I didn’t want Anthony’s weiner to resign, but he did. It’s all done now (though Obama expects him to “bounce back” eventually… maybe after he finishes sexting rehab). Anyway, we have five final thoughts before laying this story to rest… for now.
1. He had every right to lie initially because what happened was only the business of Weiner and the women involved to begin with. Imagine this: maybe Weiner knew how the puritanical media would crucify him for such an innocent offense (how many people in the audience have never sexted?). And so he told a “little white lie” to avoid the oncoming shitstorm and eventual resignation for just a little while longer. Wouldn’t you pray for a hurricane to wait just just one hour more before destroying your city?
2. There’s this idea that if he “betrayed” his wife (though none of us know the type of marital arrangement they have*), then he would also BETRAY and LIE TO his constituents—who largely don’t want Weiner to retire, despite the so-called “scandal.”
3. There is widespread sentiment that Weiner was a Legislative force to be reckoned with—a scourge of the Right. Is it any wonder that the prurient and puritanical American media (with its connection to telecomm bucks) wanted to take him down? They took him down so low, that even at his resignation speech a Howard Stern shock jockey asked him if he was bigger than 7 inches. An indignity not offered even at the resignation of Mark Foley.
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4. Democrats are spineless bullshit for asking Weiner to resign—that means you, Obama and Pelosi. The GOPs just keep their goddamned mouths shut. And if any media member asks them about it, the GOP says, “Oh how dare you ask such a disrespectful question! You are horrid trash for even asking.” Done.
5) And all this … JUST FOR SEXTING???! HE DIDN’T EVEN GET LAID!!!!
JR
Five Last Thoughts On Weiner’s Resignation
Anyway, we have four final thoughts before laying this story to rest… for now.
I’m sorry, how many final thoughts was that?
Daniel Villarreal
@JR: It was four. Math is hard. Especially first thing in the morning. 😀
Cam
My issue with Weiner is this.
Did EVERYBODY calling for him to resign also call for Senator Vitter to resign? He ran on family vaules and yet was exposed as visting hookers, which is actually illegal.
Is everybody calling for Weiner to resign also calling for Senator Cobourn to resign? He facilitated the bribe between Senator Ensign and the husband of his mistress…oh yeah, and it was paid with misappropriated funds.
So where were the Dems screaming for these two GOP senators to resign when they…you know….actually broke the law?
ronbo
@Cam: Because it was the Dems working with the Repubs. Very few people notice that they work very well together when it comes to moving the American public to the right. These same Dems did NOT call on Vitter to resign.
What we have are two different sides of the same coin. They may talk different; but, when it comes to action, they are ONE. I’m not being fooled again by talk. (I won’t renew the Bush Tax Cuts, I want to make government more transparent. I am a fierce supporter of gay rights. Etc…. The Dems talk a good game, but when it comes to actually doing what they say, it’s nearly always the same thing the Republicans wanted in the first place.)
gregger
I’ve said it before when the sexting issue broke I would have supported him if he had not lied. Regardless of what the author might deem acceptable many of us went through the Nixon/Watergate scandal. One of the lessons that was drummed into the brains of citizens of the US is that we are the people to hold our politicians accountable for their actions. If your Rep/Sen/Pres/Mayor/whatever lies about something small how can you trust that person with something big?
@Cam: Yes I have!! I’m on the asses of politicians to the point that when I was still a FL voter I barraged Rep Mark Foley’s office with letters and phone calls to resign when his page scandal hits.
gregger
@gregger: that should be “hit.”
TMikel
The uproar over Weiner’s actions has been far too extreme and I agree that it is time to move on. Our country faces so many serious problems that should be getting our attention. However, Mr. Weiner DID post the photos, he DID engage in [at the very least] distasteful behavior, and he must be held accountable. Whatever good he might have done has been completely lost by this one act. And for the record, I never once read or heard anything from his wife. As to the concept of open marriage, the voting public does not want its elected officials in open marriages. That might be a double standard, but it is a fact. We MUST stop making excuses for elected officials. That said, whether or not Mr. Weiner had sex, the size of his penis, and any other prurient or purulent are irrelevant. Mr. Weiner has paid an enormous price for his indiscretion, but do we really want one set of standards for the GOP and one for Democrats?
iDavid
It’s time for open marriages, they happen. And they happen with integrity. Either we get real about the true nature of sexuality, instead of our faux ideals about it, or we continue in the dark w over 50% divorce rate. Their is no integrity in “till death do us part” its a starry eyed pipe dream for most.
Daniel Villarreal
@iDavid: Dan Savage once said:
Agreed.
iDavid
In other words, I’ve never seen a day not be followed by a night, they coexist quite well. Same is possible for open and closed marriages.
ewe
The backlash of the straight white male BONER turning on itself. People just cannot get over themselves.
ewe
Open the gates baby. Who is hosting this party anyway? DAVID TYREE!!! That’s who. Don’t blame the guests.
