My first reaction when the story about Representative Anthony Weiner came out was, “How could someone be so stupid?” First of all, could he possibly have thought for a moment that he was not going to be caught? Second, couldn’t he have done this anonymously and remained under the radar?
None of us will probably ever know the extent of the digital relationships and interactions he was having and the details of his online escapades. He says he made a mistake when he sent the revealing photos from his official “RepWeiner” Twitter account, so apparently, he had a private account he was using for sending the porn. Maybe he uses Hootsuite or some other social media management tool to keep track of everything and clicked the wrong account. An easy to make and honest mistake. But it is going to cost him his career.
So does Anthony Weiner have an Internet addiction problem or is he just a guy, doing regular guy stuff, that got caught with his pants down online, so to speak. This is what guys do on the Internet isn’t it? Look at pornography, chat with women, have cyber sex. In fact, I would not be too surprised if in a last ditch effort, someone does try to downplay it – to say he did not do anything that no other healthy male is doing online today. He just made the mistake of letting it go public, and for a public figure, that is a big mistake.
Well, I would argue that he does have a problem. I don’t care much about whether he resigns or how it effects his party because there are hundreds more just like him in his party and in the Republican party. I care about what we learn from this incident. Here was a successful politician, a rising star in the Democratic party. He risked all that for some sexting and cyber sex. He completely humiliated himself in front of the entire world.
But it’s a lot like cockroaches. They say if one crawls out into the open light of your kitchen, you’ve got thousands hidden away under the floor boards and in the plumbing. Yuck!
He is not the first politician to get caught like this and he won’t be the last. But I am wondering about all of those who have not been caught and never will be. And for every one of those respectable, educated, caring, ethical politicians, how many regular guys are just like them? I am not judging anyone. I am not even interested in anyone catching them — there are too many I fear. I am just really worried. This is what they have become — a bunch of creeps sending naked pictures to strangers online. This is what the Internet is for many people. And not because they are bad, not because they don’t care.
Anthony Weiner did not need to do this. He had an brilliant career, is surrounded by interesting people, married, etc. He must have realized the risk he was taking. But he apparently had some compulsive need that he was unable to control. And it’s only the public humiliation that has forced him into seeking help for his problem.
Imagine all the regular people out there who will never be forced to seek help.
