You, Your Money & Your Weiner

Sorry, but Rep. Weiner has to resign.

Yes, I had to weigh in on this one.  Not because I childishly felt the need to be a part of the vast amount of Weiner jokes on the interwebs (ok, maybe I did a little), but because I’ve just kinda reached my breaking point with these politicians.

But let’s be clear from the start: this is not about sex, sexting or any other behavior that we don’t usually like to talk about in public.  The rhetorical question asking GEICO guy said it best, people use SMART phones to do really DUMB things.  I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before we find out what creative uses people have found for the FaceTime app on their iPad.  Now, I obviously can’t condone him engaging in those activities behind the back of his pregnant wife; but if she’s anything like Tiger’s wife, he’ll have to answer to her for that.

No, this is about lying.  Not the type of lying that you do when your girlfriend asks you if her dress makes her look fat.  Not even the type of lying where someone asks you something you weren’t ready for and you say “Huh?” to give yourself a few seconds to come up with something. No, this is the type of lying that is simply unacceptable from anyone, let alone an elected official.  Rep. Weiner lied not once (in this press conference), not twice (in this interview with Fox News), but at least three times to the American public when he lied to America’s granddad Wolf Blitzer on CNN saying “I know for a FACT that my account was hacked” and “I can definitively say that I did not send this (pic).”

Wow, now that’s lying.  I guess if you’re going to lie, you might as well go hard in the paint.  But again, it’s not what he lied about.  I’m willing to bet that most people, politician or not, wouldn’t want their latest texts displayed on CNN.com for all the world to see.  It’s about the fact that he had the…well…you know what (that joke is just too easy), to go on television and basically point his finger at the American public as if he was a McGwire-era baseball player swearing that he never used steroids and lie about what he had done.  The problem is, baseball players aren’t elected officials but Rep. Weiner is.

If we ever expect to get the country back on track, our elected officials MUST be held to a higher standard.  Personally, I believe that officials who are found to have lied to the public in this manner should be immediately removed from office.  Why should this be tolerated?  BYU suspended one of its basketball players for the season for breaking its honor code by having sex with his girlfriend.  What is the honor code that elected officials are governed by?  Do you mean to tell me that the BYU honor code is more strictly enforced than the oath of office for the House of Representatives? C’mon man!

Lying in politics has become way too cliche around here.  Wild Bill lied about the intern.  The Governator astutely waited until his reign was over to tell his wife that he had a love child.  But what takes the cake, and is much scarier than seeing these guys with their shirts off, is this guy, Senator John Kyl who stated ON THE SENATE FLOOR that “abortions are over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does” when it’s actually about 3% of what it does, and then responded to criticism by saying that it “was not intended to be a factual statement.” Huh? Really Jon?  The things you say on the Senate floor when making an argument about a position that you support are not meant to be factual?  Great, thank you for your service to America.

Seriously, these guys are playing us for fools.  If they will lie about these things, we have no idea what else they’ve lied about and will lie about in the future.  That’s why they all should resign or be removed immediately.  The relationship between a voter and an elected official is 100% based on trusting that the candidate believes in and will do what he says.

Once that trust has been breached, that relationship should be over.  “I’m sorry.  I was embarrassed.  I’m getting treatment.”  Those fake apologies just aren’t going to cut it anymore.  Can we take any of you seriously at a press conference, campaign rally or debate on the floor again?  No.

No Congressional hearing should be needed.  No tax payer money should be used for this.  It’s simple; “You lied…time for you to call Tyrone.  Sorry sir, but you’re not irreplaceable.”

When you add in the fact that many of the decisions that our elected officials are tasked with making directly affect your wallet, you should be calling for resignations too!  I mean, you won’t even let Uncle Jimmy borrow $20 because you know he can’t be trusted, but you’re willing to let confirmed liars vote on legislation worth billions of dollars? Please.

Wake up guys.  If you want things to get better, you’re going to have to hold these folks accountable. Yes, people make mistakes, but there are also consequences for those mistakes.  If a message isn’t sent at some point, we’ll be lied to forever and that’s not cool.  Ask Maria Shriver.

If you live in Rep. Weiner’s, Jon Kyl’s (although I believe he is retiring) or any other lying politician’s district please call for their resignations, or at the very least think long and hard (sheesh, no pun intended) about whether to vote for them in the next election.  It’s time to take a stand.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s late and I have a FaceTime call coming in…..

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Comments
KOLT says:

Good read and compelling argument.