So, Anthony Weiner is set to resign from Congress. Since I said I hoped he wouldn’t do so, I feel obliged to comment on his decision.
What stands out to me about all this aren’t Weiner’s juvenile and mortifying ‘offenses,’ but the bizarre and almost inexplicable and unprecedented calls for his resignation. I don’t think anyone will disagree with me that the open and insistent demands for his resignation from the Minority Leader, the Chairman of his party, the head of the House campaign committee and everyone else is simply unprecedented. I do not think I’ve ever seen anything remotely like it. And the same could be said for what was the impending decision to strip him of all committee assignments.
Now, certainly many people have immediately resigned because of arguably similar transgressions. And I’m certain the Republic would not have been shaken if Weiner’d packed it in on day one. But again, it’s the insistence that’s the issue to me.
I get that it’s icky and makes people cringe. But c’mon. I’ve been following congressional scandals for 15 years. And my God in the grand scheme of things this is pretty silly compared to the levels of wrongdoing, thievery and vicious behavior we’ve all seen. And that disconnect — the most insistent and open demands for resignation ever compared to one of the silliest scandals ever — just doesn’t sit right with me. Especially when, last time we checked at least, his constituents did not want him to resign.
