Anthony Weiner is an idiot!

@firefly,

firefly wrote:

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Why? What's the harm? Did any of the recipients complain

What's the harm? Listen to this woman...

She complained about him being needy. She's not saying she was harmed in any way.

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@firefly,

firefly wrote:

Quote:

So you are conceding that a significant number of Democrats will vote for Weiner, enough to tilt the election?

Weiner doesn't have to get a significant number of notes to trigger a run-off election between the two top finishers in the Democratic primary. He just has to draw enough to keep any of the others from getting 40% of the vote in the primary.

triggering a run-off is apparently significant*, so if that happens with 40 or 40,000 voters it is a significant number

*

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Preferably, I'd like to see one candidate pick up at least 40% of the primary vote to avoid a run-off election for the Democratic nomination. That would give the Democrats the best chance of winning in November.

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I am kicking myself for starting this. I wish I never learned about Weiner, I wish his so called phone buddy would go away. I posted because I was so frustrated that he compromised his family for a shot as Mayor of New York. I am too old to believe an exhibitionist could just quit, I'm just happy my grandfather, father, husband and sons never embarrassed our family in such fashion. I'm just sick to death of all the "understanding", "openness" and the flashy faux sexy happy bullshit. Is dignity just an old fashioned notion? Apparently it is. Can't anybody conduct themselves with a tiny bit of grace. I'm so tired of hearing every tawdry fact or fiction regarding anybody.

I believe Anthony Weiner future is up to the citizens of New York.

1 Reply

@Thomas,

Quote:

Or in other words, nobody got harmed except Weiner himself, and for that, you want him harmed even more.

The harm is to his reputation. The harm is to what people think of his character.

I think he has terrible judgment, in addition to all the public lying he's done about this entire business which reveals something very distasteful about his character.

Are you aware of this?

Quote:

Weiner campaign paid private eye $45,000 to investigate own 2011 Twitter ‘hacking’ lie, reports show

The ‘hacking’ never happened — Weiner later admitted to sending the racy pics himself — but his furious attempt at damage control included an expensive investigation by T&M Protection services.

By Greg B. Smith / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
July 28, 2013

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/weiner-spent-45k-2011-crotch-shot-probe-article-1.1410865#ixzz2aaSDd4uQ

I don't want to see Weiner harmed, I just don't want to see him holding high public office. I'm old-fashioned, I still believe character and basic morality are important requisites when seeking the public trust. It's on that score that I find this man sorely lacking.

I'm tired of excusing the bad behavior of male officer holders. When you enter public life you give up a lot of privacy, and scrutiny of your behavior in all areas becomes appropriate, particularly when those "private" details become part of the public discourse.

And I do think these men harm their wives with their actions, it becomes a humiliating public ordeal for these women that is painful to witness. While it's a private matter how these women choose to deal with it, in terms of their marital relationship, that doesn't mean I have to support these men, who treat women badly, by giving them my vote.

We've yet to have a female high officer holder get involved in a major sex scandal, at least none that I'm aware of, but if and when that happens, I'll be curious to see whether that woman gets the same sort of pass that many of these men often get.

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@glitterbag,

Oh, I'm glad you started this. I think it's a great topic to discuss.

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I'm just sick to death of all the "understanding", "openness" and the flashy faux sexy happy bullshit. Is dignity just an old fashioned notion? Apparently it is.

I'm getting sick of it too, glitterbag.

And Weiner, in particular, wouldn't know dignity if he tripped over it.

1 Reply

@firefly,

firefly wrote:

I think he has terrible judgment, in addition to all the public lying he's done about this entire business which reveals something very distasteful about his character.

Are you aware of this? [...]

No, and it wouldn't change my opinion if I had. Wiener did nothing wrong in the first place. He didn't harm anyone. Everyone has a right to a sex life of their choosing, and nobody owes anyone an explanation for theirs, as long as they keep it between consenting adults.

