IT’S HARD TO PICK WORST VILLAIN IN LINEUP OF SEX SCANDALS (Georgie Anne Geyer)
Monday, 13 June 2011
WASHINGTON — Nearly every day now, we Americans are unwitting recipients of the most shameless aspects of our politicians’ lives. But now that we have accumulated such a varied group of cases, perhaps we can begin to get our 2 cents in on our “leaders’” affairs. As we look at the lineup of our recent bad boys, who was really the worst?
Our most recent miscreant, of course, barely needs mention. But then, why should that stop me, any more than it has stopped anyone else? We all now know Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who tweeted today’s equivalent of “dirty pictures” to women here and yon.
But what we might not realize is that Weiner’s problems did NOT have to happen. The Wall Street Journal reported that “The New York Democrat’s blunder came from the Twitter equivalent of clicking ‘Reply All’ on an email.” He meant for only one person to see the picture of his private parts in skivvies — in short, above all, the man is a computer dummy!
So where would we rank today’s best example of an Internet Age dummkopf? I would say about halfway down the list — maybe just the “dumb” part; but let us move on.
I’m not completely sure why, but I would give former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford higher marks than most, perhaps because when he finally flew back from Buenos Aires and his “soul mate” Argentine lover, he was really goofy-genuine about this affair. Who else would look quite so sick after what appeared to be an interesting weekend that most definitely did NOT take place on the Appalachian Trail? I thought at first he was a heartsick cocker spaniel!
We won’t know for a while whether this was true love or not, but the original married couple, Mark and Jenny Sanford, have split.
Then, of course, we have the story of John and Elizabeth Edwards. The perfect couple, the beautiful couple. The couple who survived even the death of their son, and seemed to thrive in the familial setting of two more small children, before Elizabeth was so terribly stricken with cancer.
John, vice presidential candidate and potential presidential candidate, could not leave it there. He had to pick up an easily picked-up lady, put her on his staff, have a child by her, and then — and then! — take a million dollars from two of his wealthy contributors to seclude her from public view.
Now, this is where I become stymied. A MILLION DOLLARS to buy off this kind of “lover”? A girl who soon posed for the public in scanty underwear? (Perhaps she and Anthony Weiner should get together.)
Another moral story for our times, of course, is that of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in 2008 for making dates with the Emperor’s Club of high-priced prostitutes. “He’s finished,” everyone thought. Yet now, I hate myself whenever I look at Spitzer’s report on CNN. I hate myself even more for thinking he is good. I hate myself and everyone like me all over the world who watched last week when Spitzer based his nightly show on these sexual peccadilloes among politicians. Here’s to Newsweek’s Howie Kurtz, who remarked to Spitzer on the show, “I remember the embarrassing day when you resigned as governor, Eliot.”
I know there is a great calling out there for me to write about Arnold Schwarzenegger, his “love child” with his family’s housekeeper, and his potential divorce from the glorious Maria Shriver. When, during his campaign for governor of California, 39 claims of his groping women over the years were aired, I didn’t think it was so bad. That was sort of one Friday afternoon at most newspapers in the old days.
But now it comes out that he has a son with a woman who worked in the home he shared with Maria. I need one question answered: Did he actually TELL Maria about it? If he did, and thought she would forgive him, he is even a dumber wuss than I had thought.
And, of course, we shall always have, as the case of all cases, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Now, here is the quintessential woman who knew everything. She knew about his affairs in Arkansas; she brought her knowledge to Washington, and her actions toward the women were often cruel. She kept everything secret with him and for him.
But then, the real stories of the wives and women involved have never been told. When they ARE told, it should be quite interesting to get another viewpoint. Until then, we can break these scandals into two sorts:
(1) Stories such as Anthony Weiner’s e-affairs, where the people never meet. As The Washington Post said in one article, “Objectively speaking, what Weiner did wasn’t so different from married men who, on their way home, stop at a bar for a drink and flirt.”
(2) Stories where the affairs are not “virtual” ones, but real heat-and-sheets meetings.
You’ll have to choose which is worse.
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