Progressive? Not with a Wiener!

So, President Obama finally did it. I must give him credit, he waited at least a week. He looked at a progressive under duress, extended his hand, and help push Anthony Wiener under the bus.

Wow, I'm so glad we elected a progressive president.

Seriously though, I'm done even hoping Obama will come around. I'm a little disappointed in Nancy Pelosi, but all in all, the Democratic leadership have called for Wiener to step down. 

Because they suck.

And yes, I know they all hate taking questions about Wiener's wiener, but they should simply answer them with two words: Senator Vitter. Yes, Senator Vitter, who actually broke laws while sleeping with multiple prostitutes, apparently while wearing diapers at times. Republicans rallied around him, and gave him a standing O when he won reelection and returned to the Senate. Wiener should get the same chance. He would if we had progressive leadership.

By the way, his latest leaked photo is full frontal, apparently taken at the house gym. I haven't looked - congressional penises don't interest me - but I hear he's packin' heat. And I understand that this does shock, and even offend some people (although, unless you solicited the photo from the Congressman, you had to make an effort to see it - you had to at least google it). But Wiener only sent these dick pics to interested adults. I say OMG, what's the BFD?

The thing Wiener has done that does disappoint me is that he has checked himself into "treatment." Now he seems a little like Lindsey Lohan, and not a kielbasa-swingin' hell-raiser from the Big Apple. Don't seek treatment - use the dick-pic as your next campaign poster. Show your constituents what you bring to Congress every day, and that you're not afraid to use it. Fuck the prudes and fellow Democrats whose fake outrage stain the press reporting.

And speaking of the press, they suck. This story has been going on for two weeks now. Two fucking weeks. There is other news Americans need to know, like what the Dems are giving away in debt ceiling negotiations. I think this news cycle has lasted a lot longer than even Governor Terminator's love child.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the media coverage has been the commentary from the so-called left. Ed Shultz has called for Wiener to step down. No real surprise there, Shultz is kind of a knuckle-head. No surprise that Stephanie Miller and her gaggle of Obama zealots have also called for Wiener to go. I was a little surprised that this sentiment was echoed by her regular guest David Bender.

Bender has, in the past, given thoughtful political analysis. I don't always agree with him, but his commentary is generally well-reasoned. And if he is a little awash in the DC tide, he seems to be aware of his position. Not this time. He also said Wiener has to go. But his reasoning is that Wiener is "sucking all of the oxygen out of the room." The Democratic leaders can't effectively fight over the budget/debt ceiling because of Wiener. And candidates for office, he singled out Tim Kane in Pennsylvania, can't get their message out effectively because of all the Wiener dick questions, and it is hurting their chances in 2012.

Bender, please! The Democratic leadership is as effective in negotiations with Republicans as Bristol Palin is as an advocate for celibacy. They are so busy pushing their noses up Wall Street's collective asses that all they can imagine is budget cuts that will hurt working families, kill any chance of job growth and make it ball-bustingly hard for ANY Democrat to win in 2012. And Tim Kane? Jesus, is there a bigger fucking loser in the Democratic party? I doubt it. 

Remember Howard Dean, Chair of the Dems in 2006 and 2008, when he ripped Republicans' faces off in all 50 states and was a huge part of getting the first black president elected? Well, Rahm, Obama and the other corporate-blowing Dems jettisoned him in favor of Tim Kane, who proceeded to get his ass handed to him in 2010. Kane is a conservative, unimaginative corporate stooge who is steeped in the DC establishment. He is the antithesis of progressive - which is why he loses elections as a Democrat. He is going to lose to Macaca in Pennsylvania, that's how inept he is. Anthony Wiener's dick has NOTHING to do with Kane, who will lose handily on his own.

But Wiener's dick points to the progressive problem - there are no progressives representing us, at least not at the locus of national power. The Democrats that we do have, that David Bender championed in his Wiener review, are totally corrupted, right of Reagan Wall Street toadies. And we know this because the entire episode's coverage in all media missed the progressive point: digital citizenship.

If the term "progressive" relates to progress, to moving forward as a nation and a people, then apply that notion to Wiener's wiener. Sex, dicks, cheating, harrasment and related "junk" (pun intended) have been around forever. But the "kink" here is the mode - sexting. Wiener was using 21st century digital tools to spread his junk around. He was committing the kind of faux pax that parents of teens like me lecture my kids on about once a month or so - NEVER send ANYONE pictures of your body unless you want it to be on the internet within a month. Tech-aware parents have this conversation. Apparently many, many other people don't. By age 15, 50% of girls have been asked for a naked picture by someone contacting them digitally.

In the 21st century, we all have to be aware of our digital presence. If we don't maintain ours, someone else might create one for us, or coax one out of us that we don't want. Congressman Wiener's digital presence is "man-slut." For as smart as I think he is politically, and on most of his policy stances, he was and is a digital idiot. This is not a liberal, or even conservative take on the issue. It is a progressive one. One that moves the national dialog forward, towards progress. Smart politicians on the left would not only take the opportunity to dredge up David Diaper Vitter in this issue, but to use it as a national teaching moment. They would change the question from "should Wiener go?" to "how can we help our kids?" I mean c'mon...I'm a crank with a day job - how much skill can it take?

So I don't want to hear how Ed Shultz and Stephanie Miller; or Tim Kane and Barack Obama are progressives. They are Democrats with some socially liberal positions. Progressives move forward, and look for the solutions to the corruption and corporate dominance of our political system. They don't pile on a Wiener as a way to mollify pundits who never leave DC. 

So, eyes wide...and look for ways to move the nation forward. And primary the shit out of Tim Kane, President Obama...and Anthony Wiener. And his dick.