For a change, let’s hear from someone who sees Anthony Weiner’s mess from a side lacking in hypocrisy, political motives, or prurient interest. It’s fair to say that he has heard it all when it comes to sexual conundrums. Dan Savage, who writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex column ‘Savage Love’ weighs in with an open letter to the press.
"Dear Pious Press: Weiner is not sick, just human. What he did is natural, and he’s right not to resign. What’s the great sin here? Weiner was horny and went online. He created his own prom, his own interactive prom, like millions of other Americans have done, and continue to do, every damn day. And the Internet provided Weiner with the same thing it provides for tens of millions of other men in monogamous relationships: needed release, safe variety."
Reporters and others have clamored to find out whether Weiner will seek professional help; the life-line of choice for celebrities of every stripe when caught indulging in scandalous or human behavior. "This desire to pathologize behavior that isn’t sick—that is, indeed, very common and human and completely and instantly understandable—is itself pathological," writes Savage. He praises the congressman for not using the easy I-have-a-problem-and-I’ll-get-help line. "Weiner does not have a problem. He has a computer. The whole world has Weiner’s problem: same old horniness, brand new box."