Rep. David Wu has long been identified as a major liability for the Democrats. The first Chinese-American elected to Congress, Wu has displayed mental instability for years. He is now accused of an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage daughter of a longtime friend.
The Oregon Democrat has acknowledged a very serious incident last Thanksgiving with the girl. Wu is currently undergoing a divorce. He seems to have had considerable luck in avoiding criminal charges. This is not the first allegation of assault against him. A former girlfriend alleged an assault when they were both attending Stanford University in 1976. As with the Thanksgiving incident, Wu was not charged criminally.
Wu admitted acting abusively and insisted that the college incident “forever changed my life and the person that I have become.” Perhaps not for forever, according to his friend.
Notably, Wu is currently receiving counseling for psychiatric problems. It is not clear where police (now aware of the alleged assault) will investigate the recent incident. The House Ethics committee is moving to investigate. It raises an immediate legal issue for Wu. If he is going to leave Congress (which seems inevitable), he may want to resign now to avoid the inquiry — and possible development of damaging evidence against him. If he intends to refuse to speak to investigators, there would seem little reason to hang on in Congress.
As in the Weiner affair, majority leader Nancy Pelosi has again let the scandal get ahead of the Democrats. While she reportedly spoke to Wu, her staff told reporters that she was too busy to comment on the Wu matter. That is a pretty incredible position to take in a city where you have only a few hours to take control of a scandal. Once again, the Democrats appear entirely reactive and belated in facing a scandal. What is particularly troubling is that Wu has long been an embarrassment and yet Pelosi has not stepped forward to call for Wu’s departure from Congress. Many believed that Wu should have been showed the door months ago when staffers went public with bizarre conduct.
One possible defense of Pelosi is that Wu appears mentally unstable and has sought treatment. Under federal law such a condition is a disability and Congress has done well in past years to combat the prejudice against those with mental illness. Since Wu sought treatment, I can see why Pelosi would not call for his resignation — though this position should be made clear as based on a disability. The latest allegation needs to be investigated in fairness to Wu. However, Pelosi should not be too busy to make a public comment on the position of her party in such a matter.
Source: Politico
Jonathan Turley
“When the ship sinks we will all go down together. Those on the top deck may drown last but they drown just the same.”(Frank)
Well said
@AY, your beef is with Frank.
@Frank, when the social conservatives set high policy standards and then fail to hilariously meet them, it’s not hypocrisy. Foolisgness, perhaps. Is it better to have no standards? You must not have been alive during the Bush admin, the antics of the right pale in comparison to the divisions caused by the left during those 8 years.
Kdponzi,
Does it always have to be about you?
AY:
:=)
Kdreadful – No, Hypocrisy is a failure of those who pretend to be perfect & demand everyone live their personal lives according to a set of rules they make – but can’t live by those rules themselves. That would be the classic definition of the current Republican party.
As for hate – I’ll plead no contest. I hate what the Republicans have done to a once great country. I hate they way they have divided us. I hate the way they have used religion as an ax. I hate the way they have made this country ungovernable. They have earned they should enjoy it.
You, and those like you, I just pity because you have fallen for their bullshit & spread it as if it were manna from heaven. When the ship sinks we will all go down together. Those on the top deck may drown last but the drown just the same.
Rep. David Wu won’t resign, won’t run again, will face ethics investigation
Same thing Weiner said
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/07/rep_david_wu_wont_resign_wont.html
OOOPs wrong thread
Kill’em
“The PBSG recognizes that where habitats are stable, polar bears are a renewable resource, and reaffirmed its support of the right of aboriginal groups to harvest polar bears within sustainable limits,” said the group’s release.
I’m glum because I am sick to death of you a couple of other zombies that show up here spouting the same stupid bullshit over and over again.
Enter Bdaman
Pelosi calls for ethics probe into Wu sex report
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-07-24-david-wu-sex-allegation_n.htm
@Frank, your glumness appears to be a result of your own intellectual failings and partisan hatred. Good luck with that.
As for hypocrisy, you boys have that down in spades now don’t you. Must contribute to your glumness as well.
I’m glum because I am sick to death of you a couple of other zombies that show up here spouting the same stupid bullshit over and over again. You are ignorant of the facts, incapable of learning and only interested in partisan sniping. My comment was an attempt at preemption. By making it obvious that we all expect you to show up with some hair-brained comment suggesting that these sorts of things only happen to Dems I hoped to prevent it.
As for scoring cheap point – they are hardly cheap. When the party that claims to be all about the family and so anti-gay gets caught wearing diapers with a hooker, sexting young boys, picking up men in airport restrooms those are not cheap. When a member of the party that admits human failings are a problem for all humans falls into the pit there is at least a recognition of their humanity.
Its not the failing – we all fall short in some way or another – its the rank hypocrisy to pretend those failings only happen in others.
AY:
That’s a topper.
@Frank, why so defensive? Can’t score cheap points on this scandal? Why so glum?
Heard this on NPR yesterday…Larry King:
SAGAL: Please. A quick joke from Larry King, ladies and gentlemen.
Mr. KING: A train goes every night from New York to Chicago. It’s an all sleeper train. It leaves New York at midnight, gets to Chicago 9:00 in the morning. A man gets in, checks into his berth, getting ready for the evening. It’s an all sleeper train. Suddenly the door opens, and the next passenger comes in and it’s a women.
Now normally, Amtrak would not sell a ticket on a sleeper train to a man and a woman who are not man and wife. But the woman did not object, the train was sold out. And she got into the lower berth, the man gets into the upper berth, and the train begins its trek to Chicago.
And after a little while, the man leans over and he said, I’m a little chilled, ma’am, could I borrow a blanket? And she looks at him and says, you know, we’re only going to be together this one night. We are strangers on a train. We will never see each other again as long as we live. Why not, why not just for tonight, why don’t we play man and wife? You and me: man and wife? The guys says, sure. She says good, get your own damn blanket.
lol
3 and based purely on this:
Well mespo….How many Frosted Flakes can one eat and then use it as a disability….
He’s GRRRRRRRRREAT!
Don’t the laws congress passes generally not apply to congress itself…? Batshit crazy comes to mind….
I wonder if kdreadful or gi-gi will show up here and conveniently forget that there have been some Republican sex scandals recently.
Lets hope this guy gets some real help removed from the pressure of DC life.