If you have ever wondered why the GOP leadership’s first instinct in time of scandal* is to immediately jettison the offenders (whether they like it or not)… well, there’s a reason for that: it rarely gets better if you let things fester.  Case in point… Politico reports that a Democratic caucus Tuesday devolved into a bit of a screaming match; Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey felt obligated to chastise Rep. Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania over the latter’s call for Weiner’s resignation.  Pascrell has appointed himself as Weiner’s unofficial defender, which means that he apparently feels entitled to dictate to others (especially, well, female others) what is or is not an acceptable response to Weiner’s poor life choices.

Anyway, it got so bad that they had to send the aides out of the room, lest they gossip and leak – which didn’t help, of course.  It never does.  What does help in these cases is clear-headed pragmatism and the moral courage to accept a bit of pain now to avoid more pain later… which is why the Democrats are still in this mess (they haven’t even stripped this guy of his committees yet!), because their leadership is apparently incapable of either.  It’s enough to make an outside observer want to give two for flinching.See more from Allahpundit, who thinks – as I do – that the Democrats are going to have to pay Anthony Weiner off if they want Weiner gone.  I’m surprised that there isn’t a left-leaning think-tank or lobbying group out there that’s willing to take on a remittance man for the good of the Democratic party (and a pretty solid deposit in the Favor Bank); sure, it’d be a sinecure, but I’m sure that they’d be able to come up with a plausible-enough sounding thing for Weiner to cover**…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*At least, scandals above a certain threshold.

**My wife suggests “Impact of social media on modern political theory.”  My wife can be as cruel as I am, sometimes.