Seven term New York Congressman Anthony Weiner just announced that he lied about the lewd photo that he sent to a young woman in Seattle. He went on to apologize for it and admitted 3 years worth of inappropriate behavior. But he won’t resign. He said his actions were regrettable but they didn’t violate his oath of office or the Constitution.
Are you kidding me? HE LIED to the public, he lied on national news, time after time after time. He accused reporter Andrew Breightbart of hacking into his Twitter account and sending the underwear photo…something that would have been a federal crime, and yet now he admits he was lying about all of it and that he himself sent the photo. Falsely accusing and lying must certainly break all kinds of Congressional rules. I hope he is removed from office. Wonder why the public’s trust in government has gone limp?
From the looks of the pictures Weiner is over compensating for a small tallywacker
Comment by WannaBe JD — June 6, 2011 @ 2:21 pm
It appears that intentional deception trickles downward and is acceptable conduct even to school boards.
Comment by Bill — June 6, 2011 @ 2:26 pm
Wow, Bill, Edie will step down from the School Board today, right after their big meeting. That means they will have to appoint her replacement today…no chance of waiting for deliberation, as some have called them to do.
Comment by mary — June 6, 2011 @ 2:39 pm
The “Pretty People” have no shame.
Comment by Pariah — June 6, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
This episode would be sad if he weren’t such a partisan jerk.
Comment by Dan — June 6, 2011 @ 3:13 pm
Mary,
“Wonder why the public’s trust in government has gone limp?”
I would suggest,just to the contrary, that the public’s trust in government is strong. The public trusts the government to lie and mislead.
Comment by Joe Six-Pack — June 6, 2011 @ 3:44 pm
The larger issue of elected or appointed representatives at any level engaging in conduct they would not admit goes to their suitability to hold office and have access to sensitive information.
We maybe have more concern about US Senators and Representatives (Larry Craig and Gary Condit come to mind immediately), because of their access to national security and sensitive financial market information. They can be spotted and assessed relatively easily and considered for recruitment by foreign intelligence services.
We should be equally concerned about all other levels of public officials right down to the lowest elected or appointed official in the smallest town. Proportionally, their decisions may have more direct effect on our daily lives than the decisions of some flaky Senator or Representative.
The motivations to betray constituents’ trust and confidence is no different for locals than for nationals. They are often generalized with the acronym MICE: Money; Ideology; Coercion or Compromise; Ego or Extortion.
Comment by Bill — June 6, 2011 @ 4:30 pm
Absolutely. And yet the willing press covers for these jerks. Absent Breitbart and Drudge, this episode would have been swept under the rug.
One of the problems locally is the hidden sex games played by all too many of the “pretty people”. One of “Twinkle Toes” Craig’s key lietenants once told me “There are no wedding rings on the campaign bus”. Remember the high school sex scandal that got hushed up a few years ago? The scions of a number of the “Pretty People” were involved. And it got hushed up FAST. Once the break occurs and people start singing, the mess in CDA is gonna make national headlines – and the mess is getting close. The fear inside the “Inside Connections” is palpable – witness the rush to replace Edie Brooks.
Comment by justinian — June 6, 2011 @ 5:10 pm
One more point Bill, packaging. The local governments use ideological packages to sell – “The Education Corridor” sells well because it is called “Education”. Mass Transit sells because the complicit press rarely tells the truth about mass transit. See http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/28/the-bus-stops-here-the-truth-about-public-transit
As more and more people use sites like this to spread the TRUTH (and kudos to all here who do that), the fear on the Inside Connections grows and grows.
Comment by justinian — June 6, 2011 @ 5:15 pm
That’s why, Justinian, the city hall-backed blog attacks us constantly. It’s also why most public officials refuse to come on our blog. Are they afraid of direct questions about real issues?
Comment by mary — June 6, 2011 @ 5:37 pm
Yes Mary. Once Weiner lied about the picture, he was done. Had no one asked, it could have been hushed up. Why would the Inside Connection types risk being asked inconvenient questions? Ignore and demean and ridicule those who ask to avoid answering. It is right out of the Alinsky playbook – and the Pretty People in CDA have that book and use it!
Comment by justinian — June 6, 2011 @ 5:42 pm
See http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/b8809ea6-d963-4e72-bced-2a4178183ae0 for more of this ugly story of how the Pretty People degrade themselves and others – and then cooperate in covering up the degradation in a M.A.D. cycle.
Comment by justinian — June 6, 2011 @ 5:47 pm
At the risk of inducing stomach spasms, imagine the current City Council on a campaign bus. Ugh.
Comment by justinian — June 6, 2011 @ 5:50 pm
Justinian,
“Alinsky playbook”? I would suggest that the Nixon Dirty Tricks Squad would be a more appropriate analogy.
Comment by Joe Six-Pack — June 7, 2011 @ 8:45 am
As a well known and devout smart arse the Weiner story about his ‘thingy’ photologue is well, hard to resist (no pun intended). He took a chance, a big chance (no pun intended) and he got caught. As sloppy as he was (no pun intended) one has to wonder if he wasn’t trying to get caught. I think it is a subliminal cry for help. He is a Weiner, after all.
In the bigger picture you gotta wonder. If the country and the gov’t were far more damning of Clinton’s escapades would Weiner have caved into his adolescent lunacy so readily? And, as a matter of routine, the left staunchly defended his lies and viciously attacked any who dared to question the Weiner story. Talk about Democratic Party politics as usual. I am starting to think that such behavior is requisite to be an upper crust Democrat. With that ugly picture in mind let’s all pray that our local Kennedy stays small time (no pun intended).
Comment by Wallypog — June 7, 2011 @ 8:46 am
Wally, what concerns me the most about these lewd politicians, of either party, is that they put themselves in compromising situations. What if one of these many women was connected with a politically active group, nationally or from another country? The blackmail potential would be huge. Look at the continuous, adamant lies told by Weiner, Clinton and others before the truth finally came out. What would they have given or done to avoid the public revelation of their actions?
It’s a national security issue; this kind of illicit behavior puts us all at greater risk.
Comment by mary — June 7, 2011 @ 9:10 am
Look at Larry Craig’s wimpy voting record versus his right wing rhetoric and the campaign bus. Q.E.D.
Comment by Pariah — June 7, 2011 @ 9:35 am
Yep, these events make for sad commentary and they do open the systems to compromising circumstances. I would venture a guess that they are not as new as history would let us believe. I think we only hear about them more these days because of technology. But all the way back to our beginnings we know they were there. So we must also assume some degree of compromise potential occurred on those occasions as well. But you have to admit it is pathetically comical these days that grown, professional (so called) people do these things. How many millions did it cost to explore Clintons carnal miscarriage?
Comment by Wallypog — June 7, 2011 @ 9:44 am
And what cost Elliot Spitzer’s hubristic attacks on AIG?
Comment by Pariah — June 7, 2011 @ 11:25 am
See http://phillips.blogs.com/goc/2011/04/financial-meltdown.html for more on that episode.
Comment by Pariah — June 7, 2011 @ 11:26 am