I can only speak for myself when I say, I fully expect that on some level or another most if not all public officials will eventually reveal themselves as wieners. They are human, you know? They are subject to human frailties, yada, yada, yada. We are not children; we know what kind of an ego is necessary for public office. We also know that the road to public office is fraught with moral and ethical temptations. In other words, it is ridiculous to assume that politicians need only perform one more miracle to be beatified. Why do we expect that all politicians assume their offices only after signing some sort of moral/ethical/purity oath that covers their past, present and futures? Just like the rest of us, they have libidos and unresolved issues that might cause Dr. Freud to delight in or even wince. They are humans and humans make moral/ethical mistakes even when we say we will not. We trip and fall. We do stupid things that are well beneath us.
That is my point here. Humans make stupid mistakes. The answer is not to forever shun them. The answer is not to toss the political baby out with the bath water. The answer is not to ignore all the good a person has done or might do because they did something stupid. We need to forgive when a person is genuinely sorry and move on. A stupid mistake should not destroy a life unless that stupid mistake has destroyed life(s).
I watched Anthony Weiner’s news conference yesterday. As I watched three things came immediately to mind: 1. He’s in pretty good shape for a congressman. 2. He’s a liar and appeared genuinely contrite. and 3. The best that I could tell he did nothing illegal and did not abuse his current position. Mostly because of numbers two and three, I say let’s move on! Weiner finds a good therapist (perhaps one without social media accounts) and moves on to repair his marriage and constituent relationships... He is allowed to continue to serve the good trusting and satisfied people of his district and the media moves on to find another life to attempt to destroy with its moralist gauntlet.
...and about the media. Was this something that the public had a great need or right to know or just that d-bag blogger Breitbart’s atonement for his own past? It all certainly makes a fine distraction to real issues and makes a few more headlines but, was it important to “pit-bull” the story? No. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that it came to light if for no other reason that it forces a troubled man to face his demons and get help. However, I can always do without the self-righteousness the media provides and encourages. Last night, I watched with horror, former NY governor and whoremonger, Eliot Spitzer monitor a panel discussion on CNN with the result being head-shaking because it was the panels conclusion that the people of Weiner’s district care more about the point in fact that as a congressman he has fought hard for them; than about his recent mistakes. Spitzer also appeared visibly sour grapes in that he was not afforded the same pass. Eliot, they were entirely different situations and I believe that you know that. It was also disturbing that Spitzer positioned himself as some sort of men-behaving-badly punishment authority. This was as absurd to watch as to ponder.
This morning I watched three different national news sources trying to fire up the same indignation over Weiner. They even suggested that the people of New York were somehow “stupid” for taking the high road. They cited Charlie Rangel’s reelection after his senate censure or public flogging or whatever it was. They all believed Weiner should be removed or resign from Congress. What I believe is that this is about media power. Media has always loved the power it holds to make or break public figures. Hell, media has all but boasted of how it has the power to make and destroy presidents. I fear that at the root of this morning’s analysis was nothing more than disappointment on the part of media in that their egos were a bit bruised in not being able to completely flex their muscles and destroy another career. Unfortunately, I fear we will have to endure a few more days of judgment disguised as commentary; that is unless some other imperfect human has something new to show.
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