This Weiner is Roasted
New pictures of Rep. Anthony Weiner have been published by the website TMZ.
Enough of this weenie roast. Whether Weiner is seeking “counseling or not, it’s time for him to do the right thing for his constituents and resign. I don’t care if Jon Stewart thinks he’s one of the good guys, he’s a creep and has lost the respect of his colleagues, save Sen. Vitter and former Sen. Ensign, he needs to resign and tonight is not soon enough!
Tags: Sex Scandals
Weiner should do what’s right ethically. But, like the other thread regarding Liberals and God, Weiner has a God complex, ergo…he won’t resign…especially if the polls from his representative district show him eeking by.
Btw, I thought of a new entrepreneurial idea: Starting a Sex Clinic for those with Sexual Social Media Disorders 😉
Funny how people want Congressmen to resign over this sort of thing, but not over the things that actually harm the American citizenry.
Geezer, we vote those ones out of office. The sleazy ones need to resign.
The media is doing a Charlie Sheen on him now. Every utterance or revelation somehow becomes new evidence of creepiness.
“Did you hear the latest? He was in contact with a 17 year old girl!”
(yeah, but her parents say nothing untoward happened)
“And there are new pictures, in a towel!”
(ummm. and what about those pictures? Who got them, and why?)
“But… but… those pictures look JUST LIKE the pictures of Chris Lee, and he was soliciting SEX!!”
(Was Weiner soliciting sex? or just being an ass?)
The whole point of Chris Lee’s resignation was not the pictures themselves, but the fact that he was using the pictures to solicit sex from strangers on the Internet – CREEPY!
But for Weiner, we have lowered the bar so the pictures themselves are somehow evidence of creepiness, without further evidence.
No, MJ, we don’t. Once again you’ve taken your eye off the ball.
Geezer, it does happen, just not as often as we like.
Actually, puck, according to the article below, her parents are angry. As they should be. Remove the D from his name and ask yourself if there’s anything remotely acceptable about a 46-year old man sending private messages to a 17-year old girl he’s never met (regardless of whether there was any sexual innuendo). I’d be interested to know what she looks like. Something tells me she’s not homely. Weiner is a creep.
I used to be much more accepting of politicians getting caught in sexual scandals, but it’s gotten completely out of control. I don’t care whether it impacts their ability to do their jobs or not. I just think it’s time we start holding our leaders to a higher standard. All of them, regardless of party.
Sorry. Forgot the link.
http://channel6newsonline.com/2011/06/police-investigate-contact-between-rep-weiner-and-delaware-teen/
Really, MJ? Like whom?
Don’t remember you speaking out when it was an R, Dominique. You’re right, Weiner is a creep. It’s OK by me if he resigns. But if he and the teen only talked about politics, would it still be creepy?
More importantly, how is this remotely important to the republic? Is it truly worthy of all the attention it’s now sucked up?
… ask yourself if there’s anything remotely acceptable about a 46-year old man sending private messages to a 17-year old girl he’s never met …
Correct me if I’m wrong, but unless a Twitter user says in their short profile how old they are or gives an indication of their age (like what school they attend), there’s no real way to figure out how old they are, is there? I’m not trying to defend Wiener – I think he’s a sleazebag who ought to have quit when this first broke – but I’m curious about whether he actually could *not* have known her age.
Wagner, Cook, Spence to name a few on the local level. Nationally, Dole, Coleman, Dodd (forced out).
Political scandals are hardly ever about illegal activity (those aren’t “scandals”, they are “prosecutions”). Scandals usually fall into that gray area between illegal and unethical. The main problem with scandalous activity is that the elected official (if they stay on the job) can no longer be effective in their institutional role. No one will tie their political fate to theirs, no one will co-sponsor legislation and they might even run away from important issues that the damaged officeholder champions just so that they do not become associated with the scandal.
Wagner I’ll grant you. But without Bob Reeder’s efforts to bring her behavior to light, she’d probably still be in office.
Spence didn’t lose his office because of any misbehavior, and he wasn’t a particularly bad actor. His only sin was lax oversight of his caucus, which I blame more on his caucus than him — they installed him at the top specifically because he’s no detail man.
Cook is in-between. I don’t think she did anything illegal. She just conducted herself for decades in ways that increased her personal power and influence. Yet without a well-credentialed opponent, she wouldn’t have been voted out, either.
Stack that up against the sleazy lawmakers who haven’t gone anywhere. Atkins resigned, briefly, but only so he wouldn’t incur a greater penalty. Venables profited from a land deal with a non-profit that he gave money to. He’s still there. Harris McDowell has been in Delmarva’s pocket for decades, taking countless actions that harmed consumers. He’s still there. Oberle’s wife does hundreds of thousands in business selling tchotchkes to the state. He’s still there, retiring when he wants to. Roger Roy’s wife has a nice sinecure with the state. He stayed as long as he wanted. I could go on and on and on.
On the national level, Coleman wasn’t voted out for bad behavior. He lost an election. Dole retired to run for president. Dodd lost because he was demonized by the GOP.
Libby Dole, not the erectile disfunction promoter.
Love how everyone in the media, and some here, know exactly what wiener’s wife thinks about all of this.
It’s projection of the highest order.
If it was proven that weiner shared all of this with his spouse, prior to so-called news breaking, what would be the response?
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2011/06/weinergate-are-political-sex-scandals-illegal.html?DCMP=NWL-cons_legalgrounds
Weinergate: Are Political Sex Scandals Illegal?
