We all know the story. Late last month, it was revealed that the caustic and bombastic US Member of Congress from Brooklyn/Queens Anthony Weiner used a personal Twitter account for which he is now known to have sent photos of his Congressional "member" to willing "twits". When caught "hoisting his own petard" repeatedly with women who were not his wife, he claimed that his account had been hacked most probably by someone who wanted to destroy his political reputation. Those dastardly Republicans and, more specifically, Andrew Breitbart were out to get him.
The MSM and Democrats at large were rallying around Weiner claiming that Breitbart was at it again, creating lies to further his own Conservative agenda. Weiner repeated his hacking claim over and over again on political talk show after political talk show. When questioned why he was not officially reporting the "hacking" to the FBI or Congressional Security, he laughed it off claiming it was no big deal and that he would handle it privately. But the press smelled something fishy (as did anyone with half a brain) and they did not back off. Hacking of a US Congressmember's private electronic accounts could quite possibly be a matter of national security. It got so bad that Weiner called the police to try and shake off the press.
Weiner continued his lie right up to the time photos of our esteemed Member and even more steamy online chats began to go viral. I won't bore you with the tear-stained confession held on CNN on Monday of this week. It was painful for those to watch and just plain sad. Not only did he confess all of his sins, against all reason, he then took questions from the press. All the while he was emphatic that, though he had cheated and lied repeatedly, he would not resign. As late as yesterday afternoon, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Charlie Rangel agreed and were as emphatic that Weiner had done nothing unethical, immoral. or illegal, so he had no cause to resign.
However, late yesterday afternoon, the local Westchester County police were called to the home of a 17 year old girl who claimed to be an active Twitter "fan" of Rep. Weiner. It turns out that Weiner and this 17 year old fan had been privately communicating. After a thorough investigation, the inquiring public was assured that nothing untoward was exchanged and it was all very innocent.
Well, probably in light of this new development (or as I suspect, something worse), this afternoon, Nancy Pelosi and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, called for our now very well-known Member of Congress Anthony Weiner to resign. Rep. Weiner has responded by asking for a leave of absence to "seek treatment" for his affliction.
So here are two morals to this story and you can quote me -
1. Do not say or do anything in an online public forum that you would not say or do in a public square. And, no matter what you may think, Twitter and Facebook are public forums.
2. When you are caught, it takes a lot less time and energy to just tell the truth.
Now let's move on...
23 comments:
Bev, I read somewhere today that Weiner and the Teen apparently had some sort of physical contact -- details pending. This led to the great headline: "Police to question teen about Weiner."
My favorite part of this story is that Alec Baldwin has suddenly crept out of the shadow and now wants to be mayor. Now there is a man who knows about leaving inappropriate messages on electronic media!
P.S. What the heck makes Alec Baldwin think he's qualified to run a city?
You have to love the press conference earlier this week. Breitbart was in the audience and got up on stage and started answering questions himself after Weiner was late. I think this is what can be called "meta-farce."
By the way, if you want some really extensive and detailed coverage of this story (and also some crude juvenile humor), I recommend Ace of Spades HQ (http://ace.mu.nu) and Patterico.com. They've been on this story like (insert gutter joke about Anthony Weiner and underage girl here).
T-Rav - It was my understanding that Breitbart was invited to be at the press and he questioned about the propriety of answering questions. Of course that didn't stop him.
It was a farce. This whole affair has been a Moliere comedy.
Andrew - Weiner could have stopped this in it's tracks, or at least, controlled it, if he had just confessed in the first place. There would have been no story of the porn star who he offered P.R. advice, no salacious IM's published, and no teenager. The other issue is that some of these women were young (21, 22) and he claims to have been doing this for at least 6 years! If anyone of them was a long term "romance" then he's really in deep you-know-what.
And Alec Baldwin!!
First of all, Baldwin does not live in NYC or does not claim NYC as his primary residence. Oops...Alec forgot that he only plays a NYC resident on TV.
Secondly, he isn't qualified, but when has being qualified ever stopped someone from running?
Bev: Weiner is a nasty, vicious, lowlife, arrogant pervert. I'm enjoying watching him twisting in the wind, even though he's likely to hold onto his seat for awhile, instead of his we----, (oh never mind). Sorry, the jokes just write themselves.
First the lying. Then the tears. And then finally off to a posh remote treatment center. Real men take responsiblity for their actions, not follow a pathetic playbook. Seriously, this pattern of behavior is getting quite old.
Let's hope Weiner (dear god, change your name) gets the karma he so richly deserves.
Bev, Baldwin seems to think he's local enough to qualify -- at least according to the Daily Mail which has run three stories on his interest this week.
The thing is, as near as I can tell, Baldwin has never managed anything -- not an agency, not an office, not a taco stand. What makes him think he's ready to make any kind of managerial decisions other than hubris?
These Hollywood types are really out there if they believe that just being famous makes them capable of anything more than entering rehab.
(P.S. I'm still betting Mayor Chavez-Bloomberg will stick around as El Mayore for Life when he realized no one is going to make him President or king.)
Yeah, he could be looking at some serious problems if any of these women were underage. Even liberals have a hard time getting away with that once it becomes public.
Do you know if they have anyone lined up to take Weiner's place if things go south on him?
