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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2011 eh / Member of Congress

Member of Congress

by $8 blue check mistermix|  June 6, 20118:38 pm| 111 Comments

This post is in: Election 2011 eh, Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell

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As we watch Nancy Pelosi and Steve Israel beat the Wenis into a bloody pulp, consider this: Weiner’s district is a D+5 District in Brooklyn and Queens. It was previously represented by Schumer and Ferraro (in her prime, before she was reduced to ugly PUMA racism). Though it’s mainly white and older, it has an above-average percentage of college-educated residents, a much higher-than-average percentage (40%) of foreign-born residents, and whole bunch of traditionally Democratic Jewish voters.

In other words, NY-9 has been an incubator for quality Democratic politicians, and if Weiner quits at the end of his term, it’s pretty likely that another quality Democrat, hopefully with a little better Twitter-fu, will take his place. This isn’t NY-29, where Eric Massa’s extraordinary two-cycle race garnered an against-all-odds win in a tough R+5 district, and Massa’s resignation almost guaranteed a turnover. A Republican hasn’t represented NY-9 since 1923, so it’s pretty easy for leadership to push Weiner under the bus without thinking twice.

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Reader Interactions

111Comments

  1. 1.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    June 6, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    Thank you for some non-panic in this discussion.

  2. 2.

    El Cid

    June 6, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    How would the new guy measure up?

  3. 3.

    Cromagnon

    June 6, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    I have no problem with Weiner showing his weiner, per se… BUT. Any public official, especially a high-profile U.S. congressperson, who would be stupid enough to post a picture of his weiner via Twitter, has the brains god gave Sarah Palin. And that is more than enough to disqualify him from public office for all eternity

  4. 4.

    Alex S.

    June 6, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    Maybe Pelosi is hoping for a less pro-Israel guy.

  5. 5.

    Arrik

    June 6, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    As we watch Nancy Pelosi and Steve Israel beat the Wenis into a bloody pulp…

    That’s some nice imagery there, MM.

  6. 6.

    PurpleGirl

    June 6, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    Redistricting has changed the boundaries and the area encompassing the district a couple of times. From Wikipedia:

    The 9th was historically a Queens district. Part of the old 9th became the 7th District in the 1992 redistricting when the present 9th absorbed much of the old 10th District based in Brooklyn.

    The 9th that I grew up in was in Northwest Queens and was represented by James Delaney and then Geraldine Ferraro. Schumer was never my congresscritter. And the Astoria neighborhood was very blue collar and working class.

  7. 7.

    jheartney

    June 6, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    According to the scuttlebutt, over the course of his TwitterCareer Weiner sent actual nude shots to some of his Twitterbuddies. With those still to come out, the guy will be reaching Fukushima levels of radioactivity. Further, the leadership doesn’t appreciate the way his blundering attempts to cover this up have crowded out everything else for the past 10 days.

    Bottom line, I’ll be surprised if he is still a U.S. Representative a week from today.

  8. 8.

    danimal

    June 6, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    @El Cid: I’m sure he would be a solid, well-rounded citizen, with a firm grasp of the job, a true straight-shooter with a long history of constituency service.

  9. 9.

    askew

    June 6, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    DK Elections (f/k/a Swing State Project) is guessing that Weiner’s might be redistricted out. The Dems have to lose one downstate district due to redistricting (while the GOP lose one upstate district) and Weiner hasn’t made a lot of friends with the NY Democratic party.

    However, if there is more to this scandal (additional pics, possibly sent to underage girls, etc.), Nancy will push Weiner out now. She wants to retake the House in 2012 and won’t let Weiner’s ongoing scandal hurt Dems chances.

  10. 10.

    JC

    June 6, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    So, is there other stuff going on?

    I mean, David Vitter committed crimes, you know, paying for hookers is a crime in Louisiana, right?

    So – Republican who commits actual crimes, involving real women, is a member in good standing, and Weiner being an idiot sexting – needs an Ethics investigation?

    Am I missing something here?

    Also – it still amazes me that a guy can have a NEW wife, who is just F*CKING GORGEOUS – not to mention, by all accounts, mature and accomplished – and still do stuff like this.

    I wonder if there is other stuff, or this is simply the Democrats being held to a higher standard, and again being cowed by the Right Wing borg.

    If there isn’t other stuff happening – example above, pics to underage girls, the democrats needs to stop being so craven, and stop sacrificing their own.

    Also – there must be more going on here, right? This is clearly a hit job, though a ‘true’ one. They had this stuff, probably illegally, for at least a few weeks, right?

  11. 11.

    Cacti

    June 6, 2011 at 8:54 pm

    I’ve had little love for “progressive” Anthony Weiner since he couldn’t be arsed to speak a word in defense of Cordova House’s first amendment rights.

    Twist in the wind you preening jackass.

  12. 12.

    lamh34

    June 6, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    @jheartney:

    According to the scuttlebutt, over the course of his TwitterCareer Weiner sent actual nude shots to some of his Twitterbuddies. With those still to come out, the guy will be reaching Fukushima levels of radioactivity.

