Why Anthony Weiner Need Not Resign

On Monday I posted about the Anthony Weiner scandal and got a great comment from Travis Mushett asking me about Weiner through the lens of FDR and what we now know about the 32nd president:

Just curious: how do you feel about FDR? He, too, "violated the trust of one of the people who he is supposed to love the most in this world." He also "straight up lied to his constituents and the nation" about his deteriorating medical condition by going to lengths to hide it. But you're going to run into few people outside of the Randian right who claim he wasn't a top-notch president who led the country through some damn dark times.

Now while I like Weiner, I wouldn't put him in FDR's league. However, I'm also inclined to say his personal failings didn't make him less of a politician. People fuck around. People lie about fucking around. Politicians lie to save their own asses. This isn't news. And I'll take a passionate, intelligent, experienced, eloquent, and significantly flawed Anthony Weiner over an inoffensive milquetoast any day. What he did was sleazy, but if I want moral guidance, I'll go to church. If I want a talented advocate for progressive policies, I'll go to Weiner.

In terms of FDR's health: there is no doubt that his capacity in his fourth term was severely diminished and that he should not have held the position he did during such an important time in history. However, because of his diminished mental capacity and the conspiratorial actions of his physicians, many believe that FDR did not even know of his declining health and that it was his physicians who put up a facade of healthiness, not FDR. While I am not saying what happened with FDR was right in any way, I think the comparison between FDR and Weiner here is a stretch.

In terms of FDR cheating: there is evidence that both parties in the FDR-Eleanor marriage were disloyal and they may have had an unspoken agreement about their union.

But pretending that they did not, then it certainly stains FDR as a person. Were I alive and voting back then, I would certainly think twice about voting for him because of it. However, there is no evidence (as far as I have seen) that when confronted by a media body that FDR denied his relationship with any number of women.

Now many have been calling for Weiner to resign, which I think is a little overkill. I had called for Spitzer's resignation, but that's because he broke the law. Weiner did not break any laws that we know of and really has no reason to resign unless he wants to (which I would suggest, but not say is necessary, based on the fact that he has a lot of personal matters to deal with).

What I am more upset about is the fact that, as Travis said, Weiner is a passionate, intelligent, experienced and eloquent guy who could do a lot for the progressive cause in this country, but he has severely hampered his effectiveness in Washington over bullshit like this. So yes, I would take a Weiner over a Gillibrand - I would much rather have someone who knows what they're doing and knows how to get their message across rather than someone who just follows the pack. However, I would much rather have someone with Weiner's capabilities who has the common sense to not do what Weiner did, or at least the common sense not to get caught, or at the very least someone with the common sense to handle it better than Weiner.

Because, again as Travis says, rampant infidelity pervades national politics. There's a reason that lobbying is an industry with a lot of attractive females. Think about this: Anthony Weiner was cybering and sexting while being an effective progressive three weeks ago. The difference between now and then is that he got caught, and then lied about it. If Weiner had faced the media and said, "Yeah, that's my dick. I'm not perfect and my wife and I have some work to do on our marriage. That's it," then I'd have a lot more respect for him. Instead, he comes up with this ridiculous hacking story, sticks with it way too long, and through the process lent credibility to Andrew Breitbart.

So I could forgive Weiner for thinking with the wrong head (though depending on who ran against him, I don't know if I would vote for him). What I can't forgive him for is the way he handled it. He'll be a less effective legislator because of it and he empowered Breitbart. So while I don't see the need for him to resign, I don't think he'll fully recover politically from this. If you subpoenaed the phone/Facebook/email records of every Congressman, I'd be willing to bet a good amount of them would find themselves in Weiner's position. So again, it's not that he was doing it (though it would certainly be nice if he didn't), it's how he handled it after being exposed.

Photo - Anthony Weiner (Politico)

Why Mark Sanford Needs to Resign

I've called for resignations from less-than-faithful governors before, and now I'm doing it again. I was going to call for it earlier before everyone else began to, but the New York state senate continues to reach new levels of incompetence and pettiness and the MTA is screwing over everyday New Yorkers. But the time has come for me to say it: Mark Sanford needs to step down. the same way McGreevey stepped down and the same way that Spitzer stepped down. The writing is on the wall for Sanford.

Even as the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) finds no "misuse" of state funds by Sanford, the stark fact remains: he (or someone within his office) lied to the people of South Carolina. While he told his advisors (or, again, one of his advisors told his constituents) that he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail to recharge his batteries after a brusing legislative session, in reality he was in Argentina with his mistress. A lie about the whereabouts of the executive of the entire state as serious as this one calls for resignation.

But to top that, Sanford is a hypocrite. Not only does he not want gays to be allowed to be married, he doesn't even want them to be allowed to adopt. Meanwhile, he thinks that it's OK to break the sacred vows of marriage that he feels he has a special right to because of his sexual orientation, and to leave his kids on Father's Day weekend to get some with his woman on the side. Now tell me that kids growing up in a stable, loving environment where a same-sex couple love and are faithful to each other and are around for family holidays is more detrimental than a governor who puts his family in the spotlight for his infidelity. Sanford should resign just on the fact that he wants to dictate legislation negatively affecting millions of American citizens but does not want to follow his own reasoning.

Now many people might say that technically Sanford did nothing illegal. That's fine, but he has proven himself to be untrustworthy, a liar, and, to be frank, a scumbag. If that's the kind of guy people do not mind having as governor, then to each his own. But would Mark Sanford have been elected if his potential constituents knew about his affairs and his penchant for either lying to his staff or having someone on his staff lie to his constituents? On top of all this he is treating reporters like therapists and spilling his guts. It's cringe-inducing in its awkwardness. It's like you want to shake him by the shoulders and tell him to shut up and talk to a shrink in private.

I'll give Mark Sanford one concession: reading those emails, he was clearly in love with his Argentinian mistress. It's really no excuse, though, because the vows of marriage are "til death do us part," not "til I find someone else I fall in love with." Sanford needs to focus on his life and his family - something a little more important than him retaining power for whatever reasons he thinks he should. He's like your friend at the bar who has had too much to drink and goes into the whole "I love you guys" speech when everyone else is still semi-sober; you stop him before he embarasses himself, get him home, and let him sleep it off. Sanford needs to do just that; resign, go home, and sleep it off. Peace.

Photo - Mark Sanford (Politico)