Now that the distraction is gone

No one is condoning the actions of Congressman Anthony Weiner. What he did was stupid, showed lack of common sense and ended up giving ammunition to his opponents in both parties who are concerned about maintaining the status quo. I've been hearing political pundits and television commentators speak about how Congressman Anthony Wiener is a distraction. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. What exactly did he distract. The media including people such as Dylan Ratigan and Chris Matthews decided on their own to keep talking about this story. Charlie Rose was not obsessed with it. The News Hour with Gwen Ifil was not obsessed with it. Even today, Dylan Ratigan had to make a lewd comment about the scandal. The so-called mainstream media must take much of the blame if Anthony Wiener was in fact a distraction. In fact the media loved the scandal. It is easy for them to speak about, it is easy for them to understand, and the covering of it gets them great ratings. Whenever the media says this is a distraction don't believe them they love it. As for the Democrats was he a distraction and if so why. Anthony Wiener was one of the most vocal proponents of President Obama's health care bill. Anthony Wiener was one of the most vocal proponents for progressive agenda. It is true that he probably was not friends with a whole lot of people on Capitol Hill. But what do we have without a loud voice. The Republican Party which is a one trick pony party tax cuts and deregulation and the Democrats a spineless party which tries awfully hard to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Democrats were not exactly talking about jobs prior to the Anthony Weiner scandal coming about. The Democrats have said everything is on the table while Republicans have said tax cuts are not on the table which means the Democrats have essentially put Medicare on the table. As usual they have engaged in unilateral disarmament. President Obama unfortunately has a very weak political base within the Beltway. The problem with the Democrats is that every time they compromise they seem to compromise on Republican territory. We have a Democratic Caucus that is weak. Senator Harry Reid is essentially weak, Nancy Pelosi is essentially marginalized and, the Congressional Black Caucus is virtually voiceless. Now that Anthony Weiner has resigned, one would suppose that the distraction is now over. Therefore, let us see whether not a debate will pick up about a jobs bill, protecting Medicare and Medicaid, arguing against the archaic notion of tax cuts as a spur to our economy. Let's see whether or not it really was a distraction or simply a veneer for people in both parties but especially Democrats to do nothing but complain that Anthony Weiner was a distraction. Now the question is who will become a new and loud vocal voice for a progressive agenda within the Democratic Party. After all the distraction is gone.