“A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
–William Shakespeare

Consider, if you will, Rep. Anthony Weiner.

His unfortunate and apropos surname aside, why is he dominating the news? Not to make light of his stupidity, but the fact that a Yankee with a funny name fancied himself worthy of advertisement simply doesn’t mean much for the fate of the country.

Deficit? Runaway taxes? Runaway entitlements? The FED? Perpetual War?

True, FOX wants the story to grab as much attention as it can to combat the number of “conservatives” who have been caught showing their private freaky side. Also, the liberal media needs the story to distract attention from the aforementioned issues.

But really, it must be asked, aside from those who want to use the story politically, who cares? It’s hard to make the argument it is in the public’s best interest to know this… I’ve felt queasy ever since I heard of it.

Widespread public queasiness should not be a journalistic goal.

I say it’s only because of his name that this story is so big. Had his name been Smith or Roosevelt or even Lincoln it would have been a side note. As much as it pains me to say it, had he been a woman it would have blown over immediately.

Okay. This is gross. But imagine if Nancy Pelosi had bared her breasts to some poor, misfortunate twenty-something… Right. It would hardly be newsworthy. In part because “Pelosi” doesn’t lend itself to clever wordplay, but mostly because breasts are not as taboo as male parts. Yes, sexism is at play in today’s news media. But we are straying from the point.

So back to it. Where one man in New York decides to display his genitalia is between that man and his wife, regardless of who pays his salary. And I hate it for her, but this is America, 2011.

Consider this. In America, 2005, during my short but involved teaching career, I had a ninth grade student approach me with his cell phone after school one day.

“Mr. Trout,” he said, “Look at this.”

And he shoved the phone in my face. On the screen rested a prominent pair of seventeen-year-old breasts (We know that because of the questioning that followed). Later, in the office, we found out several of the junior and senior girls had taken his phone into the bathroom and taken such photographs of themselves for him.

Okay. But why?

Why indeed? After years of paying attention to people, I think I know.

Modern American culture is obsessed with the camera, obsessed with celebrity. There is a tiny monster in all of us that thinks we actually have something to say that everyone else needs to hear, or a certain look in our eye that others need to see.

Reality TV aside, we are not all Bob Dylan in ’66 or Tyra Banks before that awful show showed us all how dim she really is.

Consider Facebook. Scroll through your friends. Notice how many are actually taking a picture of themselves, by themselves, and putting it on there. Now, think of how many they took before they got their smile, the gleam in their eye, etc… just right before posting. It’s unnerving. Please don’t think of how many photos Rep. Weiner took before he found the “perfect” shot.

Is it really that different? One fancies themselves a Cosmo covergirl, the other, Ron Jeremy. Both are mislead.

And is it really that different from so many people who like so many of us couldn’t carry a tune in a backhoe bucket getting on national TV and auditioning for American Idol. And yet, so many of the rest of us not only watch it, but really do in our heart of hearts seem to care.

No. It is not. While he is distasteful to me personally, I can’t see why I should even know about this, much less be bothered by it. I have my own distasteful politicians to worry about here.

If he has committed a crime then prosecute.

If the media is willing to turn on one of their own (a liberal Democrat), then fire up the grill. Have a good weenie roast.

But let us not be surprised.

And let us not act shocked.

For this is the world we have created.

This is the world in which we live.

(Editor’s note: Cal Trout is a former literature and composition teacher at South Panola who now writes and farms on his family farm in Charleston.)