One for the Weiner Dog

For the more liberal, have an extra toke or so, the traditional among, you have a bud, and for the more restrained, a glass of milk. The yuppies can have a bottle of water and go hug a tree in celebration of Anthony Weiner’s confessions.

“This a great day for America,”

as they like to say. We may finally have the guts to face the issue of “liberation.” Yes, poor Anthony, in all his misguided-ness has given us an opportunity to see ourselves for what we really are.

“And, what is that?”

We have become a liberated nation. Only a very few of us have not evolved over the last decades into herd of passive dweebs. In public, we speak only the correct speak, we do not cast aspersion toward those who, in our own heart, violate our personal moral code. We think it’s okay to watch pornography and senseless violence in a hit movie. And, birth control became a topic long ago.

You may deny it, as I said, for all, but, a handful, temperance is old fashioned. Yes, I said “Temperance”– as, in restraint and virtue. Temperance lies in opposition to over indulgence. Who among us can say, we have not, nor do ever indulge?

“Not I!”

This is not a moral lecture. We must draw some boundaries for those who view themselves pious in regard to current cultural over indulgence. I live among the Amish and the Menonites. The local Amish sect do not drive cars. We pass them on the highways in their horse drawn carts. Most do not utilize electricity, nor, running water. They believe in evolutionary restraint. Or, put more plainly, they believe in the “old ways.” Few of us in this modern world would be willing to throw off our comfort for a life in the Amish ways. We lack temperance in the traditional sense.

So, if you and I are indulgent sinners, why should we care? What does a lonely guy with a few fetishes have do to with us, our nation or the culture? Anthony, has brought us to the crossroads. We can now stand up and demand change. I mean real change.

Der Weinermeister doth shine as an example of over indulgence. His inability to keep things in check took him from the almost heights of power in congress to a pulpit of shame in front of tens of millions. His face, his words, his actions will be shown across the globe millions and millions of times as an example of the downfall of a man. He stands as an example of the corruption of a culture.

Anthony confessed for all of us. He said the words we all needed to utter.

“I am sorry, I have over indulged.”

Cleaning Up Anthony

Now, do we en mass pitch our computers, monitors, cell phones, and iPads? Do we send Anthony to rehab and welcome him back into the fold? Will that solve our cultural sinning? We can’t put poor Anthony back in the bottle. He’s out and so it his/our secrets. We over indulge, just like Anthony. So,

“what’s an Anthony to do?”

Dressing up will not change the facts. Rehab requires Anthony and us to admit the error or his/our ways. Then he/we must embark on a path of restraint. Anthony needs to stop cybersexing and we need to welcome Temperance into our hearts.

“Whoa— !”

“Enough with the Temperance already.”

You may not have asked for this, but, I brought it up and I’ll finish. As a nation, we had a brief glimpse of an insignificant person confessing his sins. The outgrowth of that was not rage, but, understanding. We all felt Anthony’s pain, and knew that we had also overindulged from time to time. No, not as cybersexers, but as citizens who believe we had become liberated from Temperance. (There’s that word again.)

We believed our grandparents old fashioned, and their ways outdated. We bought into the concept of “modern living.” Cell phones do not make us sinners. iPads do not make us evil. Things do not make us less Temperate. The living concept of liberation from restriction leads us away from Temperance. But, Temperance did not make the USA great. Nor, did cybersexing make us weak.

Humpty Dumpty, Anthony Weiner and the US will never be the same, but we can learn a bit about ourselves and the evolution from Temperate to indulgent and tolerant. We can give Anthony a whitewash, but, we cannot ignore the obvious, we do not wish to condemn others in fear we might be culpable ourselves. Temperance, in our world, has lost it’s virtue.

Hooray for Vice

These next few days offer us as a nation an opportunity to accept our condition. If we do not see Anthony in ourselves, then we missed an opportunity. For the media, a test lies in the next few hours. Will they find virtue or attempt to make it someone else’s fault. Lawrence O’Donnell, on MSNBC, spent much of his first segment last night lambasting Andrew Breitbart, rather than taking Rep. Weiner to task. But, then O’Donnell views himself, a liberated man. In my opinion, O’Donnell represents the narrow mindedness of liberated living. Ponder that, if you will.

The collection of pond scum normally associated with the history of the journalistic profession gets no sunlight these days. Many of the revered muckrakers and yellow journalists of old were as rotten those they convicted in their works. So is it that O’Donnell and his liberated collegians fear reprisal, or is their thinking just too corrupted to know the truth. And, while on the topic of corruption, does liberated thinking pass the Temperance test?

You and I can relax. The real change will not come. We can keep our iPads, Droids, IM accounts, and hidden foibles, change will not come. Instead of hooray for Anthony, and thanks for a glimpse of our faded glory, it’s

“Hooray for Vice and would you like to see a dirty picture.”