And The Lesson That Never Gets Learned
As news stories go, the tale of Congressman Anthony Weiner and his recent online activities seems rather limited. It’s not a story about war, or disease, or a major environmental disaster. But given what it hints at – online sex – there’s little surprise it’s front page news in the U.S.
In a tearful press conference Monday, the six-term New York Democrat admitted to sending provocative photos and exchanging intimate messages with at least six women via online services such as Twitter.
“I’ve made terrible mistakes,” Weiner said, recounting that for several years – before and since marrying his wife Huma Abedin – he had used various social networks like Facebook to meet and start up online relationships with women. Expressing “deep regret” over his actions, Rep. Weiner confirmed a story that he initially denied; namely that he had sent a picture of himself wearing little else than underwear to a college-aged woman in Washington State via Twitter.
When the photograph first emerged last week, the congressman denied it was his picture, saying his Twitter account had been “hacked” by someone clearly trying to make fun of his pun-worthy last name. But his less-than-clear denials only fueled suspicions, for example when he told one news cable network that he couldn’t say “with certitude” whether or not the picture was of him.
Now that the world knows the truth, it’s natural to ask, ‘Why would he do it?’ But the ‘it’ here doesn’t refer to sex; politicians all over the world have been caught in similar scandals. Rather, the question now is ‘Why would he do this on the Internet?’ How could someone as smart as a U.S. congressman get so publicly snarled on Twitter? Read the rest of this entry »
