Category: Politics

Report: Weiner Sent Woman Photos of Himself Posing in Congressional Gym

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TMZ released photos this morning showing Rep. Anthony Weiner posing bare-chested in the congressional gym in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building. The married congressman reportedly sent the photos to at least one of the women with whom he had what he called “online relationships.”

The photos, which TMZ said were taken using gym mirrors and the camera on Weiner’s Blackberry cell phone, offer further evidence contradicting the Brooklyn Democrat’s previous assertion that he did not use congressional resources in his cybersex activities.

The latest revelation came just hours before Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, renewed their calls for Weiner’s resignation in separate appearances on NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation.

UPDATE: Last year, Weiner was himself unwilling to defend three scandal-plagued New York Democrats,  Gov. David Paterson, Rep. Eric Massa and Rep. Charles Rangel:

Allahpundit says:

Think of Weiner’s resignation calculus as a scale: How many public indignities have to pile up on one side to move the weight of his ego in being a congressman on the other side? If you believe KP, the number is basically infinite, so presumably there are still many, many more indignities to come.

The idea that Weiner can stubbornly stay in Congress, even while every ranking member of his own party calls for him to resign, seems extraordinary. But this entire scandal is extraordinary, and normal expectations may not apply to such a raging narcissist.

And the really “mindblowing” part of the scandal is that it was all brought about by the simple error whereby Weiner sent that May 27 crotch-shot photo as a public Twitter message when he meant to send it as a DM, as Ace of Spades says:

The Typo From Hell. Possibly the worst typo in the history of politics.
Not saying he doesn’t deserve it — he does — but consider that but for a single clumsy move by an errant left forefinger, none of this happens.
The smallest error of a fingertip, and a man is wholly undone.

VIDEO: ‘Tipping Point’ for Weiner?

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Here is last night’s ABC News report:

Weiner’s stratagem — taking a leave of absence and seeking “treatment” — has the advantage of ensuring that he isn’t available to answer questions on Capitol Hill when Congress re-convenes on Monday.

When Pelosi and other Democrats are asked about the scandal, all they have to say is, “Well, we called on him to resign,” and pretend that’s all they can do. Weiner remains a member of Congress in good standing, yet Democrats pretend they’ve dealt responsibly with the problem, and the media can “move on.”

So at least for now, it appears to be a stalemate.

UPDATE: New scandalous developments — this thing just never stops, does it?

VIDEO: ‘Neither Explicit Nor Indecent’ Also, How Not to Get Banned at AOSHQ

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Here is an Associated Press video report about WeinerGate:

Keep in mind that Anthony Weiner spent the first 10 days of this scandal telling lie after lie after lie, until Andrew Breitbart finally started publishing the pictures Weiner had sent to Meagan Broussard.

And even in his Monday press conference confession, Weiner continued telling lies, among other things saying that he’d never used his office to communicate with his cybersex partners.

Anthony Weiner is a liar. Why should we believe him now?

Well, Delaware police say they have ended their investigation of Weiner’s communications with the 17-year-old girl, even though it was reported “much of the conversations between Weiner and the high schooler had been deleted from the girl’s computer.”

So we are left to wonder exactly what Weiner and the girl were chatting about. The award-winning Ace of Spades says:

A guy who sometimes sends [obscene photos of himself] to admirers should not be cultivating an online relationship with a 17 year old girl. Period.

By the way, Ace is now banning commenters who engage in unwarranted speculation about “Weiner’s Wilmington Lolita” (as certain irresponsible people have called her). Whatever you do, don’t go over to the award-winning Ace of Spades HQ blog and suggest that this “sultry jailbait vixen” (to cite another unfair label) was anything other than an innocent victim of Weiner’s perverse online predations.

Calling her a “hot-to-trot teen temptress“? Yeah, Ace would ban you in a heartbeart for that. And don’t be linking any “suggestive videos,” either.

UPDATE: So far as I know, Dan Collins is not yet banned at AOSHQ, even though Dan seems to be speculating on a connection between WeinerGate and “Slutwalk.” And since we’re engaging in unwarranted speculation here — trying to fill the niche left open by by Ace’s banhammer threat, as it were — let’s just go all-in, why don’t we?

