Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign today from his seat in Congress. In addition to the political pressure from his own party, Weiner had a couple of strong legal reasons to resign.
I have disagreed with those defending Weiner or opposing his resignation. I could care less about his bizarre fetish with exhibitionist acts. However, he engaged in a pattern of lies that included alleging criminal acts of hacking by others and attacking the media. He is further accused of harassing women with these pictures. I cannot understand the view that a member who showed such utter dishonesty and poor judgment should be forgiven because he is “good for the cause” or a loyal liberal. I agree with the double standard shown in the response of cases like Senator Vitter, but that does not relieve Democrats or liberals of their duty to hold their leaders accountable.
Weiner had two strong legal reasons for resigning. As mentioned in earlier posts, the greatest danger of criminal conduct is his alleged coaching women to lie if contacted by investigators. Yesterday, another woman stepped forward to say that she was pressured to lie by Weiner. Notably, the woman yesterday also said that her efforts to discuss political issues were met by responses from Weiner to get her to engage in sextexting. By resigning Weiner reduces (the admittedly low) chances for a criminal investigation.
Second, Weiner was likely to be investigated for this misconduct and there are risks of claims of false statements as well as the creation of new evidence that could be used against him. This includes possible civil litigation. It also includes possible investigation of Weiner for harassment of women who were contacting him to discuss his work as a congressman. It also includes incidents where Weiner could be charged with using official resources in engaging in this conduct.
By resigning, Weiner shuts down the main threat of investigation that he is facing. The result of that investigation would have likely made it difficult for him to secure a new position — or to come back later and run again as a “healed” individual. The new photos show that this was not a few racy shots but pictures taken from various locations, including the House gym and his office. It also includes claims by women that they tried to get Weiner to discuss his political work and views — not his body parts.
Source: Politico
“Weiner is forty-six years old–and a member of Congress! He should have matured enough by now to have progressed beyond a “junior-high-school-level prank” mentality. IMO, what Weiner did goes far beyond a junior high school level prank and shows an incredible lack of common sense and good judgment. Let’s face it–the man has a problem!”
Elaine,
Yes he has a problem, but so do many political males who are even much older than 46. However, what he did was stupid, embarrassing and wrong, but it was not illegal and is not uncommon. It certainly did not rise to the level of him needing to resign.
“Several New York members — most notably Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney — had labored to craft the 9/11 bill and to win over Republican support, but Weiner had played no meaningful role”
Was he asked to play a role? Nadler and Maloney are long term Democratic House members, that began with fire and have retreated into centrist beltway politicians. The
whole bi-partisanship thing is merely the smokescreen used by centrist liberals to have an excuse to give into the Republicans. Weiner was an annoyance to these types since he wouldn’t play their game and spoke the truth the Beltway crowd didn’t want to hear. Don’t you think if they could catch Kucinich in an embarassing situation they would quickly want his resignation? Weiner said things that must be said, whether they were self-serving is immaterial. Single payer and investigating Clarence Thomas were
seen by the insiders as too much honesty and not politic. That’s why the grasped at the chance to force him out.
Weiner’s hubris was in not understanding that if you’re going to go against the beltway flow, you better be pure as snow personally, or the Corporatists will get you.
“Conason says that is a deeper immorality than the Weiner issue and it is being ignored.” (SwM) … because it doesn’t have anything to do with sex or lying about sex or engaging in sex or taking pictures of sex or speculating about sex. What a farce.
Elaine,
Just to echo Lotta: Given the millions of people on the internet, I doubt it’s hard to find 7 women who want to partake in a little on-line voyeurism. Heck it’s probably not hard to find 7 women who want to partake in a little on-line voyeurism with a guy dressed like a anthropomorphized dragon. Honestly, unless you’ve got a statement from the women saying they weren’t willing participants, I’m willing to bet the only victim in this whole thing is the man’s wife. I’ll go a step further, I’m willing to bet that at least 3 of the 7 women were actively looking for exactly that sort of interaction
Tony C.,
Well said.
@Elaine: Maybe that’s why our country is in the fix it’s in today.
Pretty close. Treating others like objects to be used and discarded is a trait of sociopathy, and sociopathy is (unfortunately) a frequently successful strategy in both business and politics. Sociopaths do not just treat women like objects, they will treat rivals, their rival’s spouse and children, their previous friends and lovers and partners and often even their own family members like objects. They are equal opportunity assholes, they have no honor, feel no shame, and acknowledge no debt to anybody, if somebody gets in their way they are seen as an object to be removed.
So yes, in the upper echelon you find a concentration of men that objectify women, but I think that is because they typically objectify everybody.
