Who doesn’t have fantasies? Who hasn’t had some experience with sex? So let’s not burn Congressman Weiner for being a weirdo. As of now, there are no victims. In fact, here was an individual whose infidelity to his intelligence was used to betray him by those who were more than willing to expose the simple titillation for gain. Andrew Breitbart today is tantamount to Linda tripp in Bill Clinton’s life; a conservative zealot opossum waiting for a pounce. Weiner hoisted himself on the gallows because his illness created a false sense of oblivion. His failing is that he, inadvertently, made his private, secret desires, public. It was his oblivion to the outside world that there could be a public discovery of his fantasies, or narcissism, which exposed his fantasies to public scrutiny; hence, his downfall. How do we vote on fantasy? How do we forget the creep factor although the discretion may pale to other more recognizable forms of questionable behavior; Ensign, Sanford, Vitter, Spitzer, Schwarzenegger, Craig, for some?
His behavior is nothing new. He just got caught in the web of technology. Haven’t we had presidents in the past that couldn’t keep it in their pants; but kept it somewhat private because technology wasn’t what it is today? We are dealing with human universals enabled to be cultivated in different ways because of technology. Just the way whipped cream has found different applications, since its invention, outside the kitchen. But we have also been manipulated to sit in judgment of other’s human universals by 2500 year old dogma. Perhaps, because the exposure of these deviant behaviors seems endless, we should review human behaviors in different terms based on recent scientific understandings as opposed to repressive, religious dogma. Just the way homosexuality is normal, so apparently are other behaviors some find abhorrent. But to live in a civilized society, we must learn to channel those behaviors into acceptable avenues; not simply condemn or smother the urges all of us find within. It’s the secrecy and misunderstanding that enables the perpetuation of these issues. Weiner has a problem outside the mere act of flirting on twitter. His act is betraying his condition. Have we all not acted out in some fashion? So instead of throwing stones, perhaps a little introspection is necessary.
Personally, I don’t care about Weiner’s problem. His wife’s got the problem now. Have his constituents been affected by his behavior? Obviously he has some fetish. He’s not a loser—but someone with an out of control urge. But it’s one thing to be gay and vote against gay issues like the hypocrisy of Larry Craig. It’s another to be the equivalent of a cross dresser if truly consenting adults are involved. So why does Breitbart get kudos for something that should have remained private if there were no offenses, just the way Lewinski was consenting and not coerced, it should have been no big deal; same here.
As far as Weiner’s fetish, that’s a personal matter if he was truly acting out with a consenting adult. As we have seen countless times among members of both parties, he is guilty of poor judgment probably clouded by his narcissism; the same as Elliot Spitzer and others. Too bad his power clouded his judgment. Perhaps rising stars should go to counseling sessions like college basketball players are advised to do before going pro.
You or I could act out the same way and the consequences might be unremarkable. How many are using their Skypes for things other than what’s advertized? Why is he placed on a different standard? Most modern day thinkers will say it’s probably much ado about nothing. But religious zealots end up controlling the conversation and we’re no better off for it. Just as Clinton was skewered by the right for behavior the likes of a Rick Santorum can only imagine, it’s the religious fanatics on the right hiding in the backwoods from modern thoughts, motivated by 2500 year old misguided intolerance that makes behavior like this intolerable to many. As benign and mundane to the ordinary citizen that participates in this behavior every day, it becomes fodder for the soldiers of the fellowship when a person of importance becomes a target. The numbers are just too great to objectively overcome. But this is where a vote matters. Do we continue to raise the hurdle of qualifications to the repressive, “righteous” levels of the conservative right, or do we educate ourselves and take back the conversation that there are more important things that concern us?
No Flies !
No comments:
Post a Comment