My take on Anthony Weiner…

Yes, Anthony Weiner is in a big, self inflicted mess. And yes, he has done nothing illegal, unlike Senator David Vitter who was backed by Republicans for reelection…and won reelection.

Hence, I care not what the cynical, greedy amoral bastards Republican political leadership says.

So what about Mr. Weiner? Certainly, he was (and still is, to a lesser degree) popular with many internet liberals. Here is why: he openly calls out the Republicans:

When we’ve had years and years and years of liberals who cower at the thought of the conservatives not liking us…well, that makes us want to cheer!!!

This scene from the hit show West Wing captures how many of us feel:

BUT
While Mr. Weiner’s outbursts made me smile inside….the fact was that he really wasn’t that effective of an advocate in Congress (at least at a NATIONAL level..he may have been at his own Congressional District level):

But it was the hushed silence of most Democrats on Monday — apart from those who were stampeding away from him — that served as a poignant reminder of Mr. Weiner’s relative solitude within the political spheres of Washington and New York.

Widely seen as enjoying Mr. Schumer’s press instincts but not his political skills, Mr. Weiner has never been particularly popular with his colleagues, who describe him as a lone wolf with a snide streak that can verge on nasty — as when he screamed at a New York colleague, Representative Peter T. King, a Republican, on the House floor during a debate on the 9/11 health bill.

Mr. Weiner has also been a frequent thorn in the side of Democratic leaders — saying President Obama, for example, had failed to show leadership in the fight with Republicans over health reform.

Those resentments were only magnified in the past week, as Democrats in New York and Washington complained bitterly that the momentum they had won — with an upset victory in a special House election in Buffalo, and renewed confidence about pressing the attack against Republicans over Medicare — had been squandered in the media frenzy over Mr. Weiner and his Twitter account.

So while it make me feel good for me to hear him blast the Republicans at the podium and I might get frustrated by President Obama bending over backwards to try to….as it appears to me…appease the Republicans rather than fight them…Mr. Weiner really didn’t get that much…done.

Progress is often not loud and noisy and the heavy lifting it takes to make things happen doesn’t always gather attention.

Heck, I can rant against the Republicans all day long. But that really isn’t the role of those in Congress.

Venting one’s spleen feels good…but it isn’t governing.