Hendrik Hertzberg writes: "After Weiner's press conference, there was near-unanimous agreement among the cable talkers that his political career is finished. One of them predicted that Weiner will not be a Member of Congress two weeks from now. I doubt that. I found his conduct at the press conference quite impressive, given the circumstances. He seemed genuinely ashamed, genuinely sorry. But he also showed some steel, some determination, some discipline, some dignity."
Anthony Weiner comes clean, 06/07/11. (photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
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Who knows the circumstances surrounding this incident? Shall we believe the MSM?
Oooooo, we must be afraid, Very afraid...(the children and all).....of this menace.
Come on! What about the children of the rockets, demolishing the playground across the street; holding their guts in their hands?
Will we identify the problem with us?
Right!
What a crappy headline: "Anthony Weiner Comes Clean"
Get it?
There is more going on everyday in DC than the governing of our great country. The much more interesting question is why the sex stories outweigh the actual governing scandals such as George W. Bush parsing those "16 little words" during his 2003 State of Union speech that misled the public & both houses of congress into supporting an illegal, preemptive war against Iraq, that later also included torture scandals and human rights violations which have gone unpunished in any way and never rose to the level of coverage that we seem to see for Democrat sex scandals. Andrew Breitbart is a politically motivated Republican operative who only seeks or creates scandals that damage or destroy liberal targets.
What really appears to concern SEAcomments is how this country gave a second term to Bush, a war criminal. It's a legitimate concern, but irrelevant to the Weiner situation.
And you say "if Romney and other Republicans win in next election it will be due in part to Weiner"
How quick you forget all the scandels of the Repiublicans. Five times as money as the Democrats.
I agree with Portiz, that is up to Weiner's wife. He personally is a good fighter for the Democrats and I would vote for him.
Yep = that confessing to it sort of nails it down.
Of course him settling for some $90.000 in a different matter - or was it a fine? Getting disbarred, and banned from arguing in front of the Untied States Supreme Court, was a stickler, as well.
The other 19 women that the Clinton White House got signed statements from to keep them from blabbing about him doesn't help either does it.
But for me, those were never my issues with him - for we had James Raidy, Charlie Trie, George Chung, the Lu's, the scandals w/ Ron Brown (those would have got him); him turning his back on HIv/Aids in Africa - how many millions died?); turning his back on Blood Diamonds - in fact fueling it; turning his back on the DR Congo (more died than in any single conflict since WW II); on Sierra Leone, on Liberia, on Algiers, on the Ivory Coast, on Afghanistan (when the Taliben took control - horrific); on Iraq - 1/2 million children died; and of course, leaving the financial crash behind when he left and the massive future deficits, and for giving birth to the housing bubble = after his Enron era of greed and fraud. What a dude!!
I still prefer a Clinton to ANY Republican robot brained ditto head.
And Barack Obama to any Clinton.
Oh, and give me a dozen Anthony Weiners; let him have his fantasy sex. It affects me personally about as much as Gay Marriage, which is less than zero.
Weiner has fought for "we" the people at every turn --
I think the men in the media who are talking about LYING about one's sex life getting exposed are nuts and sound just like the nutty Republicans and their pleading to the Religious right (against abortion but for vouchers for everyone except the rich)-- and etc.
I agree that this sort of thing is very stupid and it's baffling to see people like Weiner and Clinton get trapped into it. But make no mistake; This looks like a trap. It also looks like despicable and possibly illegal behavior on the part of Breitbart to me.
as in, "The THUGs are ever more intrusive into everyone ELSE'S private lives"
The moral scrutiny is NOT evenly applied.
The power of this force might take any form, such as the allegedly authentic e-mail to Rep. Weiner "U owe me big time" [whatever that means--for defending him to the press], the alleged payments by Senator Ensign's parents, and the alleged $1,000,000+ payments to Senator Edwards' acquaintance.
Blackmail power might include: "I know we agreed. I've changed my mind. I want more.". A husband's private lies to the wife may be "private" (apart from any impact on the children). Though public lies may include attempt to deceive or reconcile, the are intended to deceive the public and MAINTAIN power. If/when exposed, they undermine public confidence in the individual and representative government. Public confidence is the glue of democracy.
We should be able to explain the conduct of public officials to our children--here, how?
Public confidence, when betrayed, is difficult to restore. Humpty Dumpty faced the same problem.
