I’m no fan of Arianna Huffington, and I’ve made that abundantly clear in my past postings. While I certainly wouldn’t spit on her, ehem, I wouldn’t exactly go skipping down the road with her. But, when she’s right, she’s right. I say that not because Craig is a Republican; I wanted him gone, too. I say this as American who’s also concerned as to why cops in an airport are more interested in stopping a toe-tapping Senator, than people trying to sneak in, I don’t know, a living, breathing pygmy marmoset.

In the consensus judgment of America’s 16 intelligence agencies, the terrorist threat to our homeland is “persistent and evolving,” placing our country in “a heightened threat environment.”

Given that chilling assessment, isn’t it the height of madness to use America’s finite law enforcement resources to seek out and arrest people for tapping the foot of a cute undercover officer in a restroom?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wild about walking into a public restroom and seeing a couple using the a stall for something other than, as Sgt. Dave Karsnia, the arresting officer in the Craig case put it, “its intended use.”

But that is not what Larry Craig did. If he had, someone in the restroom could have done what most people do when they see a law being broken: go get a cop.

And as it happens, since Craig was arrested in an airport, presumably there were plenty of law enforcement officers nearby looking for, you know, real threats — like explosives or folks on a Watch List. Assuming, that is, they weren’t all hunkered down in other bathrooms across the airport, protecting the public against people who might be thinking about having sex.

Let me be clear: I’m no fan of Larry Craig. Indeed, I disagree with almost everything he stands for. And I’d much rather he not be in the United States Senate. But I’d also rather have had his exit be the result of his constituents voting on his ideas and policies, instead of a ridiculous sting operation in an airport bathroom….

Here’s another question to ask: does the Minneapolis police force look around its members for officers they think might be attractive to gay men? Or do they specifically search out recruits who would make good undercover “twinks,” “bears,” and “silver foxes”?

And, yes, I know, Sen. Craig pleaded guilty. But given the inevitable humiliation that would have ensued had he challenged this arrest, it’s not hard to imagine that he felt he had no other choice. The same goes for the thousands of other men who have been snared in these wasteful sting operations.

But those of us who prefer that our public servants go after actual lawbreakers rather than use our resources to humiliate gay people do have a choice. And we should make it clear that we want our police going after terrorists — not toe-tappers.

Since the news about Craig broke, the media focus has been on his sexual perversions — it’s time to turn the spotlight on the perverted priorities of America’s law enforcement community.

Bravo.