Andrew - The Dems may have a legitimate "out". NY is losing 2 Congressional seats because of the 2010 Census, so the Legislature may just take this opportunity to "redistrict" Weiner out of a seat. Problem solved. Poor Weiner has never held a private sector job and he has no private sector skills - like a law degree to fall back on. He has to hold on to his seat to even earn a living. Oh, and his wife is pregnant. He threw that in too to garner sympathy...
Baldwin -
Baldwin is an idiot and they don't call him the "Bloviator" for nothing. I know that he has been toying with the idea of running for Congress for the last few years. I think he's jealous of Al Franken.
Bloomberg -
We will have to get the holy water, giant crosses, silver bullets, and wooden stakes out, if Bloomberg tries to run again. If we get really desperate we can use transfats, salt, tobacco, and sugary soft drinks to drive him out.
Bev, Did you see the comments of ethical man Charlie Rangel? Rangel said Weiner wasn't doing anything wrong because: "He wasn't going out with little boys."
LOL!
I wonder how Rangel's gay allies feel about that?
Oh, Rangel Rangel Rangel. You now Weiner was screwed when Rangel jumped to his defense. I'm sure Rangel's good buddy Barney Frank cringed when he said that. At least Barney's prostituting boy toy was of legal age.
If he resigns, I'll move on. If he doesn't, he deserves all the piling on. In a world where the Washington Post solicits readers help to dig through Sarah Palin's emails, it is hard to feel too badly about having some (o.k., a lot of) laughs at this pervert's expense. I do agree that as bad as the actual acts (particularly if the underage thing does pan out) what really kills a politician is the lying. Unless, of course, you are Bill Clinton or Weiner's constituents. No, I'd like to see him out, and his name always stated with a half snicker.
Tenn - I'm with you. It must be disappointing that most of the late night talk shows were on hiatus 'cause the jokes just write themselves. And if Weiner does stay, he will never be able to be front and center on any issue again.
I think the whole Palin email thing is going to back-fire badly on the NYT and the liberal media. They are not going to be able to find one shred of salaciousness. Do you really think that the government of Alaska is going to release any emails AT ALL that will make Alaska look bad? Those emails have been picked over with a fine tooth comb before they were released.
Obama better watch out because the next step is a serious FOIA request (if Andrew Breitbart and Co. haven't already) for all of HIS emails as State Senator, US Senator, and "community organizer" and maybe even as President as relating to his election and reelection bids.
My one concern is that I expect Andrew Breitbart is already getting serious death threats from Obama-land. My fear is that someone will try and take him out.
Bev, There sure seem to be a lot of scandals in the New York delegation. Do they treat Congress like a work-release program or something up there?
Ed, Really, how pathetic that Weiner has Rangel AND Spitzer on his side! With the extra added bonus of Clinton officiating at his wedding! A veritable rogues gallery of salaciousness!
And, at this rate (and one day I will do another "New York State of Mind" installment) the state government will have to move from Albany to Sing Sing prison to accommodate all of the incarcerated members of our State Legislature. It seems like half are on trial, currently incarcerated, or being released from prisons. Maybe a Legislature "Work-Release" program is needed. None of this includes our federal guys. And the local jails and courts are filled with local politicians. It's hard to keep up.
Honestly, I'm not surprised that Weiner hasn't resigned. The guy's entire career has been one political post after another; what would he do in private life? Besides, only someone pretty arrogant/oblivious would have stuck around this long. I do think he'll be redistricted out of the House if he doesn't leave first--he's become political Kryptonite for pretty much everyone, and I think a lot of Democrats are genuinely angry with him for this crap. But I'm not sure he'll leave of his own free will.
Bev
Lets hope this does not result in his resignation.
Keep him around so that the left of the left can retain their poster pickle.
"You are worthress Arec Barrwin / You are worthress Arec Barrwin / You have faiwred in every way / and now my stock in you has fawren / Your career is stawrin' / and you're worthress Arec Barrwin"
Koshkat - Team America: World Police - my secret guilty pleasure!! Trey Parker and Matt Stone are brilliant political and social satirists, and incidentally, are poised to win 12 Tony awards tonight for their new musical "Book of Mormon". Even Mormons are raving about how good it is.
Bev,
I wonder just how many NEW weiner jokes were created these last two weeks?
Must be in the thousands!
I am sure Weiner will be re-districted out. He is not smart enough to avoid an obvious stupid act. Too much wacky tabacky I suppose.....
Bev, If you haven't had the pleasure, here is the latest laughable picture of Weiner in the Congressional gym apparently:
Weinergate
(Not Suitable for the Rational)
Bev, A work release will be needed soon if New York ever needs a quorum!
On Weiner being redistricted out, I don't buy it. His district is too safe to give up. I'll bet the promise him something lower profile with more money if he leaves (assuming it doesn't all blow over) and then they'll try to take out another Republicans seat, assuming there is such a thing in New York anymore.
Ed, I'm a bit more optimistic about the redistricting thing. Since she's the one on the scene, Bev can correct me if I screw this up, but New York is slated to lose 2 districts, and the good people in Albany will probably compromise by getting rid of one upstate GOP seat and one Democratic NYC-area seat. That'll make the remaining Dem districts more valuable than ever, especially in this political climate, and as angry as party leaders have been at Weiner, I suspect his district is at the top of the ax list if he doesn't step down. That's my take.
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