"Rehab Nation"

Ruth Marcus joins me and many others is decrying the fact that, as a nation, we no longer care about moral responsibility, but see moral failings as signs of addiction or some other psychiatric disorder.

She states it well: “But whether or not Weiner manages to hang on, the episode underscores how rehab has become an all-purpose laundromat for irresponsible behavior, an infuriatingly easy substitute for accepting blame and living with consequences.

“Increasingly, in our Rehab Nation, the concept of sin has been replaced by the language of addiction. Shame has been supplanted by therapeutic intervention. The disease model of misbehavior dictates that there are no bad people, only damaged individuals compelled to commit harmful acts. In this scenario, personal responsibility evaporates and virtue becomes an anachronism.”  Link here.

That is not the only place where we are suffering moral blindness. As we wait with baited breath the return of Weiner’s wife, isn’t it fair to ask, as Donald Trump did last night: Where has she been?

Of course, this masks another question: where was she while Weiner was indulging his peculiar internet habit?

In our time the thought is unthinkable, but still, Trump has a point. Weiner has gone through his own personal hell alone, without his wife present, and apparently even without her counsel.

No one but Trump has raised the issue, but everyone is thinking it. After all, why else would the press be making so much of her return.

Press reports say that Weiner needs to consult with his wife in person before he decides whether or not to resign from Congress. But, even if her job forces her to be separated from her husband, or if her loyalty to Hillary surpasses her loyalty to her husband, still, couldn’t the happily married couple have discussed the matter over some form of secured communication channel.

Just asking.