RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://politicalmavens.com/

Now that Oprah’s talk show has finally stopped molding America’s character, perhaps we can admit that it has left some serious casualties in its wake.

Foremost among them was her endorsement of the circus of public apologies – the secular ritual that replaced the private Catholic confessional and spawned a generation of Americans vying with each other to gain absolution by admittance to the culture of rehab.

The most recent exponent, 46 year old Anthony Weiner, first tried the familiar tactics of dodging, lying and attacking the press before dramatically changing course and hoping that America would respond better to a tearful admission of weakness with the suggestion that he might be someone requiring “clinical” assistance in the near future.  In Oprah’s world, wrongdoers gain our sympathy by owning up to their peccadilloes and humbly seeking outside help to straighten out their inside problems.

In Weiner’s case, this hardly seems necessary.  He is not a man suffering from a physical addiction or chemical dependency – he’s just another guy who discovered that a little bit of power and fame entitles men to behave like adolescents.  Instead of reining in the self-aggrandizing impulses that many people experience, the congressman realized that he could have some sexually titillating fun by seeking out young hotties on the social netweork – girls who might think it was cool to have something going on with a politician from the big apple.

To woo them, the frighteningly immature Weiner displayed that underneath his skinny exterior were some buffer, bigger parts.  In older times, we would call such a person an insecure jerk for having those feelings and a reckless loose cannon for acting on them.  Given the current tolerance for finding excuses in the acceptable culture of dysfunction and its wide choice of possibilities,  Weiner may soon enroll himself in a rehab facility for cyber-sexual addiction.  If such a program doesn’t exist yet, it will in a week or two.

In truth, what Weiner needs first is a strong look in the mirror where he should realize that his manhood is not now and never will be dependent on his physical attractiveness.  Fortunately for men, this is not a detriment to their finding love and acceptance in the real world as Weiner apparently did with his recent marriage to a beautiful and accomplished woman.  The second thing the congressman needs to learn is that in order to get away with lying repeatedly on television, you need to have the charismatic personality and charm of a Bill Clinton – Weiner lacks both.  Finally, in his current phase of penitent adolescent, Weiner needs a permanent time-out from his job as political leader;  a tantrum-prone crybaby is a poor choice for a democratic party mobilizing for a national election and a city known for both street smarts and sophistication.  Anthony Weiner needs to regress even further than adolescence and remember that old childhood game of hot potato – for right now he is that lethally toxic IT.