In the wake of Senator Larry Craig's sudden departure from Congress, don't miss Jose Antonio Vargas's lengthy profile of Mike Rogers, the blogger who has made it his crusade to out closeted politicians who are anti-gay. It's fascinating to learn about how Rogers got going:

The way Rogers tells it, his online activism began when the Republican-controlled Senate scheduled a vote against same-sex marriage in June 2004.

The birth of the Internet has been a boon for gay socializing and organizing, and one of the first things Rogers did was post a profile on Gay.com, a popular site among gays. The profile read: "If you're against the Federal Marriage Amendment and know someone who's closeted, send that information to me." And while Hill groups such as the Gay, Lesbian & Allies U.S. Senate Staff Caucus and the Lesbian and Gay Congressional Staff Association opposed his actions, word got around. E-mails poured in, many anonymous. He investigates his tips by working the phones; on rare occasions, he flies around the country to meet with sources. Among his sources was a 40-year-old man who claimed to have had oral sex with [Senator Larry] Craig in a bathroom in Union Station.

In fact, Rogers' reporting of that episode led the Idaho Statesman to pursue its own in-depth investigation of Craig's behavior, which it only published last week after Roll Call broke the news of Craig's arrest for disorderly conduct and guilty plea in Minnesota.

People may disagree about the ethics of what Rogers does, and god knows there is more than one double standard at work regarding the (non-)reporting of heterosexual misbehavior and the repercussions from same by politicians. (See what didn't happen to Senator David Vitter after he admitted being on the DC Madam's list.) Vargas quotes a former staffer to Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress, arguing that politicians who are in the closet ought to be allowed some sympathy. "To many of us, coming-out is a process, a very personal journey dictated by the individual. My objection to outing is not about the people who are being outed. It's about us," Mark Agrast told Vargas. "We don't have to admire the choices that Craig has made in his life," says Agrast, "to feel some compassion for a 62-year-old man who seeks anonymous encounters because he can't come to terms with who he is."

But it's pretty clear that you can't stop a blogger armed with facts, and to the degree that the Craig story vindicates Rogers' earlier digging, it only raises his credibility. Methinks there are other politicians on Capitol Hill who should be wondering if they will be in the spotlight next.