Politics of the No-Sex Sex Scandal

Today's news cycle is currently being dominated by an overly contrite politician with a ironically humorous last name and his fully-clothed manhood. I have a hard time believing that this is the most important issue facing the US today and that there are not other happenings in the world that are much more vital for our media to report upon. However, there are a number of points that I feel like the media is missing in its rush to put together a "Weiner's Wiener" graphic for their 6:00 newscast and I feel compelled to add my $0.02:

1) There was no sex in this scandal. There is an ill-advised picture of a pair of some boxer briefs, but no sex. I can see more titillating pictures in the Sears catalog. (I've read that there are more explicit photos, but those haven't been released)

2) Yes, this is cheating and I'm sure his wife is pissed.

3) Cheating does not make you a lousy politician. Hypocrisy does, but since Weiner has not espoused a "family values" platform, I'm not terribly disturbed by the PG texting.

4) What DOES disturb me (and what is being completely ignored by the media), is that sending unsolicited pictures of one's bathing suit parts does constitute harassment. And if you are in a position of power, say, like a Congressman, then you are abusing your power by harassing others. In addition, issues of consent get blurred when one party in an affair has significantly more power than the other. A 21-year old college student does not have the same power that a Congressman does and can easily feel bullied into a relationship that they do not really want. I don't want to downplay the potential spotlighter effect (I myself had a huge crush on then-Governor Mark Warner when I was in college), but these "relationships" are generally one-sided and serve to inflate the ego of the powerful and not increase the stature of the powerless (see: Clinton/Lewinsky, among others). If Weiner had sent pictures to a high-powered lawyer or staffer in her 30's with whom he was in a relationship, this would NOT be a scandal by my standards. But by sending unsolicited pictures to college students and single moms following him on Twitter, Weiner has crossed a boundary and should face ethics charges.