Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig's recent guilty plea stemming from his creepy behavior in a public bathroom has quite rightfully drawn ridicule and charges of hypocrisy from many quarters.

An example of such ridicule is this political cartoon penned by the Austin American-Statesman's Ben Sargent, in which Sargent takes on the obvious hypocrisy of Sen. Craig and others touting 'family values' who have been caught acting in less then savory ways.

But what makes Sargent's cartoon about hypocrisy a bit galling is the fact that Pulitzer Prize winner himself was arrested in 1998 and subsequently convicted of public lewdness stemming from an incident at an Austin adult bookstore near the University of Texas.

That's right, Sargent, a man who himself was convicted of public lewdness, is ridiculing others for their hypocrisy regarding sexual peccadilloes.

Sargent has the right to express his views of course, but it might be have been more honest for the Statesman to have revealed that past indiscretion in some form along with the cartoon.

The New Editor yesterday contacted the Austin American-Statesman, asking for a comment on this apparent double standard, but received no response.

I guess the Statesman feels that what its readers don't know won't hurt them.