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The Joys of Repressed Voyeuristic Titillation
There are few things more sickening -- or revealing -- to behold than a D.C. sex scandal. Huge numbers of people prance around flamboyantly condemning behavior in which they themselves routinely engage. Media stars contrive all sorts of high-minded justifications for luxuriating in every last dirty detail, when nothing is more obvious than that their only real interest is vicarious titillation. Reporters who would never dare challenge powerful political figures who torture, illegally eavesdrop, wage illegal wars or feed at the trough of sleazy legalized bribery suddenly walk upright -- like proud ostriches with their feathers extended -- pretending to be hard-core adversarial journalists as they collectively kick a sexually humiliated figure stripped of all importance. The ritual is as nauseating as it is predictable.
What makes the Anthony Weiner story somewhat unique and thus worth discussing for a moment is that, as Hendrick Hertzberg points out, the pretense of substantive relevance (which, lame though it was in prior scandals, was at least maintained) has been more or less brazenly dispensed with here. This isn't a case of illegal sex activity or gross hypocrisy (i.e., David Vitter, Larry Craig, Mark Foley (who built their careers on Family Values) or Eliot Spitzer (who viciously prosecuted trivial prostitution cases)). There's no lying under oath (Clinton) or allegedly illegal payments (Ensign, Edwards). From what is known, none of the women claim harassment and Weiner didn't even have actual sex with any of them. This is just pure mucking around in the private, consensual, unquestionably legal private sexual affairs of someone for partisan gain, voyeuristic fun and the soothing fulfillment of judgmental condemnation. And in that regard, it sets a new standard: the private sexual activities of public figures -- down to the most intimate details -- are now inherently newsworthy, without the need for any pretense of other relevance.
I'd really like to know how many journalists, pundits and activist types clucking with righteous condemnation of Weiner would be comfortable having that standard applied to them. I strongly suspect the number is very small. Ever since the advent of Internet commerce, pornography -- use of the Internet for sexual gratification, real or virtual -- has has been, and continues to be, a huge business. Millions upon millions of people at some point do what Weiner did. I know that's a shocking revelation that will cause many Good People to clutch their pearls in fragile Victorian horror, but it's nonetheless true. It's also true that marital infidelity is incredibly common.
If Chris Matthews or Brian Williams or any politician ever patronized or even visited a porno site on the Internet or had a sexually charged IM chat with someone who isn't their spouse, shouldn't that now be splashed all over the Internet so we can all read it -- not just the fact of its existence but all the gory details? After all, this is about character, judgment, veracity: these are Important Journalists and Politicians, and how can we trust them if they're not even faithful to their spouse? Isn't that the standard now -- the one they're gleefully propagating?
Read the rest of the article at Salon...
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77 Comments so far
Show AllI'm glad I'm not the only one who really doesn't care about this.
Defending Weiner is a waste of energy for an otherwise great journalist such as Greenwald.
Weiner's comments and actions against the Palestinian people have been destructive and mean. So who cares if he has some embarrassment to deal with and that his bid for Mayor of NY may be in jeopardy. This scandal will give him more time to seduce women on the internet, a habit about which I couldn't care less. If these women like what they see, let 'em have at him. Hopefully, they can keep him so very busy he has little time to spend undercutting the rights of the Palestinian people.
Bingo -
A series of sophomoric nonsensical incidents like this could put Mitt Romney in the White House.
Amen Glenn. But as you know, this isn't about Weiner's sex life, it's about driving him out of office. Unelecting him. It's trial by press.
They did the same thing to Julian Assange and possibly to Strass Kahn who wanted to reform the IMF.
The press know exactly what they are doing, why they are doing it and who they are doing it for. Weiner was a vocal Democrat not one of spineless wonders like the dishonest Ms. Pelosi that wants to investigate him. He had some fight in him. The forces of darkness that are enveloping our nation cannot tolerate that.
The only interesting thing about the story is that Nancy Pelosi wants to investigate this matter, which is obviously of critical national interest. She immediately took single payer "off the table" allowing no discussion, but feels that it is worth our time to put Weiner's weiner "on the table", if you will excuse the image.
Another stupid distraction like the Monica Lewinsky hearings. How is Pelosi any better than Ken Starr? And of course the lazy and sleazy press welcome this as a way out of doing any real work.
If you consider Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart to be on the 'left'.....I am guessing you are under 25. Sorry. I didn't bother with the rest of your post. I can't handle that kind of idiotic lack of real life understanding of what these terms actually 'mean'. It is all part of the dumbing down of americans - particularly the young.
Oh, i see my comment was misplaced. It was meant as a response to a poster who opened with this view of reality.
readytotransform, it's those over 25 who do the majority of voting and are dumbed down and afraid. I am over 60 and though I do not agree with everything Maddow or Stewart have to say, I don't consider them on the "right" of any issue. Narrow minded cynicism requires more arrogance than critical thinking. The Daily show, is comedic satire not a Chomsky lecture review. Rachael Maddow did not get her job as a result of her conservative views.
