In my moral universe, if you a mail a stranger a picture of your junk, you’re done. I’m not voting for you and I don’t give a shit what you have to say. I’m silly like that.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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That’s your point of contention? I’d say this is a far more detestable part of Weiner’s legacy:
Anthony Weiner Stands By Claim That West Bank Isn’t Occupied By Israel
He’s got a long list of stuff like that.
He’s a detestable creep, who’s also a show-pony who like to strut around.
I grew up in the NYC media market. You think I blink when a Brooklyn politician says things like that? It’s par for the course. I don’t care what Weiner says about Israel. I care that he’s a schmuck.
So you’d rather vote for Quinn? I hope you you never go into a NYC restaurant and that the cook is sick. If so, you can blame her. Both Quinn and Weiner love them some “stop & frisk.” I believe the rest of the top tier do as well. I guess what I’m saying is that the choices suck and that if I lived in NYC I’d write in(unless he was actually on the ballot this time) Reverend Billy Talen.
Also, too, in 2009 Reverend Billy got 6,500+ more votes than the “Rent is Too Damn High” guy. Despite McMillan having run in 2005.
I’m with ya, BooMan!
If you’re stupid and irresponsible enough to send out pictures of your junk, then I figure you’re too stupid and irresponsible to hold political office.
If you’re so proud of your schwanz ya gotta send out pictures of it, go into the porn business as an “actor.”
But something tells me that Wiener’s wiener, wouldn’t be winner there.
Apparently no True Progressive would fail to vote for him.
My sense is it’s a New York thing. Maybe it would fly in Jersey too. Probably not Connecticut or Mass. Definitely not Pennsylvania.
Though a native of New York, I’ve been gone for the 32 years since I was 18. On trips back, I can see the place has changed. It’s much softer now. But it’s still New York.
I was driving in Manhattan recently, trying to get to my daughter’s law school graduation at some swanky theater near Central Park. I was trying to make a right turn. Pedestrians were crossing so I was waiting. A police officer motioned to me to go, even though people were crossing. I pointed at the people crossing. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say “Whatever.”
Certain things fall into a distinct category I call “Only in New York.” Sir Anthony is one of ’em.
The Mayor of NYC has no say in foreign policy. Photos of his junk are a little disturbing. The question is what his positions are regarding the city itself. He may still not be the best candidate, but the photos wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me.
We don’t elect people to run our moral universe. We elect them to do a particular job.
Is Weiner the best candidate of those running in the primary? That should have more of a bearing on one’s choice than his stupid and juvenile and self-destructive and totally inappropriate tweet-pic.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
The “best candidate” is going to be one folks can trust to make careful, considered decisions instead of acting on impulse. Positions on litmus test issues is no substitute for good judgment.
Everyone makes mistakes, and lots of people make stupid mistakes. Some of us make them when we’re children and learn our lessons then; some of us learn them later in life. 😉
I don’t know whether Weiner is better than anyone else running – I don’t live in NYC and haven’t kept up with the race. I do know that it’s silly to take a mistake that only reflected badly on him (and didn’t, say, cause someone else’s life to be ruined) as a disqualification.
Good politicians sometimes do stupid things in their personal lives. Witness Spitzer. How much better off would NY be if he had been able to keep his libido under control while he was governor? Witness Clinton.
Politicians aren’t “normal” people. They crave attention and crave acceptance. That craving can get mixed up with other aspects of their personalities in ways that are self-destructive.
With any luck, Weiner has grown up. With any luck, he has different outlets for his desire for attention and acceptance. With any luck, he has learned that this is likely his last chance in politics. He might direct that lesson into being a great public servant. Will he? I dunno. Time will tell.
To be clear – I’m not a Weiner fan. He doesn’t mean much of anything to me as a person. I just don’t think it is healthy for us to write politicians off in circumstances like this. (AFAIK, Weiner never ran as a Bible-thumper, etc., so there isn’t a “rules are for little people” hypocrisy in his case.)