How is it that feminists nowadays are so adamantly “pro-sex,” encouraging young women toward “sexual empowerment” by dressing (or rather, undressing) as trashy as Madonna circa 1992 and acting as whorish as one of Charlie Sheen’s porn-star “goddesses” and yet — and yet! — should one of these completely empowered feminists get herself mixed up with some sort of highly public sexual wrongdoing, she must be treated with such deference that no one even dare identify her, at peril of being accused of “blaming the victim”? Continue reading VIDEO: ‘Neither Explicit Nor Indecent’ Also, How Not to Get Banned at AOSHQ →

Weiner’s Liberal Support Collapses as Three Top Dems Call for Resignation

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The latest revelations appear to have finally tipped the balance against the cybersexing New York congressman:

Three weighty Democratic voices – including Nancy Pelosi – on Saturday called for the resignation of embattled U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has been under fire after admitting to inappropriate communications with women online.
The House Minority Leader, and the chairmen of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in separate statements called for Weiner to step down.

Just 24 hours ago, Pelosi had refused to speak out. But after police began investigating Weiner’s communications with a 17-year-old Delaware girl, Weiner announced he would “seek treatment” — effectively admitting that he is psychologically disturbed — and then the Democrat leadership said, “Hey, Anthony, you see this bus here?”

Democratic leaders had hoped Weiner would resign on his own, but he refused.
A senior Democratic aide said party leaders have been talking with him throughout the week, and that the coordinated effort to push him out began when he told the Democratic leadership he had decided to seek treatment. The aide said Weiner was informed that the leaders would be issuing a public call for his resignation.
The aide said the statements were released on Saturday to get ahead of the Sunday shows and the return of lawmakers on Monday.

Yeah: In their colleague’s hour of need, his liberal friends were chiefly concerned about . . . working the news cycle.

As Darleen Click says, they’re all “moral fascists” now.

UPDATE: New York Times:

Representative Anthony D. Weiner planned to check himself into a treatment center on Saturday after House Democratic leaders, including Nancy Pelosi, called on him to resign and suggested he needed psychiatric counseling. . . .
“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” said the spokeswoman, Risa Heller. “In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.
“Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents.”

Want a textbook definition of “hubris”? Politician admits he is mentally ill, yet doesn’t see mental illness as a disqualification for public office.

Democrats always think themselves fit to govern, even when they’re nuts, zany, daft, bonkers and cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

UPDATE II: “Ah, the old ‘sex addiction’ excuse.” Beyond the “moral fascist” outrage — which Lisa Graas examines — aren’t we entitled to ask whether a man who succumbs to a dangerous sexual compulsion is fit for high public office? One may be entirely sympathetic to people suffering from mental disorders without believing that we should be governed by them.

Meanwhile, look at the top of the latest Memeorandum aggregation:

The New York Times, CNN, Politico, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, National Review and, further down the page, we find the Associated Press, the Washington Post, etc.

Now, go back and look at the Memeorandum aggregation at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday, May 28. Notice something?

When this story was first broken by Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, all these major media organizations weren’t exactly chomping at the bit to be first with the exclusive scoop. In fact, you might say, they seemed rather determined to ignore the story.

And two weeks later, they don’t even make mention of the insignificant right-wing bloggers who beat them to the story.

UPDATE III: Linked by POH Diaries and by Bob Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints — thanks!

America’s Cultural Elite

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“Anthony Weiner deserves to be supported and hopefully he will be mayor of New York one day. I’m serious. He is a Democrat [who] actually fights for the things liberals and progressive and rational people care about. I don’t know why he’s being thrown under the bus. He hasn’t done any — he hasn’t broke any laws.”
— Janeane Garofalo

“Appearing on HBO’s ‘Real Time,’ the so-called comedian and actress claimed Weinergate is caused by the media and ‘hypocrite Republicans.’ “
— Noel Sheppard, Newsbusters

UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi, “hypocrite Republican”!

‘Moral Fascists’?

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That phrase is used by Dave Brockington of the liberal blog Lawyers, Guns & Money, to describe people offended by the behavior of Anthony Weiner. Brockington endeavors to dismiss the whole thing:

I’m not going to elaborate on the irrelevance of his behavior beyond the effect on his relationship with his wife and family in moral or governance terms.

Brockington has a Ph.D. in political science, which means he assumes himself to be the intellectual superior of anyone who might disagree with him — especially any of you “moral fascists” who find Anthony Weiner’s behavior disturbing.

Rather than arguing with Herr Doktor, then — because he knows absolutely everything about political science, including such scientific categories as moral fascism — I suppose we ought to consult those whose expertise lies in other fields of endeavor, such as law. Patterico holds the juris doctor degree, has examined the available evidence and concludes:

So this guy knew he was talking to a high school girl, and he used a grooming line that had been successful with an older woman.

You should read the rest of that, including the link to Verum Serum. Last night I offered the word “grooming” to characterize Weiner’s communications with the Delaware teen, apologizing for the tendentiousness of that word.