Mike S.,
“What I find so noxious about this is that the important sins, indiscretions and crimes are given short shrift by a sensationalized media. The fact that at least a 100,000 or more Iraqi’s were killed in a senseless war is a sin, what Weiner did is not a 100th of a percent in magnitude, yet other than originally reporting the figures the MSM has ignored the atrocity and its’ implication, while spending almost 3 weeks on making a minor and legal sexual transgression a ’cause celebre.’”
I certainly agree with that!
**********
“That 30% though, rises when you get to successful males, in society’s upper echelon. Then we’re talking perhaps 60 or 70%.”
Maybe that’s why our country is in the fix it’s in today. Just a thought from a sixty-something female.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/17/6880691-and-today-in-senator-david-vitter
Don’t think Weiner would work for “women in a meat grinder” Flynt, bdaman. He also has an offer from “Entourage”.
Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt just offered former democratic representative and loudmouth radical Anthony Weiner a job.
Mr. Weiner:
After having learned of your sudden and compelled resignation from your Congressional post, I would like to make you an offer of employment at Flynt Management Group, LLC in our Internet group. As a Congressman, you are known for your intensity and perseverance. I believe that this attitude, combined with your service in the House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce, will make you a valuable asset to this corporation.
This offer is not made in jest. To show our sincerity, Flynt Management Group, LLC is willing to pay twenty percent more than your former Congressional salary, ensuring that your medical benefits would be equal to what you were previously receiving. While you will have to relocate to our corporate offices in Beverly Hills, California, we would pay for all relocation costs.
Again, I cannot emphasize enough the genuineness of this offer. We are a serious corporation which, as you know, has been heavily involved in the political environment of this country for over thirty-five years. Our key missions have consistently included the crucial fight of battling hypocrisy within the federal and state governments. Flynt Management Group, LLC and Hustler Magazine have been dedicated to decades of serious political commentary. Just as we do not undertake insincere political crusades, we do not make insincere job offers…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-flynt/anthony-weiner-resigning-_b_878667.html
Was out of the loop yesterday Mike. Left you a comment on the other thread, THANKS !!!!!
“So despite the fact that this predator treated countless female constituents like sex objects to be toyed with for his amusement, all is somehow forgiven because he is for single payer? Please.”
Puzzling,
Tony C.’s comment at 7/16, 6:22pm dealt with this use of hyper-hyperbole on your part but I’d like to take it a step further. I don’t know your sex, but obviously I’m male and in my life I never would have acted as Weiner acted. However, having known many males in my life who’ve spoken intimately about their sexuality, with no women in the room, I would say that roughly 30% of American males would do things equal to Weiner’s transgressions. That’s just from what the people I know have told me and the age range of those males goes from young to old. In sexuality our society is rife with male immaturity, sexism and male enchantment with their penises. That 30% though, rises when you get to successful males, in society’s upper echelon. Then we’re talking perhaps 60 or 70%.
That the term “Trophy Wife” has become common coin is no anomaly. Why someone in their 50’s on up would want a relationship with a 23 year old, despite youth and beauty, is an absurdity that could only be born out of the objectification of women. I’m on the wrong side of sixty, still sexual, but the idea of being with someone so young is repulsive to me. What would we talk about afterwards?
Weiner’s actions were sexually immature to be sure, however, they were far from predatory and given the facts, not speculation out there, they were minor compared with the gamut of seamy sex exploits known about our legislators/leaders. Our country is sex obsessed and hypercritical about it to boot. You only have to watch beer commercials, Viagra Ads and listen to radio ads extolling products that purportedly will lengthen penises, to know this.
What I find so noxious about this is that the important sins, indiscretions and crimes are given short shrift by a sensationalized media. The fact that at least a 100,000 or more Iraqi’s were killed in a senseless war is a sin, what Weiner did is not a 100th of a percent in magnitude, yet other than originally reporting the figures the MSM has ignored the atrocity and its’ implication, while spending almost 3 weeks on making a minor and legal sexual transgression a “cause celebre.”.
Weiner’s Pension, Benefits Could Top $1 Million
http://www.rollcall.com/news/weiner_pension_benefits_million-206582-1.html
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/washingtons_deeper_immorality_20110617/?ln Republicans that are mainly southern christians decide that we can no longer afford nutrition for the poor. Conason says that is a deeper immorality than the Weiner issue and it is being ignored.
rafflaw,
Here’s a follow-up post about Weiner by Matt Taibbi:
The Debate: Is Anthony Weiner an Asshole?
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/the-debate-is-anthony-weiner-an-asshole-20110616
Excerpts:
We justices of the Supreme Court of Assholedom had an extraordinarily difficult time adjudicating the case of New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, who in recent weeks has achieved incredible notoriety for… what exactly? Even defining the nature of this scandal is problematic; it is extremely difficult to distinguish here between what he actually did wrong, and what’s merely a luridly gripping tabloid crucifixion of a guy exhibiting run-of-the-mill mongo-horniness.
