When it comes to ethical questions there are some dandy ones out there…just like the question associated with Anthony Weiner.
Suppose we have committed an ethical blunder of massive proportions; so much so, that we make it to national media where we have to stand in front of 
millions of people and confess to our wrong-doings. Suppose our blunder brought shame and embarrassment upon our spouses, families, associates and organizations.
Imagine after the confessions and humiliation you let a little time pass, and applied for an almost identical job in the same career field. Should you be allowed to do so?
For the sake of this discussion, we will eliminate certain actions that go even beyond egregious; for example, a surgeon who has been found guilty of sewing his university’s initials onto the organs of his patients (it has happened) while performing surgery or a clergy person who has abused a child. In both cases, we would never welcome that person back to her or his old profession with open arms.
But suppose the mistake was somewhat repairable. Should he or she be given a second chance? Suppose the person was a politician?
Enter former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, the man who was forced from office after sending several women licentious photographs of himself. His sexually harassing behavior was mocked far and wide, and he became a poster boy for everything wrong with politics, but worse was the shame he brought on everyone around him.
In an online piece for CNN (May 22, 2013), writer Alison Harding in a piece entitled:
“Disgraced ex-congressman Weiner says he’s running for NYC mayor,” writes about the bid Mr. Weiner will make to become the next mayor of New York City.
This is not a joke. According to Ms. Harding, the ex-representative has amassed a considerable amount of money that would enable him to run, and indeed a recent poll his campaign team conducted potentially placed him in the number two position of candidates. On a recently released You Tube video, Mr. Weiner states:
“’Look, I’ve made some big mistakes and I know I’ve let a lot of people down. But I’ve also learned some tough lessons,’” Weiner says in the video. “’I’m running for mayor because I’ve been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it for my entire life. And I hope I get a second chance to work for you.’”
Return Ethically Possible?
Representative Weiner is an ex-politician; he is neither a clergy member who violated a sacred trust with a child nor a surgeon who made a mockery of the trust of a patient.
Weiner was stupid and insensitive. At least at the time he messed up (which was only four years ago) there would have been no way he could have made anyone believe he was a proponent of gender equity or of taking his oath of public trust seriously, or frankly, that he cared one whit about those who elected him to office.
But does he deserve a second chance? Is it ethical for us to deny him?
If we permit a baseball pitcher who once tested positive for growth hormone or steroids to pitch again, or a college professor who falsified research documents in an article to teach again, should we permit a disgraced politician to go back into politics?
Of course, there is the argument that since we vote for a politician, the debate about whether or not the politician is worthy can be easily settled in the voting booth. However, let us not gloss too quickly past this issue.
Anthony Weiner, possible candidate for mayor of New York City, amassed $5 million in his campaign war chest going back to an unsuccessful run in 2005. The money was raised from people who believed in him; his integrity, his position on the issues; his vision and indeed, his ethics. The money was raised before his ethical missteps. If you donated $50 to his campaign in 2005, that might have been one thing, but in 2013?
The Ethical Test
We cannot know Mr. Weiner’s heart. He claims his platform will largely be based on helping the middle class. For those of us in the middle class, is it more important to us that Mr. Weiner says he will fight for us or that he once treated us with disdain? Will we trust him? One thing is clear: if we deny him (which is completely within our rights), will we, in turn, accept it if others deny us?
It may be hard to believe the man and yet, we are a society built on second chances. Ethically, this will be a very interesting case and I am curious to hear your feelings on the topic.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
