So Anthony Weiner is thinking about running for mayor. The guy’s a contemptible liar, a creepy egomaniac and a man of seriously flawed character. In other words, politics is the perfect profession for him.
Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks, who failed to report (at least until the FBI began an investigation) that he took $40,000 from a felonious businessman who was convicted of running a $50 million fraud scheme, remains in office. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington placed Meeks on its list of the most corrupt congressmen. And Meeks last fall was re-elected to an eighth term in Congress with 75% of the vote.
Meeks is one of four New York congressmen on CREW’s most corrupt list. Charlie Rangel isn’t even on the current list despite being convicted by the House on 11 of 12 ethics charges including dodging taxes, concealing assets and misusing his position to steer funds toward the City College center named after him. Rangel was elected for a 22nd term last fall with three-quarters of the vote.
Based on the history of the New York vote, what reason do the four lawmakers involved in last week’s corruptionpalooza (Assembly members Eric Stevenson and Nelson Castro, state Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Councilman Dan Halloran) have to fear that their political careers are really over?
Once elected, NY state pols seem to cross into a magical land of influence, name recognition and fundraising ability that essentially adds up to political tenure.
Weiner, who let slip that he has spent $100,000 on polling and has access to a $4.3 million war chest, is thinking, “Was what I did as bad as what those guys did? How come I’m the only one of the Clown Club without a job?”
And in his self-aggrandizing New York Times interview, he blamed “my last name,” his “combative” personality and “the fact that it was a slow news period” as major factors in his downfall.
Right.
Because no one would have batted an eye if Bill Clinton or Barack Obama (or even Alec Baldwin) had sexted pictures of his junk to 45,000 followers. Except during a really slow news week.
Mr. Weiner, as someone who has, unlike you, been a working journalist for 20 years, let me explain something: When a member of Congress claims that he “can’t say with certitude” whether his bulging undershorts are the ones appearing in a picture that was sent out under his name, we’ll make room for the story.
If North Korea is dropping nuclear weapons on Tokyo, Joe Biden is found wandering around the Mojave Desert telling people he can’t remember his name and Taylor Swift is hired as the new lead singer of Metallica, we’ll make room for the story.
You can’t really blame Weiner, though. It’s not like any real business will give him a job. You wouldn’t trust him to man the till at a candy store. Government is the only paycheck he can get.
The liability problem alone would dissuade most firms from hiring a jackass like Weiner: What if this married man sent a sexy photo to a much younger woman who didn’t appreciate it so much? Suddenly you, his employer, have to hire a lot of expensive lawyers to defend a sexual-harassment suit. Question No. 1 of the deposition: Given Weiner’s past history, didn’t you show reckless disregard for the expectation of your employees to be free from sexual harassment?
Yet politicians like Weiner know that with enough money and political shenanigans, they can fool enough voters to get into office. These people are in charge of decisions that involve millions (or, in the case of Congress, trillions) of dollars of our money, yet we shrug and say, “They’re all alike, aren’t they?”
As Mayor Bloomberg pointed out, “The average legislator who has to make policy on things that influence our lives, our kids’ lives, our future, would they ever get a job in the private sector making policy on big things? No, not a chance. And yet these are the ones we keep re-electing.”
Electing someone to represent us in high public office is something we, the citizens, should take a little more seriously than we do. Do we really want such a man of such weak character — such a rampant narcissist, such a pathetic liar — to stand up for us and be the face we present to the world?
If Anthony Weiner ever becomes our mayor, the primary piece of information everyone from here to Mumbai will know about him is that he was solely responsible for one of the most memorable and hilarious political scandals of the last 50 years.
We’re supposed to be the leading city on earth, and we are. Why would we want such a lowlife to be our leader?
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kyle.smith@nypost.com