“I don’t have this burning, overriding desire to go out and run for office. It’s not the single animating force in my life as it was for quite some time. But I do recognize, to some degree, it’s now or maybe never for me, in terms of running for something. I’m trying to gauge not only what’s right and what feels comfortable right this second, but I’m also thinking, How will I feel in a year or two years or five years? Is this the time that I should be doing it? And then there’s the other side of the coin, which is … am I still the same person who I thought would make a good mayor?”
So Anthony Weiner is thinking of running for mayor of New York City, complete with New York Times Magazine profile announcing his political ambitions. Can he pull off the big comeback? (via shortformblog)
When he first made his announcement known, my sister said, “He should sit down and stay home so that he can keep it in his pants,” as if politics was the reason that he cheated in the first place. It’s not. Plenty of powerful men on Wall Street cheat, as do men in all types of professional fields.
What I think is forgotten about Weiner in his terrific scandal, is the fact that this man stood up for progressive values. He stood up, where we have so few voices do and so many others that typically say either, “please sir, may I have some more,” with all the politeness of Oliver Twist or “don’t hurt me”, because I’m asking you to help out your fellow common man. (Harry Reid comes to mind there.)
As a liberal and a Democrat, I welcome Weiner to public office, with this thought and what I replied to my sister with: you don’t have to approve or disapprove of what he does or does not do in his public life, unless it directly affects you. How he votes, how he or she represents the people is all that matters when someone holds public office. The Europeans are light years ahead of us on this. I sometimes think the worst thing we inherited from the puritanical forefathers of this country is this judgmental microscope that is completely unfair. I love how they and the rest of the Christian populace conveniently forget, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” The only one that can judge Anthony Weiner for his private affairs are those that it directly affected and God, if he so chooses to believe in one.
Since I don’t have to marry the guy, I don’t care what he does in his personal life as long as it didn’t involve illegal activity. Now as for that judgment, there are plenty in Washington and state and local governments that have far more skeletons in their closet than Anthony Weiner.
(via shortformblog)
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