Men
of outrageous arrogance -- Anthony
Weiner and Eliot Spitzer.
Even in New York City, a town used
to assertiveness, Weiner's performance in recent weeks has been way over the
top. There he's been trying desperately to deflect disclosures about his
sending women naked photos of himself--particularly of his penis--and raunchy
online messages using the name "Carlos Danger." And this for more than a year
after he resigned from Congress with a vow to deal with his serial sexting
habit.
"I
said that other texts and photos were likely to come out and today they have,"
declared Weiner at an initial press conference, somehow believing this would quell
the new uproar over his behavior. click here
After
a stay out of politics following his quitting Congress in 2011 because of
disclosures then of his sexting, Weiner came back in full force this May announcing
he was running for New York mayor. As he campaigned determinedly, he rose in
the polls and became the front-runner--until the new sexting disclosures.
Meanwhile,
Spitzer, who resigned suddenly as New York State's governor in 2008 for "personal
failings" after disclosures of his being a regular client of a high-priced prostitution
ring, announced last month he was running for the Number 3 job in New York City
government, comptroller.
Spending
lavishly from his family's fortune made in New York City real estate, Spitzer
has been flooding New York with TV commercials, his main campaign device through
the decades. And he has risen in the polls to being ahead of Manhattan Borough
President Scott Stringer.
The
kick-off TV commercial in the Spitzer media blitz had him declaring, "Look, I
failed. Big time." But, the spot continued, having been "sheriff of Wall
Street" when he was New York's attorney general between 1999 and 2006 should entitle
him with "a fair shot" to return to governmental office. Saturating New York
airwaves now is a commercial that says "the people of this city are about to
welcome back an old friend." The headline about this in the New York Daily News: "Eliot Spitzer TV Ad Spins
Disgraced Politician as an 'Old Friend' to New Yorkers." click here
Weiner
and Spitzer have become gags in New York City politics--indeed, punch lines on
the national level.
Andy
Borowitz's humor blog on The New Yorker website
about the initial press conference was titled "Weiner Continues Sexting During
Apology." It claimed--in jest, of course--that "Weiner stirred
controversy today by continuing to send dirty texts throughout a press
conference devoted to apologizing for his behavior. Mr. Weiner was halfway
through his apology when reporters noticed him remove a phone from his pocket
and aim its camera lens unmistakably in the direction of his pants. After
seeing the candidate snap a photo of the pants region and then send a text,
reporters bombarded Mr. Weiner with questions, asking him if he had in fact
just sexted. 'Yes, I did, but I swear this was the last time,' he said. 'This
behavior is now behind me.' Mr. Weiner then concluded his press conference by
removing his shirt and snapping a quick shot of his naked torso." http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/07/anthony-weiner-continues-sexting-during-apology.html
Serious issues about stability are,
of course, being raised.
Representative
Jerry Nadler of Manhattan, a colleague of Weiner in Congress, says: "I think he
should pull out of the race. I think he needs serious psychiatric help." http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/216708441.html
Dan Janison in his Newsday column commented: "Politics is just one business, of course, where ruthlessness can be a character reference and hypocrisies are inevitable. But a prospective public servant's ability to act sensibly also is worth considering."
Gail Collins in her New York Times column wrote: "Nobody
knows what drove Spitzer to jump in. Did Weiner's entry trigger a case of
disgraced-politician competiveness?" click here=0
And Frank Bruni
in his New York Times column opined
that Weiner was "angling for a gigantic promotion. In the narrative he's
constructed, his mortification has made him a new man, so we're supposed to
give him an extra measure of our trust and hand him the reigns of the most
important and most complicated city in the country. I know we like our mayors
brash, but we needn't accept delusional in the bargain." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/opinion/bruni-sex-and-the-sorriest-pols.html?_r=0
As for Spitzer, Bruni skewered his record as governor charging--accurately--that he "was shaping up to be a self-righteous, self-defeating disaster of a governor."
As governor for little over a year,
starting in 2007, Spitzer proclaimed himself a "steamroller"--and in his
dysfunction exhibited the sensitivity of such a machine. http://nymag.com/news/features/34730/
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