On Weinergate: The Post-Modern Sex Scandal

On Weinergate: The Post-Modern Sex Scandal

On Weinergate: The Post-Modern Sex Scandal

On Bloggingheads, Dana Goldstein and Amanda Marcotte follow up their debate last week on TheNation.com, exploring Anthony Weiner’s future and the role of the sex scandal in American politics. 

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

As prominent Democrats (including House Leader Nancy Pelosi) press for Representative Anthony Weiner’s resignation, questions remain over what Weiner’s  possible departure will mean for progressive politics in Washington. Why is it that in an increasingly sex-obsessed media environment, some politicians are able to survive political scandals while others quickly leave office?

In a new Bloggingheads segment, Dana Goldstein and Amanda Marcotte continue their debate that started last week on TheNation.com about Weinergate and discuss the disgraced Congressman’s future and, more than a decade after Bill Clinton’s impeachment, the role of the sex scandal in American politics. 

—Kevin Donohoe

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x