IS THERE SOMETHING FUNNY IN THE WATER AT THE CAPITOL YACHT CLUB?

Larry Craig likes sailor drag too

What do Bob Ney (R-OH), Larry Craig (R-ID), Randy Cunningham (R-CA), and Ted Stevens (R-AK) all have in common? Well, yes, they have all been either convicted or, in Senator Stevens' case, about to be convicted of a career-ending crime. But that isn't news. The news is they all lived on yachts berthed at the Capitol Yacht Clubbefore being exposed as criminals. Craig and Stevens still live there, though probably not for long.

The travails of Mr. Craig, Republican of Idaho, who is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea to charges related to what the authorities say was a sex-solicitation incident at a Minneapolis airport restroom, are only the latest to rock this eclectic Washington neighborhood. Photographers gathered at D Dock on Wednesday to watch him leave for the Senate, carrying a boater’s bag.

One resident describes the strip of Potomac River waterfront as a “floating trailer park” where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Protected by locked gates and security, members of Congress rub elbows with lawyers and lobbyists, judges and bureaucrats, established government contractors and aspiring ones, and others lucky enough to own expensive boats and secure a coveted slip.

A story in this month's New Yorker claims Craig is "a fastidious man who was known to pick up trash around the club." Not just around the club, but in public toilets all over Washington and, apparently, all over America.