Category: Politics

#WeinerGate: It Gets WORSE
UPDATE: Press Conference 4 p.m. ET UPDATE: ABC News Interviews Woman

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LIVE-BLOGGING THE PRESS CONFERENCE

* * * * *

The congressman gets shirtless in his latest embarrassing photo obtained by Andrew Breitbart.

OK, you can start the resignation clock ticking  . . .

CBS News is now reporting on Andrew Breitbart’s exclusive: “A spokesman for Weiner did not immediately respond to a request to confirm that Weiner had, in fact, sent the photos.”

Maggie’s Notebook highlights something I’d overlooked: Kirsten Powers said Weiner was the “only guy who ever dumped me.”

UPDATE: Now Radar Online busts Weiner on sex-texting, so that even Ace of Spades becomes squeamish:

Yeah, I’m going to say this ends tomorrow, and I hope it does. This is just awful . . .
Actually I’m changing that. I previously said tomorrow. Now I say today, this afternoon.
This is just pretty bad right here.
I’m ready to see this stop now. This is brutal.

We have heard nothing today from the soon-to-be-former congressman. This scandal just became unsurvivable. The only question now is how soon he resigns.

UPDATE II: Anticipating the release of further photos, I announced I was taking a short nap, and awoke to find a Twitter message from Donald Douglas:

 Don’t nap!! You’re missing it: “Anthony Weiner Upper Body Nude Photos!” http://is.gd/JDOcPa

Yeah, I was late on this one. But now that we’re awaiting a resignation, I’m well-rested.

UPDATE III: Just look at that Memeorandum thread:

Now imagine the New York Post and New York Daily News front-page headlines on Tuesday.

Like I said: “unsurvivable.”

UPDATE IV: Fisherville Mike: “That’s all, folks.” Yeah, but the question is, does Weiner know that?

UPDATE V: I’m trying to confirm a report that Rep. Weiner will hold a press conference today at 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Hotel. Pants optional, I’m told.

UPDATE VI: Just confirmed — press conference at 4 p.m. ET. Will have full report.

UPDATE VII: Yeah, that’s gonna leave a mark:

An ABC News employee said that the network has conducted an interview with a woman, who says she received the photos from Mr. Weiner, evidently the same photos Mr. Breitbart obtained.
As of this afternoon, the network was determining when it would broadcast the interview.

The odds of him surviving a broadcast network interview with this woman? Infinitesimal.

#WeinerGate Fallout: Democrats Criticize Weiner for Missing Israel Day Parade UPDATE: Breitbart Releases 2nd Photo

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Jennifer Epstein at Politico:

Rep. Anthony Weiner was MIA at this weekend’s big Israel Day parade in New York City, drawing fire from members of his own party who said he should have shown up.
With the scandal still swirling and questions unanswered over a lewd photograph of an underwear-clad man sent via his Twitter account, Weiner canceled all his planned public appearances over the weekend, including walking in Sunday’s Celebrate Israel Parade along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a show of solidarity with the Jewish state that he has attended in past years. . . .

Read the rest of that. Avoiding the media is not an option for a member of Congress and yet, under current circumstances, Weiner can’t face the press. Recent major media headlines about the scandal:

Rep. Anthony Weiner doing his
best to let lewd Twitter photo
scandal sink his political career
— Mike Lupica, New York Daily News

Rep. Weiner skips two high-profile parades
— New York Post

More evidence that Weiner sent
infamous Tweet unearthed …
as his exes tell all
— U.K. Daily Mail

Keep in mind that these reports were all published before we knew about the most recent revelations.

UPDATE: Now Breitbart releases the second photo reportedly sent from Weiner’s AOL e-mail account. This is starting to look very bad indeed. Bryan Preston at Pajamas Media comments:

I mused the other day that Weiner was using twitter and its direct message capability to build himself a cyber harem. If that’s what he’s been up to, it helps explain both the unusual number of attractive young women among his followees, and why he won’t answer whether the original photo is of him or not. He’s aware that whether or not that particular photo is of him, there are others out there that are definitely of him.

Weiner could be in for a very interesting week.