My original comment, and i also don't even pay attention to this stuff, so i don't know the details......Why do guys who are in politics do stuff that they must know will become public and humiliate themselves? That is a mystery to me. Truly. It appears to be a self sabatoge. Who doesn't know that this stuff is public? Plus.
It just seems really sophomoric and actually, not surprising.
A picture of his chest?? I thought he emailed a pic of his... ahem, wiener
There's the tragic truth: "Reporters [Chris Matthews the most ridiculous among them] who would never dare challenge powerful political figures who torture, illegally eavesdrop, wage illegal wars or feed at the trough of sleazy legalized bribery suddenly walk upright -- like proud ostriches with their feathers extended -- pretending to be hard-core adversarial journalists as they collectively kick a sexually humiliated figure stripped of all importance."
As Greenwald notes there's no there there--- this is a spectacle of pure prudish prurience, nothing more. It has the air of unreality, of a circus within a circus but without the bread. Such a digital coliseum event, sponsored by oligarchs and staged by feckless courtier "journalists", is an unmistakable symptom of the decay of empire. It's time to throw open the gates for the so-called barbarians.
But, there is a 'there' there. The Congressman is unable, or unwilling, to confirm whether any of his correspondents were underage. If so, Weiner has committed a crime and would thus become classified as a sex offender.
Here the irony escalates, for it is none other than Weiner who ushered into law the KIDS (Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators) Act of 2007!
Quoting from his web site:
"...a bill to require sex offenders to register their e-mail and instant message addresses with the National Sex Offender Registry. The “Kids Act’ implemented one of my six recommendations to keep a closer eye on sex offenders both near school grounds and online. I also proposed stricter GPS tracking of sex offenders, tougher enforcement of registration laws and more public disclosure of sex offender data.
Sadly, the Internet is the predator's venue of choice today. We need to update our strategies and our laws to stop these offenders who are a mere click away from our children. "
and on it continues...
Are there any adults alive out there? So what if he sent a private photo of his ear, or his face. If you've seen one sex organ, you seen them all. Consenting adults can do whatever in private. As long as no one is getting hurt, I sure don't even care what it is that they are doing. As a matter of fact, I'd rather not know. I suspect every government official, teacher, fire fighter, health care providers, etc has a sex life that has nothing to do with performing their job.
JJW, Thanks for reminding some of what should be obvious.
"...has a sex life that has nothing to do with performing their job."
Isn't that the point?--- the congressman has built a career on going after sexual predators on the internet.
Smacks of a certain sanctimony, does it not?
What's more, he is partially responsible for emplacing a number of rather draconian laws on the books. Registration for sex offenders is a mandatory requirement that lasts a life time. An individual may have their criminal record expunged, yet, the registration requirement stays. There is no real wiggle room in these laws, even when they apply to relatively innocuous violations. Lives are being ruined for what may have only been a momentary lapse of judgement. Let the Weiner have a taste of what he wrought.
I think it is all about blackmail Glenn. Them Al -Qaeda boys get the skinny on Wiener he might not vote the right way on the next arms deal to Israel. In a perfect virtual world we all rub a dub with our perfect yum yum but not yet, at least not for those in pub(l)ic service.
All commentators focus on bad, bad Weiner. What I would like to know is how many of the women involved immediately twittered: stop, or else.
WHITE BOYS BLACK BOYS HAIR!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNVx9E55OOw
Weiner step down!
I would love it if all the politicians would end the wars, address Global Warming and then strip naked and form a six- mile anallingus daisy chain. That would be much more respectable behavior than usual.
The importance of Greenwald's point that in Weiner's case there's a media brouhaha even though there was no illegal sexual activity, gross hypocrisy, or lying under oath, is that it begs the question: If the fuss is not really about any of those things, then what is it about?
My perception is that the preoccupation with sexual indiscretion among politicians serves primarily as a political weapon (there's no easier way to bring down an American politician) and a means of maintaining the pretense that politicians are held to a higher moral standard than the rest of us. That pretense in turn serves as a cover for the injustices that our government perpetrates every day in its normal course of doing business. Titillation is one of the means by which the corporate state distracts us from the policy issues that actually matter to our country.
Breitbart is the evil, reptilian humanoid in this story. Chris Matthews' coverage of the story was disgusting as was that most of the mainstream media.
In 1865 John Wilkes Booth was killed for the assignation of Abe Lincoln, and ever since then someone has died for political assination. But now the political opperatives know that all it takes to assignate a fellow politician and not be killed themselves is to set some scumbag like Braitbart on the loose. I often wonder how gullable the American electorate can be, And then something like Weinergate happens and I am assured once again that we are a childish and churlish nation.
May God have mercy on the sanctimonous among us.