There are news reports that Anthony Weiner has contacted former staffers to ask them to come back to work for him as he prepares to run again for office, including a possible run for mayor of New York or public advocate. Weiner left office after repeatedly lying to his constituents, colleagues, and the media about sending nude pictures of himself to women and accusing people of hacking into this phone. Women stated that they felt harassed by the photos that were sent without their solicitation or consent.
This moves has been expected given Weiner’s $4.5 million campaign war chest . . . and an obviously narcissistic personality. If he runs, the public would pay him an additional $1.5 million.
Weiner, 47, reportedly wants to run while there is the opportunity for public matching funds, which are due to expire after the 2013 election.
Besides mayor, Weiner is reportedly looking at public advocate office with a $165,000-a-year salary as a way of “cleansing” his career. It would be an odd choice for a man who just recently lied repeatedly to government officials, voters, and friends while engaging in conduct viewed as sexual harassment by women receiving these pictures.
Source: N.Y. Post
Drones. You get to breed, then you die.
@Bron: I am not that sure people have a core. Take somebody like the hypothetical cop; at his “core” he may believe pre-pubescent children are true innocents worth defending, and adults are on their own and inevitably corrupted by lust and sin.
Or he may spring from the “macho” culture that believes women and children are inherently weak and men are morally obligated to protect and provide for them, but when it comes to adult males it is “every MAN for himself,” so life among males is “no holds barred” and that is entirely moral; all males are expendable warriors.
I do not subscribe to those notions; but they are attitudes people have held in the past without being corrupt.
leejcarrol:
I dont know the congressman so I have no idea if he is good or bad. My first pass is that he probably isnt that great of a human being. He really humiliated his wife on a number of levels and he “forced” himself on women. He also has an over inflated sense of himself, who in their right mind sends a picture like that to women they barely know?
All in all I would say he is unfit for public service of any kind.
I dont have depth perception. The reality is the step is not as far away as I think, and I have fallen misperceiving how far away the step is so my perception and reality definitely not the same.
Tony C:
the examples you mention are people who are corrupt at their core.
Tony C.
Already did process the argument.
leejcaroll,
Perception is reality. What you think is, is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Weiner
Don’t draw attention. Do you remember a certain individual who went to Bimini. He dared the press to follow him, and they did.
How about about John Edwards. Mark Everson. Bill Clinton. Now really, whose fault is it? At least the only thing Clinton did was leave a stain on the dress.
@Matt Johnson: What difference does it make? My identity is irrelevant to whether I make sense or do not. Ignore the author and process the argument.
Bron said: “A good person doing bad acts can be forgiven because the bad acts may be a result of an error of judgement or of lack of knowledge or was done in haste.”
I think for rep weiner it was done in haste and was a (gugantic) error in judgement. It does not negate that he was a good representative.
Are you all good or bad? My family has done some terrible things (esp to me) but people think they are very good people. There is reality and perception. For Weiner the reality is that he did what his people elected him to do and he did something completely idiotic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie
Tony C.
Who are you?
@Bron: A bad person can do good acts because their “badness” is constrained to something professional. For example, a cop can perform true acts of courage and self-sacrifice in protecting children from harm, while taking bribes and framing people he believes “deserve it.”
An industrialist can take over a company and purposely run it into bankruptcy while bleeding a personal fortune from it, ruining people’s careers, pensions, 401Ks and health care, and think of that as “just business,” because it was all legal, and he figures somebody was going to do it sooner or later anyway. The same guy can donate the majority of his fortune to scholarships, truly believing in the support of higher education.
People can be mixed.
leejcaroll:
I dont think you can separate the good done from the person. The acts are from the same source. A bad person can do good acts but then one wonders why they did good acts. A bad person’s motivation could be power, personal advancement, image enhancement or any number of other reasons. Bad people are not motivated by love of humanity or of doing the right thing.
So a bad person doing good acts is suspect and the act cannot be separated from the person.
A good person doing bad acts can be forgiven because the bad acts may be a result of an error of judgement or of lack of knowledge or was done in haste.
But a good person will not commit certain bad acts such as rape or murder and would not make an error of judgment of that magnitude.
bARKING DOG:
the few New Yorkers I know are very insulated, they think they are very worldly but are actually quite provincial.
I have yet to see one smell another’s butt upon greeting or take a leak on a tree or fire hydrant. And you can forget about them chasing squirrels.
Barkindog, identify yourself. I already identified myself. What is your real name?
Barkindog he represented his district the way they anted, as their rep. His personal immoral behavior represented himself. Period.
Does the good someone does get outweighed by stupid behavior?
Mike, you are absolutely right. NYC gets a bad rap. I am in Philly and the NYC’ers are so much more friendly and agreeable.
Dinkins was a patsy, way over his head and a ridiculous choice.
I have to say many of us really liked Koch. Despite the strikes, thats what I remember the most from when I was there (76 -91) many felt he was the embodiment of New York and then he got too big for his britches.
Guiliani is another repub that has gotten a free pass, living in Gracie Mansion with his mistress and the media still loved him, even before 9/11 although 9/11 turned him into a hero and the media onlky framed him that way.
I am trying to find a way to move back to NYC (although after all these years a 300 square ft apt may not be doable.) ((*_*))
LeeK,
The only reason I moved to Fla was the cost of housing. I’ve now arranged to live in the NY mountains for the summer.the minute I crossed the State Line I felt I was home.
This was clearly a move by Viacom and Comedy Central to make sure The Daily Show and The Cobert Report have fodder for the next few years. Yet another side effect of Citizens United.
“Southern Hospitality” is a surface of gentillity masking an innate hostillity. “Midwestern Heartland Values” also disguises a culture where there is a false sense of moral superiority. NY’ers are far kinder to their fellows and to strangers than is thought or understood. Much of the negative press re: NY is envy.
===========
Midwestern work ethic. What about New York? Give me a Philly cheese steak.
@Magginkat: I do not see how that makes a difference. If one person gets away with murder, we do not stop prosecuting murders. Heck, the majority of murders in this country that had no eyewitnesses go unsolved and unpunished, with nobody ever even charged. Shall we stop prosecuting murders? About 95% of shop-lifting cases are uncaught and unpunished. Shall we stop prosecuting theft?
I am not sure what your argument is here; Vitter did not get away with his crimes because he was a Republican, it was not a decision entirely UP to Republicans. Vitter got away with his crimes because criminals on both sides of the aisle were willing to look the other way, and that wasn’t true for Weiner. Probably because there were no naked pictures of Vitter and his crime is considered victim-less by many in the country.
The details in these cases matter; many a Republican has been brought down in sex scandals, and Democrats have kept office in spite of them (like Bill Clinton).
If Mr. Weiner had an ‘R’ behind his name he would still be in Congress. Just look to David Vitter, “R” from Louisana, clearly violated the law and there he sits with a halo over his head compliments of the republicans who covered for and lied for him.