After more than three weeks of media scrutiny and daily revelations of new "indecent and lewd" conduct, Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) resigned this morning as a member of Congress. Senior Democrats had been calling for Weiner’s departure for days, insisting that the media frenzy around Weinergate had become a national distraction that had crowded out coverage of the Republicans’ radical congressional agenda. 

On her Soundoff segment on MSNBC, Nation columnist Melissa Harris-Perry argues that Weinergate is not a distraction, but a reminder that we need to elect politicians not just based on their policy positions, but also because we trust their judgment, honesty and integrity as well.

—Kevin Donohoe