Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Weiner Trifecta Not Just Tabloid Fodder


Aww, c'mon!

Anthony Weiner is pulling a three-peat?

At the risk of giving this story more attention than it deserves, let's go ahead and admit the obvious:  Weiner has continued making a name for himself as the king of scintillating sexting.  This time, with the inclusion of his young son in one of the suggestive photos.  Although the presence of his child was almost certainly incidental, and not intentionally lewd.

Still, it was salacious enough for more than one critic to wonder if New York's child protective services should make a visit to the Weiner household and check things out.  But that's probably going a bit overboard.

Suffice it to say that there are problems within the Weiner - Abedin marriage, and now that this famous Democratic couple has now separated, and appears headed for divorce court, we already know the dearest victim in all of this has been - and will be - their child.

And while most of the blame for Weiner's latest sexting scandal has been appropriately heaped on him, the support many of us onlookers used to give Huma seems to be tepid at best this time around.  After all, according to both the texts involved in this latest case, and basic common sense regarding the schedule Huma and her boss, Hillary Clinton, have been keeping, the Weiner - Abedin marriage has been a lonely one, particularly for Weiner.  He's basically been a stay-at-home dad while his wife gallops all over the world at the behest of one of the world's most powerful celebrity couples.  Even Weiner's latest confession to his wife this past weekend, before the tabloid New York Post broke his story, was during a brief time when the pair was alone during one of Hillary's fundraising swings through the Hamptons, on Long Island.

Some have speculated that with the Weiner - Abedin marriage on the rocks, might national security be somehow compromised since Hillary, as a presidential contender, has been receiving top-secret national security briefings, as has Donald Trump, along with the current White House resident, Barak Obama?  What prurient privacies might Hillary have mentioned to Huma, and Huma to her hubby?

However, considering how little the couple apparently has communicated over these past months, has Huma even had an opportunity to whisper national secrets into Weiner's ear while they're lying in bed together, trying not to wake their child?

Meanwhile, what's just as audacious as Weiner's sexting trifecta has been both Donald Trump's sanctimonious outcry over it, as well as the ridicule from Trump's supporters.  As if Trump can lecture anybody about cheating on one's spouse - unless he's doing so as an expert on the subject, and giving proven tips for how to do it.  Trump is also the one who's lusted publicly after his own daughter - how gross is that?  And still, his legions of supporters smirk with adolescent libidinousness, giggling like teenaged boys in a locker room.

So America, let's cut the malarkey here about Weiner's sexual frustrations, and give him and Huma some space.  Marriage is still marriage, after all, and parenting is still parenting, and things look dire for both in this particular family.  Chances are, Huma isn't about to cancel on Hillary and move back in with Weiner to fix whatever's broken, even after however much marital counseling they might pursue together.  If Huma was infatuated with Weiner's rising political star, back in the day, that's been dimmed for quite a while now, and likely wouldn't have brightened anytime soon, even if this third sexting episode hadn't happened.  Instead, for all this time, she's remained supremely devoted to her long-time employer, and Weiner has finally given her a convenient green-light to ditch what she likely considers to be her mistaken choice for spousal material.

Besides, regardless of your political persuasion, it's a fact that Hillary has a good shot of winning the presidency.  And if she does, Huma is looking at spectacular political opportunities for herself in an administration she'd likely have a heavy hand in crafting.  And in politics, divorced spouses somehow fade into the woodwork, and lonely kids still get raised, somehow, no matter how distant their parents are.  After all, in Washington especially, it's not about one's children, but about how much power you can amass for yourself.  Family only matters to the extend that they help broaden one's own political fortunes.

And Weiner's political account is currently bankrupt.

Perhaps instead of Weiner being the one with an insatiable problem with sexual lust, it's Huma's insatiable lust for power that is at least equally responsible for the state of their marriage.  At the very least, the benefit of the doubt has yet to be lavishly bestowed upon her by the court of public opinion, even as we chatter about the blatantly frustrated couple.

In fact, this time around, might it be that people are starting to feel just a little bit sorry for Weiner?  Not that any of it really, truly is any of our business.  But at the same time, when you're making your living in the public eye - Weiner had been working as a political "expert" for a New York City cable television show - the things you do generally become public because, well, the public is, in essence, paying your salary.  And Huma is employed by somebody earnestly seeking The Highest Office In The Land.  These kind of things qualify as public-interest stories, even if they involve deeply private problems.

And we love gushing over the deep, private problems of other people.  At least my wife doesn't run around the world and leave me alone with our kid like Huma does.  At least my husband doesn't sext - or at least, he'd better not!  And if our spouses actually do these things we fault in the Weiner - Abedin marriage, at least we're not supposed to be setting a better example of morality and perseverance for our society because of our prominence in it.  They're supposed to be the role models, not us.

Funny how, whichever family gets into the White House this fall, the salacious details of either the Trump clan or the Clinton marriage will at least rival, if not obliterate, what Weiner has done.  Three times, at least.

We Americans often complain about the moral quality of the leadership we keep voting into office.  It seems like people with low morality are the type of politicians we like.

Come to think of it, maybe Weiner still has some sort of future in politics after all.  Especially in New York City, which has given us both Senator Clinton and Donald Trump.

Shouldn't Huma think twice about ditching him right now?


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