationship and they impeached him as President of the United States. Scooter Libby lied about remembering being briefed about  Valarie Palme being a CIA agent. He's going to jail.

Now put Rudy Guliani in the picture. His staff told him that his nominee for the NYPD Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik,  associated with organized crime figures. He was informed of alleged gratuities that Kerik was receiving from for these individuals while assisting them with government approvals. Guliani testified before a federal grand jury that he doesn't remember the briefing. He's running for President.

I'm as supportive of progressive causes as any good Democrat. I feel as though I've led some lonely fights but sometimes you've got to recognize when things are just crazy.

The fight for affordable housing is a just cause. People should have the ability to live in communities where they work. Zoning powers shouldn't be used to exclude citizens because of economic status. The question is how far this is going to go.

Everybody knows that if you want to experience the hidden treasures of France or Italy on your next tour, you'll need a Michelin guide. If your travels take you across America it would be wise to get an AAA tour map. There's just no place to find out where the local pols in New Jersey are hanging out. That was, until now!

It's taken most of us a lifetime of dining around the state to figure this out but local political leaders tend to gather at the same spots to review the day’s activities or make the next deal. They might stray occasionally but ultimately they'll return like the swallows to Capistrano.