The voters in New York should be able to consider the totality of his record and his character and not let that impulsive picture (or even the rest of the weirdness about his Twitter life before that) be the only thing they consider.
Whether they do is up to them, of course.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Democrat is generally better than a Republican billionaire. Which one I don’t know. I’ve been too far away from NYC politics too long. Sexual tomfoolery doesn’t generally limit Republicans from office. Heck, maybe this will be a step forward for exhibitionists.
I disagree, I don’t think we elect politicians to run our moral universe but we do hold public servants to a higher standard. The mayor is the chief executive of the city and is in charge of all of the city’s municipal public servants (ie; policeman, fireman, school superintendent etc…) No police officer, janitor or other public servant could get hired if this came up on a background check so how could Weiner, as mayor, enforce the integrity standards of the employees of NY? We are talking about NY with probably the largest number of MBAs and talented executives in the nation (maybe the world) is Anthony Weiner the best they can do?
FDR supposedly had a mistress (or several).
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.
People, and especially politicians, aren’t perfect.
Of course character and serving as an example matters. But it’s not the only thing that matters.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
If you don’t have integrity what else matters? How can he possibly lead those that are held to a higher standard? How could anyone expect those under his leadership to conduct themselves appropriately if the guy at the top gets a character pass?
History says its possible. Is it possible in Weiner’s case? Dunno. Will we ever know? Dunno. It depends on the voters.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
The NY Times says Eliot Spitzer is running for NY City Comptroller.
It’ll be interesting to see how he does…
Cheers,
Scott.
I like New York hot dogs, but not this one. Too flaky, even if he does vote the right way.
Couldn’t care less–even if he’d sent a picture of his actual dick instead of his bulging undies. Don’t understand why anyone else cares, either, except in that it’s political fucking malpractice.
However, given the choice between a moral monster like Weiner, whose political philosophy is about 85% similar to mine, and someone who is perfectly pure and righteous, and whose political philosophy is 75% similar to mine, I’ll chose the monster every time.
Spoken like a true conservative.
As soon as the stress kicks in, the emails will start flying out.
It’s not the fetish that matters, it’s the compulsion to share the fetish that makes them a freak.
.
if a candidate wants to institute single-payer healthcare for city residents, he’s gone a way toward getting my vote.
In my moral universe your personal failings do not interfere with your professional performance unless personal failings is your profession (i.e. pastor/priest, etc.), and even then earnest repentance (key word: earnest) can bring about forgiveness. I have a hard time holding people to a standard that I myself can’t pass, and while I’ve never send a picture of my junk to a stranger there are more than enough examples of poor judgement and bad decisions in my past (and present and, likely, future) that a healthy level of grace is appropriate when dealing with my fellow fallible human beings.
James Brown was right.
Can you imagine a woman getting away with sex scandal?
Imagine if Kirsten Gillibrand was caught sodomizing a 20 year old intern with a cigar in her office, you think she would be allowed to keep office?
Imagine if Jennifer Granholm was caught sexting photos of her tits to complete strangers, you think she could run for office again?
Imagine if Nancy Pelosi left her husband and kids on Mother’s Day to run off to bang some dude in Argentina, you think she would ever win another election?
But for Clinton, Weiner, Mark Sanford, Vitter, et. al. it’s okay if you are male (IOKIYAM).
Yes, standards are different for women in politics. It’s unfair.
But Weiner, and Clinton, Wayne Hayes, Larry Craig, John Tower, Bob Packwood, many others, did pay a price for their words and actions.
It’s often tribal, especially among Republicans – “Yeah, our guy is a schmuck, but he’s our schmuck and we’re not going to let you drive him out of office without our consent.”
And look at the race for Governor in South Carolina. Nicky Halley was accused of lots of sexual things. She survived it.
But you’re right – women still have a much harder path in politics than men.
Cheers,
Scott.
Better a schmuck than Mayor Mike’s mini me (Quinn)
And just over the Twitter machine .. Spitzer will run for NYC Comptroller .. what ever that office does