Conservatives will grandstand about declining standards of dignity and decorum in the U.S., happily blaming the decline of gentility and civil public expression on rappers, Hollywood liberals and Joe “This is a big fuckin’ deal” Biden, until a Democrat with a name ready-made for bad sex puns and double-entendres shows up, and then its a mad stampede to bad taste.
Wow. Clever.
What is it with the Right: is everybody 12? From Rush Limbaugh (“Weiner is hard to swallow…”) to The Daily Caller (“Weiner blows his lead”) to the New York Daily News (“Cuomo Spanks Weiner!”) to dozens of websites that can’t resist versions of “Will Weiner pull out?” and “Weiner Exposed,” to Drudge (“Weiner Goes Soft”) to CNS (“Boehner Won’t Bite On Weiner”) to, naturally, the reliably crude New York Post ( “Too Hard To Stop!’…”Tip of the Weiner”…”Obama Beats Weiner”…”Weiner: I’ll Stick It Out”…and on, and on–okay, it’s abrand, I get it ), apparently conservative pundits and headline writers can’t resist seeking naughty snickers from obvious gags.
Is this professional? Of course not. Is it—I know the whole idea chafes—fair to Anthony Weiner, to treat him like an unfortunately named kid on the playground? Surely not. It even borders on anti-Semitism, but mostly it’s just gratuitously crude, juvenile overkill that makes objective analysis and consideration impossible.
I’ll give Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” a pass, and expectations are low for conservative blogs (“Shrinking Weiner Sees Lead Droop But 69% of 18-29s Are Holding Firm”) but really: CNN (“Mounting pressure on Weiner”)? Naturally, MSNBC sees nothing funny about Weiner’s name, because it sees nothing wrong with a Democratic mayoral candidate sending strangers photos of his penis and lying about it. If this was a Republican, of course, the weiner jokes would be flying fast and furious from the left.
Call me idealistic, call me naive, call me an old fogey, but I would expect the journalistic establishment and serious political analysts to be able to cover a serious story about a troubled politician without gravitating to cheap jokes that draw attention away from the real issues, such as why Democrats are incapable of processing the fact that personal conduct is, in fact, relevant to public trustworthiness, that the credibility and effectiveness of government is harmed when disgraced politicians refuse to resign, and that Weiner’s wife isn’t being noble or admirable by adopting Hillary Clinton’s tactics for bolstering the defenses of a husband who has done the indefensible.
Our democracy is becoming a joke fast enough without the process being accelerated by a bunch of over-age adolescents who think the same joke is endlessly titillating.
Ethics Alarms 
How so?
How do you even think about this guy without channeling your inner seventh-grader? Every headline I can think of can be turned into a dick joke. He did make this mess. See what I mean…”Weiner makes own mess.” The guy is serving cake and ice cream at a party for little boys, and they just won’t behave like the ladies at a church tea.(“Ladies at church tea not fond of Weiner”)
Their real purpose…
More consistency—I felt the same way about the Left’s endless tiresome “Dick” jokes during the Nixon administration, and I was no Nixon fan. And I like puns.
Nixon dick jokes were solely based on his name. Weiner dick jokes are a result of his behavior, as well as his perfect name. If his name were Steve the dick jokes would still be flying, and “Steve” would become at least temporarily synonymous with dicks. I see no escape from this, Jack.
You’re right, I’ll attempt to avoid subtle contribution to this.
Why is his name pronouned “Weener?” I thought in German, the second vowel was the one that is pronounced and the first one was ignored. Shouldn’t his name be pronounced “Winer,” with a long “I?” Or “Whiner?”
We aren’t in Germany.
So Weiner and Wiener are pronounced the same?
I think your analysis is correct for proper German pronunciation, but I don’t think many names pronunciations/spellings survived immigration and assimilation.
If it’s optional, why did the family pick Weener? I bet it was transposed on some immigration papers on Ellis Island. It’s probably a misspelling. Should probably be Wien-er, as in a person from Vienna. But still, it was an opportunity Anthony failed to take advantage of in college. He could have just told everyone at some point, “It’s Winer, not Weener.” But, as usual, I digress.
You mean he should have done like John Boehner.
See, this is why I continue to misspell “receive”…
The German pronunciation of Weiner is “vine er”.
The w gets the v treatment, as well as the i is long.
