Politics & Power Quote by Larry Craig

“Limp noodle across the wrist” is the kind of folksy brutality politicians reach for when they want to end a debate by making one option sound embarrassingly unserious. Larry Craig isn’t just dismissing censure; he’s trying to delegitimize it as a moral gesture - a symbolic slap that lets lawmakers perform disapproval without risking the real consequences of power. The image is deliberately childish and tactile: not a stern reprimand, not even a slap on the wrist, but something comically incapable of leaving a mark. It frames censure as political theater, not accountability.

The second sentence is the real move. Craig shifts the standard of “how we feel” away from rhetoric and toward procedure: the vote on “the articles” (impeachment articles, in this moment) is cast as the authentic register of congressional judgment. That’s a strategic narrowing of the field. If you’re skeptical of impeachment, this framing gives you a principled-sounding reason to oppose censure too: why settle for a consolation prize when the main vote already communicates the message?

Subtext: Craig is policing the emotional economy of Congress. Don’t dilute the gravity of impeachment with an extra rebuke; don’t give moderates a middle path; don’t allow a headline-friendly reprimand to substitute for taking a side. In practice, it’s a hardline argument for clarity that also protects partisanship: either the president’s conduct merits removal-level seriousness, or lawmakers should stop pretending outrage can be legislated into existence.