Character Doesn't Matter

The continuing drama playing out in New York provides a window into what the Democrat party has to offer in the way of trustworthy public service.

Anthony Weiner, caught in his escapades in 2011, at first lied about them, and only when confronted by overwhelming evidence, admitted to his activities.  Even then, he did not want to give up his congressional seat, and it was only under pressure from fellow Democrats that he resigned.

For a while, he dropped out of sight, but recently, he announced that he would run for mayor of New York City.  I'm sure he hoped that his little scandal had been forgotten.

Unfortunately, he has apparently been busy creating more pictures of his privates, and sending them to on-line friends, exactly what got him into trouble in 2011.

An intelligent person has no choice but to conclude two things.  First, that Anthony Weiner is not to be trusted.  He has repeatedly lied to the public, and only admitted the truth when incontrovertible evidence was in his face.  He is clearly willing to sacrifice the truth to hold his office.  Second, I think that anyone in public life who thinks that he can trust strangers to keep secrets has poor judgement.  Especially in this world of google, NSA eavesdropping, and facebook security scandals, it is downright foolish to think that something you do on line is not eventually going to end up on the front page of the "local paper".  Can we trust this man with classified documents?

So, what is the reaction of the his fellow Democrat legislators, party elders and left-leaning pundits?  What is the judgement of the public?

As far as I've heard, it doesn't matter.  He's still doing well in the polls.

Even those who are calling for him to pull out of the race are doing it on the basis of his being a "distraction", not because dishonesty and marital infidelity are signals that damage his claim to the trust of his constituents.

The scandals in recent years, from Weiner, to Bill Clinton, to Elliot Spitzer have a common thread.  "It's only sex"  In short, it doesn't matter.  The dishonesty is dismissed as natural and normal, as hormones trump discipline.  The poor judgement is dismissed entirely.  We are to believe that his "public service" is entirely separate from his "private life".  His self discipline can be poor in one area of his life, and excellent in others.  We are told that their public deceptions are entirely limited to their private lives.  In short, character doesn't matter.

There is a word for this: Rubbish.