Glenn Greenwald on the Weiner sex scandal inanity

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

This is probably all I’m ever going to say concerning the mind-bogglingly inane and irrelevant affair that is Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-NY) recent online indiscretions (and the nauseatingly typical media hoopla around it), and I actually defer to the words of Glenn Greenwald, who mirrors my sentiments perfectly:

Yes, Anthony Weiner lied -- about something that is absolutely nobody's business but his and his wife's. If you're not his wife, you have absolutely no legitimate reason to want to know about -- let alone pass judgment on -- what he does in his private sexual life with other consenting adults. Particularly repellent is the pretense of speaking out on behalf of his wife, as though anyone knows what her perspectives on such matters are or what their relationship entails. The only reason to want to wallow in the details of Anthony Weiner's sex life is because of the vicarious titillation it provides: a deeply repressed culture celebrates when it finds cause to be able to talk about penises and naked pictures and oral sex while hiding behind some noble pretext.

Said plainly, I wouldn’t give half a shit if he sent nude videos of himself in tribal body paint, fucking a goat whilst howling at the moon. He did nothing wrong whatsoever, legally or ethically, and I would bet all the money I ever did or will have that the majority of those clamoring over the congressman’s slip in judgment (posting private content in a public Twitter stream? Come on, man) most likely enjoy engaging in behaviors similar to those they so love to decry in anyone else, especially public figures.

What the man does in his private life is of absolutely no concern to anybody, other than the parties directly involved. As long as it doesn’t affect his capacity as a legislator and an ethical and law-abiding person (ie. if it neither denotes ideo-political hypocrisy, which is a condemnable offense, nor harms anyone against their consent), then everyone else can mind their own business and stay the hell out of his, or anyone else’s. End of story.

Tags: Glenn Greenwald • Anthony Weiner • sex scandals