It's hard for me to look at guys like Anthony Weiner without feeling more embarrassed for them than I ever feel for myself.
I doubt there are many men who don't have porn stashed away under the bed or in a closet somewhere. A woman I know discovered her husband's "Playboy" and other magazines in locked briefcases after he had died.
Some men are more open and keep paperbacks, like Hot Babysitter in Chains, out on their night tables.
On the continuum of sexual diversions for married men, the act of sexting lies somewhere between Hustler and Rielle Hunter. It's up to each couple to figure out where to draw the line.
For public figures, the collateral damage of getting caught at sexting and other dalliances is augmented exponentially.
Popular wisdom suggests it's power that leads to the arrogance that leads the Weiners, the Clintons, the Edwardses--such intelligent men--to delude themselves into believing they can get away with acts so potentially humiliating to themselves, their families.
Some men do get away with it. Remember Joey Buttafuoco? Though not a public figure until his girlfriend Amy Fisher shot his wife Mary Jo in the head, his wife didn't leave him, until more than a decade later. Joey and his wife Mary Jo are my personal favorites.
The way pols are dropping like flies these days, it makes you wonder whether everyone is sexting, while we know only about the ones who get found out.
It's hard to believe Clinton deluded himself that he could risk his country's well-being, playing the cigar game with Monica Lewinsky. But for me, it's almost harder to believe anyone would risk exposing his family so publicly. And so it goes with all these politicians.
It doesn't excuse them, but I do think it's delusion that allows them to take chances. Otherwise, what could someone like Weiner possibly have been thinking? It's unimaginable he'd have sexted his crotch bulge if he'd actually gone through the scenario in his mind of getting discovered.
Or did Anthony Weiner say to himself, Hm, what's the worst that could happen? After all I'm just tweeting a photo of my waxed chest and the swell swell in my Jockeys to at least 6 women, who are strangers and who are probably old enough to drink alcopops. I'll be cautious. No one will ever know.
Weiner says there were at least 6 women involved. At least? Does he not know or is it too hard to keep track? And maybe he thought word would get out if he went for 7.
What do you figure these guys were thinking?
Read my other articles about divorce and more on Huff Po, Home Goes Strong and Confessions of a Worrywart.
Follow Susan Orlins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/susanorlins
SI_JonHeyman
Favorite @NewYorkPost headline this week. about refusing to quit, paper blares "Weiner Sticks It Out"
7 hours ago from Mobile Web
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SI_JonHeyman
Just noticed I got email from rep weiner apr 14. about repubs, he writes: "It's shamefiul. It's immoral." can't make it up
7 hours ago from Mobile Web
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News4Jax
Party Bosses Battle Over Weiner Scandal: The heads of both major political parties battled Sunday over the handl... http://bit.ly/m9z0gC
7 hours ago from twitterfeed
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Drudge_Report
SEXTING WEINER OFF TO REHAB http://drudge.tw/kOtNWC
8 hours ago from Drudge
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wkyc
From Ch 3 News... Weiner defies calls from top Democrats to resign http://dlvr.it/W2VhC (Click link to read)
8 hours ago from dlvr.it
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Journalisti
TMZ: Rep. #Weiner used congressional gym as backdrop http://ow.ly/5fPOF
8 hours ago from HootSuite
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mlive_detroit
Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick tweets from prison about Weiner's 'sext game' being weak: http://bit.ly/iDy5ne
8 hours ago from bitly
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CBSNewsHotSheet
More Weiner pix - taken at House Members Gym http://bit.ly/lqaY90
8 hours ago from twitterfeed
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BetsyMTP
After call for #Weiner resignation @DWSTweets has to admit "at the end of the day a member of Congress makes his own decisions." #MTP
9 hours ago from web
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JammieWF
NYC NOW President on Weiner: 'We're trying to give him the benefit of the doubt' http://t.co/pi5WkDc
9 hours ago from web
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TheBuffaloNews
Weiner is unfit for office http://bit.ly/ld6qsN
9 hours ago from twitterfeed
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freep
Rep. #Weiner defies calls from top #Democrats to resign http://t.co/ioL2job
9 hours ago from Tweet Button
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FirstTeamTommy
Oh, Dear, More Weiner Pictures - http://bit.ly/jBoPqJ #tcot #p2 #teaparty
10 hours ago from TweetDeck
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jtLOL
He's working; hard for you. RT @TMZ Rep. Weiner Used Congressional Gym As Backdrop http://bit.ly/mk1Q6v
10 hours ago from web
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BigAppleChannel Weiner defies calls from top Democrats to resign. http://apne.ws/iVpv9F | ||
HowardKurtz
Also on Reliable Sources, Dana Milbank, Amy Holmes & Jane Hall on Weiner and the media, and Adam Buckman on Pelley's debut/Katie's future.
11 hours ago from web
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kausmickey
Fishbowl DE slams Politico's Allen for v-odd absence of Weiner items in his "Playbook." http://t.co/Fik0E1S Must be a backstory here.
15 hours ago from web
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headlinenews
Drudge: SEXTING WEINER OFF TO REHAB http://nyp.st/msJR8N
17 hours ago from twitterfeed
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deseretnews
Weiner seeks leave of absence from House http://ow.ly/1dbKr3
18 hours ago from HootSuite
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tobyharnden
Kudos to @Patterico and @verumserum for their #Weiner work
18 hours ago from TweetDeck
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Opie'd eye - this is a pic from phone of the infamous weiner
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The guy is unfit for office. In a way, it is a good thing this behavior was exposed relatively early on, before his political career progressed any further, thus preventing him from causing a possibly greater damage to others and more dramatic political fall-out.
I do have to take exception, however, to comparing Weiner with Edwards (whom I cannot stand personally
As questionab