Mike in Asheville
Daniel, your “thoughts” are thoughtless:
1) He did not tell a “little white lie.” I watched only 1 interview Weiner gave when the story broke — Weiner spent 20 minutes telling the nation, through CNN/Wolf Blitzer, that he was “hacked”, a victim of harassment, he NEVER sent torrid pictures to anyone, yada, yada, yada.
Weiner told BIG FAT LIES.
And, I am not willing to give him the benefit that this was a private and personal matter. I don’t give him that because he did not keep this private nor personal. It would have been one thing had Weiner texted as “7 Jewish Inches” or “NYC7inches” BUT no, he used his true name, identified himself as a Congressman, and boasted that he could be the next mayor of New York.
2) You denounce the old argument “If he lied/betrayed his wife, he’d do the same to us” as politics. But Weiner did LIE and he did BETRAY the public trust — See #1 above.
Weiner certainly failed to show he was a leader — he slinked around, telling his lies, hoping his sophomoric antics would somehow just magically disappear.
3) Don’t blame the media for a story made rich by Weiner’s incredibly stupid texting followed up by Weiner’s lies that only got bigger as the story grew. The lies kept flaming the fire as new revelation after revelation revealed the lies and told of Weiner’s extensive texting sexual innuendo, complete with picture after picture.
4) Two, three, even four “wrongs” by hypocritical Repugnitans do not make what Weiner did “right.” What Vitter and Ensign did was wrong and they should have been censured out of office. Craig and Foley resigned, and Weiner too.
5) And now you are being sophomoric too! You lament about the indignity Weiner faced in his press conference yet you go to the “he didn’t even get laid” joke.
***************
I used to live in his district, voted for him, and would have happily voted for him to succeed Bloomberg.
Pete n SFO
It’s all bullshiz…
He’s a smart guy & knew the ‘rules’ going in.
It ain’t right, but it’s how it is… He became a distraction to the Dem agenda & fodder in an election year.
I don’t know anyone that really cares about any of it, except that they are bored over the media’s captivation.
iDavid
@Daniel Villarreal
I have yet to find one thing about sex and relationships that Dan Savage has said, that hasn’t passed the smell test.
Weiner having his career destroyed doesn’t fix a sexually flawed social model. His wife and family suffer dramatically also. Lying or not, I do believe it’s overkill.
Jaroslaw
Mike in Asheville – almost everyone lies about sex. Yes, he told more than a little white lie, but the media shouldn’t be asking in the first place. We will probably just have to disagree, since I don’t think you’re coming over to my point of view.
Check out “I hate Republicans” – google it. I don’t have the website right now – anyway, there are only a handful of posts – one of the comments has probably a full page of single spaced typing listing Republican sexual sins. MUCH worse than what Weiner did.
I love how Pelosi and Feinstein or whoever is demanding an apology from Weiner. I for one, think there are far more serious issues: Apologize for letting jobs go overseas, and giving 700 Billion to the banks, for not helping people save their homes…..allowing the FDA to take research by the company instead of doing it independently, etc. etc. etc.
gregger
@Mike in Asheville: I got blasted by a several a$$holes on this site and Gawker for using the same rationale yesterday. HE; lied to the public, opened himself up to public scrutiny by the lies, opened all of his communications to governmental investigation by his lies, opened himself up to public ridicule by being ashamed of his actions (private and public), and destroyed his political viability by not admitting his mistake in the first place and proving to the public that he is a liar and thereby unworthy of public trust.
gregger
@Jaroslaw: you seem to miss the point that by resorting to RethugliKKKan actions (getting caught with his dick in the cookie jar and then lying about it) he took the party to the same crappy level as the RethugliKKKans. He became a distraction and a stumbling point for the 2012 elections. If the Democrats want to say that they are different than the Teabaggers/Kochsuckers/RethugliKKKans the Dems need to hold themselves to a different standard. If he had done the standard “I did this and I have a sickness” routine he might have been able to survive. Weiner came out as an arrogant prick who seemed to feel he was above the truth. I cannot trust someone who is going to lie so badly over such a trivial thing.
Jaroslaw
Gregger – you missed the point, I’m afraid. I never said there weren’t Dems who don’t do sexual things, but they are NOT (usually) hypocrites. You need to look at that list. I remember most of them when they happened. Senator X campaigns on family values and gets caught going to hookers was mentioned right here, today. (which as noted is illegal, not what Weiner did). Broad point – so many of the Rethugs are trying to control the behavior of others and can’t control themselves. I do not see this nearly as much with the Dems.
I am not pleased with what Weiner did, but it really is between him and his wife. If we fired every person from their job, fired every government official who stepped out on their spouse, we’d probably fire over half of them. When you aren’t working because your job has been shipped overseas, let me know how important Weiner is to you then.
