Wincing at the Weiner weep

So let’s face it. U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was the pol left-leaning liberals loved to hear and cheer, particularly after the fall of colleague Alan Grayson of Florida.

Brash and bodacious, Weiner’s one-liners were classic and entertaining. And his snarky and snarling attack-dog style showed that he picked up considerable tricks from the master – his former boss, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

A weeping Weiner. Photo courtesy: Richard Drew/AP

But keep peeling the onion. It seemed inevitable, really, that media-induced fame, fueled by constant appearances on cable TV (he practically had his own chair at MSNBC) and missives in the blogosphere, would do him in. Something about geeks when they become chic. They simply lose their minds. It’s just a matter of time, usually.

Now, Weiner is contrite, apologizing with near tears in his voice to his newlywed wife, Huma, who can always talk with her boss about straying husbands; she works for Hillary Clinton. 

Having a tech savvy Big Apple pol admitting to fooling around online was some kind of way to kick off New York's Internet Week, for sure.

In his confessional, it wasn’t clear which was more painful – ‘fessing up to lying to the public or having to apologize to Andrew Breitbart, himself a known deceiver and accused race-baiting media troll.

What’s worse for the Dems is that they’ve lost another rouse-the-base voice at a time when they were about to get the GOP on the run due to its Medicare stance. That Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called for an ethics investigation is one thing, but not enough of a thing.

Weiner’s actions, though not criminal, were clearly classless and demonstrated poor judgment, not to mention libidinous and lewd behavior directed toward young women. It’s not a whole whit better than the lunkheadedness displayed by former U.S. Rep. Chris Lee, whose political career also was upended by a sex scandal of the stupid sort. At least he stepped down quickly. Weiner has offered no such pledge.

While his constituents may decide to return him to office, he’s become a major liability for his party, much like Lee did. There may yet be a life for him beyond the halls of Congress or the constant limelight he’s come to adore. Full-scale politics may not fuel that new world of his, though.

Good money says this Brooklyn boy can kiss his City Hall dreams goodbye.

There was a time when a political career would teeter with the discovery of a “dead girl or a live boy” in the bed of a pol. Or that some kind of physical transgression had taken place. Now, it’s the discovery of frat-minded insights and pictures floating in cyberspace. As a modern media consumer, Weiner should know and face that fact.

No cover can be afforded. Not with behavior this foul. Not in an atmosphere this toxic. Nor should it.