God, I think if I see one more diary about Weinergate, I'm going to freak. But here I am writing one, go figure. Questions: Has this been a totally humiliating experience for all of us here? Has Breitbart scored a big hit on the Progressive community? Did one of our lions let us down?
Main question: Since when has it been a Progressive Value to kick a man when he is down instead of helping him up? For some odd reason, I found that to be a Conservative principle...up until now.
Conservatives kick people when they are down, always: If you are out of work and need Unemployment Compensation or Food Stamps, look out, Conservatives are going to kick you to make it worse because you don't live up to their expectations of success. If you need health-care because you aren't covered by insurance, Conservatives want to kick you because you are stupid enough to get sick. If you need an abortion, good luck, because Conservatives are going to kick you for not living up their standards of "morality." Since when do we Progressives kick people who need our help, forgiveness & understanding? Since when do we Progressives not offer a helping hand, compassion and support? Have we become them?
Breitbart scored a direct hit on Weiner and on us. But we are making it worse by joining in the feeding frenzy upon Rep Weiner. Brietbart and RW blogs are laughing up their sleeves at us (go read the RW blogs), at how fast we turned on Rep Weiner. They see us for what we really are today....sharks, smelling blood in the water. We are no better than they are now. We have joined the dark side.
I know how we can claim this situation from a gleeful Breitbart. I know how to make his head explode, along with all the other RWers who are watching us so closely now, delighting in our humiliation. I know how to change this from a humiliation to a success. (I also recognize that I will meet with much opposition from the sharks who want to wallow in the blood of defeat....but, I'm old, and I don't much give a shit anymore.) What if we came together, as a community, under the banner (or diary, if someone would write one), of HOW CAN WE HELP REP WEINER NOW? What if we showed support to one of our own Progressives....can you see the talk shows buzzing about the Kos community, which decided to "stand by our own" rather than kick him when he's down?
Come on people, Progressives are about helping people up, let's give a helping hand to someone who needs it. It doesn't mean we approved of Rep Weiner's actions, it means we approve of his Progressive politics. We have too few Progressive pols that we can afford to kick one of them to the side without much more "sin" than this. Let's not be so morally judgmental...that characteristic that we abhor in the Conservatives.
If you are a Christian, or a Progressive, or both, then we should be saying, "How Can We Help Rep Weiner Now?" and not "Let's kick him when he's down instead of helping him up." Let's show our true colors.