Schmuck,Schmo or Schmegeggy? It's Hard Out Here for a Weiner

The story of Anthony Weiner's social media schmegeggy-iness (aka stupidity) may eventually fade into history, but, thanks to the New York Congressman - who has decided to take a short leave of absence to seek professional treatment -- and Andrew Breitbart and the mainstream media, we are awash in a tide of Weinerisms, a contemporary equivalent of "getting Borked' Weinerisms.

No Favre-isms emerged from Hall of Fame quarterback-to-be Brett Favre's series of cell phone shenanigans - also involving a penis and no actual sex -- as revealed by deadspin.com a few years back, however, the Weiner case has drawn significantly more media attention.

The Weiner clan

Okay, now for a confession about why this story hits uncomfortably close to home. The truth is -- and I won't hide it any longer -- I come from the ancient Weiner clan.

My grandparents were Weiners (although they died before I really knew them); my mother was a Weiner (and quite a beautiful one at that); my uncles (who as professional boxers in the 1920s changed their names from Weiner to Johnny & Jimmy Gray and then later became Werners for some unknown reason), and my aunts were Weiners (before they all married).

I, was born a Berkowitz long after dad married mom.

I received an e-mail from my cousin the other day:

"Those Weiner genes are still going strong. I look in the mirror and alternately see my Mom and Uncle Jimmy. Once in a while I even see me."

To paraphrase the Oscar-winning song, "It's Hard out Here for a Weiner."

Isn't there any other news worth covering?

My wife insists that we as a nation are Weinered out. She says that we need to be "weaned" from Weiner news. And AlterNet's Joshua Holland is clearly on the same page.

"What began with a pair of boxer shorts," Holland recently wrote at AlterNet, "led to pictures of Weiner's uncovered pectoral muscles, and finally, to the unvarnished image of a man's erect penis - a penis later confirmed to belong to Anthony Weiner."

In his piece, Holland cited 10 other stories "that are even more obscene," including: thousands of young women raped every week in the Congo; the pending execution of Troy Davis, very possibly an innocent man; the Obama Administration's "intensified ... covert war in Yemen," where, according to the New York Times, the U.S. is "strik[ing] at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets"; the elimination of the Children's Health Insurance Program in Arizona that has "den[ied] health care to 47,000 low-income kids in" the state; the toll that rising unemployment is taking on people, forcing many into homelessness; the ongoing murders of innocent men, women and children in Afghanistan; the inequitable application of justice as evidenced by the case of "millionaire playboy" Ryan LeVin, who murdered two tourists in Florida and bought his way out of prison; "unarmed protesters gunned down in occupied territories"; no prosecution or consequences for the Wall Street investment bankers/thugs who "contributed to the worst recession since the Great Depression"; Haiti.

"None" of these stories - and you could undoubtedly make a list of your own - have "garnered even a small fraction of the coverage that Weinergate has triggered," Holland wrote. "While they may not be as salacious as a sex scandal lacking actual sex - or as vitally important to the national interest -- we thought we'd share them with you anyway.

But for the tabloids in New York City, it's Weiner Weiner Weiner and they haven't yet had their fill. Raging headlines abound; as we speak polls are being taken about whether Anthony Weiner, D-New York, should resign or not (thus far, New Yorkers say that he shouldn't resign); Republicans leaders are demanding his resignation, and calling for any Democrat who received money from Weiner, to return the money immediately. Several Dems have done so already.

As the Huffington Post's Bianca Bosker recently pointed out Weiner is no social media or technological novice, "Weiner has been an avid tweeter: he posts to the social networking service multiple times a day, writes from his BlackBerry, makes generous use of hashtags to add color to his tweets, and frequently engages his followers in one-on-one conversations."

(I know I'm violation my "enough Weiner" argument, but if you haven't seen Bill Maher and Jane Lynch, of Glee and soon-to-be host of the Emmys, read the unexpurgated Weiner/Las Vegas blackjack dealer sexts on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," it is hilarious.

Maher introduced the segment by saying: "Here at Real Time, we do take our responsibility very seriously as the one show, because we're on pay cable, where we can say anything and quote anything. And the texts from Anthony Weiner... were printed this week. Most people could not show them to you; we are going to read them verbatim."

Both Lynch and Janeane Garofolo, a panelist on the program, said that they thought Weiner should not resign, while fellow panelists journalists Sharon Waxman and Joshua Green thought he should, and the sooner the better for Democrats.)

As might be expected, the Weiner Affair is being dubbed "Weinergate," but, really, that is so twentieth century.

Just like getting "Borked" became a popular phrase after Robert Bork's extreme pronouncements during his Senate confirmation hearings in the early 1980s were judged to be so far out of the mainstream that he was denied a place on the Supreme Court, I suspect that Anthony Weiner's shenanigans will provoke a new appellation for crossing the line of propriety in social media.

In years to come, expect something along the lines of "You've been Weinered," or "You're doing a Weiner," when public figures' tawdry Twitter feeds are exposed.

It remains to be seen whether Weiner's career has taken a temporary public relations pie in the face, or is permanently derailed. It seems like the public is willing to forgive Anthony his Weiner-ness, but will his congressional opponents and colleagues allow him to follow the oft trodden path of redemption after public scandal and humiliation?

Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the conservative movement. His WorkingForChange column Conservative Watch documents the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats of the American Right.

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