PUBLIC
LIVES…PRIVATE SINS
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Columnist
June 8, 2011
As all of America by now knows, the media circus surrounding Congressman Anthony
Weiner's Battle of his Bulge has been the kind of stuff that Hollywood scriptwriters
and others couldn't come up with in a decade on their own. I'm sorry folks,
but you just can't make this stuff up!
Yet
Weiner - ever so quick to repeatedly stomp on himself- failed to remember Washington's
first rule, especially in a digital age: Nothing online is ever private; multiply
that by 310 million, and that's a pretty good idea of what you have on Facebook
or Twitter.
In a profession where one's word and reputation are based on trust more than any other quality, Weiner's undoing began when he started deflecting his own culpability and sought to blame a hacker and anyone and everyone, except himself.
At the other end of the spectrum is trash-television host Jerry Springer, who, after resigning from the Cincinnati City Council following a 1974 arrest in a hooker sweep, was up-front from the beginning, and had his honesty rewarded when voters sent him back to the City Council in a landslide the following year. Two years later, Springer was chosen by the City Council to serve as Mayor for a year.
With the full truth now out, Weiner is now under an ethics investigation personally ordered by in-house hypocrite Nancy Pelosi; chances are it likely will show Weiner used no government resources to do what he did, and that no laws were broken. End of story.
To no surprise, the equally hypocritical GOP is demanding Weiner's head on a platter by way of resignation, as if they have a monopoly on virtue, which they most certainly do not, given that Democrats and Republicans scandalize their personal behaviors in about equal numbers.
My advice to Mr. Weiner: Keep your job and let the voters decide; tell the lynch mobs to go to Hell and go about your work. In the meantime, stay off the Internet and spend more time at home.
Look no further than former Rep. Christopher Lee of New York's 26th District, who was forced to abruptly resign from the House February 9th within hours of posting a shirtless photo of himself to Craigslist.com, which wouldn't have been a problem, except Lee lied about his age, occupation (Congressman), and the BIG one…marital status (married with a small child…at least for now).
For a crowd so quick to play the 'family values' card, they sure seem quick to shed their 'family values' all in the name of 'a little action'…and you just KNOW when that happens, which 'head' they're too often thinking with!
Had Weiner been 100% upfront and admitted that it WAS his bulge in his shorts, and come clean with the whole story, the media would have folded up their dog-and-pony show and gone away in search of another story…after all, it was a very slow news cycle.
In a nutshell, this sordid tale is a spousal matter to be resolved by Weiner and his bride of ten months, Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Clinton's top aides at the State Department. Whose business it is NOT, is that of voters outside New York's 9th Congressional District, as they alone will decide whether or not Weiner keeps his job. The resolution of Weiner's behavior is solely a spousal matter. Period. End of discussion.
Bottom line: What two consenting adults do behind closed doors is not the business of the media or any other third party, even if they are, or happen to be public figures. They answer to NOBODY, except their spouses or significant others, unless criminal laws have been broken, such as involving underage persons. What the media needs to do is stay the hell out. Beyond that, it's nobody else's business, as it should be.
And that's a lesson religious and/or other self-righteous moral busybodies
and other do-gooders would do well to learn and remember. ***
© 2011 Timothy Rollins
REFERENCED ARTICLES:
A veteran freelance writer, Timothy Rollins brings a wealth of political
and military experience dating back more than three decades. He is a freelance
writer and policy analyst living in Oklahoma who has been featured both on television
and radio. He has appeared both in online publications as well as in print newspapers
in the United States such as the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, USA TODAY, the
Deseret News in Salt Lake City, and
also in Canada, where he has appeared in The
Toronto SUN and the Daily Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His television
appearances include The Michael Coren
Show in Canada and KWTV 9 NEWS in Oklahoma
City. The views expressed here by Mr. Rollins are his own and do not represent
the official views of any organization or entity with which he may otherwise
be affiliated. As such, Mr. Rollins alone takes full responsibility for them.
He can be reached by e-mail at rollins@american-partisan.com.
***
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© 2011 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN
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