    I’ve heard about more illicit pics too.

    That’s brings me to my question of why is this being characterized as Pelosi and Isreal throwing Weiner under the bus.

    I suspect if when the original “weiner” tweet had come out and Weiner had stepped up and admitted guilt and no other pictures would have been exposed, then I suspect that Pelosi would not have done anything about Weiner.

  13. 13.

    MikeB

    June 6, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    His indiscretions are minor compared to politicians of recent years since
    no actual, you know, sex was involved. (as far as we know)

    On the other hand, you can make the case that he was extremely dumb
    to do this. I would normally fault the media for overdoing this “scandal”,
    but come on, the guy’s name is Weiner! It’s hilarious.

  14. 14.

    lamh34

    June 6, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Now here’s a post on Weiner-gate that I can get behind. No apologies for Weiner, just a full-on rant against the stupidity of the media!

    Hey, Media

    by BooMan

  15. 15.

    JC

    June 6, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    Lamh34,

    Amen to that. Seriously, why, when it comes to ‘scandals’, why are the rules SO DIFFERENT for Democrats and Republicans?

    I’d really like Anthony Weiner to reflect all questions back to David Vitter:

    “I’m going to say what my esteemed colleague David Vitter had to say.”

    and then repeat David Vitter verbatim.

    When they ask more – like ‘how many’, have Wiener say, “I will answer that question when David Vitter answers how many hookers he used, and not a moment before. When you insist on that answer from him, you’ll get it from me. Not a second sooner.”

    Seriously, if he is going to go down anyway, use the time to attack David vitter 24/7, the way he is being attacked 24/7.

  16. 16.

    MattMinus

    June 6, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    Oh, what the New York Post will make of this!

    I’m hoping for “Pelosi Pounds Weiner.” This story is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

  17. 17.

    liberal

    June 6, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    @JC:
    Heh. That’s precisely what he should do. Good suggestion!

  18. 18.

    D-Chance.

    June 6, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    And, now, the Weiner-whacking begins… along with a good bit of “It’s OK because THEY did it, too!” rationalization.

    He’s crooked, so I can be crooked. He’s a pervert, so I can be a sexual predator. Momma killed a man, so I can be a murderer. It’s all good as long as I can find someone else to point a deflective finger at and scream, “THEM, TOO!”.

    Gotta love Liberal ethics.

  19. 19.

    jheartney

    June 6, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    @lamh34:

    Well, sure, in that case it was survivable. But lying about it, and/or doing full frontal pix, isn’t.

  20. 20.

    Geoduck

    June 6, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    @JC: The fact that we even get into what his wife looks like shows how deep rooted the whole sexism problem still is in our society. It doesn’t matter what she looks like, what she did or did not accomplish. Some guys just can’t keep their pants zipped, no matter the consequences.

  21. 21.

    lamh34

    June 6, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    @jheartney: agreed.

  22. 22.

    Laertes

    June 6, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    Are the rules for scandal really all that different for Ds and Rs?

    Ensign’s case was, obviously, far worse. But he got a ton of bad press for it, has announced that he isn’t running for re-election, and he’s still in legal jeopardy.

    I don’t remember if Vitter issued a string of silly denials before finally owning up. If he didn’t, then his case isn’t nearly as bad as Weiner. (Sexting and hiring prostitutes aren’t the same thing, but they’re equally none of my concern. Weiner’s worst offense was all the subsequent bold-faced lying.)

    Chris Lee seems like Weiner’s most obvious opposite number, but he promptly resigned his seat.

    I’d like to believe that in the matter of juicy sex scandals the media favors Reps just the way they do in every other matter, but as I think about the recent cases I can remember, it just doesn’t seem that way.

    Anyone got anything I’m overlooking that might help me change my mind?

  23. 23.

    georgia pig

    June 6, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    The sooner he goes the better. He’s expendable.

  24. 24.

    OGB

    June 6, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    Republicans are just upset about Weiner’s big stimulus package.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 6, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @D-Chance.: Oh, fuck you. Just fuck you. You want to mischaracterize everything everyone says? Fine, go ahead and do it. But fuck you, douche bag.

  26. 26.

    piratedan

    June 6, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    hey, he was one of the few vocal Dems who had his act together when it came to discussing matters on the floor. Yes, he did something stupid, cripes I wish he had simply come out in front of this and owned up and been done with it. The damage caused to lend any credibility to the likes of Breitbart we all could have done without. Has he done anything wrong? Not really. Has it helped that the R’s have had cover for two weeks while we had continuous coverage of this crap, not in the least. Now they can continue to play the culture war drama card while the freaking economy crashes and burns. Does he have to stfu for a while, at a minimum, but please, comparatively speaking, based on what he’s done and the crap that continously spills out of the mouth of folks like Trent Franks, Louie Gohmert, Michelle Bachmann and Virginia Foxx, Weiner isn’t even in the same category.

