The Ick Factor

I have primarily kept away from "Weinergate" with the exception of two quotes. One being from Weiner himself saying he doesn't know if the underwear clad penis belongs to him and a CNN anchor asking that since he has never talked about morality he really isn't being a hypocrite. There in lies my ick factor to this whole incident.



First and foremost, he is a married man so there is morality involved in this. Far be it from me to talk for his wife, but as a woman I can tell you if my husband were emailing photos of his penis I would have a problem with it. I don't think that is such an outrageous position to hold. It is coming out today that there are additional photos, some of him shirtless and others that are pretty benign. Again, except for the fact he is a married man. We have a real problem in this country if we are saying that there is no morality issue with a married spending time on the internet with other women. We also have a real problem with people finding it acceptable to taking naked and/or lewd photos and sending them out into cyberspace.


Parents of tweens and teens are working overtime to try to explain to their children that sending these types of photos is dangerous. First and foremost if the girl is underage it can be considered kiddie porn and the person with the photo can end up on a sex offender list. Not something that anyone would want to see happen to a child that is not engaging in that type of behavior. There are also the dangers of teens being innocent enough that they don't realize that the person that they are sending them to are in reality a sex offender. They are potentially putting themselves in grave danger. And here we are having a congressman, who is not only ambitious, but very well-known due to his attraction to any camera around. How exactly do we explain to our children that it is ok for a congressman to do this, but they can't?


While I don't think anyone should be using a politician as a role model, because they certainly are not, but it is very difficult when this is in the news. They hear about it, they see it in the news, they have access to this info on the internet. I personally find this insulting.


I am listening to his press conference now. He finally admits that he sent a picture of penis to a young woman he never has met in person. What kind of person does this? He puts it down to a mistake, he was not drinking or using drugs when he did these things. He is standing there talking about how he has lied and he takes responsibility for his actions. He calls it a personal failing. But he believes that he works hard for his district and is refusing to resign. He doesn't feel that he has done anything that has any effect on his job performance. No effect on your job performance? Really?


So let me get this straight, he is an admitted liar, and a pervert who sends pics of his private parts to very young women he has never met, even though he is married to a very attractive woman. This is the actions of someone we depend upon to make decisions on how this country this runs. This is what we want to show our children? Is this who we want representing us?


Is it really so much to ask that the people who are representing us have a sense of morality and the realization that these type of scandals have an effect on the children in this country? I don't think that it is. A member of congress should be held to a higher standard while they are serving in office.


My other question is what other behaviors is this man involved in? Can he really be trusted?