What Weiner did was poor judgement on his part but it is a private issue between him and his wife just as Clintons was !
Truth is --- this matter is between his spouse and him and why the people consider this SEX is beyond comprehension - it was virtual as is so many things in 2011! And it's not against the law.
Weiner is one of the few in our government who has devoted his position in the House to stand up for the rights of the people -- There are a few others such as Bernie Sanders who also stand up to the LIES told by Republicans and the harm the GOP intends for this country
What is hurting the dems is not standing up for Weiner. The press (even MSNBC) is blowing this matter up -- Ryan lied to the American people and COngress about his voucher for Medicare program -- that is an outrage. There's more that we should be outraged about.
This is gang mentality to go after Weiner when the crimes in our government are way worse -- no oversight on the banks, OIL and all the big ones who are going to do more harm (as if their acts aren't bad enough today)
He didn't cheat on his TAXES (like Clarence Thomas and others) and he didn't get bought off by the Koch brothers (like Scalia and Walker and others) --
I stand by A. Weiner
VOTE 2012
I LOVED THAT COMMENT. You hit the nail on the head.
Afterall, what's hurting Democrats is NOT STANDING UP FOR ANYTHING. That's why a lot of us didn't vote in 2010.
I stand by him too, even if his name IS "a weener". I guess it's better to be "a weener" than a weenie, like most Democrats in Congress.
I STRONGLY believe in taking down any right-wing holier than thou teapublican who commits this sin, because it shows their hypocricy. Blatant hypocricy is a far greater sin and danger to our country than human weakness.
It's a simple rule. If the politician is one who built his reputation by courting religious nuts and claims that morality is a key issue, then what he does in his own private life is of great public concern.
IF on the other hand, the politician is one who believes in doing his job and not preaching morality to the rest of us, then what he does in his private life should be kept private.
Is arnie "THE SPERMINATOR" schwartzenneger going to return all of the money he earned while in office as a governor while doing his maid? I don't think so. He waited until he was out of office anyway to come clean. Is newt gingrich going to drop out of the presidential race now, because he isn't up to the standards being applied to weiner-man? NOPE.
I am not a big fan of always being a member of a party willing to UNILATERALLY capitulate every time there's a fight. If I were in Congress, I'd GLADLY increase my own approval rating by standing up and saying, "I don't care what he did unless it was illegal. Can we get to work now?"
CONT. (because RSN claims the whole comment is too long even though I have characters left)
I believe George Washington and Thomas Jefferson cheated on their wives too! Personally, I think they were symbols of the moral decline of the 1760s!
If someone's doing C.P.R. on me, I don't care how many women he's cheated on. I don't even care if he brushed his teeth afterward. JUST GET THE DAMN JOB DONE. I'll brush my OWN teeth.
I usually agree with your points but not here:
All the reps are "the" children of the same parent.
Lying to the Press is not illegal. It is not the same as "knocking a kid off bike" -- if Pelosi (for example) is to go after Weiner for "lying" she has to go after all the bad kids --- such Paul Ryan who stands up in Congress over and over lying about his voucher bill.
You're right about me punishing my children. A Weiner is not one of my children, but my children are under a direct threat from the very people who want to take him down.
It is getting to the point that politically appointed jobs are going unfilled in DC because no one qualified to do them is willing to watch their lives destroyed.
That's DANGEROUS. The more we punish innapropriate sex and let absolute corruption slide, the more we ACTUALLY ENCOURAGE the kinds of politicians who really don't care what anyone thinks of them. Is that what we want?
Gingrich has personally been involved in more than one sex scandal. He could not care less what you think of him for this.
He has his agenda and everything else can go to hell. We've created a political environment that makes it so the only people qualified to hold public office are those SO UNBELIEVABLY corrupt that they CAN'T be embarrassed. The more we punish politicians who still have a conscience, the more we weed them out and leave more room for people like Gingrich and the other repugs being mentioned in this thread who are more thick skinned.
Discretion is the better part of valor. Weiner's "conscience", given the stakes and current circumstances, should have told him that. Again, I DON'T care that the Congressman gets himself off by playing "legal" sex games although many in the country, including Liberals/Progre ssives are concerned with teenagers and their "sexting" habits. I'm concerned that because of his "poor judgment" we may lose one of the best voices we've had in years in the Congress and that the eternally scheming right-wing/Fasc ist bastards we're up against will maximize this into their own political gain. Why ANY public figure is still dumb enough to think that e-mails, Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites are free from scrutiny is beyond me. The sharks are ALWAYS circling. Take care Billy.
