I swore I wasn’t going to write about the Anthony Weiner saga, but alas here I am. When it first broke in the news, I really thought it was a hoax by a hacker, or that he had perhaps been set up, as I couldn’t believe that ANYONE could be that dumb and/or self-destructive. I was even p.o’d at the journalist who I felt were dogging him. Mea Culpa: was I ever wrong!
Weinergate, as it progresses, feels much bigger (maybe a pun intended here?) than just another sex scandal – it’s starting to feel like a symbol for the unusual? and hurtful ways some wealthy and powerful men are attempting to relieve the stress that comes along with power and wealth. I’m no shrink or psychologist, I’m just a sayin’ musin’ as to how Weiner’s weiner seems to have become a symbol that’s particularly telling that as a man grows in wealth and power, perhaps his brains can’t help but descend into his penis? And Lord, luv a duck: Weiner even had to photograph it and send it into cyber space to be sure it was really there and workin’.
The reason I would never vote for Weiner if he were my candidate for senator, congressperson, president, mayor, candidate for the school board etc. has nothing to do with his testosterone level whatsoever: it has to do with an obvious lack of judgement, lack of being trust-worthy, fear of his un-resolved shadow issues that might pop up again in another way, and his penchant for extreme risk-taking.
I am also perplexed, not at those who are still on the fence about Weiner, but by those who are fiercely (angrily?) campaigning for him to remain and fight for them. But, everyone has a right to their opinion in this crazy political world we find ourselves in, and I think the public’s response is a subject for a whole other blog.
I also wouldn’t vote for Edwards or the Sperminator, not because of their sexual appetites, but because of the hurt they caused their families through their lies and deceptions, and while I’m appalled at the pain they caused to their wives and family, I’m far more frightened and shocked by Weiner’s actions. They shout: catch me if you can! Instead of a cover-up, it feels like a plea to be stopped. Not a person I would want making decisions for the country. It feels totally adolescent!
So many men, once they have reached a certain level of power and wealth, are shown to begin to have multiple affairs. It’s as if they think that they now have earned the right to a younger woman’s sexual attention, or to the homosexual affair they have repressed for years. Perhaps the territory automatically throws open the doors that were closed inside of them in childhood? Perhaps the territory should automatically come with a permit to have a harem? Many in the middle east do.
Maybe wealthy and powerful men evolve beyond the societal rules that have been laid down for the common folk – monogamy in particular? Europeans have laughed at us for years at our puritan sexual ways. They simply accept that affairs go along with the ascent into political power. Again, I’m just sayin’! And I must add that my heart goes out to their wives, children and parents. Perhaps they would have been hurt far less if the reality had been put on the table from the get-go? Just sayin’.
CNN listed 17 men who had affairs on their wives – with other women and/or men – and 5 were Democrats and 8 were Republican – a few were Independents. Now, it’s 6 to 8 and the race to the top continues; however, I don’t think bad and/or distorted behavior has anything to do with what political party you happen to be in, but it does seem to be connected to a penis that’s not sure just where it belongs.
In a strange way I can understand why Weiner’s weiner ended up on the internet as it’s the powerful engine that is now connecting us all in more ways than one. Just sayin’ – the internet often feels like an out-of- control virus that’s growing exponentially in our lives – the power symbol Weiner’s weiner was looking for? Reminds me of the movie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar? And once something is out there: it’s really out there like forevermore: think Palin’s emails, and Kwame’s messages to his sweetie. That’s why I try as best as I can not to put false info out into cyber-space, and when it’s just an opinion to say so. All of the above is just my opinion.
The next two elections are very close and so the lies will proliferate into a vicious storm, and we all have to check what’s sent out as “truth” before we click the forward button. We need to distinguish between opinion and fact, and acknowledge the beast that the internet has become, and remember that just because it comes in an email, doesn’t mean that it’s true.
An old friend keeps sending me right-wing emails that I tell her to check out on www.snopes.com before hitting the forward key as 99% of them are simply lies that are made up by the nutty right; however, I guess she’s just too lazy to check them before passing them along because I got one more this morning in my in box, and my reply wasn’t as nice as it’s been in the past.
Sending out negative emails that malign another person, organization or political party reminds me of the way people pass along rumors (we used to call that gossip) without ever checking out the truth or falsehood in them. The really scarey thing with these emails, however, is that the email that is sent to you that isn’t true, once it is passed on, is literally then passed along and quadruples into thousands of lies in cyber space. Talk about a gossip chain! More people, perhaps than not, believe that if it’s on the internet and/or in an email from a friend, then it must be the truth. Opinion belongs to everyone. Discussion is always good, but to pass untruth along as fact is destructive and irresponsible. So, please check it out!
And, hmmm, tonight on that other powerful medium, the tube, The Bachelorette and The Stanley Cup Finals are both competing for your attention with the First Republican Presidential Candidate Debate taking place on CNN. I wonder which one you’ll choose? I’m up for the debate, even thought I’m pretty much a Yellow Dog Democrat at this point, I plan to watch as I want to check out the guy whose the founder of Godfather’s pizza, how Mitt will weasel around the health-care issue, and the confidence that will be postured by the inventor of the newest word in our vocabulary: newtony. Thinking it’ll be a real hoot! By the way, a Yellow Dog Democrat is one who if a Republican and a Yellow Dog were asking for your vote, you’d vote for the yellow dog.
My wish for you today is a small verse of mine inside one of my cards AR-009.
Within us all a cave of wonder:
white flowers of desire.
Within us all the hope of others,
our love the waking fire.
