OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
When weepy Anthony D. Weiner stood in front of a New York hotel ballroom and exposed himself, he also laid bare the U.S. Congress for the childish, seedy and dishonest behavior for which it has become known.
With his infantile, self-loving worldview, sleazy treatment of voters and effortless dishonesty, Mr. Weiner becomes the latest poster child for what most good Americans sadly think of Washington and particularly Congress.
It is a place where you can say 13 times in one oration that you take “full responsibility” for lewd, lascivious and predatory behavior — yet pay no price.
Is it any wonder that these are the same people who, when they get into a fiscal jam, just print more money? Or steal more from grandchildren they will never know and certainly don’t care about to pay for their self-aggrandizing boondoggles?
One of Mr. Weiner’s victims, a 26-year-old single mother who served in the U.S. Army, made the mistake of commenting approvingly on a strong position Mr. Weiner had taken on an issue she cared about. For Mr. Weiner, that was a pants-off green light.
“I don’t know if he loved telling me his personal business. I didn’t want him to say more, didn’t want to hear stories about sex with famous people,” the woman explained after being dragged into Mr. Weiner’s sick drama. “But I guess he needed to express himself.”
The woman recounted how Mr. Weiner telephoned her searching for who knows what kind of creepy talk only to hear her child scampering around in the background. She later called him back and reached the phone at Mr. Weiner’s congressional office — a line and office intended exclusively for congressional business paid for by us tax-paying suckers.
Of course, Mr. Weiner was quick to lie about that, too, saying he never used government resources to carry on his sleazy fantasies.
He will not resign, he said, because he did not violate “any rules of the House” or his “oath of office to uphold the Constitution.”
I’m sorry, but what part of being a horny, lying, delusional creep in your congressional dealings with voters on work time using government resources is not a total abortion of your responsibilities to the taxpaying public?
Then again, it is impossible to resign in shame if you have no shame.
Mr. Weiner also told us it was excusable for him to lie because he had made a mistake and he was embarrassed and he was trying to protect himself and his political career. Holy crow, then when is it NOT excusable to lie?
Now comes evidence that Mr. Weiner conspired with a porn-star cybersex friend, coaching her on how to lie for him in this whole scandal. This would make an entirely new line of deceit from his come-clean news conference this week.
Mr. Weiner is probably thinking to himself right now, “Who are they going to believe? A congressman or a porn star?” Of course, the answer to that is simple. The porn star — at least porn stars are honest.
One of the most chilling aspects of this whole sordid mess was watching Mr. Weiner deploy that debating technique favored by cretins everywhere — comparing himself to someone even slimier than himself. It’s not like, he said during his news conference, he was cyberstalking little girls.
Then, realizing he had no idea what he was talking about, Mr. Weiner quickly added, “At least, to the best of my knowledge they were all adults.” Yes, this is the same statesman who introduced the KIDS (Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators) Act of 2007.
Thank God, our children are safe. Just don’t let them get anywhere near a member of Congress.
• Charles Hurt’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at charleshurt@live.com.
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