Confession – a dear friend from Texas is responsible for my tendency to call a penis a ween. You’d have to hear her say it, with a West Texas accent – too cute!
Anyhoo…on the case of the phantom ween or rather the fall of Congressman Weiner otherwise known as Weinergate.
Shall we?
I could give a shit whether Congressman Weiner was texting. I do give a shit whether Congressman Weiner was stalking attractive fans through Facebook and Twitter…but that remains to be seen.
My issue is with the lie…and it’s near Nixonian texture.
On the surface it would seem that this latest political scandal is lame and the result of some conservative minion launching assaults on key liberal politicians as part of his ultimate campaign for world domination.
Tis true that a conservative minion with a habit of targeting liberals broke this story.
But the problem isn’t that a peevish little shit broke the story and the problem isn’t that Weiner sent pictures to women who are not his wife – those are issues that became problems when Weiner lied his ass off, made charges that someone hacked his accounts, and the lied some more.
‘Tis the lie that is the problem.
The lie…and all that the lie reveals.
Oh, don’t get me wrong…I understand the lie. Hell, I probably would have wanted to at least attempt to lie my way out of that shit my damn self!
But the lie is what turns an issue into a problem…and the fall out from the lie is what turns a promising political career into a ween joke.
Congressman Weiner’s lie about texts and/or tweets is amusing political theater for some…ill-timed distractitude for others…and a shit-storm for Democrats.
For his constituents it is a disturbing look at what their Congressman will do when in a pinch…how he will respond when called out on a mistake…what his instinct is when shit goes wrong, when he may look bad, when he fucks up.
He lied…doubled down on that lie…and had to be hauled, kicking a screaming with feet literally dragging, to meet the truth face to face.
It is important that we don’t see that as trivial.
When President Nixon and his minions lied about a third rate burglary that was wrong…but his position as the head of government and the military is what made his instinct to lie to protect his ass intolerable.
A ween is just a ween…but a lie?
Oh, a lie can take a nation to war…can result in death and destruction…can destroy far more than a political career.
I suppose we’re lucky that the conservative minion who broke this story was hell bent on breaking a scandal and didn’t think to blackmail Congressman Weiner.
Pause…consider…continue.
That’s not the kind of “lucky” that should make anyone sleep easy.
Blink.
8 comments:
I feel like "it wasn't the act it was lying about it" while true, excuses the act. If this was infidelity, if his wife didn't condone and accept this behavior, than the act itself does matter.
People may believe that taking a vow and breaking it says a lot about someones over all character and trustworthiness (is that a word? is now). And if someone believes that, they have every right to vote based on it. Others may believe that infidelity is a personal issue and has nothing with a politician's ability to do his or her job, and they have every right to not factor a situation like this in to their voting. But regardless, it's more than just the cover up that's an issue here.
I keep trying to think about what would have happened if he'd said "whoops, that was supposed to be a direct message! damn, this is embarrassing."
But I don't have a template for it. I've never heard a politician admit to sexual acts without first lying his head off about it and being backed into a corner.
Well, I guess it would also depend on the answer to the inevitable question "uh, why are you tweeting pictures of your crotch at young women?"
The first time I saw this representative on tv proclaiming that he didn't do what he was accused of, I could tell he was lying. Anybody with a pulse should have been able to see that. Hell, I like the guy and I was screaming at the television "YOU LYING SACK OF S**T!!
Also, how....in this day and age....could he possibly think he wouldn't get caught doing this? Technology is a bitch!
His azz was hella wrong and his wife is GORGEOUS and they've only been married for a hot second so why he needs to be sexting other people makes me question him deeply. But I don't know if it is fair to say he rose to Nixonian levels of deceit. He lied for a week, which was wrong, but Nixon lied for over a year, got others to lie for him, broke the law from jump and then broke it some more with the coverup. What Weiner did was messed up and probably immoral (don't like to use that word so much for it's conotations) and I hope his wife puts him on LOCKDOWN but he didn't break any laws (well maybe he could get in trouble if he used a government issued smart phone for his sexting) so I think he just needs to get a serious scolding and then let it go. Sad to say but I think the overwhelming majority of politicians lie about stuff (as do the majority of people) and I feel like he does a good job for America so I'm glad he didn't resign.
It's a very interesting compare-and-contrast (mostly compare) moment to Sarah Palin's verbal gaffe of the week. To me, it's not so much that she slipped up but that she then tried to bluster her way through instead of correcting herself, and, you know, that's a scary, scary trait for someone who aspires to national leadership.
Similarly here -- another case of it's not the lie (or mistake), it's the coverup.
I just don't get why these politicians keep doing these stupid things, think they aren't going to get caught, and then obviously lie their asses off when caught. This has happened how many times now? They should know better or at least should be a little more careful when pulling stunts like this.
This sucks because I like Weiner and thought he seemed like a different type of politician and potentially good for more than his current status.
Man OH Man...
I feel like there is this huge underlying picture that all of us are unconsciously skipping over.
SharkFu has addressed it from different angles but this last few weeks event just sorta reaffirms it.
This slowly growing beast has now come into it's full unbridled ugliness and is really doing some awful things.
This thing seems to be not just the treatment of women; but the treatment of empathy toward others; which to me is feminine domain, taught to sons and daughters by their mothers (unfortunately most of the time).
For me it seems like an all out attack; and one in which we are so disconnected on how are actions will affect others on a human/emotional level.
It's to easy to just say it's men or the Alpha male re-asserting itself sense the beginning of the 2000's.
I have of lately been surprised and taken aback by some women friends and colleagues who have uttered ideas that seem absurd, a lot of them women (and this just stupefies me).
This trend “for” me seems to have picked up it's pace.
Again this is not just about how men treat women... but more of an attack on all of our so called "feminine side" and all that entails: from critical thinking with an empathy base; to relationships and their impact with other…
to how the fuck we relate to good ol' mother earth.
I think SharkFu needs to do one of those "all enlightening" takedowns, encompassing this phenomena: from Senator Edwards and Weiner; to the awful gang rape of a young girl by boys and men and (part of) a community that justified it by what she wore; to the utter bland justification of a powerful world international banking head raping a maid.
Seriously where the fuck have we lost are minds, this is more than "boys behaving badly" or "Men being Men".
I'm angry not only about the lies, but also about his foisting himself upon unwilling women. The man is a misogynist. He's as bad as a subway flasher, and I'm sick of the "boys will be boys, it was just a sexual fetish" justification. Well, he hurt people. WOMEN.
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