AGREE
1.) -- just (6/8/2011) heard Rachael Maddows - who cited "several" R's who have been caught paying hookers for "sex" - and are still in COngress -- yep - they be R's!
2.) Spent about an hour today calling Shumer, Palosi, and a few other Dems in both houses whose word carrys some weight "to stand up for Anthony Weiner" -- (probably as waste of time)
Ed Shultz can't back down now but he is putting the "holier than thou" spiel about asking Weiner to "resign" (I won't email and could not find a way to phone him -- but he really is "out of line")
Wisconsin is going to run Republicans as Dems in the primary in 2012 (gives them advantage!)
BTW Weiner's wife is pregnant!
VOTE 2012 -- we gotta get rid of R/TP -- no matter how weenie type the D's are!!!!!!!
The GOP/TP is dangerous!
And that is my opinionI
Most of the people involved in the impeachment hearings who were engaged in the same activities DID WALK AWAY WITHOUT PUNISHMENT. There's a double-standard at work here and if you can't see it, you're blind.
If repugs win more power in 2012 it won't be because of moral superiority. It WILL be due to CAMPAIGN FINANCE superiority.
Perhaps, but that is unfortunate.
Actually, the Fascist, Big Brother, All Seeing, Republican Surveillance Machine (ala Patriot Act) has done more .........
It would be a "story" if Weiner, like Republicans that came before him, pontificated about "family values" and used that as a platform to get elected. Don't think that's the case here.
And why should Weiner resign? He has broken no laws. Was he doing an investigation? I would have been. I would want to know if I was set up and how much blackmail information was in Breitbart's hands and WHERE DID HE GET IT from?
These conservatives are truly the scum of the earth.
This is the stuff done in divorce cases, the only ones wanting to "divorce" Weiner from Congress are Republicans. They have no part of this, it is betweeen Weiner and his wife, she is the ONLY person that can be harmed by his behaiviour. It has no bearing, none whatsoever, nada on Rep. Weiner's job performance.
You cite Gary Hart and Clinton. Those were lessons. And Weiner, be he too arrogant or demented, did not learn them.
Weiner did the deeds. Lied to all of us, the entire nation, about it. Then shared a baleful apology. This is bullshit, and this guy should be shown, no, shoved through the doorway.
Vote 2012 -- register NOW bc some states will make it too difficult in 2012. Ask fora mail-in ballot (bc they might MOVE your voting place without telling you)
Look who is supporting the campaign of a GOP/TP candidate (Walker in bed with Koch as an example) -- this is my opinion.
Vote Dem Why? GOP must vote with the GOP agenda .... GOP = TP (I cannot see any difference)
I stand by Weiner!
Pretty dismal company for Congressman Weiner. Actually, I liked him too. If judgment is indicative of character this "incident" doesn't bode well for Weiner.
Or are you saying that if Democrats were only absolutely perfect and pure in their words thoughts and deeds, they could enjoy a permanent political advantage over repuglicans even though repuglicans have closer ties to the sources of campaign money, and even though most of the media is run by conservative organizations?
Maybe if Democrats had shown a little political courage by actually standing up to repuglicans in 2008 and 2009, the repugs wouldn't have taken back the House in 2010. The Monica Lewinsky scandal virtually guaranteed Clinton's second term in office, because people could read through the hypocrisy. Do you remember what bush said when he was asked if he'd used cocaine while his daddy was president? He said, "none of your business". I'd hardly call that moral superiority.
Further, your argument is not enhanced by offering impossible scenarios such as: "if Democrats were only absolutely perfect ..."
President Clinton was under investigation for everything from raping the neighbor's cat to murder, BEFORE 1996. You're right about the "outing" of Lewinsky. It DID HOWEVER, help his approval ratings and lowered Congress'. The fact that he was so widely accused of everything under the sun and that Dole couldn't distance himself from the accusers CERTAINLY made it a lot easier for him to win in 1996.
You may remember that the "lie" Clinton spoke about Lewinsky was during hearings into Whitewater. Remember Whitewater? THAT was the scandal that was SUPPOSED to bring him down. That scandal was SUPPOSED to get him impeached. The only problem was that THAT scandal was a HOAX. They couldn't pin anything on him about it, but, in an unrelated event, he lied about some sex. SUDDENLY the "impeachment process" was about that.
