Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Too Stupid to Govern?

Most of you have probably heard of the the travails of New York Representative Anthony Weiner (Democrat), who sent explicit photographs of himself and messages to several women and repeatedly lied to cover up what he did. As of now, he does not plan to resign (although I'm certain that he eventually will), but one has to wonder if this guy is fit to govern. And I'm not talking about his ethics (although that's a concern as well), but rather his ability to make reasonable decisions. Can anybody who does such a stupid thing be trusted to make intelligent decisions that impact our nation's future? Personally, I have my doubts, but given how we Americans repeatedly elect officials with with a few tools missing from the shed, I may be one of the few who actually worries about such things.

Postscript (June 14, 2011): More than one person has argued that President Bill Clinton was morally challenged but he still was a good President, but a careful reading of my original post will show that I do not discuss Weiner's morality but his stupidity.  One could argue that Clinton could reasonably believe that what he did with Monica Lewinsky (and who know whom else) would not become public.  He was wrong, of course, but his belief that he wouldn't be caught was not an unreasonable expectation (this, of course, does not excuse his behavior). However, I think reasonably intelligent individuals would know that if they texted explicit photos of themselves, someone would find out, and anyone who doesn't realize that (e.g., Weiner) can't be terribly bright.

Postscript (June 16, 2011): Representative Weiner resigns. What a surprise.

1 comment:

  1. In response to those who defend Weiner by pointing out that Bill Clinton was able to govern extraordinarily well in spite of his tragic lapses of judgment, I would simply say Anthony Weiner is no Bill Clinton. David Brooks recently said he wouldn't trust Weiner to run a Seven Eleven.

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