UPDATE II: “How Many Wiener Pics Did The Weiner Prick Send If The Weiner Prick Did Send Weiner Pics?”

UPDATE III: Professor William Jacobson predicts: “This is the day after which not even Debbie Wasserman Schultz can save Weiner.”

And Ace of Spades notes that the media think they’ve already done too much WeinerGate coverage — so when they cast their eyes on the latest developments, they’re going to be really pissed.

UPDATE IV: P.J. Salvatore at NewsBusters highlights a writer for Gawker (!!!) defending Breitbart:

You know, one thing I do take issue with is . . . at first people didn’t take the story seriously because it showed up on Andrew Breitbart’s website, and they say he has a history of trying to smear people. I think even if that’s the case, it was very quickly that you could have looked into this story and verified it for yourself.  . . . And I think it is important for people, even if a story burbles up through an untraditional, non-mainstream medium, if it seems like a real story, I think people do have an obligation to investigate it.

The effort of certain liberals to try to ignore the facts because they didn’t like the messenger was a perfect example of how bias distorts the news.

UPDATE V: Ed Morrissey on the second photo: “It’s not exactly a professional Congressional outreach, and the sexual innuendo is more than a little creepy under the circumstances.”

UPDATE VI: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power — thanks!

New #WeinerGate Allegations?
UPDATE: Weiner’s Photo: ‘It’s Me’

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UPDATE 8:35 a.m. ET: Andrew Breitbart has released the first photo, reportedly sent to a young woman via Anthony Weiner’s AOL account, “after she asked him to confirm that he was taking photographs contemporaneously, in conjunction with their apparent online communications.”

UPDATE: Boston talk radio host Michael Graham:

This helps explain why Weiner hasn’t just admitted a juvenile mistake and moved on. There are apparently many more “mistakes” out there in the ether of the internet just like it.

UPDATE II: Linked by The Lonely Conservative — thanks!

PREVIOUSLY (6:59 a.m. ET): Ace of Spades rolls out the new “burning shorts” alert to tell us about the latest exclusive from Andrew Breitbart:

Weinergate Bombshell: New Woman
Comes Forward Claiming Cache of
Intimate Photos and Online Communications
with Beleaguered Congressman

When yesterday’s baseball trip caused me to remark that it was a welcome relief after a week of Weiner, Dave C commented, “Might be short lived,” and linked to Ace of Spades:

Patterico: “Betty” and “Veronica” Said
They Had DM’s With The Comely Coed
Talking About Flirting With Weiner

Groan. Indeed, the L.A. prosecutor has waded into the tall grass to question Tommy Christopher’s previous exoneration of Anthony Weiner on the accusations — promoted by @PatriotUSA76 and @goatsred — that the congressman had exchanged inappropriate DMs with two teenage girls.

Interestingly, Patterico’s re-examination of this accusation involves yet a third teenager, who was the subject of my May 30 post:

The Curious Case of the Weiner-Following
(And Weiner-Followed) Teenage Girl

So there were at least three minors, fans of Weiner, whose involvement in this story have raised questions. But yeah, Weiner’s got his private security firm investigating this, so there’s obviously no need to get law enforcement involved . . . Dan Collins comments:

As many people have stated, the Congressman’s own behavior has been the most damning evidence against him. The sudden doubling of the number of people he was following on Twitter, in order to dilute the focus on the original 91 is a part of that, of course. The lies about hacking that turned into lies about pranking are another part. His ridiculous claim that he’s hired a private security firm in order to prevent federal resources from having to be consumed with this matter is another, and his behavior toward the press, whom he habitually courts, yet another.

But wait — there’s more! Matthew Boyle at the Daily Caller:

New #Weinergate info revealed:
Porn star Miss Ginger Lee appears to have gotten
more than one private message from Weiner

This is one of those situations where we don’t know what we don’t know, yet what we do know is sufficiently suggestive that speculation necessarily runs rampant. Last week I contacted a congressional staffer to ask if a certain member of Congress would be issuing a statement calling for an investigation of the allegations against Weiner. I was told no, but: “If that changes I’ll let you know.”

Well, has it changed yet?

