When Ambition Trumps Shame « Commentary Magazine

When Ambition Trumps Shame « Commentary Magazine: "Let’s state upfront that the mysteries of the Weiner-Abedin marriage or that of any other politician ought not to be treated as public property. But when these politicians use their wives as human shields against the brickbats coming their way as a result of their own misbehavior, such unions are revealed to be more political compacts than personal business. In acting in this manner, Abedin appears to be following in the footsteps of her mentor Hillary Clinton, whose willingness to stand by her man when he dallied with a White House intern saved President Bill Clinton’s bacon. But the public spectacle of the Weiner-Abedin press conference illustrates that this model of behavior reveals their pact to be based on a joint decision to pursue political power no matter what the costs to their privacy or how much shame they brought on their family. Given that her own need to enable his lust for power seems to have trumped every other natural instinct she might have had, it raises the question of how much credence voters will place in Abedin’s vouching for the would-be mayor."

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