Should Rep. Weiner Resign? Get the Heave-Ho? Keep Serving His District? Two Views
Yesterday, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) admitted that he had lied and lied and lied some more when it came to the whole episode about him tweeting a pic of his junk to a college student in Washington State. In what can only be described as one of the most memorable political press conferences all week (and it's already Tuesday!), Weiner apologized to God, Mother, and Andrew Breitbart, the new media maven who substantiated new stories about Weiner's baroque use of social media.
But Weiner also insisted that he was not going to resign his position in Congress because he hadn't broken any laws or contravened ethical guidelines for the House of Representatives. The top Democrat in the house, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has called for an investigation, so we'll see about that.
In the meantime, consider these two different views of Weingergate. First, Andrew Sullivan says,
Weiner has not resigned and, frankly, I see little reason why he should. No one, so far as I can tell, was harrassed, no one was abused, no actual sex even took place at all. I'm not sure one can even find any hypocrisy here. Moreover, if online flirting is unforgivable, why isn't off-line flirting unforgivable? And what really is the difference? Apart from pictures that can be used to humiliate - and even blackmail.
Yes, I realize that one congressman recently swiftly resigned over a Craigslist shirtless pic, but that was a stupid response then and it remains a stupid thing now. It was and should have remained a matter between him and his spouse. Given the result of NY-26, maybe even the GOP is regretting its bout of puritanism now.
Second, here's Jack Shafer over at Slate:
For me, when the mass of lies equals the mass of apologies, the whole package congeals into some new sociopathic form for which there is yet no name. (Weinerite, perhaps?) That he was caught lying about his personal life, and not about public policy, doesn't really matter to me. By demonstrating that he's as good a liar as he is an apologizer, Weiner tells us everything we need to know about him.
As far as I can tell, Republicans think that Weiner should resign out of a sense of shame and for the good of the country (not fully sure what that all means). Dems are more agnostic, though many of them think he should resign. Generally, folks seem particularly annoyed that he lied so hard about it all. Check out this ABC News clip:
What say you, gentle readers? Should Weiner resign and why (or why not)?
There seems no doubt that Weiner's ambitions to become mayor of New York have suffered a major setback. Whether he pulls out of Congress (or is kicked out) remains to be seen, but I think it's unlikely. His wife is a close personal adviser to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Bill himself officiated at the couple's wedding. If the Clinton years tell us anything about scandals, esp. sex scandals, it's that people get tired and move on eventually. And while Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) bowed out quickly, there are plenty of other guys (Sen. David Vitter, for instance) who have kept their eyes focused on the future too.