  27. 27.

    hitchhiker

    June 6, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    Obligatory response to this:

    Ferraro (in her prime, before she was reduced to ugly PUMA racism)

    gratuitous slap at a dead woman who deserves better.

    “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.”

    Ferraro justified the statements by referring to her own run for vice president. Echoing a statement she wrote about herself in 1988, Ferraro said that “I was talking about historic candidacies and what I started off by saying (was that) if you go back to 1984 and look at my historic candidacy, which I had just talked about all these things, in 1984, if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice-presidential candidate. It had nothing to do with my qualification.”

    The casual reference to ugly racism just shouldn’t go unnoticed.

    But, carry on.

  28. 28.

    Keith G

    June 6, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    We are in the middle of a hugely significant ideological competiton. It is unfortunately true that our side has to be better and smarter than the other folks. It is not fair, but in general, life is not.

    Weiner had to be aware of this. He wanted leadership, but could not live up to the responsibility. Frat boy antics have no place on our side. Too bad Weiner could not handle that concept.

  29. 29.

    jheartney

    June 6, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    @Laertes:

    Neither the Vitter nor Ensign cases sent the media to Defcon 1 the way that Weiner’s Twitter did, so neither was being hounded about it right off the bat. But the real difference between Wenisgate/Lee and Vitter/Ensign was that the former featured photographs. If there had been actual pictures of Vitter in diapers he’d be long gone.

  30. 30.

    Laertes

    June 6, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    Yes, he did something stupid, cripes I wish he had simply come out in front of this and owned up and been done with it.

    So do I, but he didn’t do that. Instead, he fucked the team over. He opted for a high-risk strategy, gambling that he could bluster his way through this, even though he had to know that people would be searching for his other pen pals and would likely find them.

    He weighed the embarrassment he’d suffer by quickly coming clean against the damage that his party would suffer if his story collapsed and decided it was worth the risk.

    Asshole.

  31. 31.

    jl

    June 6, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    I would prefer to wait until the issue of what Weiner has actually done before I pass judgment.

    Until this morning I have personally seen pictures of something that could be in a Jockey underwear ad, and Weiner lounging in a sweater next to two cats with a racey caption.

    Then this afternoon he admits to posting the underwear ad, which is borderline in terms of should he stay or should he go.

    But now there is talk of nekkid pics sent to underage girls.

    That is kind of a wide range of degrees of stupid/bad/illegal behavior there.

    But if Pelosi thinks it best to get rid of Weiner for political reasons, that is fine with me. I trust her judgment more than 99% of the politicians in DC. And if it helps get this nonsense off the top of the front page, that is an added benefit.

  32. 32.

    David Brooks (not that one) is a dickhead.

    June 6, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    OK, so Weiner is toast. But we all know why it was so urgent that he be silenced…

    WHO IS GOING TO PICK UP SPOTLIGHTING THE THOMAS FINANCES?

    Or is it true that nobody in public life will dare to draw attention to Clarence Thomas, now that Weiner has been made an example of what will happen to you if you try.

    The VRWC thugs have won. Game over.

  33. 33.

    slag

    June 6, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Gotta go with TNC on this:

    I’m not so much surprised and, again, I don’t really care that he was sending pictures in a consensual relationship with women. My only issue was if he had been intentionally sending pictures to a woman who did not know him.
    __
    EDIT: With that said, as a liberal I am disappointed. No one forces you to be a public figure. When you sign up to be one, and represent my agenda, I expect you do that to the best of your abilities.
    __
    I understand what people mean when they say Clinton was prosecuted for a blowjob. But I also think putting yourself in a position where your enemies can prosecute you for a blowjob demonstrates a kind of recklessness which I would not want in those who would captain my army.

    Unlike DougJ, I kind of hope Weiner resigns. Not because I don’t like his policies but because I now dislike his politics. Predictable outcomes are predictable. Which is why it really bothers me that these idiots keep cavalierly screwing me over in this cliched manner.

    They obviously have problems. Better for me if they can be trained to work it out with their therapists rather than with their wieners. What’s it going to take? A presidential impeachment scandal?

  34. 34.

    burnspbesq

    June 6, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @JC:

    “Amen to that. Seriously, why, when it comes to ‘scandals’, why are the rules SO DIFFERENT for Democrats and Republicans?”

    Because they are. Period. Full stop. Deal with it.

  35. 35.

    RossInDetroit

    June 6, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @MikeB:

    On the other hand, you can make the case that he was extremely dumb to do this.

    yeah, I’d say that’s an open and shut case.

    For our next scandal can we please have something that you can read and write about without the 13 year old part of your brain seeing double entendres everywhere? I count at least 13 words you can’t put in a sentence with Weiner without looking like a juvenile punster.

