See ya, senator

Billy Martin is a great lawyer. He has represented the wealthy and powerful ranging from Monica Lewinsky to Michael Vick. Now he has been hired by the soon-to-be-former Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho to help him straighten up this little mess about cruising for gay sex in an airport restroom.

Good luck, Billy. As with your latest client, the guy who once played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, it’s hard to overcome a strong case. And it’s really hard to overcome a mountain of evidence.

Vick was involved in dogfighting up to his eyebrows. That’s the way it looked from the start of this mess, and by golly, that’s where it ended up.

Heck, Martin did Vick a favor by convicing him to stop spending money on lawyers, plead out and hope for a light sentence.

It’s not clear what Martin is supposed to do for Craig, who said when announcing his resignation, “ … clearing my name is important to me and my family.”

Uh, Larry, it’s a little late for that. The cat is out of the bag, and you are out of the closet. Years of rumors about Craig have been confirmed by his Minnesota misadventure.

If Craig tries to push this nonsense about an undercover cop misconstruing his intentions, he will only accomplish two things.

1) People will laugh even harder, and

2) Other men whom Craig has been, er, involved with will come forward.

Unless Craig is even dumber than he looks, he will realize this. The hiring of Billy Martin and the brave talk about “clearing my name” are simply gestures designed to put up the appearance of resistance.

Nothing will come of this nonsense — indeed, nothing can. Craig will shuffle back to Idaho and grow potatoes or something in his retirement.

Maybe he will go to his grave pretending he was hounded. Maybe a few fools will even believe him.

Whatever. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that while senators can and do get away with a lot, they can’t and shouldn’t get away with something like this.