NY Times' Dowd: Weiner 'Defining Deviancy Downward'

By Audrey Hudson

In a move described by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd as "defining deviancy downward," disgraced New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner is trying to use a page from the Clinton playbook to save his campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/opinion/sunday/dowd-time-to-hard-delete-carlos-danger.html?ref=maureendowd&_r=0

But even the Clinton's are shocked at Weiner's sordid behavior, according to an associate of the former president. "He's not getting anywhere near that grenade," the associate said, Dowd wrote in her Sunday column.

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"Bill and Hillary Clinton transformed the way we look at sex scandals. They plowed through the ridicule, refused to slink away in shame like Gary Hart, said it was old news, and argued that if Hillary didn’t object, why should voters?" Dowd said.

The difference between Weiner and Bill Clinton is there's nothing in Weiner's public life that is redeeming, the columnist wrote.

"Some sex scandals, like Mark Sanford's, fall into the realm of flawed human nature, and some, like Weiner's, fall into the realm of 'Seriously, what is wrong with you?'" Dowd said.

And the Clinton's are not happy about getting dragged into what Dowd describes as "the lewd spectacle that is a low-budget movie version of their masterpiece."

Bill Clinton rose above his own sex scandal, in part because he never promised he would "never, ever" do it again, as Weiner did, Dowd notes.

And, friends of Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, fear she "learned the wrong lesson from Hillary, given that Bill was a roguish genius while Weiner’s a creepy loser," Dowd said.

"When you puzzle over why the elegant Huma Abedin is propping up the eel-like Anthony Weiner, you must remember one thing: Huma was raised in Saudi Arabia, where women are treated worse by men than anywhere else on the planet," Dowd said.

"Comparatively speaking, the pol from Queens probably seems like a prince. Even though he’s a punk," Dowd said.