  36. 36.

    jheartney

    June 6, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    One other point about Weiner’s lies: if you’re going to lie, then for set’s sake LIE. He starts off with the confident statement that he didn’t send the tweet, and then gets all vague and lawyerly about how he “can’t say with certitude” that it isn’t him. Why be unambiguous about the part of it that was most easily verifiable (that he did in fact send the tweet) and then be evasive about the part that isn’t (that it was his package in the image)?

    Aside from the political damage from lying to his constituents, Weiner also now has a record of dissembling to his own caucus. None of them can trust his word going forward. Time to come up with another career, Anthony.

  37. 37.

    burnspbesq

    June 6, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    @David Brooks (not that one) is a dickhead.:

    Wait, what? You think Thomas might be in some real jeopardy if Weiner hadn’t been an idiot?

    There are only three ways Thomas gets in trouble: impeachment, indictment, or a state bar ethics case. Maybe there are parallel universes in which one or more of those things might happen, but in this one … Alas, that was never ever going to happen.

  38. 38.

    Liberal Sandlapper

    June 6, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    What TNC Said…

  39. 39.

    Nick

    June 6, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    Careful here. This is a district where Obama lost ground to Kerry. Most of the foreign born residents aren’t citizens, and if they are, don’t vote. Weiner saw his closest election ever last November and had very low turnout, as had special elections in the district. It’s home to a very popular Republican City Councilman, Eric Ulrich, who is only 26 years old. I definitely think he could make it a race. This district has PUMA and 9-11 Republicanism written all over it. If Ulrich doesn’t run, Republicans can probably get some Israeliphile state legislator or city councilman to run as a Republican and make it a race. NY-9 is less Democratic than NY-26 is Republican.

    The PUMA effect is huge in NY-9, HUGE. I cannot stress this enough. Even if a Democrat wins a special, which is likely anyway, he or she will not be anywhere as liberal as Anthony Weiner. The ’67 borders fracas has delivered another blow against Obama in the district too.

    Former Councilwoman Melinda Katz, whom Weiner very narrowly beat for the seat in the 1998 Dem primary comes to mind, she’s the closest to a liberal we’re going to get. She ran for city comptroller last year and lost the primary to John Liu. Other candidates may be Councilman David Weprin, son of former State Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin, who represents the extreme eastern part of the district in Queens, or Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who has been treating Obama as a punching bag on Israel, but is otherwise a really great guy.

  40. 40.

    Southern Beale

    June 6, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    Maybe it’s just me but does anyone else find it odd that Weiner’s cyber-girlfriend kept chronicles of her correspondence with Weiner?

    Maybe it’s just me. I suppose more will be revealed.

    This whole story is getting more bizarre by the hour.

  41. 41.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    A grown man who tweets racy pictures of himself to a college girl ( a perfect stranger), deserves everything that happens to him. He’s an idiot and Pelosi is right to throw him under the first incoming bus. He’s a terrible distraction and he should go. I don’t give a fuck if the republicans are as sleazy. It does not excuse his thoughtless idiotic behavior.

  42. 42.

    WyldPirate

    June 6, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    Chuck Schumer? Democratic Cocksucker in Chief of Wall St? Quality Democrat?

    What. A. Fucking. Delusion.

    Put down the goddamned crackpipe before you hurt yourself, mistermix.

  43. 43.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 6, 2011 at 9:49 pm

    @Nick:

    The PUMA effect is huge in NY-9

    Maybe Hamsher should move up there. Sounds like a district she can win.

  44. 44.

    timb

    June 6, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: seconded. We are not wingnuts and I don’t play by their “team uber alles” plan

  45. 45.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 6, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    Weinerish was scheduled to give the keynote address at next week’s Netroots Nation convention.

    I wonder who’ll they’ll get to replace him.

  46. 46.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    A grown man who tweets pictures of his groin to a college girl ( a perfect stranger), deserves everything that happens to him. He’s an idiot and Pelosi is right to throw him under the first incoming bus. He’s a terrible distraction and he should go. I don’t give a fuck if the republicans are as sleazy. It does not excuse his thoughtless idiotic behavior.

  47. 47.

    Andrew

    June 6, 2011 at 9:59 pm

    I’ve never been particularly high on Rep. Weiner. Mainly because his holier-than-thou progressive schtick was quite obviously an act. Where was he during the Bush years? He was a publicity-hound and camera-hog who rarely did any heavy lifting in Congress and was disliked by most of his colleagues for that reason.

  48. 48.

    Mutaman

    June 6, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    “Ferraro (in her prime, before she was reduced to ugly PUMA racism)”

    Liberals are their own worse enemies. A real asshole comment.

  49. 49.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    @Mike Kay (True Grit): Stop it. Just stop this silliness. .. why are you using this disappointing event as an excuse to attack our own activists?

  50. 50.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    @Mutaman: Did you develop amnesia over the events of 2008? Or if one of us says racist shit, it doesn’t count?

  51. 51.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 6, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    @Anya: LOL!

    that’s funny. you made laugh out loud.

    He voted for the Iraq war. He accomplished nothing in his 12 years in Congress. He’s a demonizer of the Palestinians.