The Weiner scandal is a weird cross of about nineteen other celebrity fiascoes: it’s a big dose of Brett Favre, mixed in with a dash of Bill Clinton and Eliot Spitzer, along with maybe a half-teaspoon of Watergate (the coverup was far worse than whatever the “offense” was) and a bit here and there from every upskirt/locker-cam naked-politician internet weirdness scandal from the last decade.
*****
There was certainly a lot of assholeness that came out of the Weiner affair, from the gloating dickitude of Andrew Breitbart to the preposterous over-coverage by the media (and we’re now a part of that) to the howls of brazenly hypocritical outrage emanating from the same Republicans who kept quiet during the John Ensign, Chris Lee and David Vitter affairs. The central difficulty of the Weiner case, from our Supreme Court’s point of view, was in identifying precisely where Weiner’s own assholosity was to be found here, if there was any to be found at all.
The Justices found themselves arguing fiercely over whether or not any individual, even a congressman, has the right to be really horny and kinky, and possibly unfaithful, and possibly creepy, without it being the business of reporters and bloggers and other assorted media vermin…
The rapid rise and spectacular fall of Anthony Weiner
He chased cameras, stepped on toes and cut corners. And it worked beautifully — until Memorial Day weekend
BY STEVE KORNACKI
Salon, 6/17/2011
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/16/weiner_resignation/index.html
Excerpt:
2009: The Bloomberg campaign begins planting unflattering stories about Weiner in the New York media — involving missed votes in Congress and fundraisers involving international supermodels — and the congressman gets cold feet. At the end of May ’09, he announces that he won’t run for mayor.
Not at all coincidentally, it’s around this time that Weiner begins showing a sudden interest in congressional and national politics — and, more specifically, in talking about congressional and national politics on cable news programs. For producers, he’s a perfect guest — smart, glib, cocky and provocative. With the healthcare reform debate heating up, Weiner begins championing a single-payer system. It’s an issue he’s previously shown no interest in and that has zero chance of winning enactment. His sudden activism is an unwelcome surprise to many single-payer advocates in the House, who conclude that Weiner is using the issue to win attention for himself. In the summer of 2009, Weiner becomes a genuine cable news all-star, attracting a new national fan base of liberal viewers. But there’s a clear New York angle: By championing their causes in the national media, Weiner makes a new, much more favorable impression on liberal voters in Manhattan and Brownstone Brooklyn — voters who, combined with his outer-borough base, could make Weiner unstoppable in a 2013 mayoral primary.
2010: Weiner’s hero status to liberal activists is affirmed by a House floor rant against Republican obstructionism on a healthcare bill for 9/11 workers. But Weiner’s own Democratic colleagues, particularly those from New York, see his theatrics much differently. Several New York members — most notably Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney — had labored to craft the 9/11 bill and to win over Republican support, but Weiner had played no meaningful role before the floor debate. “He almost blew up the [expletive] bill,” one disgruntled New York member later tells the Washington Post. The episode perfectly illustrates the conflicting realities of Weiner’s new role in politics: To activists outside Washington, he’s a refreshing voice shaking up Congress; to his own colleagues, he’s a camera-seeking nuisance who’s interested in gaining publicity for himself — not in doing any substantive work.
Breitbart is undoubtedly working on his next target. He was successful with Weiner and Acorn.
The Queen of wisdom is finally weighing in for we all have been waiting with bated breath for her ruling on the subject:
Sarah Palin: Anthony Weiner Has Been ‘Rendered Impotent’ (VIDEO)
During an appearance on Fox Business Network on Thursday night, Sarah Palin weighed in on news of embattled Congressman Anthony Weiner’s (D-N.Y.) decision to resign after becoming embroiled in an online sexual scandal.
“From henceforth after his personal indiscretions were disclosed, he was going to be rendered impotent basically in Congress and he wasn’t going to be effective,” said the former Alaska governor when asked if she thought Weiner could have fulfilled his political responsibilities despite the controversy. “Obviously it was the right thing to do. Day late dollar short though, I think he should have resigned when all of this came to light.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/sarah-palin-anthony-weiner_n_878837.html
The reason for application of the double standard here is that there were photos involved. It seems that if where there are 1) photos or 2) homosexual behavior,
there will eventually be the need to resign. Otherwise, in most cases, you get a pass.
Also, Prof. Turley, you meant to say you “could NOT care less,” not that you “could care less.” Think about it.
Elaine,
I don’t consider Weiner an asshole. I consider him to be a creepy lech who doesn’t belong in Congress, but he doesn’t rise to the level of being an asshole.