Larry Craig is not gay, he wants you to know.

A miscreant, a hypocrite and a coward, certainly. But not gay.

Feel better?

The Idaho Republican gave an "instant potato" defense Tuesday to charges he solicited gay sex in an airport bathroom in June: all whipped up, but watered down and unfulfilling.

Craig woofed like a bulldog about how false the reports were and how unfair the newspaper The Idaho Statesman had been in investigating chronic rumors of alleged gay sexcapades. And he expects us to believe that a three-term U.S. senator didn't know what he was doing when he quietly pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct Aug. 8 for the incident in the Minneapolis airport restroom.

Having now hired an attorney to belatedly fight the charge he just pleaded guilty to, presumably he will be as frothy in attacking himself for entering the plea. The unfairness of it all! Of course, he has little chance of overturning his own plea, given knowingly and willfully.

And he will now be justly derided as a hypocrite for having staked out extremely anti-gay positions in the Senate. His claims of being beleaguered by a newspaper - and having had a fool for a client in court - only make him look worse.

Most of all, Craig has revealed himself a coward, for having tried to escape public accountability for his actions. How his plea escaped the watchful eyes of the media so long is beyond us.

As for the incident itself, Idaho voters can decide for themselves what they think happened. It is enough for us that the police officer's report in the matter was excruciatingly detailed - and that Craig ultimately entered a plea of guilty to a related charge.

Through his own actions - not that of any newspaper - Craig has revealed himself to be many things. Gay would be the least of them.

An abject embarrassment is one of them.