Certainly, as a mere journalist, I am unqualified to offer a psychological diagnosis of Weiner’s condition. What we need here, I would suggest, is the authority of an expert in such matters — perhaps a forensic psychologist — who can tell us (a) whether Weiner’s behavior appears consistent with known forms of psychosexual disorder, and (b) what significance there might be in Weiner’s communications with this 17-year-old Delaware girl.

Not being an expert as deviant psychology, I’m not fit to judge such matters, but I know what’s newsworthy. And the latest developments certainly are:

Weinergate took a lurid new direction with the disclosure yesterday that Rep. Anthony Weiner invited a “hot sexy baby” to an X-rated date via the Skype network, which provides text, talk and video chats.
Racy new e-mails — sent just a month ago — detail exchanges between Weiner and Traci Nobles, the 34-year-old Georgia teacher and cheerleading coach who has surfaced as his fifth sexting partner. . . .
Weiner suggested they take it to another level:
“So i will make sure to keep some time open so we can have a cyber session via skype. Does that make my hot sexy baby happy?”
Hours after the e-mails were unearthed, Delaware cops descended on the home of a 17-year-old high school junior to ask her about online communications she had with Weiner.
“They were made aware of an alleged contact between Congressman Anthony Weiner and an area teen,” said New Castle County police spokeswoman Officer Tracey Duffy.
“The teen has been interviewed and disclosed no information regarding any criminal activity.”
She said the probe was continuing.

Read the whole thing. The connection between these two events — the revelation of Weiner’s cybersex sessions with the 34-year-old teacher, and the Delaware police investigation of Weiner’s communications with the 17-year-old — is probably entirely coincidental, except . . .

Well, except that Weiner did both things: He was seeking cybersex with his female online friends and he was privately communicating with a minor girl.

And if you think that’s skeevy, you’re a “moral fascist.”

UPDATE: Nancy Pelosi, Moral Fascist!

CNN’s Toobin on May 31: ‘What Andrew Breitbart Was Insinuating About [Weiner] With Young Girls Is Outrageous’

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There’s no possible way Breitbart could be right, right, right, while CNN’s “senior legal analyst” was wrong, wrong, wrong — or is there?

“This is a silly little thing that happened”? “Not a big deal”? Yeah, idiot: Tell that to the cops who just interviewed the teenage girl in Delaware!

Maybe some of the numbskulls at CNN should go read what “senior legal analyst” Ace of Spades has to say tonight — Ace doesn’t have a network contract, but he’s been right, right, right all along.

UPDATE: Jennifer Preston of the New York Times actually has a pretty solid story about the latest development:

Representative Anthony D. Weiner said on Friday that he had exchanged at least five private messages on Twitter this spring with a 17-year-old Delaware girl who became an admirer of his after hearing him speak during a high school trip to Washington.
Mr. Weiner’s spokeswoman, Risa Heller, did not provide copies of the messages, but said they were not inappropriate.
“According to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent,” Ms. Heller said.
A member of the girl’s family who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her identity characterized the messages as “harmless” but expressed concern that Mr. Weiner had communicated privately with the teenager, a high school junior.
The family was aware that there had been exchanges between Mr. Weiner and the girl but assumed that all of their conversations had taken place on a public Twitter feed. Then a scandal erupted last month over a photo Mr. Weiner sent of himself in his underwear to a college student.
Last week, Mr. Weiner acknowledged that he had sent other explicit photos and messages to at least six women he met over social media.
The family member said: “I am angry. This is surreal and unbelievable. It is absolutely crazy. We are just regular people who go to baseball games and basketball games, as ordinary and plain as can be.”
In the past few days, the girl and her family have become subjects of intense interest in the news media. On Friday afternoon, the local police arrived at their home and asked the girl and her mother to bring the girl’s phone and computer to the police station so they could be checked to make sure no crime had occurred.
The family member said the family complied, and did not expect any further action to be taken.

The important thing here is: Weiner admits he sent this teenage girl “at least five” DMs.

Does the phrase “grooming” ring a bell?

OK, that last sentence was probably not what you’d call responsible, professional, ethical journalism. But I have sources I could contact, experts in such matters, and I’m reasonably sure that if they were to take a long, hard look at the available evidence here, their responses would include something like the phrase “warning flags.” Here is Weiner, recklessly cybersexing with complete strangers, sending photos of his junk to people he’s never met — clearly driven by some sort of wild sexual compulsion — and this man is sending DMs to teenagers?

Like I said: “Warning flags.”