21
15
9
But Weiner has also been a strong, outspoken liberal, perhaps left of liberal, in a congress where the strong liberal voices are being aggressively eliminated.
It looks like Dennis Kucinich will be gerrymandered out of his Cleveland district.
I was on the fence about Weiner, his judgment appeared so impaired, until I saw who was speaking out against him-- Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama. These are not friends of progressives. They are enemies.
We can't afford to just throw away the strongest voices we have, the people with the guts to take the stands and fight the fights we need fought.
When a person lives at the edges, where it counts, it is not surprising to find that same person living at other edges, sometimes ones that are not comfortable or even unwise. It's part of the package. Many wise writers, over the millennia, have observed that often, the imperfections we have are also the sources of our greatness. It is shortsighted to reject a man because of his flaws without considering the good he has done and can continue to do.
Weiner is certainly a flawed individual. Given his district, it's totally understandable that his position on Israel Palestine is not going to please many progressives. But on issue after issue, he's on the progressive side and that's often a lonely place to be-- a place that we need more leaders, not one less.
Weiner needs help. He needs to be in the therapy program he says he's entered. He needs to get his head on straight when it comes to how he relates to women of all ages. His behavior has been abominable.
Weiner should resoundingly reject the "advice" to quit from president Obama, a man who is profoundly more immoral in so many areas, starting with his pimping for banksters, Big Pharma and the health insurers.
Weiner should reject Nancy Pelosi's chastisements. Pelosi refused to put "on the table" the profoundly more immoral, more obscene actions, decisions, orders and policies of Bush and Cheney, in terms of considering impeachment. That was a decision that should send her name down history's lane in infamy. She has no right to weigh in on morality when she failed her biggest test so miserably.
The truth is, if Weiner resigns, as he is being pushed to do by his hypocritical, moral midget critics, then his replacement will be appointed by a moderate and will surely be a weak, compliant team player, unlike Weiner, who has stood out for his strong progressive positions.
He should not resign. He should get help, get counsel and stay in the role he was elected to serve. Sanctimonious, self-righteous, hypocrite Republicans and immoral, sell-out Democrats have no right to tell him what to do. Let his constituents decide.
