Weinergate
Mon, 06/06/2011 - 7:11pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/anthony-weiner-admits-h...
I pretty much watched his entire press conference and I think it was a pretty brave thing to come clean and keep on keepin' on. I think a lot of people do this kind of stuff and I don't think it means much really. I would like to believe that he could get through this but I'm a little scared he won't, which is a shame because I think he's a good representative. If he had just come out from the start and said something like, "I was goofing off. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. My wife and I are dealing with it. It's not gonna affect my job. Let's talk about the real issues." I think he could have gotten through it.
On the other hand I am completely dumbfounded, once again, at politicians who have the sexual maturity of a junior high school cheerleader. Contrary to some people's belief of me, I'm totally down with the "whatever turns you" on thing. But I've never found it difficult to keep pics of my dong off the internet (though with my present career choice I suppose it would probably help me more than hurt me). I don't judge the guy for being kinky, just for lying about it. Who knows, if he played his cards right, he could have been a hero for exhibitionists everywhere?
The big question is: Should he quit his job?
Tue, 06/07/2011 - 7:13pm
#2
Nothing illegal happened as
Nothing illegal happened as far as I know. He lied, but not under oath. There are plenty of other larger, way more illegal issues that I'd rather see politicians quit over. I haven't seen any evidence that this is an issue that's anybody's business except for Weiner (and his family).
7:06PM - Just to clarify, it's not that people can't talk about this issue or that it's necessarily a bad thing. But I really don't think it's our business. He's a public figure, so it's certainly understandable that people are going to want to discuss it. But it's still not our business. And when journalists start focusing on it like they don't have anything better to do, and when pundits start talking about whether or not he should resign, it's just another scandal in which--whether they realize it or not--Washington embarrasses itself. Even though I'm sure that people (hopefully) care about, say, the illegal war that is being fought in Libya, it irks me to see Weiner headlines on page one with everything else that's going on. I can't be bothered except to say that we shouldn't be bothered. What Weiner is guilty of isn't criminal or despicable. For that, we have Bill Clinton and Clarence Thomas.
Tue, 06/07/2011 - 10:00pm
#3
Yeah, it's the lying that's
Yeah, it's the lying that's the worst part of it, although you have to admit that his actions are pretty stupid for someone in his position.
However what about that guy Breitbart who put all this stuff out there in the first place? I guess I understand that in politics there are always going to be people trying to undermine their opposition, but it seems nothing but cruel for this guy to have aggressively exposed this. It's not that I have an overabundance of sympathy for Weiner, but I don't think that just because someone has dirty information means they have to use it, especially because in this case what Weiner did wasn't illegal--he never even met these women. I don't cut him any slack for lying but I think that Breitbart comes off as the more malicious of the two.
Tue, 06/07/2011 - 10:40pm
#4
Politics aside
Would you call what he did unfaithful or immoral in any way?
This article makes some great points about the difference between our online and real lives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/weiner-and-the-modern-e-ff...
Tue, 06/07/2011 - 11:42pm
#5
Weiner
Well I hate to be the guy who keeps bringing up gender issues, but although what he did is fairly commonplace nowadays, and may not be technically "illegal", it pretty much projects a fairly powerful arrogance and implied sexism. What made him think that the "relationship" he should have with his female twitter "followers" should be based on pictures of his crotch? What does that indicate about the way he thinks about how these relationships should work, and the privileges he has as a congressman and as a "guy"? Its funny how there are so many of these twitter "scandals" and yet so very few of them are perpetrated by women. In fact I cant think of any.
In my opinion its not "all good". There is such a thing as morality, not based on some religion or whatever but based on the kind of society we would like to have. Weiner is supposed to be some kind of "liberal" who believes that men and women should be equal, etc. But obviously that goes out the window when it comes to his communication with college-age women. I hate to sound like Barry, but this looks like a case of just another no-good politician.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 2:11pm
#6
Interesting point. I mean
Interesting point. I mean when it comes down to it there's got to be some kind of connection between legislation and morality. Right? I mean when people make the decision to enter public service or politics they've got to understand the rules, whether you agree with them or not.
If it wasn't a problem then I don't see why he didn't just say, "Hey the only person I have to answer to for this matter is my wife and she's cool with. It was just innocent flirting. Or I'm working this out. I've got a problem here and it's not affecting my job. Please bear with me while I work it out." Why did he have to call a national press conference to apologize to his wife? Of course if he can still do a good job then no problem. But lets face, it it's highly unlikely that this is not going to have any affect on his job, especially how he's dealt with it. Even if it's not him personally, I'm pretty sure his job is gonna be more difficult now.
I really like what Larry King said about it on BL this morning. He says, a little humbleness could go a long way. Very good advice and probably a big part of the problem in the first place.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/2011/jun/08/larry-king-50-years-of-questions/
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 2:05am
#7
The point I was making in
The point I was making in saying that Weiner's actions were not illegal had more to do with what I think of Breitbart, the guy who brought this stuff to the attention of the press. He did this specifically as a way of injuring a political opponent. I find there is a kind of cruelty in that.