Unfortunately, in this society of ours, people waste a lot of time obsessing and disapproving of each others sex lives. They do it even when it's none of their business --- no, especially when it's none of their business. To cope with this, people with unorthodox sex lives lie. Gays and lesbians lie about being gay or lesbian because of homophobes. Polyamorists lie about being polyamorous because of monogamist bigots. Anthony Weiner lied about his sexting because people disapprove of sexting on the internet. None of this would --- or should --- keep me from voting for gay or polyamorous candidates.

And I wish that our media outlets left people with unorthodox sex lives alone. I say shame on those peeping-Tom pundits for their prurient obsession with the sex lives of political candidates! Since Weiner wronged noone in the first place, I choose to ignore the whole thing. To be sure, Weiner's lack of a resume justifies every Democratic-primary voter in NYC who votes against him. But his sex life doesn't justify anyone in bullying him out of the race.

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@firefly,

firefly wrote:

I'm tired of excusing the bad behavior of male officer holders. . . . .
We've yet to have a female high officer holder get involved in a major sex scandal, at least none that I'm aware of, but if and when that happens, I'll be curious to see whether that woman gets the same sort of pass that many of these men often get.

I think you may be right about women not getting involved in sex scandals. Men have more macho hubris, if such a term makes sense. That does not exempt women from public corruption, however, just the creepy kind.

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@firefly,

firefly wrote:

I'm old-fashioned, I still believe character and basic morality are important requisites when seeking the public trust.

By this standard, you should have voted for George W. Bush, whose marriage with Laura Bush appears to be exemplary. Did you?

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@Thomas,

We simply have different standards.

I do not trust people who seek, or hold, public office and deliberately lie, regardless of the reason.

When the sex lives of public figures cease being private matters they are as valid a topic for discussion as any other aspect of a person's conduct. If people don't wish that kind of scrutiny, they should refrain from seeking or holding public office.

What's next, ignoring or not talking about substance abuse/addictions, or emotional problems, or abusive behavior? Anything that voters might "disapprove" of?

I'm not sure Anthony Weiner's wife would agree with you that he has wronged no one. And, when she chooses to publicly display her emotional distress about the ordeal he has put her through, as she has done, I can't agree with you that he has "wronged no one" either.

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@Thomas,

OK, you see this as prudes judging others via crotch shots and other images. Your sexual behaviour is your business until you post it on the Internet for everyone to see. I see this more as piggish behaviour being celebrated by people who don't have a sex life. Sordid, Tawdry, and a few other words should not make a candidate more appealing. I would not find it charming if someone felt so comfortable at our house, he or she would relieve themselves on my sofa. Does that make me an uptight non adventurist, who can't see the freedom of some who decide to send me a pix of their private parts or naughty bits. And then call foul if I don't invite them to a family gathering where young nieces or nephews or grandchildren don't have personal security teams. He is free to be as sleazy as he likes, I just won't be asking him to serve as my granddaughters God Father. Do what you want to do, be as public as you like, just don't forget to respect my decision to keep you as far away as I can from young family members. I may as well include older guests or family who may not appreciate listening to whatever drunks or drunk exhibitionists want to talk about or show. No one is that flipping interesting.

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@firefly,

firefly wrote:

When you enter public life you give up a lot of privacy, and scrutiny of your behavior in all areas becomes appropriate, particularly when those "private" details become part of the public discourse.

that is pretty much an American-only attitude. I find it bizarre to absolutely polite about it.

What someone does in their own life, with other consenting adults, has nothing to do with what they can do as politicians. If it did, then Kennedy and Roosevelt and pretty much every American president other than Nixon and the Bush duo should have backed away from American public life.

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@Thomas,

Quote:

By this standard, you should have voted for George W. Bush, whose marriage with Laura Bush appears to be exemplary. Did you?

His marriage may be exemplary, but he did his share of lying, and concealment, on other matters, prior to being elected to the Presidency--and certainly afterward. I can't say that I admire his character.

You judge people only by the outward appearance of their marriage?

