Last Bit Of Weiner

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I'm less interested in the partisan aspects of this scandal than the media angle, because the fact that partisan politics have reached a fever pitch, and that Republicans are better at playing the game, is old news and boring. But the way this played out in the media was utterly fascinating to me, for some of the reasons Maddow points out in the above video. I don't believe that this was the intent, but the crass questions that that ambassador of Howard Stern's was shouting out were as perfect as they were inappropriate, precisely because they gave direct voice to the subtext of the entire line of questioning throughout this absurd spectacle, and revealed that spectacle itself to be wholly inappropriate.

Honestly, can anyone watch the video and listen to the questions being asked of Anthony Weiner and feel anything but sympathy for him and revulsion at the members of the media present? Do they feel proud of themselves now that they have successfully shamed and destroyed the career of a man who was "guilty" of engaging fully legal, commonplace, and nonsexual activity? Are they themselves capable of feeling shame or hypocrisy?

A lot of the criticism with pretensions toward enlightened understanding claims to be unconcerned with the lascivious acts and more troubled by the fact that he initially lied about those acts. But is there any more harmless, understandable form of lying? Weiner lied to save himself and those close to him embarrassment. How does that at all reflect on him as a politician? It only means he is a human being, with normal human responses.

Even worse is the criticism coming from those who audaciously claim to be offended for the sake of Weiner's wife, as if they have any idea what she knew about this beforehand, how she feels about it, or what their marital agreement entails. The people giving voice to this opinion, who pursued Weiner and put pressure on him to resign on these grounds, were so obviously acting directly and unambiguously against anyone close to Anthony Weiner, as, if they were really concerned for the wellbeing of his wife, the kindest thing to do would clearly have been to stop talking about this whole mess and let it be what it indisputably should: a private matter.

This whole thing proves a point Jon Stewart made well on Fox News this morning: the so-called liberal bias of the mainstream media does not actually exist. Rather, the media is heavily biased towards sensationalism and laziness.