In a piece for CNN.com Friday afternoon, CNN Politics editor-at-large Chris Cillizza displayed the liberal media’s hypocrisy in what’s remembered versus not remembered, demanding that the media (and American people) stop talking about disgraced former Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner forever after pleading guilty to having sexual discussions with an underage girl.
“Can we now stop talking about Anthony Weiner? Like, forever,” Cillizza complained in the headline.
Cillizza was the same person who tried to tell us in 2008 that John McCain’s health was an important campaign issue while Hillary Clinton’s was out of bounds, eight years later. Ironically, Clinton’s infamous health episode on September 11, four days after Cillizza’s Clinton post, left egg on his face.
Needless to say, he might not be the best judge of whether something’s a big deal or not.
Back to the present. Explaining that he pled “guilty Friday morning to sending obscene materials -- in the form of sexual texts -- to a minor and agreed to register as a sex offender,” Cillizza then recapped his role in the 2013 New York City mayoral and 2016 presidential elections.
Instead of reflecting or stating how Weiner will do down as a major figure in upending the election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (aka his soon-to-be-ex-wife Huma Abedin’s boss), Cillizza went the other way:
Those are the facts. Now, can we please agree to just stop talking about Weiner?
Here's the thing: We know that Weiner craves attention -- even the negative kind. What else would explain his decision to allow documentary cameras into his slow-motion trainwreck mayoral campaign? (The resulting film -- appropriately titled "Weiner" -- is absolutely terrific, by the way.)
(....)
Dating all the way back to the days before his forced resignation from Congress, Weiner has been someone who desperately craves attention.
Earth to Chris, most politicians love the cameras and especially Democrats leading the charge against President Trump that include but are not limited to Elijah Cummings, Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff, and Eric Swalwell. One could even say Hillary Clinton has behaved the same way since emerging from the wildness! In turn, that argument was particularly weak.
Cillizza referred back to the infamous tweet of Weiner’s genitals and warned that, therefore, “[l]et’s not get back on that ride” and “[n]o matter what he says or how much remorse he expresses, it's clear that attention fuels Weiner.”
While each side remains more likely to mention certain scandals or tragedies than the other, the idea that the media should be able to decide what’s worth being kept in the public memory is ludicrous:
The legal proceedings are now closed. Weiner is totally irrelevant politically. His wife, who remains a major player in Hillary Clinton's orbit, has filed for divorce, according to CNN's Dan Merica. There's literally no reason to write or talk about Anthony Weiner anymore.
So, let's not. He's an example of a bad apple that makes politicians -- and, to be honest, people -- look bad. There' are plenty of other intriguing people, places and things happening in politics.
Let's cover them instead.
Deal? Deal!