    He’s improved nothing, fed hate, and helped to turn Iraq into a neo-con killing field that drained the US of blood and treasure.

  52. 52.

    Mutaman

    June 6, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    “Did you develop amnesia over the events of 2008? Or if one of us says racist shit, it doesn’t count?”

    The only thing liberal about some of you morons is your liberal use of the word “racist”.

  53. 53.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 6, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    Even the liberal Ed Schultz is saying he should go.

    Even the top recommended diary at the liberal Daily Kos (where he was scheduled to speak, next week) is pissed with Weiner.

  54. 54.

    Southern Beale

    June 6, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    @Anya:

    Not defending him but according to the link I posted above, Weiner’s cyber-GF was a 26-year-old single mother, not a college girl.

    Unless there were more …

  55. 55.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 6, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    Weiner’s Press Conference was FAKE!!

  56. 56.

    Southern Beale

    June 6, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    @Anya:

    Ahh fuckit. According to Gawker, there are more.

    Now there’s a Las Vegas blackjack dealer who says they had phone sex.

    Aw hell. I’m done.

  57. 57.

    Southern Beale

    June 6, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    All of my fucking comments are being embargoed.

    I’m so over this shit.

  58. 58.

    chopper

    June 6, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    @Mutaman:

    shit, just when I thought we hadn’t had a puma attack recently.

  59. 59.

    amk

    June 6, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    “it’s pretty easy for leadership to push Weiner under the bus without thinking twice.”

    What a stupid conclusion. If anything, this blowhard threw himself under the bus and worse, gave back momentum & credibility to that scumbag breitbart.

    And why shouldn’t a smart woman represent his district ? Why should it be only a ‘man’ ?

  60. 60.

    Mutaman

    June 6, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    @chopper:

    You folks are really into labels aren’t you?

  61. 61.

    hitchhiker

    June 6, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    @Anya:

    It wasn’t racist. If one us calls someone else a racist for no reason, that’s all good?

    Stop it. Ferraro wasn’t a racist anymore than Clinton was.

  62. 62.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    @Mike Kay (True Grit): I am not talking about Weiner, I am talking about your comment about netroots. They’re bunch of liberal activists, so why are you attacking them.

    For the record, I’ve never liked Weiner. I generally do not like bombastic assholes, specially those who claim to be liberals but show insufficient support for freedom of religion.

  63. 63.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 10:42 pm

    @Southern Beale: Admittedly, I am not following this debacle closely, but wasn’t the tweet that started the whole thing directed at a college girl from Seattle?

  64. 64.

    RossInDetroit

    June 6, 2011 at 10:47 pm

    @Anya:

    but wasn’t the tweet that started the whole thing directed at a college girl from Seattle?

    My first reaction was who tucks their t-shirt into their underwear? Square!

  65. 65.

    Southern Beale

    June 6, 2011 at 10:50 pm

    @Anya:

    I believe that the tweet which started the whole thing was directed at a different person but what was intended to be a DM ended up going to his entire Facebook/Twitter list. Breitbart’s minions simply targeted an innocent college girl by going through his list of Twitter followers whom the Congressman had followed back. They were looking for young girls in Seattle. This particular girl met that profile and had once Tweeted, facetiously, that Weiner was her “boyfriend” so they naturally jumped to conclusions and outed her.

    She gave an interview in which she said she’d never seen the photo, did not know the Congressman, and was just an innocent bystander.

  66. 66.

    Suffern ACE

    June 6, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    @Anya: Because Michael Kay is only happy when liberal bloggers are sad and would like a Democratic party without them.

    Also apparently, the position on Israel/Palestine is not controversial for progressives any longer and he knows what it is.

  67. 67.

    Southern Beale

    June 6, 2011 at 10:53 pm

    My comments were embargoed but go over to Gawker, they’ve got a story up about a Vegas woman who claims she had phone sex with Weiner.

  68. 68.

    Gus

    June 6, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    What I’m really fucking pissed at is this gives Andrew fucking Breitbart credibility. For that along Weiner can go fuck himself.

  69. 69.

    MattMinus

    June 6, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    @hitchhiker:

    “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” Ferraro told the newspaper. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

  70. 70.

    jwb

    June 6, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    Ha, ha, ha. The Times already has an article up about how this story is serving to legitimate Breitbart. Now I know none of this is real and I’m just dreaming a really bad farce.

  71. 71.

    magurakurin

    June 6, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    @D-Chance.:

    it’s not “liberal” ethics. A handful of people questioning why the GOP seems to get away with more than the Dems does not constitute liberal ethics. In fact, a stronger case can be made that liberal ethics are in fact the opposite since the queen liberal, Nancy Smash, is talking about ethics hearings. In other words, the reason the standard is different for the Democrats and the GOP is that the former actual has ethical standards, while the latter does not.

  72. 72.

