The start of the week unfolded into a rough go for three elected officials swept up in political and sex scandals—and that was all before Wednesday.
In San Diego, a third woman stepped forward on Wednesday to accuse Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment. Filner is now no longer allowed to meet one-on-one with women in city facilities, by order of a city attorney. The mayor’s attorney agreed to the terms, and Filner’s chief of staff is tasked with enforcing the restrictions. Tiny hiccup: Mayor Filner’s latest chief of staff is a woman.
Over to Virginia, where Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is waist-deep in a months-long scandal over gifts and loans his family received from a wealthy donor. McDonnell addressed the latest arm of the controversy by apologizing and repaying the loans this week before cutting town for an impromptu trip to Afghanistan, far out of the local media’s reach.
And in New York, mayoral wannabe Anthony Weiner admitted on Tuesday that the sexts that led to his congressional downfall weren’t the last of the lewd photos of his nether-regions to grace the Internet.
“All of these guys will hold on for another day, for another week, believing in themselves above all else while every moment they stay in office will slightly re-calibrate the depths of shame that we are supposed to accept from people in positions of public leadership,” msnbc’s Rachel Maddow said Wednesday night. “Every moment they stay will further reduce the value and the prestige of public office as a career in a nation where job-titles like ‘congressman’ and ‘governor’ already convey slightly less trust and respect than ‘used car salesman’ and ‘parolee.’” Watch the rest of Maddow’s takedown in the clip above.
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