At least the juvenility didn’t exist when the President of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.
I’d bet that Ben Franklin had a whole file of Hancock jokes. But unlike today’s wags, he had the sense not to put them in print.
I’m no Family Guy fan, but I will admit they did a funny little side clip on that.
The problem, as I see it, is that our moral standards for our leaders have fallen so low — from FDR to the Kennedys to Clinton, e.g., and the entire entertainment industry — that the entire concept of morality among our “leaders” has been removed from the equation. People in power — of any kind — can get away with almost anything, primarily because they HAVE power and know how to use it. We’ve all bought into this and this growing national attitude has led to the unbelievable hubris of the political scions — most recently Wiener. (It goes much farther, but any respondent can fill in the blanks…)
Let me beat you to the punch on one thing… yeah, yeah Thomas Jefferson, e.g., fathered children from his slaves. On the other hand, George Washington, James Madison and other founders and slave-holders did NOT do this, and freed their slaves. John Adams, a Massachusetts man, didn’t have slaves,and if you read the letters between John and Abigail it is clear that he was so dedicated to his brilliant and long-suffering wife (all those months away while the Declaration and Constitution were created) that infidelity was unthinkable. So you can’t just say “it’s been with us forever, so what’s the big deal?” Some leaders have taken the rationalization route; others (many) have stayed true to their moral and ethical imperatives.
Weiner is ill, a scumbag, and may have a chance at “high office?” How far have we fallen? And what examples are out there for us to use to teach our children about the importance of living honest, kind, ethical, lawful lives?
It makes me sick. If Wiener is elected, the Internet will go berserk, have have a great time doing it, and it will be proof positive the we really do need “Eugenics Man,” to stop both the elected officials and the voters who support them from reproducing any more thoughtless, non-analytic, IQ80s.
Another question where is his wife in all this? Hilary’s willingness to put up with Bill notwithstanding — they were political partners more than spouses, it has always seemed to me — WHY DON’T THESE WOMAN HAVE ANY GUTS? Is being “arm-candy” (using the term loosely in this case) more important than honesty, self-respect, money and duty to one’s country?
My husband and I have occasional conversations about why abused women stay with their husbands, and actually defend them when required. He thinks each woman should “boot the bastard out” and be done with it. But when our presumed role models — Jackie, Hillary, etc., etc. — make some decision that the “position” they are able to hold is more important than morality, ethics, marriage vows, etc., why then would be expect the powerless woman to make the harder choice?
I still think we are more a mythical Greek society than a Judeo-Christian society, ethically speaking. Our leaders behave (badly) as if they are Greek gods. They get away with things because they can. And society’s okay with that. Forget the golden rule, read Bullfinch’s Mythology.
Interesting parallel, but I think the Greek’s used their gods’ and heroes’ mistakes and indiscretions as tragic lessons on how not to live life. I think, as a culture, we use our leaders’ and celebrities’ mistakes and indiscretions as justification and rationalization for not leading upstanding lives ourselves.
“Why don’t the women have guts?”
2 parts low self-esteem, 1 part Stockholm syndrome?
“Call me idealistic, call me naive, call me an old fogey, but I would expect the journalistic establishment and serious political analysts to be able to cover a serious story about a troubled politician without gravitating to cheap jokes that draw attention away from the real issues, such as why Democrats are incapable of processing the fact that personal conduct is, in fact, relevant to public trustworthiness, that the credibility and effectiveness of government is harmed when disgraced politicians refuse to resign,”
I personally putting in some humor when discussing the news. Perhaps most people do and that is why they chose to include those lines into the news. Afterall, if they don’t get the ratings then they cant get the commercials which means they don’t have jobs. It is simple supply and demand.
Personally I dont’ care what politicians do in their personal lives as long as they dont use government to force me to follow their rules that they cannot even follow themselves. Then I will hold them to their own standards.
Flawed, if typically liberal/libertarian logic, LD. Personal, professional, conduct is conduct, and all kinds of conduct implicate trust, character, honesty and judgment. The dichotomy is phony, and every study and history lesson proves its phony. As for the liberal revulsion at so-called hypocrisy, an uncontrollable drunk may still honestly believe in strict drunk driving laws. The test for good policy-making is not whether the maker might violate his own law, but whether he is sincere that the law is needed, and willing to accept the consequences of violating it.
