I haven’t posted anything here about the Anthony Weiner scandal yet. It’s amazing how stupid people can be, what with texting photos of their genitalia and all, and mind-blowing that a respected public figure would jeopardize his career and his family by doing it. And then lying on top of it, which is the real issue with what he did. The sheer humiliation of the whole thing must be excruciating. He’s being called on to resign by members of both parties and has very effectively destroyed most of the goodwill and trust he had accumulated.
But there are a few things to consider in his favor. One, Rep. Weiner never slept with any of these women; he appears to have limited this to on-line interactions. Two, he apologized profusely and took full responsibility. Three, he has never claimed to be a “family values” politician so there’s no obscene hypocrisy in his behavior. And four, he is a highly intelligent, respected Congressman, passionate about his causes.
However, none of those things will help him. Unfortunately, he has committed the one unforgivable sin which means that his political career won’t recover: he isn’t a Republican.
If he was a Republican, not only would the Republican leadership not be calling for his resignation, they’d be claiming that it’s up to his constituents at the next election and asking everyone to pray for his family. Even if he had physically cheated on his wife, lied to his constituents, went awol while in office, used public funds to further the affair or even hired prostitutes on a regular basis. So long as he was a Republican, he’d be okay.
Isn’t that right, Governor Mark Sanford and Senator David Vitter?
3 comments:
The thing that really irks me is that this guy was/is awesome on the floor. He would not back down when calling the Republicans on their bullcrap/lying/cheating/not following the rules. He was a star.
That's not entirely fair. Republican politicians caught doing this have generally resigned at least after pressure builds. I don't think any politician, regardless of party, would survive this. I guess the ultimate test will be Newt Gingrich.
Anybody that does something this stupid in today's culture frankly deserves what he gets. I don't generally care if a politician has some pecadillos--I don't think it's anybody's business, for example, if he has an affair--but when you start getting into underage girls and such--that's just willful stupidity and arrogance.
That is ENTIRELY fair. Generally resigned? Who?
Mark Sanford had an affair and used government resources to cover it up. David Vitter hired prostitutes and lied about it. Both were NOT called upon to resign by Republican leadership and both are still in office.
I agree that Weiner was really stupid. But calling out Republicans on their hypocrisy is absolutely fair.
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