What Weiner did is disreputable and most of all an insult to his wife. It is beyond me how someone who says that he is in a loving relationship with another person could act this way toward her. When I hear of politicians who are dishonest in their personal lives, it makes me feel that they could just as easily be dishonest in their public lives, and Weiner seems to have proven that this is the case.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 8:05am
#8
different strokes
How do we know it's insulting to his wife? Maybe they have an open relationship. Maybe she let's him blow off some online steam. Maybe she's hurt. Maybe she's not. Even if someone showed me an article that indicates her reaction, I don't think that would be the point. Haven't we all been in and/or witnessed a variety of romantic relationships among our friends to know that we don't really have an idea how this has played out between Weiner and his wife and it's not our concern? It's between them. In this case the morality that you ask about, MMM, needs to play out between the individuals in the private romantic relationship. It was made public. We can talk about it; it's hard not to. It's when we start talking about what we think he should or shouldn't do that we need to act humble about this.
It should be noted that issues like this have a sneaky way of shaping the way actual laws are formed down the line. Would you want an employer having the right to fire you for [pick the online sexual activity of your choice]?
And again, a lie is a lie, but we all might lie about our private life if we're caught with our pants down. For ourselves, we'd call it a "white lie." For a politician it's suddenly a crime? It would be a crime if he lied under oath. The issue isn't whether or not he lied, but whether or not he broke the law.
=============
I'll reemphasize the point I made above, which is that maybe it's party-pooping just to dismiss this issue and try and remind everyone that there are people being bombed to smithereens and plenty of hardcore lying/immorality connected with that yadda yadda, but I really feel that many sex scandal discussions are parties that need to be pooped. Some of them, like the Spitzer issue, are actually intentional distractions from larger scandals (there is strong evidence that Spitzer scandal came up because of the threat he presented to Wall Street bankers...plenty of articles on that).
Looks like I'm not the only one with similar issues regarding this:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/07/weiner/inde...
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/06/should-we-care-about...
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 9:18am
#9
I guess I don't believe in
I guess I don't believe in privacy... we have some control and awareness over when information will become
a) available
and whether it will ever become
b) noticed
Though we are organically created by our unity with theuniverse, I believe in the lifetime unity of the individual... that our actions are an expression of ourselves... I suppose one can define oneself by calculating what actions to take.
Our awareness and appreciation of the range of Anthony Weiner's activities has expanded considerably...
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 9:41am
#10
That's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 10:29am
#11
agreed, cool!
agreed, cool!
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 12:22pm
#12
there is defintely a level of
there is defintely a level of sexism here ( as tony states). plenty of woman are sending photos of themselves to men, but the men don't tell. it's ok for women to do that, but not men? why? i don't know....
and yeah, in the big picture, why do we even care so much
i have been reading a lot of articles about what matt was saying, the difference betw. real life and our on line lives... but i do think that having a relationship online with someone in particular is different than anonymous phone lines etc... that's just my opinion. it is a form of cheating i think. but again, as ben said, who knows there relationship? some peoples spouses are ok with this, some are not, some have open relationships, some don't. that's not our business.
as they say, what goes on behind closed doors no one knows ( or s omething like that)
Sun, 06/12/2011 - 10:45am
#13
Initial thoughts:
1. I can't think of a single sex scandal that involved a female politician.
2. When you post pics of your junk on the internet the doors are officially open.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 12:39pm
#14
All of this is going to be
All of this is going to be looked at as a transition period for our culture. Kids who grew up with the internet have barely reached the point where they can run for public office. At some point, everyone who runs will have a message board/email/FB trail dating back to their teens that can be accessed by inquiring minds. The press might just have to throw in the towel trying to judge candidates by their online histories.
Sun, 06/12/2011 - 9:59am
#15
Weiner planning leave of absence for treatment
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/weiner-to-seek-leave-of-absence-y...
I think this is a smart move. The fact that he is admitting that he has a problem could serve as an inspiration to a lot of people. I'm a bit annoyed he's not getting more support from fellow democrats. But that's politics I guess. If Bush can battle alcoholism and still become a 2 term president, in theory, he should be able to overcome this. I'm rooting for him.
http://www.facebook.com/WeSupportAnthonyWeiner
http://www.facebook.com/supportaweiner
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 11:43am
#16
Good Op here.
Weiner resigns, and Twitter claims its first major political casualty
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/weiner-resigns-and-tw...
Anthony Weiner to resign Thursday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/anthony-weiner-to-resign-thursday...
I think there are a lot of ways you could look at this whole sad fiasco. Aside from the fact that I don't think this had to be something that he had lose his job over, I think there's still an interesting conversation to be had here about the nature of the Internet and it's positive and negative effects on our relationships.
This quote springs to mind.
"The broader message is that technological hubris will always get you in trouble with nature."
~ Erik Larson
That was Weiner! Twitter-wits and Weiner’s wiener
By Alexandra Petri
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/that-was-weiner-twitter...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/rep-anthony-weiners-distri...
"Here to do great things."