I was having lunch at home yesterday as news broke on CNN that Congressman Anthony Weiner was finally admitting that he had lied about sending a photograph of his penis (among many other lewd photos) to women through his Twitter account. He admitted to engaging in sexually explicit relationships with over half a dozen women via personal email, Facebook and Twitter. This admission came after continual denials for over a week, and repeated appearances on national television in which Congressman Weiner wove an elaborate lie about his Twitter account being hacked and manipulated. He made reference to the "hacking" as a viral prank.
I sat there and watched him repeat the same things over and over for 15 minutes. He repeated how sorry he was and expressed his regret at having such bad judgment. I agree with him: I think Congressman Weiner has terrible judgment. On a scale from 1 to 10 measuring bad judgment, he is undoubtedly a 10. Does this scandal make him a pervert? I think it does. Does his handling of it over the past week make him a liar? Of course. Does it show an acute lack of integrity? Yes. Does he have extremely poor judgment? Obviously he does. So here is a prominent member of Congress from New York who is a sexual deviant and a liar, who has a staggering lack of integrity and horrible judgment.
How many more members of Congress are like Anthony Weiner? What else has he lied about?
He has failed every test we would want a member of Congress to pass. I think that Congressman Weiner and his behavior are a prime example of the type of elected officials that have passed legislation and made decisions that have put our economy where it is today. I wish there were more people across America that are as angry about this as I am. This kind of deceitful and lewd behavior is not acceptable in our elected representatives, and speaks to a complete lack of credibility for this congressman.
Is it fair to say that this is not an isolated incident? Consider the case of Congressman Chris Lee, also from New York, who had to resign after he posted pictures of himself online, shirtless, trying to attract women to have sex with. How many people are there like Congressman Weiner in Congress? There are probably many more. Is it fair to say, when looking at Congressman Weiner and Congressmen Lee, that this may be representative of the kind of people we have in Congress?
Congressman Weiner has stated he is not resigning. To me he ought to be fired by the people of New York. I find it difficult to believe that the people of New York's 9th District couldn't find someone who is not a sexual deviant, is not a liar, who has integrity, and has good judgment. There is bound to be someone with more personal character than him, there has to be. Who is to say that the lack of integrity exhibited by Congressman Weiner does not extend beyond his personal life?
I hate to think that the future of our nation is entrusted to this type of person. To tell you the truth, when we look at the decisions Congress has made in the last few years, and the kind of judgment Congressman Weiner has exhibited, I can see how we have landed in our current economic situation. It is pretty clear that people with the kind of judgment that Congressman Weiner has exhibited are making decisions that affect all of our futures. It is infinitely more troubling to consider how these decisions will affect our children's future and our grandchildren's future.
We should not put up with people like this in Congress. We should not allow people with such staggeringly horrible judgment and a distinct lack of integrity to make critical decisions that are so important to the future of our nation.
My guess ... Anthony Weiner is going to stay in office, which will demonstrate to the public that his behavior is acceptable. And that is a tragedy.
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So with that lie alone, he has "betrayed the public trust"? It's an extremely embarrassing situation, and his decision-making was clearly compromised in the first few days after the story broke out. At any rate, the only person he has truly betrayed is his wife. I, like many of the finger pointers (although I don't take the 'holier than thou' route) believe what he did was wrong. In effect, he cheated on his wife. And I would never condone that.
Finally, if anyone demonstrated to the public that that type of behaviour was acceptable, it was Bill Clinton, a man who is widely-respected today. Why? Because personal transgression aside, he was a great president. And he continues to be a true force in making the world a better place with the impressive Clinton Global Initiative. Sometimes it's about the bigger picture.