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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Weiner Fatigue

Representative Anthony Weiner
There are a lot more people who'd rather be an Oscar Mayer Wiener than New York Congressman Anthony Weiner right now.  You've probably been exposed to the late night jokes, seen some of the trashiest tabloid headlines ever and watched TV talking heads take a big detour away from real political issues so they could weigh in on the "Weinergate" sexting scandal.   Although he still has some support in his home district, many colleagues on Capitol Hill and even President Obama have said he should resign.  At first I bought into the contention of some MSNBC commentators protesting the unfairness of it all when some very self righteous Republican lawmakers who have broken more than marital vows were not subject to the same condemnation by their peers.  While they have a point, the childishness of that argument dawned on me.  How about holding ourselves to a higher level?   The fact that many Democrats called on Weiner to step down may be an overdue step in the right direction.  I know we've been made to think politics and ethics are like oil and water.  Thankfully, his own party members have not kept silent.   Weiner should not stick it out... sorry, it's hard not to go there.  Now that his wife's back from overseas, he's got some explaining to do to the Mrs. while resigning and ending this national distraction. 
UPDATE 6/16:  Congressman Weiner announced his resignation today at a press conference amid a media circus that made me think the real distraction was more due to media excesses than whatever Weiner had done.   Why was a plant from the Howard Stern Show allowed to disrupt things? 

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