It took far too long, but U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner finally did the right thing. On Monday, the married congressman publicly apologized for sending a lewd picture of himself to a woman he met on the social networking site Twitter. To his shock, the picture of his bulging underwear was visible to thousands of people with access to his Twitter account.
Although he at first lied repeatedly about the picture and said someone must have hacked into his computer, Monday he spoke openly about what he had done and appeared sincerely remorseful. He apologized for the pain he had caused his wife and for disappointing the people of Brooklyn and Queens who he represents. He also admitted that he had sent other explicit photographs and sexual texts to at least six other women.
Until last week, Weiner was the leading unannounced candidate in the race for mayor of New York City. He has already collected more than $5 million for the campaign should he decide to run, far more than anyone else. He will be lucky now if he retains his position in Congress. There is, of course, a chance that he will weather this storm. If he still wants to run for mayor, he has little more than a year to convince voters that he is more than just one more politician caught with his pants down.
And that is a shame. The feisty congressman appeared to be the quintessential New Yorker last year when he pounded his fist and shouted down a Republican during a debate about 9/11 benefits on Capitol Hill. On Monday, he became someone to be pitied.
As much as we like the man, the confession that he made raises questions about his character and ability to one day lead this city. The suggestive photos and the sexual chatter with women he has never met are not the same as adultery, but for a married man to do this and lie repeatedly about it is a sign of moral weakness.
To his credit, Weiner appeared truly sorry for what he had done. He made no attempt to justify or excuse his actions.
But the incident puts the spotlight on the morals of social networking and the potential for people to carelessly enter into irresponsible relationships that can destroy their families and futures.
