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Larry Craig's Incongruency

In the movie The Usual Suspects there's a scene where a detective is interrogating an alleged criminal.

The detective says to the suspect, "The first thing I learned on the job, know what it was? How to spot a murderer. Let's say you arrest three guys for the same killing. Put them all in jail overnight. The next morning, whoever is sleeping is your man. If you're guilty, you know you're caught, you get some rest - let your guard down, you follow?"

This struck a chord in me about a current event. In the news (you could have hardly avoided it) is the strange story of Senator Larry Craig.

In case you've been out of the country (or in case you don't live the the U.S.), the Republican Senator from Idaho was arrested on June 11th at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer. The officer was investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men's public restroom.

On August 8th, he pled guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed, with one year probation.

Craig's spokesman said it was a "misunderstanding".

And yet, he pled guilty.

Craig later said, "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

This is where the incongruity comes into play:

1. An innocent man doesn't plead guilty. An innocent man puts up a huge fight, doesn't get any sleep, rages about his innocence. (This is not to say that guilty people don't also use this same tactic.)

2. Mr. Craig didn't call for his attorney. The first thing anyone does--guilty and innocent--is call an attorney. The quickest and most expeditious way to handle a legal problem is to get represented.

3. When Craig said, "I am not gay - nor have I ever been gay," it implies that he believes it's possible to have once been gay and then to become ungay.

Lastly, but maybe the most incongruous of all:

4. He didn't immediately tell his wife! Now, if I were arrested for something as preposterous as this, I'd go straight home to my wife and tell her, "Listen to what happened to me today. You're not going to believe this."

Eventually the blame game started and Senator Craig decided this problem was the media's doing.

He claims that he pled guilty because he had been troubled by the investigations into his alleged homosexuality by the Idaho Statesman and claims that he has "been relentlessly and viciously harassed".

The media is usually an excellent villain because they do get so much wrong, so it's a pretty safe bet as far as scapegoats go. Unfortunately, Mr. Craig has a "history" and his anger doesn't seem very righteous.

As persuaders, how, in either situation - whether the allegations are absolutely false or absolutely true - could we frame the story if we were in his shoes?

Did his incongruity give him away? And what can he do to unframe himself?

Article Source: http://www.dummiesguideto.com

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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