    Anya

    June 6, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    @Southern Beale: thanks for the update. I still think he’s an idiot for acting like a teenager. Who the hell sends compromising pictures of themselves to total strangers? Also, too, he rehabilitated that douchebagg Breitbart, and for that he deserves the embarrassment and the shunning he will get.

  73. 73.

    magurakurin

    June 6, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    @Mike Kay (True Grit):

    If Hamsher ran for a political office, my respect for her, which right now is zero, would increase immensely.

  74. 74.

    eemom

    June 6, 2011 at 11:22 pm

    as is well known, I’m no fan of Hamsher….but at least SHE would keep her pants zipped.

    I’m fucking sick of our side getting fucked over by the male dick-ego.

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    June 6, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    @MattMinus: What of it?

  76. 76.

    Corner Stone

    June 6, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    I guess we’re gonna give up another one to AB. Whatever.

  77. 77.

    Karen

    June 6, 2011 at 11:38 pm

    @hitchhiker:

    gratuitous slap at a dead woman who deserves better.

    Because we all know that once someone is dead, all the evil they did in their life is excused.

    But of course, PUMAs just love other PUMAs and would NEVER say that implying that Obama is only getting votes for being black is racist.

    Stop it. Ferraro wasn’t a racist anymore than Clinton was.

    Because saying Obama is unelectable because no white person will vote for him (which Hilary Clinton said) is not racist at all. And wasn’t true, sorry to disappoint you.

    @Mike Kay and all of the others using this as an excuse to slam Weiner’s Jewishness and Israel…

    Knock it the fuck off! Just because Weiner is Jewish now that means it’s open season? His positions on Israel have nothing to do with what an idiot he is. Israel isn’t the one tweeting snapshots of his dong to college girls. If what a Jewish man does in his sex life means it’s fine now to attack Jews and Israel than I will start talking about what a great Christian Sarah Palin is.

  78. 78.

    Mike in NC

    June 6, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    At least we’ve been spared pictures of Donald Trump’s flaccid shlong, complete with combover.

  79. 79.

    Corner Stone

    June 6, 2011 at 11:41 pm

    @Karen: Oh noes! PUMAs!! PUMAs fucking errrrwhere!
    Good God crazy lady.
    Escape to 2011 when you get the chance.

  80. 80.

    Corner Stone

    June 6, 2011 at 11:42 pm

    Actually, I blame mistermix for this specific stupid fucking post. Jesus people.

  81. 81.

    Karen

    June 6, 2011 at 11:47 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Hi Corner Stone. It’s nice to know that the gang’s all here.

  82. 82.

    Corner Stone

    June 6, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    @Karen: Yes, dear. You can put your glass eye back in. I’m right here honey bunch.

  83. 83.

    hitchhiker

    June 7, 2011 at 12:02 am

    @Karen:

    Sorry, hadn’t realized how much insanity re: Hilary Clinton still resides out there. Are you aware that she’s a member of Obama’s cabinet?

    Because saying Obama is unelectable because no white person will vote for him (which Hilary Clinton said) is not racist at all. And wasn’t true, sorry to disappoint you.

    When I voted for Obama I did so knowing that he had lots if lunatics out there on his side, along with the rest of us. Sorry to run across one all these months later. Get some rest.

    Geraldine Ferraro was right when she said that his color was a factor in his campaign, just as her gender was in hers. Obama himself agreed with her, and I’d prefer not to just let casual smears be thrown on her grave.

    Still, do what you want.

  84. 84.

    hitchhiker

    June 7, 2011 at 12:11 am

    @MattMinus:

    Thanks, that was the quote I put up too.

    You left out the part where she said it was the same for her . . . that if her name had been Gerald instead of Geraldine, she would not have been on the ticket.

    I know that a lot of people can’t see the plain truth of this, but I don’t know why . . . and it still bothers me. She wasn’t racist, Jesus Christ.

  85. 85.

    Karen

    June 7, 2011 at 12:15 am

    @Corner Stone:

    You can put your glass eye back in.

    Does that have some significance somewhere? Because it sounds like it came from some story from Poe.

    @Hitchhiker

    If I’m a lunatic, you’ve clearly been sheltered all your life. If I’m insane, what does that make Michelle Bachman?

    I’ll admit to taking my politics a lot more seriously than I used to but living in a suburb of DC tends to do that to you.

    At this point, I know that unless they’re independently wealthy, any politician that gets into office will beholden to whoever’s money got them into office. That goes for Obama, Hilary or whoever needs the money to finance their campaign.

    I also know that all politicians are weasels because of it. I may not like everything Obama does but I’m pragmatic enough to take half a loaf of what I can get than to take a chance of a Dick Cheney/Sarah Palinite getting in there. I’ve seen enough of what the “Class of 2010” are doing to want to avoid that at all costs. Can we at least agree at that last sentence gentlemen?

  86. 86.

    Quiddity

    June 7, 2011 at 12:16 am

    I’m pulling for Weiner to get out of this pickle.

  87. 87.

