Weiner's rise and fall

Politics has almost always been a breeding ground for the bizarre, unusual, unbelievable. Ask yourself, how many times have you heard something an elected official say and questioned where this moron came from, let alone how he or she was elected. That being said, the absurdity surrounding their often off-center thoughts and beliefs is dwarfed by the mischievous sexual energy that apparently is a prerequisite to run for office in so many races these days.

From Bill Clinton, his cigar, and the infamous blue dress to, most recently, Anthony Weiner’s titillating tweets, America seems obsessed with lurid sexual activities in which our chosen leaders chose to participate. It would be easy to write a litany of off-colored, perhaps even humorous remarks or clichés about what is transpiring. After all, just search the Internet and there are many stories about “Weiner’s weiner” and “The battle of Weiner’s bulge.” I will refrain. But I do wonder why all of a sudden is it happening now? My thoughts are, it isn’t, at least not all of a sudden. It's been going on since Paul Revere warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and, um, making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that, uh, we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.

I believe there are three basic reasons that the sex-capades of politicians seem to dominate the news these days. First, with the Internet, online match-making, Facebook, Twitter, etc, it is easier than ever to be drawn into the “dark” side of sexual exploration, conquest, or apparently game playing. A lot of people do it, including politicians. Second, 24 hour news channels and racy websites thrive on (and make a lot of money from) exposing the latest misfortune of whatever poor sap gets sucked into their abyss of exploitation. And third, Americans, yes people like you and me eat it up and demand more raunchy details. The more lurid, the better. We have become a society of gawkers, everyone slowing down (and stopping) to see the gruesome car wreck. Or, as in the most recent cases, slowing down to see who takes their pants down.

Were Anthony Weiner’s missteps wrong? On one level, yes. He got caught and then he lied about it. Big mistake. Own up to the cauldron you create. And never lie to the media. It ALWAYS comes back to bite you in the butt. But was the whole thing with him texting sexy woman also off limits? A lot of people probably say yes. But then, as I found when I was a reporter, the loudest of the critics are usually those with the most skeletons in their closets. You know them, the holier than thou group who often times end up being the sleazier than thou group.

From what I have read, Weiner seems to be a good representative, and again, in this 24 hour news cycle, he will be forgotten in a few days. Assuming he doesn’t resign, and I don’t think he should, we’ll see if the voters have a longer recollection.