He took no oath to tell the truth about oral sex. He took an oath to tell the truth about the accusations against him - WHITEWATER. If he'd lied about his pants size to pretend he was thinner, that lie wouldn't have been just as "illegal" as lying about the b.j.
CONT.
Do you remember when the impeachment talk started? IMMEDIATELY. I remember dole discussing it on don imus' show the DAY AFTER THE ELECTION IN '92.
Make no mistake about it. HE WAS GOING TO BE IMPEACHED FOR SOMETHING AS SOON AS HE GOT ELECTED.
Democrats being absolutely perfect is the ONLY way to please the people who want them removed from office every time they commit the same sins that repugnicans get away with.
Here's a secret. Cheating on wives and husbands is going on ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, and it's being done by HUGE percentages of people. Congress isn't worse than the rest of us. It just isn't any better than the rest of us either. Democrats are just as likely to commit the sin of adultery as repugnicans.
CONT.
Democrats only have ONE thing in their favor when it comes to moral issues. It's the fact that the Democratic Party is the one that still believes in the separation of church and state and that it doesn't posture itself as "God's Own Party". It, traditionally at least, was the ONLY home for politicians who didn't go around pretending to be perfect and a shining example of morality, worthy of preaching to the rest of us.
That's repuglican's job. And when repuglicans PROVE they're no more holy than the rest of us, they deserve to be called out for it. If you're looking for a moral example for your kids, use yourself and try to live up to it. That's hard enough. Don't expect Congress to provide an example of morality. Just expect them to stop being distracted and get back to work.
More importantly--th e behavior of Republicans, Conservatives, or Englishmen who go out in the noonday sun, are all irrelevant to Weiner's behavior. Whatever anyone else has done may be interesting and/or damaging, and their hypocrisy may be comical, but Weiner must succeed or fail on his own.
I think Dems have more than one issue that sets them morally apart from Repubilcans. The Bush administration highlighted many moral differences, and free choice is another among others.
I did not say that Clinton's Monica scandal and his impeachment had anything directly to do with Weiner, so I don't understand your focus on that event. I only clamined that bad behavior does impact the nation in all sorts of ways, a fact which hardly needs saying, and the 2000 election was an example. Gore took the ax partly because of his association with Clinton. A great pity for him and for the America.
Also, he allowed Bush to set the stage for debate, instead of running on eight years of prosperity.
Keep Weiner, and continue weakening the party and destroying its credibility.
It's getting to the point that political appointments aren't being made because nobody actually qualified for the job is willing to have their entire life dragged through the mud so the opposition can score points. I don't think there'd be so much "moral" outrage anyway if the same sins being committed by members of Congress weren't being committed by a huge portion of the regular population.
I don't think ANYONE is in any position to be casting stones here.
Also, I do not have to deny the "flagrant violations of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by the Republicans" if I condemn Weiner. The two actions are not mutually exclusive.
Nor do I accept the Bishop's contention that Weiner should be excused on the grounds that "like all males [he has] a very frail ego." How juvenile.
To the repugs: If "a weiner's" actions are so reprehensible, why don't we apply the same standard ACROSS THE BOARD? Are you demanding that a few repugs in office leave immediately as well?
To Democrats, (specifically Dave): People in office DO often take an oath. It's to uphold the Constitution. NOT the Ten Commandments.
BUT... Let's imagine they DID take that oath:
Why are we only focused on ONE of the Commandments here? It seems to me that there are NINE others being totally disregarded in the race to purify politics. Why aren't we concerned about, for instance:
-How many in office have "other God's" before God? What about the worship of money and holy profit?
-Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain: Isn't that what a hypocrite does every time he applies a moral standard to another he's unwilling to apply to himself? Isn't that what the right is doing when it preaches about religion, while ignoring its own sins?
-Honor thy mother and father: Social Security anyone? Medicare anyone?
-Thou shalt not murder: Isn't that what going to war under false pretenses IS.
CONT.
-Thou shalt not murder: Isn't that what going to war under false pretenses IS.
-Thou shalt not bear false witness: Did anyone resign for making up lies about President Obama's past? Did anyone resign for accusing President Clinton of murder or "troopergate"?
-Thou shalt not STEAL. Do I need to even explain where I'm going with that one?
