The jokes about a politician named Weiner Tweeting pics of his package all over cyberspace practically write themselves, and, yeah, it’s funny as hell. The underlying issue of the Weiner fiasco is not so funny, however.
In fact, it brings up a debate that has become increasingly common as social networking has become a way of life—namely, does cybersex fall under the “cheating” umbrella or is it on par with, say, porn?
Perhaps the biggest (I’m sorry, the puns are just unavoidable here, so bare bear with me) argument in favor of Weiner’s actions going beyond jerking off to Playboy pictorials is exemplified by his initial …
… reaction.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) spent a portion of his holiday weekend dealing with what he says was a bad Twitter prank.
Late Friday night, a lewd photo was sent from the congressman’s Twitter account to a 21-year old female college student via the social networking site–and it was visible for all the public to see.
But the congressman says it’s all bunk.
“Look, this is a prank and not a terribly creative one,” Weiner told CNN Monday, adding: “I was hacked. It happens to people. You move on.”
Weiner didn’t prove to be a particularly hard nut to crack, though, as allegations of numerous online encounters both before and after his marriage to Hillary Clinton staffer Huma Abedin, who is pregnant with the first (and probably only) little Weiner, arose.
[Weiner] admitted he had not told his wife until this morning that the first photo, a shot of Weiner’s crotch sent over Memorial Day weekend, was actually him, but said she was aware of other photos he had sent previously.
Weiner had initially insisted his Twitter account had been hacked. But on Monday, the congressman called that photo a “joke”–though he admitted sending similar pictures to women he’d met on Facebook “before and after” he got married last July. But he insisted he had not cheated on his wife, who was not present at the news conference.
“I have never met any of these women or had physical relationships with any of these women,” he insisted.
The internet has opened quite a can of worms in terms of what constitutes fidelity. Based on my experience, a high percentage of men and women find porn sexually exciting, even if they don’t necessarily share this fact with their significant others. It’s one thing to spank the monkey to nudes of Montana freaking Fishburne, but when there is actual interaction going on, actual, “I’m flicking my tongue slowly all up and down your wiener, Weiner”, it goes beyond harmless fantasizing.
And that’s not cool.
Weiner took a lot of heat from every direction, including his own political party leaders.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, all issued statements urging Weiner to leave Congress.
Shortly after, Weiner’s office announced that the embattled New York Democrat had decided to enter a treatment program, saying he “needs this time to get healthy and make the best possible decision” about his future.
“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” Weiner’s office announced. “In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.”
It’s unclear what type of treatment Weiner is seeking, but Democrats hinted it’s not enough to overcome the scandal and urged him to resign.
There should be a name for this sort of thing … shall we call it the Tiger Woods Syndrome?
Less than a month later, Weiner has changed his tune. In fact, he has recently stepped down after admitting that the pics were legit … and really just the tip of the iceberg.
I am disgusted by this story—the lies, the limp excuses, the reluctance to resign a position of power and trust when caught with his pants down. I very much consider online relationships to be cheating if either party is in a committed relationship.
Furthermore, what kind of freaking moron that’s in the public spotlight would actually engage in this sort of behavior via a very public forum such as Twitter or Facebook? Some professions come with a certain price—being held to a higher standard. It’s a choice. Suck it up.
This guy makes me want to puke in my mouth, not gonna lie.
What do you think?
