The Only Words I Want to Write about the Weiner Scandal

"Publish, and be damned."

I am sorry to be writing about the Anthony Weiner scandal. I do not think that the private lives of politicians are any of our business, any more than your private life or mine is the public's business. I do not want to know the details of Anthony Weiner's sexual interests, and I do not want to hear the details of Weiner's relationship with his wife Huma.

This is all gossip, or in moral terms, the sin of calumny. 

Regardless of whether Weiner is guilty of personal sin, the press and the public are guilty of sin for writing and eagerly reading about this. Accordingly, they--we--are in no position to cast stones. In any case, the argument that someone's personal morality is an important issue for their performance of a public office defies the historical record.

And, given the current state of public morals, it is a pretty ugly display of hypocrisy.