And, what about "the Greatest Commandment" of them all - the one that Jesus told his followers to apply? You know, the one about "loving your neighbor" and "doing unto others as you'd have them do unto you"? Would you like to see YOUR children slaughtered for oil? Would you like to see YOUR children TORTURED? Would you like to see YOUR children denied basic health care or a decent public education? Would you like to see YOUR children starving to death because we couldn't act about global climate change until most of the human food supply was threatened?
As soon as we can implement ALL of the Ten Commandments to ALL of our public officials I’ll be willing to join you in the stoning party. Until then, I’d rather see a good person who’s committed a sin stay in office, so he won’t be replaced by an evil person who doesn’t care about the OTHER NINE COMMANDMENTS.
PERHAPS WE AGREE MORE THAN WE THOUGHT.
I'm ONLY concerned with the calls for his resignation.
I'm all for telling him he's an idiot for doing this. I AGREE COMPLETELY. And, contrary to one of your other comments above, I'm NOT DEFENDING WHAT HE DID. In fact, he's not either. I'm just as angry with him as you are, as are probably all the other commenters on this thread who you think are defending him. There's no defense for what he did.
I AM HOWEVER, defending his right to stay in Congress even though he TALKED ABOUT committing adultery.
If he must resign for his perversion, then I think it's time for clarence "long-john silver" thomas to step down as well. Until that happens, I'll gladly condemn him and tell him he was a naughty boy, THEN expect him to get back to work.
Billie Bob - well said - send what you wrote just now to Palosi + Shumer + Ed Shultz + Congress
Since when does the media get to MAKE the decision -- it's on 24/7 on FAUX + msnbc etc
Vote 2012 = register now bc the GOP will make it impossible to register in 11/2012 - and get granny a "mail in" ballot -- JUST VOTE
My opinion: Vote Dem or we'll all be riding in back of pickup trucks with guns BEGGING for a loaf of bread.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/13074b22e0fd3a4e
That URL is a hoax.
Please, everyone, watch on YouTube Rachael Maddow's 6/8/2011 show.
Vote 2012 - get a mail-in ballot - bc the GOP might "MOVE" your polling place -- get people to register NOW.
This is my opinion
P.S. move your money to small banks --
Stay the course- Representative Weiner.
VOTE 2012 and get everyone registgered NOW (Post office, libraries, etc have forms) Vote early by mail.
My opinion: Vote Dem bc the GOP/TP are still fighting the 150 yr old Civil War!
Here's a thought about "same" --- while I don't facebook or twitter with strnge people -- and I'm not gay. So if someone does twitter/faceboo k for sex with strangers - it does not hurt me. If a man wants to be with a man (woman/woman), it doesn't hurt me.
Second part of my thought: If I hire a lawyer (lawsuit) - I don't want him to be my shrink, my friend, my anything. I want him to fight for me with his every ounce of knowledge/energy/etc.
So . . . as long as Anthony Weiner fights for my rights (and he does) if he tweeks with strangers and lied about it -- he does his job.
My point is: My lawyer can have 6 fingers and buck teeth and have a bad bed-side manner -- but if he does his job, then that is all I care to look at.
So, some things are NOT the same. Weiner is "hard as nails" and so he does not have a lot of "friends" in Congress. But he's a straight shooter in the political arena so even the Dems (who are tainted) fear Weiner for he'd come down on them for crooking America (and has).
I refuse to judge Weiner on "lying" or Sexting bc he does the job for me.
A man, or a woman, has NOTHING, if their "word" cannot be trusted. The Conservatives and their uber-wealthy allies are similarly unconcerned about the moral and ethical failings of their "warriors," because it "does the job for them." Kind of puts us back at square one doesn't it? Some Catholic priests sodomize little boys but no doubt give great sermons. I wonder if their parishioners are forgiving of their sins because "he does the job for me." If America accepts your standards then it means one more immersion in the gutter. It will NEVER wash off at some point. Perhaps that day has already arrived. If so, then the preservation of a singularly debauched state is a waste of time, money and effort. My thoughts.
But his case shows just how hypocritical both parties continue to be. Had this been a Republican, most of you would be calling for a lynching. And vice versa. Thus this proves what many of us have long recognized--the re is little difference among those swimming at the very bottom of the political barrel.
Shame on Weiner--he has disgraced himself, his family, his state, and his office. And shame on all of you who automatically defend him because of his party preference.
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