I would also mention that being a politician is, literally, a 24/7 job. Become a President/Mayor/Senator and you better believe you give up a private, personal life.
True, though misbehaving political leaders turn that fact around to get sympathy and plead that focusing in “private” indiscretions is properly irrelevant to job performance. It is such a dishonest and factually nonsensical argument. 1) It’s private as long as you keep it private–once its on the front page, it’s public. 2) Bad judgment is private activities still shows bad judgment, and saying that the voters should ignore smoking gun evidence of not just bad but jaw-droppingly terrible judgment like Weiner’s is ridiculous—yet some still accept it.
I believe that whatever you do in the privacy of your own home with your consenting spouse/partner/etc is your business. That being said you are still responsible for it. If you choose to become a politician that activity is fair game once we find out about it.
Spousal abuse? Child abuse?
Key word in my comment was “consent”. Children cannot consent.
Can spouses consent to their own abuse?
Yes. It is an unfortunate side effect of owning one’s own life that one must be allowed to submit yourself to whatever level of abuse one determines to be tolerable.
That’s from the victim’s perspective. It doesn’t excuse the conduct from the abuser’s perspective, or make it less despicable just because its private. Plus, the “consent” of the abused isn’t really consent at all, even legally, in some cases. Many have suggested that Huma shows tell-tale signs of spousal abuse.
Correct. If i ask you to punch me in the face, Jack, and you do it: Am I a victim?
How about another scenario: Let’s say that you and I agree contractually to allow each other to punch the other in the face. Maybe we decide to sell tickets to other folks to watch the event. Do we as mature, intelligent adults have the right to enter in to such an agreement?
Again, that’s the victim’s perspective. The abuser is still unethical to take advantage of the situation. It’s a Golden Rule setting: if I were irrational and asked you to harm me, I would want you to refuse.
“Again, that’s the victim’s perspective. The abuser is still unethical to take advantage of the situation. It’s a Golden Rule setting: if I were irrational and asked you to harm me, I would want you to refuse.”
Exactly the points I tried to drive home throughout this discussion:
Many Moons Ago
Not a rebuttal to you Jack, just that your succinct explanation was perfect.
Ok, Jack, I think I am beginning to understand your position. If an individual asks for something which in your estimation is irrational then that makes them a victim and it is unethical for you to provide it. Is that what you’re saying?
No, I am saying, as I have said here and elsewhere before in multiple posts, that for the smart, dominant, powerful, rich, educated, strong and or wise to exploit to the expressed desires or consent of the submissive, immature, weak, poor, addicted, sick, ignorant, desperate, ignorant and/or stupid for the first group’s own benefit, profit or amusement to the latter group’s detriment, humiliation, degradation and/or physical or personal harm. Search for “reality shows,” or Anna Nicole Smith. Or read this, my first post ( I think) on the topic, about the exploitation of William Hung.
— WHY DON’T THESE WOMAN HAVE ANY GUTS?
***********
Well, the woman in question now was raised in Saudi Arabia.
Not exactly a hotbed of Woman’s Liberation.
Ok summing it. Sext (a new word for me) a pic of your thangy then the door is open for “puns”. Personally I am so PO’d with the fact that this dude and his unethical wife seem to think that all of his “pics of his ____” are worthy media attention. There is an underlining story that has not been shared. The fact that she worked in the state dept under travel happy Hillary while she got to stay home to raise her baby; cutting a deal to get paid $135K a year working part-time for the state department (our tax dollars at work ha); all the while working full time at over $335K a year for a company that just so happens to have happy Bill sitting on the board. Weiner/Weener is a scapegoat for secret deals between the Clinton knobs including the Muslim Brotherhood. Why else would “wiffey” stand by her man? She needs him to distract the rest of selling out America by the Clinton Mob. Huma hasn’t been abused…. she is the leader of this pack and a top notch drama queen…..Tammy Wynett would be so pissed!
Weener, whiner or veener (schnitzel)… the name means only what a person endows it with through his own character. Here in Houston, one of the mayoral candidates in our upcoming city elections is named Eric Dick. No fooling! He’s likely also the best candidate. Don’t let anyone doubt, though, that the local wags and excuse for a press will have a field day with it. For myself, given our present level of municipal leadership, I can’t help but think that a real Dick in office might be just what the doctor ordered! We already have enough Weiners.