Let me aver that I like and respect and hope for the victory of Republican Joe Lhota to replace Bloomberg. However when it comes to Anthony Weiner, hypocrisy abounds…..his desire for a second chance, elicits much high dudgeon from folks who have given worse people a pass.
Washington D.C. (It’s the nations capital!!!) former Mayor Marion Barry (1979 to 1991) was re-elected to another term (1995 to 1999) in spite of a stint in jail in 1990 resulting from perjury and drug possession. Subsequently he was elected councilman for Washington’s 8th Ward in spite of repeated scandals involving taxes, illegal gifts from contractors and traffic violations.
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts continued to be re-elected despite the scandal in Chappaquiddick where he left a young woman to drown while scheming to hide his role in the accident. When the nation’s Senatorial Tom-Cat died, he was called “the lion of the senate” and buried in West Point.
Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut continued to be re-elected in spite of being mired in mortgage scandals, lies, questionable real-estate bonanzas, and in 1985 his fondling and “sandwiching” a young waitress with fellow rogue Ted Kennedy. The Hartford Courant noted: “Dodd and Kennedy were also reported to have made a ‘human sandwich’ with a waitress at La Brasserie, another Capitol Hill restaurant. The report had it that Kennedy threw the woman on Dodd, who was slumped in a chair, and then jumped on top of her. She was said to have run screaming from the room.” And both Dodd and Kennedy had the effrontery to try a run for the Presidency.
Recently retired Rep. Barney Frank continued to be re-elected in spite of a scandal in 1989 resulting from a gay prostitution ring he ran from his apartment. In later years he admitted the scandal and told how he was depressed and lost weight….but he did not lose the ensuing elections.
Disgraced Ex South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, once a GOP frontrunner resigned amid a scandal of infidelity, leaving the office for a jaunt to Argentina with his girlfriend and lying about it just won an election for Congressman for the state’s First District.
Then there is this hilarious tidbit from June 3, 2013 http://tribuneherald.net/2013/06/03/texas-legislator-drops-marijuana-cigarette-while-speaking-on-floor/ “While speaking during the Texas legislative session, representative Tom Alvin (R) Altruria, dropped something unexpected on the House floor. Upon picking up the item, cameras caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette.” The bill being discussed Ironically, the bill being discussed proposed decreasing penalties for the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
Rep. Alvin spoke in opposition to the bill stating “marijuana is a deadly and dangerous drug. It ruins people’s lives and is so addictive that people can become hooked on it just by touching it. We have to keep in mind that allowing any steps towards its legalization will ensure that children have access to this drug. Only by keeping it illegal and imposing tough sentences can we continue to ensure that this plant is no longer consumed by people who should not have it.”
After the session adjourned Rep. Alvin was questioned about the joint he had in his pocket and his remarks made in opposition to the bill.“Well obviously state legislators enjoy special privileges that other people do not” he stated.
Nothing in Anthony Weiner’s record even comes close to the above. Weiner is lewd and vulgar but so is Rahm Emanuel now mayor of Chicago.