There are some things we just don’t talk about in America; at least, in mixed company.  Sex is an uncomfortable conversation but why?  Is it because we’re afraid it might actually break out at any moment if we talk about it.  How many times have you heard the story: one moment they’re sitting around the table talking about bestiality and anal sex, the next thing they knew everyone was in the front yard banging horses in the behind? 

There’s a sexual tension in America that I imagine porn stars probably don’t feel.  Most folks in America generally steer clear of sexual conversations when sober though.  At least, most folks in America try to portray an image of steering clear of sexual conversations in mixed company.  In this atmosphere, Representative Anthony Weiner sends a photo of his crotch and the media is set a flame for a sliver of time.

His penis is clothed by his underwear.  And he sent it. 




Anthony Weiner, member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 9th District of New York State. 

The Perpetual Great American Debate is initiated once again and sides are chosen. 

Mark Trumbull of the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday, the congressman is “under scrutiny after admitting sexually charged communications with several women [and exchanging] messages via Twitter with a 17-year-old high school girl in Delaware.”  He talked sex in writing, so records of his conversations now exist for people to: scrutinize, point fingers at and denounce Representative Weiner as a perverted freak. 

Some folks say he should resign while others believe he should stay (that is how the Perpetual Great American Debate works- a topic is brought up and people immediately take sides), but have we had a fair public airing addressing the situation for what it is?

Is it wrong to send someone a picture of your clothed boner?  In and of itself there’s no real lasting trauma from such an event.  The event’s ending is always a delete key away for the person who receives it.  If the file’s receiver responds ‘stop sending me this’ and it stops: no problem.  Most other responses from the receiver constitute some form of consent. 

Certainly sending such pictures do not compare to rape or infidelity.

Because he opened his personal pictures to public scrutiny, Anthony Weiner’s integrity is being challenged.  (Integrity (n) adherence to moral and ethical principles.)  If this were a case of infidelity, Weiner’s integrity would be challenged immediately because infidelity implies lying.  Is it immoral to send a clothed picture of your boner though?  I understand an unclothed picture of a boner is gauche, but is a clothed picture more sophisticated? 

His wife’s feelings might be hurt by this, but does that hurt compare to what she might feel if he had sexual relations with someone else?

Ethically, what does this situation say about Anthony Weiner?  I imagine everyone in the world has their freaky sexual turns they try to keep hidden from the world.  Discipline demands sometimes we have to clear our internet browser five or six times in a day.  Who among us would really want our internet history produced for the public to scrutinize?  Does this mean we are unable to make good decisions though?  In the grand scheme of sexual perversions and indecencies, the ethical implications of sending a picture of a clothed boner over Twitter seems minimal.  There is no clear correlation Anthony Weiner would let a kitten get run over by a car if he could prevent it, because he sent this picture.

Sending a picture of your boner to someone else is unethical when they’ve already asked you to stop.  Weiner doesn’t fit in that category yet.

It might be more appropriate to question Anthony Weiner’s discipline rather than his integrity.  Sex is something that reveals our animal nature and people have been worked up about it for a very long time.  We don’t talk about it, but it is definitely happening.  For as long as it apparently has been despised in mixed company, we still haven’t gotten control of our inner animal.  What we’ve disciplined ourselves to do is create the appearance sex is not happening while we talk to one another. 

In fact, all of the free websites on the internet attest to the tremendous amounts of sex happening across the world at any given moment.  It’s almost as if the internet were invented by pornographers. 

All this fucking taking place, with so many people enjoying it, and “fucking” is still a bad word?  People don’t like the word, but they like the act.  We don’t talk about it as much as we do it.  Some talk about other things after they’ve done it.  Others talk about other things while they’re thinking about doing it.  We’ve even taught one another to talk about other things to keep us from doing it.  We talk about other things that make us feel comfortable and we call this discipline.

Representative Anthony Weiner seemed like a pretty smart guy.  He seemed like he had things together, but he became undisciplined and sent something he knew could be a problem.  He not only sent it once, but apparently a whole lot more times.  His integrity was challenged when he was first publicly presented with the boner.  He lied and he had to know there were so many more pictures out there.  He lied and that’s where his challenges to integrity should stop.  The way he responded to getting caught was bad form. 

The media isn’t really talking about that anymore though.  That’s apparently old news.  Now, he is being subjected to questions about the ages of people whom he apparently exchanged generally disciplined messages.  Mark Trumball wrote, “The uproar also has served as a reminder that it's not easy to be sure that online communications are occurring between consenting adults.” 

Testify to the boner’s power to make us uncomfortable.  Testify to our search for distraction amidst discomforting conversations.  Testify to the power of insanity inbred in us.

Personal pictures were sent apparently between consenting adults.  One person was a congressman, so the question should be simple.  Is this a crime?  Not should it be a crime, but is it a crime?  If it is a crime, he should be arrested.  We’ve moved past that question to ask does this affect his ability to govern.  We’ve asked if this affects his ability to lead, before we’ve asked who is even following him.  In a neurotic, rapid-fire style it’s been decided this guy might not only be unfit to help run the country but, he also might be unfit to speak with anyone under 18 years of age. 

The biggest mistake Anthony Weiner has apparently made, so far, is lacking the discipline to cover over the thing we dislike discussing the most and lying when he got caught doing it.