Steven Hayward brought up Alec Baldwin’s analysis of Anthony Weiner. As ridiculous as it is, it gets to the heart of what’s wrong with our politics. That’s to say:
He exists under a constant pressure cooker of self-analysis and public appraisal. Like other politicians, he needs something to take the edge off… For high functioning men like Weiner and other officials….
Whoa, wait a minute: What “constant pressure cooker”? He’s got nothing to do but appear on MSNBC all day long. Everything else is done by one of his 19 staffers – for example, the official statement from his office on his relationship with this 17-year old girl in Delaware. Baldwin’s got it backwards: Congressional life is very undemanding and certainly not performance related; on the other hand, I can see that juggling jailbait on your Twitter feed could get pretty stressful. Good thing he has an unimportant day job with 19 staffers to “take the edge off”.
In what bizarro universe can even Alec Baldwin type the words “high functioning men like Weiner”? He’s a minor elected official. Thinking of the governing class as “high functioning men” is a big part of what’s got us into the mess we’re in. During my troubles with the thought police up north, Stephen Harper gave an interview and said he had no plans to rein in Canada’s “human rights” commission. One newspaper reported this as: “Principal Harper Ends The Free Speech Food Fight.” I wrote:
Each to his own. I don’t happen to think of the Queen’s first minister as the ”principal” with me and the rest of the citizenry as his charges. The head of government is no more or less than just that: He is not my “leader”, and certainly not on inalienable rights.
I would have thought that such a notion would be even more repugnant to a republic. The governing class are not “high functioning men”. Function-wise, they’ve been abysmal: Collectively, they’ve beggared the nation. While you low-functioning types were busy going off to work every day and providing for your family like a bunch of saps, lifetime politicians like Weiner – the Emirs of Incumbistan – comprehensively wrecked everything they touched, squandering this country’s inheritance and lining it up for an imminent existential crisis those on the receiving end will have to figure some way out of. Ceasing to think of time-serving mediocrities and opportunist creeps like Weiner as some kind of “high-functioning” elite leadership class is a good place to start.
Perhaps Baldwin meant "functioning while high"
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKudos, Mr. Steyn, for putting into words my feelings of aversion after reading that comical line about "high functioning men". It is terrifically insulting to the normal folks in the country who work long hours in the private sector devoid of a 19-strong staff to actually do the work and the organization for us.
Even then, I bet a large portion of the 19 staff members would each individually stand a good chance of being more competent, generally speaking, than Rep. Anthony "How Would You Like a Picture of My" Weiner.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere are so many things wrong with Baldwin's statement but one remark that was particularly breath-taking to me was the idea that members of Congress constantly go through "self-analysis."
If these jokers went through REAL self-analysis, as in soul searching, difficult, painful questioning of one's being, heart and motives, then they wouldn't be doing the irresponsible, selfish and decadent things they do.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMark, love your stuff, but read the piece again. I'm fairly sure Baldwin is being ironic - he's really trying to mock Weiner.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMr. Steyn's commentary misses a second theme. Baldwin's "high functioning men" description of Weiner is an echo of the "progressives are very smart" drumbeat of the media. How often have we been told Obama is 'smarter than everyone else', for instance?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou forgot to mention that they are our employees.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhen Baldwin says "high functioning," perhaps he is referring to bodily functions. Certainly, Weiner is extraordinarily full of poop - and it turns out his amorous desires are beyond his self-control, as well.
Then again, contra Baldwin, maybe the real problem is not his overpowering bodily functions, but rather, as Steyn alludes, he simply has too much time on his hands.
A real job might cure what ails him - I hear McDonald's is hiring.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHigh-functioning men and women can control their impulses and honor their commitments.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot a surprise, coming from Alec Baldwin, who aspires to the limos and interns, and being taken seriously by stooges, himself.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou are a treasure, Mark Steyn, or as the Captcha phrases your worth: "the bee's knees."
Scott Ott, formerly of humorous site, shares some profound non-satirical wisdom about the role of our government figures, the essence of which I am sure you would agree.
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Amen to all that, Mr. Steyn! Where I work, we don't even have one secretary for an entire department, and we take out our own trash and vacuum our own offices to boot . . . I'd be glad to have just one "staffer" to free me up from some of those mundane jobs. But then maybe I'd have time for a Twitter account and find myself being stupid with it . . .
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIsn't Alec Baldwin the high functioning dude who gave his daughter the nickname "you little pig" for the rest of her life?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHigh-functioning men and women can control their impulses and honor their commitments.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseType "high functioning" into a google search and look at the instant results. The phrase is used commonly in the therapeutic set to denote some one who is _otherwise_ high functioning, despite a serious underlying affliction. I do think Mr. Baldwin is aware of this meaning. I love his acting, hate his politics, love your writing, like your politics, but to be fair in this case you are missing something a little subtle, a little wicked.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWeiner is neither functional nor much of a man, but maybe he *was* high.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSteyn is on fire today - and absolutely right.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo true, Mark. Like his mentor, Chuck Schumer, and so many others, Weiner has never had a private sector job and has been sheltered on the public payroll since he graduated college in 1985. Before Congress, he was a member of the New York City Council, a toothless, irrelevant body whose members draw a fat salary and supervise a staff to enact such critical laws as those renaming streets. He did not even have to work hard to win his seat in Congress since Schumer vacated it for the Senate and cleared the way for him. In Congress, he has no notable accomplishments save being a vicious attack dog on cable and running for Mayor.
It is being reported that one reason Weiner resists resigning is that he is afraid he could not get a comparable job and needs his fancy public salary. That I believe.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet's not confuse one who leaves a highly turbulent wake with a highly functioning individual.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIsn't "high-functioning" not used as a descriptive of a person but as a descriptive of another descriptive?
Like, for example, "high-functioning illiterate" or "high-functioning sociopath"?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell and succinctly put.
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