Even though it was former Congressman Anthony Weiner caught with his pants down, comedians and commentators are talking as if his wife, Huma Abedin, is the one who should feel humiliated.
Abedin, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's longtime aide, announced Monday that she was separating from Weiner after yet another photo of his member made its way into the New York Post. Weiner was "sexting" -- sending sexually explicit pictures of himself to a female acquaintance -- with his son in the background. He resigned from Congress in 2011 after a similar incident.
Late-night comedians like Stephen Colbert went after Weiner, but Abedin was the real joke: "What's the old saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times ... damn it, Anthony!"
In a New York Post opinion piece, Kyle Smith called Weiner's action's relatively harmless, while writing:
"Sure, you can't spell humiliation without H-U-M-A, but that was none of our business. Anyway, in Huma Abedin's defense, being utterly shameless seems to be a requirement for anyone connected with Hillary Clinton. No doubt the two women shared some great stories behind the scenes."
A past AM New York headline had called Clinton and Abedin "Soulmates in Humiliation," alluding to the sexual escapades of and worse allegations against Hillary Clinton's husband, Bill.
On Monday Rush Limbaugh too took his turn lashing out at Abedin, linking her alleged poor performance as a parent to potential decisions outside her family.
"Did Huma Abedin Weiner really not know she had a deviant taking care of her child? She may not know what's best for herself but she apparently knows what's best for Hillary Clinton. I mean, she's in line, we've heard she's gonna be, she's chief aide now. She's presumably she's going to be Hillary's chief of staff. But she has not been chief of her husband's staff."
The Drudge Report decided to go with the famous "Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin are lesbian lovers" angle, which, some of us might wish, but nope.
Even The New York Times claimed Weiner's actions "have cast another shadow on the adviser and confidante who has been by Mrs. Clinton's side for the past two decades." As if one man's penis deserves the great import we, the media, have given it.
But the icing on the cake was when Republican presidential candidate and known philanderer Donald Trump, who has also been accused of sexual assault, weighed in.
"Huma is making a very wise decision, I know Anthony Weiner well, and she will be far better off without him," Trump stated paternalistically. Then, tying Weiner's sexting to politics with legerdemain, Trump added:
"I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. Who knows what he learned and who he told? It's just another example of Hillary Clinton's bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this."
Trump has not stated whether he would like to build a wall around Anthony Weiner. However, some might argue that Weiner needs one, if only for his own good.
