Maddow: Sleazy politicians like Weiner, Filner and McDonnell are ruining U.S. public service

On Wednesday night's edition of "The Rachel Maddow Show," host Rachel Maddow discussed the wave of scandals currently engulfing the careers of former congressman and New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner (D), San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R). All three men, she said, are degrading the concept of public service in this country and making a mockery of the public trust.

Maddow began the segment by discussing San Diego's Mayor Filner, who was accused on Monday by Irene McCormack Jackson, a former staffer, of inappropriate touching and sexual harassment. On Tuesday, political strategist Laura Fink came forward with her own stories of unwelcome sexual attention from Filner. On Wednesday, a third woman came forward with stories of her own run-ins with the mayor, who pinned her in a restaurant booth and tried to force her to kiss him.

"So, that's been Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in San Diego," said Maddow. "Can't wait to see what happens by the weekend!"

"Meanwhile," she continued, "the governor of Virginia is still not resigning."

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is embroiled in a scandal that involves a wealthy patron, nutritional supplement tycoon Johnnie R. Williams Sr., who bought McDonnell a Rolex, took Virginia's first lady on a $15,000 shopping spree in New York City and made other inappropriate gifts to the McDonnell family. Williams is hoping to have one of his company's supplements approved for coverage under the state's Medicare plan.

And finally, former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who on Tuesday held a press conference where he confessed to another inappropriate relationship with a woman who is not his wife. Under the pseudonym Carlos Danger, Weiner exchanged explicit messages and photos over the chat server Formspring. Now the chats and photos have gone public and Weiner is begging voters not to let the embarrassing admissions color their opinion of him as a potential mayor.

Maybe Filner and McDonnell will finally resign, Maddow said, and "eventually these things will shake out. And maybe it will happen around the same time Anthony Weiner is explaining the next round of pictures of his genitals that have surfaced from some other time, after which -- he has assured us all -- that he was a changed man, a family man, now, and we should all want him back in politics."

She went on, "Because he's a family man now! And frankly, he bottomed out. He learned his lesson and now he's ready to come back. 'Just let me send this last picture of my crotch and log off first!'"

"You know, all of these guys will hold on," Maddow concluded, "for another day, for another week, believing in themselves above all else. While every moment they stay in office will slightly recalibrate for us as a nation the depths of shame that we are supposed to accept from people who are in positions of public leadership. Every moment they stay will further reduce the value and prestige of public office as a career in the United States of America."

Watch the video, embedded via MSNBC, below:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy