Streetwise Professor

Retiring Congressman Eric Massa is a Naval Academy classmate of mine.  I did not know him at Navy, so I have no direct personal knowledge about him.

I can say, though, that if what is stated here is true, Massa would be a predator.  I couldn’t give a damn about his sexual orientation, but a predator is beyond the pale, regardless of whether the prey is of the same gender or not.

In his defense, Massa claims that these stories are slanders intended to drive him from politics because of his opposition to Obamacare.

But, of course, these stories are not mutually exclusive.  Massa could be a predator whose inclinations and behavior were not a secret, and which were revealed by hatchetmen for purely partisan reasons.  That had he not crossed the wrong people politically, his sick secret would have remained such.  Had he not crossed the Chicago mafia, perhaps he would not be watching his life, and his family’s life, go down in flames.

The sad thing is that if I had to bet, that’s where I’d put my money.  After all, there are many no votes, any one of which would be equally useful for Emmanuel, Pelosi, and Obama to flip or eliminate.  Why Massa?  Most likely because he was vulnerable, because what is being said about him is close enough to the truth that he cannot stand and fight.  I’m sorry to say it, but that’s the most likely explanation.

That doesn’t make it right, even if it is true.  Have we sunk so low that the fate of the health care of hundreds of millions of Americans, and trillions of dollars, hinges on the perversions, alleged or real, of a single congressman, and the willingness of a ruthless and shameless set of opportunists to exploit them, ignoring in the process the vehement opposition of a solid majority of Americans?  Is our polity so decadent that the most solemn offices are held by people who are vulnerable to blackmail, and those who are willing to engage in it?