In general, essays surmising over Huma Abedin's decision to marry, defend, stay with, campaign for, support, and/or love her husband Anthony Weiner have been something of a waste of time. But Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen managed to make his foray into the topic well worth the wait — if only because he told an incredibly personal story in a way that many found, well, pretty cringeworthy.
Cohen was most recently in the news for defending a racially incendiary column he wrote on Travyon Martin. The piece sparked outrage among many, including CNN's Soledad O'Brien, who tweeted, "Richard Cohen. Wash Post. Seriously? And people tell me docs abt Black in Amer and Latino in Amer are divisive?"
For his most recent piece, Cohen took on Abedin's decision to stay in her marriage with Weiner and how he could personally relate to the topic. To sum up: Cohen's wife cheated on him. They moved on. Also, she liked folk music.
From the column:
I had always known precisely how I would react if she cheated on me. The relationship would end, swiftly, coldly, even sneeringly. My goodbye lines would be scathing, worthy of someone intending to make his living with words. But when she cried, when she begged, when she — let’s be honest here — looked so damned good, I wanted only to remain with this woman. Her betrayal was in the past. A whole future lay ahead. It could be wonderful. It turned out I valued Linda more than I was appalled by her infidelity.
This was a lesson to me.
Cohen's overall point was that, because he surprised himself by staying with someone after he was cheated on, he now possesses "wisdom of the uncertain." He added, "I now know what I do not know." Good to know ... we think.
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