People Who Aren't Offended by Weiner
In the din of voices casting judgment on Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) for having consensual extramarital cybersex with six women, none of whom have complained that they were harassed or offended, a few people in the media share my complete lack of outrage over his sex life.
For my part I couldn't care less what sort of pictures or messages Weiner has been sending around the Net, and it's an imposition to be required to care; to be unable to avoid the topic. I find that I have no interest in Congressman Anthony Weiner's sex life or virtual sex life whatsoever. And I've heard enough tearful on-camera contrition to last me the rest of my life. I don't want to hear Weiner's apology. It's got nothing to do with me, tells me nothing I want to know; the cable news media, conservative and liberal, would do the public a favor if they would agreed to a blanket tearful-apologies ban effective this instant.
There are few things more sickening -- or revealing -- to behold than a D.C. sex scandal. Huge numbers of people prance around flamboyantly condemning behavior in which they themselves routinely engage. Media stars contrive all sorts of high-minded justifications for luxuriating in every last dirty detail, when nothing is more obvious than that their only real interest is vicarious titillation.
On MSNBC, the cable-news "home page" of my political tribe, one commentator said that one of the things Weinergate shows is that powerful politicians assume they can get away with things that regular people can't. If they do assume that, they’re wrong. It would be more accurate to say that they can't get away with things that regular people can. Look around you. Consider your friends, your work colleagues, your relatives, maybe even yourself. It's likely that a nontrivial proportion of them have some sexual secret (at least they think it's a secret) in their lives.
As far as I can tell -- we've all got a depressingly big sample size -- a politician's sexual fidelity in marriage, or his sexual behavior generally, doesn't reliably tell us anything about the integrity he demonstrates when acting in his official capacity. Nor is our moral culture elevated when we focus on these scandals. It is degraded, both because a large amount of the interest is prurient, and because by focusing on the sexual behavior of egocentric alpha males who spend a lot of time traveling far from home (that is to say, politicians) we may even be fooling ourselves into thinking that sexual impropriety is more common than it is, and thereby normalizing it.
Comments
This story is no longer about Anthony Wieners morality it's now a rorschach test about our own morality.
Rogers, first you blamed Breitbart you said it was lie and accused Breitbart and some random blogger of felonies, then you admitted you were wrong, but now justify ignoring Wieners actions because 'everyone' is a sick pervert and liar, so it doesn't matter what Wiener did.
Anthony Wiener is mentally ill, anyone who watched his asinine antics during the last couple of years could see it. He is loud mouth, a liar, and a perverted jackass.
And though that was obvious to anyone with a brain in their head, he steady rose up the democratic rank specifically for those same sophomoric acts. Now you simply dismiss his absolutely reckless and dangerous acts and words, you simply discount them because he is a democrat.
You're the same guy who questioned Sarah Palin's 'judgement' for wanting to have her baby in her home state, but Anthony Wiener who sent pornographic trash to bimbos then angerily lied about it, has the good judgement to stay in congress.
This is no longer about Wieners morality, the guy is a scumbag who needs mental health care desperately, it is now about the readers morality. I don't send pics of my dong to random chickees and I don't think you do either, I don't stand up on the public stage and tell outrageous lies to everyone on earth and, NO, not everyone does that...only sick deviants do that.
You should be mad as hell at Wiener, because he has shown you are willing to lower you moral compass to the absolute gutter for him simply because he has a (d) behind his name.
Kirsten Powers
Anthony Weiner lied to the country about his sexual misconduct online. He also lied to me. I had been defending him, based on what he told me, but no more. Weiner must resign from Congress immediately.
This has not been my previous position during the scandal, but as I have recovered from the shock of seeing an old friend’s life unravel and have had time to get my mind around the extensive and sociopathic lying in which he engaged, there seems to be no other choice than for him to step aside and stop hurting his family, friends, and the Democratic Party.
Senator Harry Reid,
"I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can't."
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
"Having the respect of your constituents is fundamental for a member of Congress. In light of Anthony Weiner's offensive behavior online, he should resign,"
Ed Schultz
'Congressman Weiner, do the right thing and resign.'
Mark Foley is mentally ill, anyone who watched his asinine antics during the last couple of years could see it. He is loud mouth, a liar, and a perverted jackass.
This is no longer about Foley's morality, the guy is a scumbag who needs mental health care desperately, it is now about the readers morality. I don't send pics of my dong to random underage boys and I don't think you do either, I don't stand up on the public stage and tell outrageous lies to everyone on earth and, NO, not everyone does that...only sick deviants do that.
You should be mad as hell at Foley, because he has shown you are willing to lower you moral compass to the absolute gutter for him simply because he has a (r) behind his name.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is mentally ill, anyone who watched his asinine antics during the last couple of years could see it. He is loud mouth, a liar, and a perverted jackass.
This is no longer about Schwarzenegger's morality, the guy is a scumbag who needs mental health care desperately, it is now about the readers morality. I don't cheat on my wife with our nanny & impregnate her and I don't think you do either, I don't stand up on the public stage and tell outrageous lies to everyone on earth and, NO, not everyone does that...only sick deviants do that.
You should be mad as hell at Schwarzenegger, because he has shown you are willing to lower you moral compass to the absolute gutter for him simply because he has a (r) behind his name.
Larry Craig is mentally ill, anyone who watched his asinine antics during the last couple of years could see it. He is loud mouth, a liar, and a perverted jackass.
This is no longer about Craig's morality, the guy is a scumbag who needs mental health care desperately, it is now about the readers morality. I don't have sex with strange men in airport restrooms and I don't think you do either, I don't stand up on the public stage and tell outrageous lies to everyone on earth and, NO, not everyone does that...only sick deviants do that.
You should be mad as hell at Craig, because he has shown you are willing to lower you moral compass to the absolute gutter for him simply because he has a (r) behind his name.
It's not about Anthony Weiner. It's about all the Weiners, past and present, who will get themselves into trouble over sex. It is time we stopped expecting our leaders to be flawless in their personal sex lives. They aren't. We aren't, either.
Surely you realize that many of our top political, military, religious and business leaders have cheated on their spouses and exhibited other moral failings.
I could have waited for the next Republican sex scandal to make this point, because we all know it's only a matter of time. The point would still be the same: I don't care who a politician is fucking unless he tries to stop other people from enjoying the same kind of fucking.
How can you be so wrong Rogers? It's time to absolutely demand more of our public servants...this is ridiculous, America deserves more then depraved scumbags running our government.
I have been cosistant on every sex scandal left and right, Folry, Craig and all the rest are scum.and should never have been in a position of power.
It was obvious for anyone to see Wiener is unstable, thank god it was Breitbart who caught him and not Soviet spies or corporate goons, who could have blackmailed him.
Blackmail by "Soviet spies" is only the tip of the iceberg! What if Weiner had been a victim of extortion by the Whigs!
People of my generation enjoy taking photos of ourselves and sending them to each other.
You old farts are gonna have to stop calling us "depraved" for doing that, otherwise we're not gonna change your Depends and maybe when you're sleeping in your hospital beds, we're gonna pull out your IVs.
Your future depends on us, so you better stop judging us. You're living in our world now... shut up and drink your Ensure.
'Candy', unless you are a mouse in Wieners pocket, you should shut the hell up.
Wiener is a married 46 year old congressman who is paid $160,000 a year to be a spokesman of the people, he's not a 19 year old pimply faced kid sending racy photos to his girlfriend.
Btw, when you grow up, you'll realize that being a nasty skank isn't as cool as you thought it was.
Rex, you just don't get it, old man. Life has passed you by.
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