On Being (A) Weiner

It just dawned on me that one way Congressman Anthony Weiner could sign his name is "A. Weiner" – something I doubt he has ever done. You know, I don’t sit in judgment on Anthony Weiner’s flaws because we all have them. And I am pretty sure that his lack of judgment is more unfortunate than unlawful. But there are some political realities that need to be considered.

Weiner has damaged his integrity not by sending a photo of the Member’s member to some Texas floozy who seems to be enjoying her 15 minutes of fame, but by laying it on a practical joker. Essentially by pure fabrication of an event that never happened. When you do that people lose all trust in you.

Weiner has in effect made himself ineffective. A non-entity who will have to stay under wraps and quiet for the rest of his term. How unfortunate is that when this particular congressman was known for his emotional outbursts that competed with Alan Grayson’s in volume and outrage.

No, Anthony Weiner should not quit. He will not be expelled, he broke no law. Not like Louisiana’s senator, Sen. David Vitter. Vitter broke the law and is still voting in the Senate. If Vitter quits I’ll rethink my opinion on Weiner quitting, but not until then.

No, Weiner should stay in office and serve out his term quietly. His constituents deserve representation in congress. My former congressman, Tom DeLay quit and left me unrepresented in congress for months on end – not that my views were very well represented by DeLay. But most of Weiner’s constituents, 61% of the voters in his district do have views that he needs to represent.

And the New York state legislature needs to redraw the congressional district boundaries, and subtract Weiner’s district. New York actually declined in population and will lose 2 congressional seats in the next election. One of the districts that needs to go is Weiner’s Brooklyn district.

Problem solved.