    Lori

    June 7, 2011 at 12:33 am

    I don’t see any reason to get rid of Weiner. He’s done a great job advocating for progressives like fighting for the public option. And he’s been a loud, sensible, and wisecracking voice pointing out how Justice Thomas has at least $800,000 conflicts of interest with regard to the health care law and his wife’s income. Yeah, so he’s a fool acting like a teenager sexting. But, big deal. He didn’t break any laws, didn’t perjure himself, didn’t have sex with a lobbyist then pass laws for her, didn’t have sex with someone who was working for him, and only did stuff with mutual consent. I think the American public should get over its problems with sex, and we should keep the focus on the great work Weiner has been doing for us. His wife might have a big problem with him (or not, depending on their relationship). But us? Gimme a break.

  88. 88.

    Corner Stone

    June 7, 2011 at 12:33 am

    My granny was half Apache American Indian and the other half messed up Scots and Irish mutt. So she not only wanted to really, actually kill anyone who wronged her, she also wanted to make three or four generations of their relations suffer for it as well.
    No one who ever lived held a grudge like that woman did. I mean, held it, refined it, sharpened it, bled for it and lived every fucking day for it like that batshit crazy old lady did. She’s been dead some 15+ years now and I still feel the weight of it some times. She weighed all of 90 pounds of wrinkly old whiskey soaked hate and bile when her time came. But the power of her self assumed grudges, and there were several, could’ve brushed a concrete mixing truck out of the way.
    So, I get this holding onto the PUMA nonsense. But it’s lacking something.

  89. 89.

    danimal

    June 7, 2011 at 12:36 am

    Hey, I didn’t realize that there was a mainstream conservative site that allows comments. It’s kind of fun to be a troll. How long before the American Spectator deletes my comments? Just making the Vitter/Weiner comparison. It really bugs conservatives.

  90. 90.

    hitchhiker

    June 7, 2011 at 12:42 am

    @Karen:

    Sheltered all my life . . . if only. I can’t even imagine what that might mean.

    You said this

    Obama is unelectable because no white person will vote for him (which Hilary Clinton said)

    and because the top of this post includes a purely gratuitous slap at another woman for being an ugly racist, which has caused me to be in something of a bad mood, I’d just like to know . . . what on earth are you talking about?

    If you’re not a lunatic, please, educate me. When and in what context did Hilary Clinton say that no white person would vote for Obama?

  91. 91.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 7, 2011 at 12:51 am

    @Karen:

    @Mike Kay and all of the others using this as an excuse to slam Weiner’s Jewishness and Israel…

    This is stoopid.

    I’ve never once said anything about Weiner being Jewish. Why would I care about his religion or ethnic origin. That said, he’s no progressive when it comes to the Middle East. His positions suck independent to and irrespective of his heritage.

  92. 92.

    The Raven

    June 7, 2011 at 12:55 am

    What am I missing here? If illicit sex was against House ethics, you hominids would have to censure half the House, and that number is probably low.

    This all changes, of course, if any of Weiner’s net.sex correspondents were underage, or if he harassed any woman, but so far no-one has stepped forward to claim that.

    Whereas, Clarence Thomas…

    Hominids.

    Croak!

  93. 93.

    Suffern ACE

    June 7, 2011 at 1:04 am

    @The Raven:

    If illicit sex

    …

    O.K. this just makes me wonder. As it stands now, can this activity be described as “illicit?” Until we get more details, it isn’t exactly illegal, and since there is a long custom of understanding among congressmen not to comment on the sexual affairs of its members…unless the press does…

    Instead of illicit sex, can we call we “stupid” sexual-like activity? I need to think of the children here, who might start to confuse the virtual sex with the actual thing. It would not bode well for the future of hominids were the kids to grow up confusing naughty pictures with actual sex. The species would go extinct.

    Again, based on what we know about this the moment.

  94. 94.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 7, 2011 at 1:09 am

    @eemom:

    as is well known, I’m no fan of Hamsher….but at least SHE would keep her pants zipped.

    Huh?

    We don’t that. You’re a lawyer. You know not to assume facts not in evidence.

    We don’t know what Lady PUMA is into. She could be a freak, asexual, or normal. We don’t know.

    There are women who engage in affairs. Hell, Palin was having an affair with her husband’s business partner. http://salon.glenrose.net/default.asp?view=plink&id=8316

    Remember when Clinton tried to appoint Kimba Wood as attorney general, but then it turned out she was banging some classmate.

  95. 95.

    Karen

    June 7, 2011 at 1:18 am

    @hitchhiker:

    Pardon me, I paraphrased, it was three years ago and I didn’t get the exact wording right.

    But in this article:

    There is this phrase she said:

    Hillary Clinton suggested Wednesday that “White Americans” are increasingly turning away from Barack Obama’s candidacy.

    “I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” Clinton said in an interview with USA TODAY.

