Anthony Weiner: Standing By My Man? (Part 3/5)

In Part 2 of this series, we made a cursory comparison between two Jews, Anthony Weiner and King David, and touched on the differences between public character and private character. Here we will expound a bit on the power of a habit.

As has been widely reported, Weiner had these virtually uncouth habits a long time before he had a wife. Boy, can I relate. Having been a husband for almost two decades now, I wish I had been a better man, or one at all, when I got married. But I wasn’t. I was honest about it with my wife, and she married me anyway. My maturity has been slow and sometimes excruciatingly painful, especially for her. Most women would have cashed in their chips a long time ago. Mine is playing her hand. Go figure. My bet says she’s not banking on Lady Luck. What can I say? I was a better judge than she. Although it’s early in their relationship, the same might be true of Anthony Weiner and his new bride, Huma Abedin.

But no matter our intentions to the contrary, or our sex, some habits are harder to break than others. Some of them break hearts. Some of them stop hearts. But the gravity of the consequences seldom makes conquering the habit easier. I suspect Weiner is actually feeling some relief now that he’s not hiding a part of his life anymore, and he has plenty of external support to become the man I believe, by his latest actions, he wants to be.

But is Ms. Abedin the only victim here? Mr. Weiner has let us down, too, hasn’t he? Some among us are disgusted by this latest political escapade. Weiner’s fall has reinforced our collective cynicism about the fitness of our leaders at a delicate time for our national psyche. Aren’t we owed something for our emotional pain and suffering… you know, like his head on a platter? We have tax money to harass retired athletes. Where’s a congressional hearing when you need one? This cry of victimhood seems to work readily enough in our civil courts. I wonder how the notion holds up with an even higher authority?

That is the subject of tomorrow’s discussion. I hope you’ll come back to continue with me, because these issues run a lot deeper than the latest headlines. They are, with a tip of my hat to J.D. Souther, Don Henley, and Mike Campbell, at the heart of the matter.

Anthony Weiner is a Jew. Can we find insight from other Jews in history who had publicity problems? With almost four millennia through which to cull, surely we can come up with something. Start looking now, and let’s meet here again, say, in the next article, ok? This part of the series has been a bit of a transition in the discussion. Tomorrow, I promise, we dig. Bring an open mind, and a thinking cap to cover it! 

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