I DO NOT agree with the statement because you lied about sex, you will lie about anything. That is like saying snitching a candy bar is the same as robbing a bank, both are wrong, but it is a matter of degree. Or better yet, if you discover something was ommitted on your restaurant bill, do you bring it to their attention or just let it go?
gregger
@Jaroslaw: You miss the point. I couldn’t care less what a person does in their personal life. The lying about his actions was big, if he had just fessed up and gone for treatment it would be over and his career would be salvageable. Then you take into account that the way he lied (about his twitter facebook accounts getting hacked) demanded an investigation according to several governmental rules regarding communication from governmental officials. If someone in the government doesn’t understand the consequences of their word choices they should not be in government. Lying to your spouse, not my problem. Lie to the public, you lose.
He was stupidly careless enough to get caught, stupid enough to lie about it, and phenomenally stupid to say that his @RepWeiner Twitter account was hacked. That’s poor judgement at best, do you seriously want someone that reckless and stupid in government.
BTW, I’ve been calling, writing, and emailing Sen Diaperboy to resign. I’ve also been after Sen Ensign’s felonious friend to resign, likewise went after Rep Mark Foley when I was a FL voter. Bush’43 and his entire team of thugs still need to be tried for lying to Congress and in official investigations, a felony.
Scott
Wiener gave it up too easily. He should have predicated his resignation upon David Vitter also resigning.
chrissie riot
This is some crazy puritanical bullshit ya’ll. It’s not like he forced these pictures on the women he was sexting. It’s not like he isn’t doing something that so many people are doing these days that it has it’s own word. He was flirting with some chicks and he got caught. This should have been a private matter handled privately between him and his wife. Sure, he lied about it. Because it wasn’t and isn’t your business.
We bitch and moan about the government and everyone intruding on our bedrooms. But seriously, it goes both ways. It’s not my business if he’s sending awkward chest shots and dick pictures to the ladies. I don’t see what that has to do with his ability to hold a government seat. Hell, in 20, 30 years like everyone in congress will have participated in some salaciousness that today is apparently the worst thing forever and ever amen.
The only time I think it’s fair to call out politicians on deviating from the typical monogamous marriage between a man and a woman are the “family values” candidates that cheat and divorce and give blow jobs in bathroom stalls (also applicable would be closet lesbians but I don’t think anyone’s been caught being a secret homogirl). But that’s because we’d be calling them out on their own hypocrisy, not because they should be ashamed of having non-monogamous relationships or that they shouldn’t end marriages that aren’t going working out, or that they shouldn’t be gay. Politicians shouldn’t be expected to not be human, but I think it’s fair to expect them to not be hypocrites.
robert in NYC
Cam, actually Vitter committed a crime of moral turpitude, a class A felony I believe with five prostitutes. Two of them he called directly from the floor of the House while in session to set up his sex trysts according to his cell phone records. Nobody in the GOP called for his resignation. In fact, many of his colleagues helped get him re-elected. He received a standing ovation after he returned to the House. Breitbart and Drudge were silent along with the rest of the GOP. Although recently, Eric Cantor, when asked about Vitter in light of the Weiner debacle, said (in Vitter’s case)…”it was a family matter”. Amazing double=standard. Pure hypocrisy.
To digress….why isn’t Andrew Breitbart investigating the two women lobbyists John Boehner is alledged to have had sex with? I believe the names are Lisa Lyons and Leigh LaMora?? Maybe the often maligned National Inquirer will get involved. After all, it was right on the money about John Edwards.
BlogShag
It would seem to me that the only reason people are upset over Weiner exposing his weiner on the internet is because he was doing it with tax payer dollars on government property.
And as for Breitbart. What kind of guy walks around showing everyone a picture of a man’s penis on his cell phone camera? :\
robert in NYC
No. 24, I wouldn’t say that. Vitter was soliciting prostitutes from the floor of the House, on government property but nobody in the GOP asked him to resign let alone expressed outrage or disgust. When its the republicans, its a double-standard. Nobody dares question it for being too partisan.
As for Breitbart, well….every time he opens his mouth or I look at him, my gaydar ignites. Hiding behind a wife and four children doesn’t mean a thing these days. Perfect cover, especially if you’re a republican having to deal with all the repression, guilt, shame and wanting to be accepted by the party even if it means voting for them when they vote against our rights as many gay republicans including their Tea Partyers and Civil Libertarians do. They’d rather put a homophobe in the White House, someone who runs campaigns on hate and discrimination against gay people than a democrat whose record may not be stellar but never ran on a campaign of hate and marginalization of an entire group of people. As a Green, I’ll take the lesser of the two because I know my party will never take the White House.
Jaroslaw
Well, Gregger, we just disagree (#20) – lying about sex is NOT the same thing as lying about nuclear weapons (GWBII) and taking us to war. Or maybe you think it is.