By Cynthia Hsu on June 10, 2011 8:51 AM| No TrackBacks
With Weinergate still on the radar and John Edward’s recent indictment, political sex scandals are all the rage. They are certainly sordid and in terrible taste. But, the questions on many Americans’ minds may just be: Are sex scandals illegal? Are there any sex scandal laws out there?
Not really. It’s not illegal for a private citizen to cheat on his wife – though it is morally reprehensible.
When you think about the legal ramifications of sex scandals, it’s not that they violated some sex scandal law – it’s that they did something illegal in conjunction with the scandal.
Edwards allegedly misappropriated campaign funds to hide his mistress, which would be in violation of federal law. Former President Bill Clinton lied under oath – committing perjury.
Of course, politicians that end up embroiled in political sex scandals may end up facing repercussions in the form of ethics violations and ethics investigations by Congress. But those waiting for retribution via an ethics investigation may be waiting a long time – the system is apparently very slow.
For example, investigations into ethics charges against Maxine Waters, a democratic representative from California, have been stalled – the allegations are around two years old, reports NPR.
A recent ethics investigation into Rep. Charles Rangel, a democratic congressman from New York, found that he was guilty of 11 congressional rules. Rangel remains in office though. He was only censured for the violations, according to NPR.
Even if sex scandals are not illegal by themselves, it’s not like politicians that engage in sleazy activities get away free and clear. The court of public opinion is a harsh one – and considering the voting public is essentially the politician’s “employers,” politicians can easily get voted out of office when their term is up.
So, are sex scandals illegal by themselves? No, but maybe it does not really matter that there there are no literal “sex scandal laws” against politicians. Having your name and reputation dragged through the mud can be considered a kiss of death for a politician’s career – and nothing seems to sell as many papers or cause as much furor as a sex scandal.
MA voters knew about Scott Brown’s nude modeling and decided they wanted him to represent them, not Coakley. http://bit.ly/MyQ8A
Rep. Weiner’s constituents should have the same option, to re-elect or not re-elect their congressman. In the meantime, Democrats who want him and the scandal to go away should find another way of expressing themselves without calling for his resignation.
If only Rep Weiner had charged money for his photo’s Dems and Repubs might agree to leave it to the voters.
Is it OK if I still think the bigger problem was his lying about having his account hacked? I don’t think it’s a firing offense, but I think it’s a greater ethical breach than the sexting. The sexting is just evidence of an absurd narcissism. I mean, who takes that many pictures of himself for any reason?
winning the next election and having a good foil against the rethugs is more important that anthony weiner. Think how great it will be to show Eric Cantor side by side with Eric Cantor defending vitter… who not only cant control his dick, but broke the law….. and bashing Weiner who was forced out by his own party…. a more ethical party.
Senator Vitter broke the law and slept with a prostitute. Rep. Weiner broke no laws and had virtual affairs. Anything that is asked or demanded of Weiner must first be demanded of Vitter. And as far as lying goes, there are just too many liars in DC to count.
So I guess I am the only person wondering where we’d be if the Dems sanctimoniously weighing in on this Weiner idiocy were actually spending time on calling for, oh, say — more employment-focused policy.
🙄
People have the right to express themselves sexually. The only funny thing about this episode, is his name is Weiner…
Giving headline writers the opportunity of a lifetime… “Weiner Exposed”… “Pictures of Weiner” “Weiner Fails To Measure Up”… Weiner Hardens Resolve; Will Not Limp Out”.. “Weiner Loses Balls; Mentions Resignation” .. “Weiner Discharges Venom Against Attackers..” “Weiner squirts Press and Runs”… “Not Much Left of Weiner.”….
Other than that, he probably acted like 88% of men would if they too were fortunate to have had that opportunity.
Funny how single-payer advocates keep getting knocked off by scandal and made to look creepy and unstable. First Massa, now Weiner. Not only neutralized, but destroyed.
… and Kucinich redistricted out. Just saying.
Puck,
it just means that we need to make sure advocates for real progressive causes are squeaky fucking clean. the game is rigged against us, we can either bitch about the unfair rules…. and change nothing, or make sure they have nothing on us. The progressive cause will seem more moral and ethical if weiner goes. At this point, that is all that matters
it just means that we need to make sure advocates for real progressive causes are squeaky fucking clean.
We are talking about politicians, right? Count me out on raising the bar to squeaky clean politicians. Sheesh, is there any other profession that this call for sainthood would hold true? Would anyone ever say, “I don’t want the highly qualified heart surgeon because he had an affair?
The progressive cause will seem more moral and ethical if weiner goes. At this point, that is all that matters
Um… no, it won’t. Who do you see thinking this? Republicans/Tea Partiers never will, and most progressives don’t care. To think that this will matter, or change the way we are viewed amongst ourselves and others strikes me as a Republican talking point. Also, all this Dem outrage seems to be adding fuel to the non-story while at the same time advancing the GOP’s wishes. Count me out of that game – I don’t like, or trust, who’s sitting next to me in the bleachers.
When this story first broke I said that I didn’t care about it. I still don’t care, mainly because there’s nothing to care about.
“winning the next election and having a good foil against the rethugs is more important that anthony weiner.”
Sorry, but if all you care about is winning elections, I’m not interested in any advice you have to give.
“The progressive cause will seem more moral and ethical if weiner goes. At this point, that is all that matters”
Ah, I see. Lying for a good cause is OK. Asshole.
“a more ethical party.”
Fuck you, sport. I’ve seen some of the stuff you have to say about your political enemies. “Ethical” isn’t word that springs to mind.