At the time I voted for Al Gore, his long-term marriage appeared pretty solid too.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

What someone does in their own life, with other consenting adults, has nothing to do with what they can do as politicians. If it did, then Kennedy and Roosevelt and pretty much every American president other than Nixon and the Bush duo should have backed away from American public life.

You forgot president Johnson, who pulled down his pants during a cabinet meeting to show everyone his hernia, exposing his pubic area in the process. (I bet Setanta would have more salty details.) There's no telling what this man would have done with an internet to do it on. And yet, the nation will forever be indebted to this bastard for man-handling Congress into passing the Civil-Rights Act.

1 Reply

@firefly,

firefly wrote:

You judge people only by the outward appearance of their marriage?

No I don't. In particular, I don't judge any office-holder's private life by any standard of decency. That's because I believe that you can be one kind of man and another kind of president, contrary to what George H. W. Bush said about Bill Clinton. For example, I would have strongly preferred John Edwards in 2008 over both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I knew Edwards was a total scoundrel in his private life, but I thought he fought for the right policy positions, and that he had the moxy to enact them once in office. To me these were the only relevant tests for wanting him to be president.

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@ehBeth,

I think that, had he lived, Kennedy's sexual behaviors would have become very problematic for him--and I don't think he could have withstood the scrutiny and the kind of non-stop media coverage that goes on now. One of his mistresses was also involved with leaders in the Mafia, and the media today would have a field day with that sort of thing.

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What someone does in their own life, with other consenting adults, has nothing to do with what they can do as politicians..

It does when they are the President of the United States and they wind up getting impeached for it...

It does when they are the governor of New York and they have to resign over it...

It may be an American-only attitude, but Americans are not going to start ignoring what they see as "misconduct". And it will render an otherwise effective officer-holder hamstrung and unable to uphold the authority and dignity of his office. For one thing, it allows one's political opponents and political enemies to have a field day--which is the political danger of such reckless or indiscreet behavior.

And the more the public excuses, the more bad behavior they will get.

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and pretty much every American president other than Nixon and the Bush duo should have backed away from American public life.

So far, there's no hint of scandal, past or present, about Obama. And, if they could have dug it up, they would have dug it up by now. So I don't think it's something we should come to expect in all of our political leaders.

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There's two reasons, besides the deception, why the whole sexting incident should warn you Weiner will suck as a mayor:

(1) He makes snap, impulsive decisions without thinking about the consequences. Whether or not you believe his sexting should have got him in trouble, it did, and he should have known it would. He surrendered to impulse without deliberating.

(2) The same impulse that drove him into sexting is probably the one driving him into politics -- his need for attention. Do you really want a mayor who only wanted to be mayor because he basks in the glow?

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I thought he was the next mayor, no more. this dude refuses to pretend to play by the rules and I think we know that he lied to his former campaign manager about there being anything " more". how would the citizens ever trust him now?

the most interesting part now is will the wife be washed up in politics as the price for supporting him. normally she would be part of the inner circle of a Hillary run for prez, but maybe not now.

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@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

By this standard, you should have voted for George W. Bush, whose marriage with Laura Bush appears to be exemplary. Did you?

Nah, Kerry and Gore also had squeaky clean public marriages.

1 Reply

@firefly,

firefly wrote:

I do not trust people who seek, or hold, public office and deliberately lie, regardless of the reason.

When the sex lives of public figures cease being private matters they are as valid a topic for discussion as any other aspect of a person's conduct. If people don't wish that kind of scrutiny, they should refrain from seeking or holding public office.

But you've defended Clinton. Much as I like him, there is no question that he "deliberately" lied about his sex life, even in court under oath, and it became very public. He was exchanging a lot more than pictures but it didn't automatically disqualify him. This is why the Clintons don't like this story. You have to twist yourself around to make a moral argument against Weiner that doesn't also stick to Clinton.

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@firefly,

firefly wrote:

Oh, I'm glad you started this. I think it's a great topic to discuss.

Quote:

Same here. Plus, it has been a reasonably good debate with no name calling or flame throwing and we've seen a lot of the regulars show up.

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Anthony Weiner is an idiot!

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