The fact that New York Congressman Weiner was messed up in some sort of sexual business, albeit, at least according to him, at a distance and not involving intimacies, is not exactly surprising since this kind of stuff has been going on with elected officials virtually since the birth of the nation. The fact that he lied through his teeth about his rather sordid behavior when caught also was not surprising. This seems to be the knee-jerk reaction of politicians – perhaps most folks…who knows – when they’re caught in some sort of skullduggery, so what else is new?
The fact that Weiner called a press conference – not in Washington but in New York – to apologize all around to everyone he hurt, especially his wife, and to call himself out as a liar was not surprising, either. After all, he was caught and had no other option short of emigrating to Borneo. The fact that he stated his intentions to make no response of any kind concerning the dirt that is sure to be coming along was not surprising since to do so would merely enhance his guilt. In any case, he’s assured of soft treatment by the so-called mainstream media because he’s a democrat and because he’s Obama’s man Friday.
Weiner made it plain in the press conference that he would not resign his seat, as a New York colleague, also caught recently in shady stuff, did, as have many others. After all, former New York attorney-general and governor Eliot Spitzer, caught in a sordid business with high-priced prostitutes, resigned and is now doing quite well at CNN, a mainstream outlet, conducting his own talk-show and probably making bigger bucks than he ever would have as governor, at least as far as salary and not kickbacks are concerned. Sleaziness as a silent part of a resume apparently speaks well for broadcasters at CNN, so if worse comes to worse and Weiner should be forced out he could figure on a plush job at CNN, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS or maybe the New York Times, though he would probably favor TV, the better to show his anatomy.
The most disgusting thing about the affair, however, is the fact that a Congressman, supposedly a mature man who understands the seriousness connected to his job, could be caught up in the often, if not essentially, juvenile exercise of tweeting, texting, sexting or participating in Facebook or some other online silly bare-all vehicle, in which everything from the lurid to the totally inane, insane stuff is posted for all the world to see. Weiner made a laughingstock of his very position, one to which most folks – the voters – attach grave importance.
Weiner placed himself on the same level as a hormone-driven-high-school-sophomore boy, who’s likely to tweet before he thinks or place some ridiculous picture of some part of his physique on the internet, never realizing that it can be passed around the world in minutes, no matter how obnoxious or embarrassing to his family. Apparently, it never occurred to Weiner that all his tweeting and face-booking – even phone conversations…maybe phone sex a la Bill Clinton & Monica? – could come back to haunt him, even though after sitting through myriad hearings or congressional sessions he had to know how easy it is to surf the internet and find all kinds of incriminating stuff. Should one believe he was just plain stupid?
There’s a darker angle to this matter. On the basis of what Weiner did – with all other officials having the same online/electronic tools at their disposal – should one wonder how trustworthy these public servants are? Congressmen in both Houses have access to sensitive information, often delivered behind-closed-doors-only. How susceptible are they with respect to blackmail when to be embarrassed or – worse – lose their positions could be an outcome if they don’t “cooperate?” This makes Weiner’s utter lack of plain common sense all the more graphic.
In fact, his lack of plain common sense was vividly portrayed in that weird press conference that was actually co-opted for a while by his tormentor, Andrew Breitbart, when he said he would not resign – this despite the fact that he himself was in the process of destroying any credibility he might expect people to believe he had/has. One of his “ladies of interest” has indicated publicly that she talked on the phone with Weiner while he was in his office using a telephone, both provided as resources by the taxpayers. This is patently a no-no and will now be front-and-center in the House at the very time important matters are on the agenda. One suspects the democrats are hoping the problem will go away, meaning that Weiner will go away.
Oh…well…at least Weiner’s wife didn’t appear with him like a zombie standing by her man. Good for her!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
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