UPDATE: Linked by Da Tech Guy — thanks! Ace of Spades comments:

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz chose the wrong time to call this a “personal matter,” and blow it off just because he’s a Democrat.

UPDATE II: A new Mememorandum thread, with comment by Donald Douglas at American Power and Dan Collins — and by Dan Riehl, who is probably privy to the content of the yet-to-be-disclosed messages.

UPDATE III: Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit proclaims “Weiner Is Cooked,” which remains to be seen. As I observed at The American Spectator, Congress is in recess this week, which means that this scandal will need a week’s worth of “legs” if it is to be the subject of congressional inquiry when the recess is over.

Linked by Lisa Graas and by POH Diaries— thanks!


Herman Cain Hits the Big Time

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Kate Zernike features Cain in the New York Times:

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Michele Bachmann was campaigning just north of here, the Sarah Palin tour was rumored to be arriving soon, and Mitt Romney was on his way to announce his entry into the presidential race.
Yet here was another voter swooning for Herman Cain.
“I watched you at the Republican debate, and I have to be honest, I’d never heard of you, but ever since that. …” said Nathan Lyons, 29, his voice trailing off wistfully. “You say it like it is.”
Joan Silvernail, 68, pumped Mr. Cain’s hand, then turned to her husband. “It’s his enthusiasm,” she said. “Wasn’t that what we felt with Ronald Reagan, his enthusiasm?”
Those not frequenting Tea Party rallies or the living rooms and coffee shops of New Hampshire and Iowa might dismiss Mr. Cain, a talk radio host and former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, as a frivolous candidate — “the pizza guy” as some call him.
But there are signs of what Mr. Cain, in his booming baritone, calls “Old Man Mo — Momentum!”
A Gallup poll released last week showed Mr. Cain with the highest voter intensity score of any Republican presidential contender — far higher than Ms. Palin, a former governor of Alaska, or Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. While Mr. Cain’s name recognition was at 37 percent, it had risen 16 points since March. . . .

Read the whole thing — it’s 1,400 words, which is a lot of words for the New York Times to devote to a candidate that all the pundits keep telling us can’t win.

Isn’t it time you joined the online grassroots army at Citizens for Cain?

‘Is He the New Tiger Woods?’

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The title quote is from Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition in a story by Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller:

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin told The Daily Caller Weiner’s “long history” of “skirt-chasing” raises more questions about the New York Democrat’s Capitol Hill sexual secrets and expects more women with similar stories to come forward.
“Stories about his hot pursuits of young Capitol Hill interns date back to 2001,” Malkin said in an email. “At least one young woman told liberal Vanity Fair magazine that Weiner hunted down her e-mail address, bragged about riding on Air Force One, and extended an invitation to visit his office in person. The photo gallery of his select group of young female followers/followees on Twitter suggests a continued hunt.”
Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition expects this emerging pattern to get bigger and clearer soon. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” she told TheDC on Wednesday. “How many other women are going to come forward? Is he the new Tiger Woods?”
Malkin worries about the young female staffers and interns in Weiner’s office and in nearby offices. It’s a possibility they could feel threatened or pressured by Weiner’s advances.

Read the whole thing. While a good reporter never burns his sources, trust me when I say that these kinds of questions are now the subject of intensive scrutiny by journalists, who are checking off names on lists as possible objects of Weiner’s amorous interest. Laffety’s hunch — “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” — is shared by a lot of people, both in the Beltway press and the New Media.

There may be other high-heeled shoes dropping, if any ladies on Capitol Hill have tales to tell. The press-corps piranhas smell blood in the water and Weiner deeply offended Washington journalists by trying to stonewall his way out of this mess, and called a CNN producer a “jackass,” to boot. I wonder if Emily Miller of The Washington Times thinks Weiner might be the kind of guy who would sexually harass attractive young female staffers.

UPDATE: The Lonely Conservative: “In all fairness to Tiger, I don’t recall him appearing before the media to tell crotch jokes.”

Linked by The Mr. G Guy and Uncoverage — thanks!

UPDATE II: Linked by Lisa Graas, Da Tech Guy and Piece of Work in Progress — thanks!

