I briefly noted last night that Senator Larry Craig is considering not leaving the Senate at this time. What has led to this situation, only three days after he announced his resignation plans?

A telephone call Craig received last week from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., urging him to consider fighting for his seat is affecting Craig’s decision to reconsider his resignation, Smith said.

“It was a little more cut and dried a few days ago,” Smith said. “There weren’t many options. He was basically going to have to step aside. Now, there’s a little more to it.”

On Tuesday, Specter, senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested Craig’s GOP colleagues who pressured him last week to resign should re-examine the facts surrounding his arrest June 11.

“The more people take a look at the situation, there may well be second thoughts,” said Specter, a former prosecutor. If Craig had not pleaded guilty in August to a reduced charge and instead demanded a trial, “I believe he would have been exonerated,” Specter said.

Now I happen to agree with Specter's position on the charges. I fail to see how any of Craig's actions constitute criminal activity. He wasn't caught having sex through a "glory-hole" -- he was, if the flirting, if the accusations are true.

The problem in my book is how he handled the situation after he was arrested. The guilty plea (which he now wants vacated) and the attempt to deceive eveyone by hiding the incident indicates a lack of integrity. Simple question -- is Larry Craig trustworthy?

And I think this bears directly on that issue. It comes from a voicemail message left to an individual identified as "Billy" while Craig was traveling to Saturday's announcement.

"Having all of that, we've reshaped my statement a little bit to say, 'It is my intent to resign on September 30,' " Craig says in the voice-mail message. Whiting confirmed that it was Craig's voice.

Craig told his confidant -- whom he identifies as "Billy" -- that Specter would be speaking out on his behalf, and he urged Billy to go before the cameras and make a strong statement as well.

"I'm willing to fight. I've got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn," Craig said.

Clearly, Larry Craig was out to deceive and mislead everyone as to his real intentions.

Had Larry Craig not made that statement Saturday, I likely would have supported him in his decision to stay on in the Senate. I could have accepted teh desire to keep the incident and the guilty plea secret. But his bait-and-switch move makes it quite clear to me that Larry Craig has no place in the US Senate -- and no place in the GOP.

Indeed, this move shows that Michelle Malkin's characterization of Larry Craig was accurate.

Lying crapweasel.