Highlighting Anthony Weiner's Packages

Just about all that can be said on the Anthony Weiner debacle has been said in the past few weeks. America watched as the denials came early that Weiner's Facebook account had been hacked and that the semi-nude pictures of him sent to young women were not his. After ten days or so of interviews and constant questions, Weiner issued a press statement that, indeed, he did send the pictures. Now he has resigned from Congress. As a literature teacher for most of my career, the situational ironies are strong.

For one who had been the dramatic center (and screamer) for Democratic party issues for years, Weiner found himself the dramatic center of ridicule by women and jokes by the late night comedians. The incident seems to dismiss the idea once and for all that Jewish males are repressed. The notion of using Bill and Hillary Clinton as confidantes (after all they have been through with Bill's sexual escapades) is startling. Talking dirty on the camera while family pictures are in the background of the shot is just plain wrong. Just when one thinks an easy divorce would definitely be plausible for the Weiners, the announcement comes through that his wife is pregnant. I am sure Weiner's thrill of "highlighting his package" is now diminished.

If that news isn't enough, we now learn about the retirement "package" worth $1.2 million that now awaits Weiner. I taught over twenty years at a university, and my retirement was worth less than l/10 of that amount. The argument, of course, is that Weiner was not charged with a crime, and he deserves a nice package for his service to the country. I somehow doubt American taxpayers feel the same way.