UPDATE III: A new story today by Daniel Libit at TheDaily.com says circumstantial evidence is consistent with Weiner sending the photo in question.

PREVIOUSLY:

‘You Can’t Lawyer the Media’

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So said Andrea Tantaros during a panel discussion of WeinerGate today on “Fox News Watch”:

Colby Hall of Mediaite.com was interviewed on MSNBC today about the continuing scandal:

“When it broke, all there was left we could do was to speculate reasonably, until his statement that he could not say with certitude whether or not that image was his. You could almost feel like the nation raised their eyebrows and said, ‘Wait, what?'”

(Hat-tip: Pat Dollard.) Some more recent WeinerGate headlines you might have missed:

Anthony Weiner’s bulging controversy
a classic example of abysmal damage control
— Thomas M. Defrank, New York Daily News

Here’s the lowdown on ‘Weinergate’
— Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald

Weiner’s Seat Could Go Republican
— John Gizzi, Human Events

NPR’s Totenberg: ‘We Shouldn’t Care About
Weinergate – It’s a Great Lark of a Diversion’
— Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters.com

Anthony Weiner’s odd reality
— Richard Cohen, Washington Post

The Ick-arus of Capitol Hill
— Michelle Malkin

Dan Wolfe Steps Up
— VerumSerum.com

I Hate to Have to Say It But I Very Firmly Feel…
— Lisa Graas

Rather than tell you what I think about all this stuff, I figure I’d just link the headlines. You can click the links you want, quote whatever strikes you as most relevant, and express your own opinion in the comments.

‘UR SO HOT! C MY WANG?’
(Or, #WeinerGate Explained)

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Mark Steyn quotes Little Miss Attila in regard to The Story That Won’t Go Away. (“If you experience an erection lasting more than four news cycles, call a spin doctor.”) Attila said:

Everyone lies about Twitter-flirting, and everyone knows that everyone lies about Twitter-flirting.

Kellie Jane said that it is actually not so unusual for guys to do what Weiner is accused of doing. I was skeptical: “What’s up with guys getting drunk and tweeting their junk? Is it really that common?”

This seems to be a generational phenomenon explained to me in an e-mail from a university professor, who says he read it on another blog:

Sending the tumescent wiener pic is, apparently, what one does in response to an explicit text/direct message from your sexting buddy. To show your appreciation.
Until I read this I was confused too, because it seemed odd that someone would think the pic in question so arousing or attractive. But as a “look at what you just said did to me” gesture, it makes a lot more sense, no?

It makes about as much sense as anything else nowadays. The sexual customs of the younger generation mystify me. Back in the day . . .

No, no. Never mind my old stories. I’m just grateful I hung up the spurs and got married before the advent of digital photography and the Internet. Of course, there is that old Speedo pic . . .

Draft Reynolds 2012?

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“The people who think they’re smart enough, and morally superior enough, to run everyone else’s lives are risible. They’re not smart enough to run their own lives competently, and they’re actually, overall, morally inferior … They pursue power, and they exercise power, as much for deference as anything else.”
— Professor Glenn Reynolds

He’s got a good point. People who conspicuously crave power over others do not usually exercise power for good ends.

Outside of politics, we recognize that a desire to run other peoples’ lives — to boss them around — is the manifestation of a sadistic personality. Nobody likes a bully in real life and yet, in politics, we see how people acquire power by proclaiming that the rest of us are not competent to run our own lives and therefore need government to tell us what to do for our own good.

The Big Lie of liberalism is that liberals are morally superior to the rest of us merely because they’re liberals. Vote for them, and you can be morally superior, too! And then they’ll be bossing everyone around with your approval and permission.

To which I answer not just no, but hell no.

We should not give power to people who crave it so desperately. We should find someone who doesn’t want power and put them in charge.

GLENN REYNOLDS for PRESIDENT
Because It’s Saturday, and I Need the Traffic

UPDATE: The predictable Shermanesque response.

Normal blog etiquette, when linked by Instapundit, is to say, “Welcome, Instapundit readers!” But that seems rather redundant at this point, doesn’t it? So instead I’ll invite you to hit my tip jar, because it is, after all, Saturday. And my wife is sick.