Weinergate commentary, at last
Posted by Richard on June 8, 2011
OK, so far I've avoided posting about the saga of Rep. Anthony Weiner (SD-NY) and his tented underwear. But I've broken down and can no longer resist.
Best bitingly funny remark goes to Ann Coulter, who suggested that Weiner's penis photo dispute would be settled in Small Claims Court.
Best amateur submission I've heard was from a caller to a radio show who, after Weiner's first press conference, pointed out that no matter how you pronounce his name, it fits.
Best column summing things up and, while being quite funny, making a serious point, goes to Reason's Gene Healy:
Ah, Weinergate, you are the gift that keeps on giving, the crotch-shot that launched a thousand puns. Yet, sadly, some people fancy themselves far too serious to embrace the hilarity.
"Just pathetic," an example of "American Puritanism," journalism professor Jeff Jarvis pronounced the media focus on Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D-N.Y.) alleged boxer-brief malfunction.
Spare me. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a good old-fashioned political sex scandal. They're entertaining, and they may even be edifying—reminding us that self-styled "public servants" are often less responsible, more venal, and just plain dumber than those they seek to rule.
…
So have a guilt-free laugh about Weinergate. Not only are political sex scandals great fun, they serve an important social purpose. They remind us that we should think twice before we cede more power to these clowns.
Actually, I think they should make us think twice about how much power we've ceded to these clowns already. But I grant Healy his point. Read the whole thing for bipartisan examples.
UPDATE: Oops, sorry. Gene Healy is with Cato, not Reason. The link is from Reason, though, and I get those two confused a lot.
David Bryant said
Ought one not say “Is this the crotch shot that launched a thousand puns?”
Yes, there have been a raft of them. Leno says A. Weiner’s the Peter Tweeter. Taranto’s calling him the Turgid Tweeter. Some wag says that of all Washington’s myriad sex scandals, this one is the wurst. It’s a good thing his wife has an excellent sense of Huma. Etc.
John Steele Gordon has a pretty good synopsis of infamous sex scandals of yesteryear. The money quote is from Stephen Ambrose: “God created man with a penis and a brain and gave him only enough blood to run one at a time.”
David Bryant said
Make that one thousand and one puns. I saw this one on the WSJ site, and it’s just too good to keep secret. Speaking of Huma Abedin, Charleen Larson said:
“Marriage to Weiner and his schnitzel most likely a payoff for years of kissing Hillary’s fill-in-the-blank.”