    And of course that whole thing about “hard working Americans” which implies that only White Americans are hard working. But if you don’t see that as racist and don’t believe that she didn’t have to mention race at all, like Geraldine Ferraro didn’t then let’s just agree to disagree.

  96. 96.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    June 7, 2011 at 1:21 am

    i for one welcome an open and honest debate about what bahavior actually constitutes reflecting badly on the house of representatives. i mean seriously, its time to update the style books. where does sending a suggestive but not explicit(though cleverly some news outlets are pixilating the underwear) photo of oneself rank in terms of, crudeness or harassment, groping, fondling, actual sexual behaviors past scoring position, dead girl, live boy. et al.

    what is this exactly, how personal is a pic, is it art? could there have been a creative expression similar to a self-nude portrait? i would welcome a serious public debate, maybe after the debt ceiling is raised, or who knows, maybe just maybe, getting this over with, and the pound of weiner extracted, and the restoration of breitbart, is part of some sort of private compact, to enable the deal to get done. since the gop can’t and doesn’t want to win on its public demands for ransom.

  97. 97.

    AxelFoley

    June 7, 2011 at 1:44 am

    @hitchhiker:

    Fuck your defense of Ferarro’s racist words towards Obama.

    Oh, and she said the same shit about Jesse Jackson 20 years earlier, almost word for word.

  98. 98.

    AxelFoley

    June 7, 2011 at 1:52 am

    @Mutaman:

    “Ferraro (in her prime, before she was reduced to ugly PUMA racism)”
    Liberals are their own worse enemies. A real asshole comment.

    Truth hurts, don’t it?

  99. 99.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 7, 2011 at 3:36 am

    What I don’t get is why didn’t Weiner stop the sexting after Chris Lee was exposed by Gawker?

    He had to know any of the strangers he was sexting could have dropped a dime/tweet on him.

  100. 100.

    Triassic Sands

    June 7, 2011 at 7:00 am

    …NY-9 has been an incubator for quality Democratic politicians…

    Ferraro. Schumer. Weiner. Exactly who are the “quality Democratic politicians” you allude to? Those three don’t exactly read like an All-Star team. Schumer has some good points, but also some pretty bad ones. Hes’ much better than Ben Nelson, but that is hardly a metric of quality. Ferraro was a failed VP candidate who ended up saying some pretty offensive things about our first African American president. And Weiner turns out to be a sex-obsessed adolescent who still hasn’t learned that the cover up is often worse than the “crime.” Some quality.

    @Anya:

    A grown man who tweets racy pictures of himself to a college girl ( a perfect stranger), deserves everything that happens to him. He’s an idiot and Pelosi is right to throw him under the first incoming bus. He’s a terrible distraction and he should go. I don’t give a fuck if the republicans are as sleazy. It does not excuse his thoughtless idiotic behavior.

    If I study this for hours I might find something to disagree with — like your failure to capitalize Republicans. Otherwise, it seems about right.

    I don’t expect politicians to be perfect. Neither do I accept that they have to act like fourteen-year-olds with no impulse control.

  101. 101.

    Pat

    June 7, 2011 at 7:08 am

    Agreed. New Yorkers are not so puritan as the folks in districts in maybe Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, etc. (although they DO LOVE their porn out there.)

    It always takes two to carry on an exchange of ANY KIND and it appears so far that all of the women contacted accepted the exchanges from Weiner which means an exchange CO-EXISTED, which translates into a CONSENSUAL agreement. No one was being harassed or stalked. It’s unfortunate that his constituents had to see his kinky side, but it’s a pretty safe guess that it’s viewed as tame compared to paying a madam to give you a spanking while wearing a diaper. Now that is one kinky MF!

    I also applaud Weiner’s wife for NOT standing by his side. It shows he won’t be getting a free ride from her, and that yes indeed he has to work very hard to make thinks right. I believe Weiner is of the character to do so.

    If the country can accept Diaper David Vitter, then they certainly can get over Weinergate. These guys salaries come out of tax dollars. Weiner was not caught paying anyone for his kinkiness. David Vitter cannot say the same.

  102. 102.

    kay

    June 7, 2011 at 7:38 am

    @hitchhiker:

    Ferraro justified the statements by referring to her own run for vice president. Echoing a statement she wrote about herself in 1988, Ferraro said that “I was talking about historic candidacies and what I started off by saying (was that) if you go back to 1984 and look at my historic candidacy, which I had just talked about all these things, in 1984, if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice-presidential candidate. It had nothing to do with my qualification.”

    The reason I knew her comment was race-based is because it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not true. It isn’t a valid comparison.

    Ferraro was chosen as VP, because that’s how that process works.

    Obama wasn’t chosen (although that’s the language that some Clinton supporters used). That isn’t what happened.

    He ran in primary after primary. He was at the presidential candidate.

    She wouldn’t give him his due, and worse, implied that he was somehow chosen by party bosses. That rankled, because the truth is Clinton had all the institutional support of the Democratic Party infrastructure, state-level. The alleged “Party bosses”.
    I don’t have any problem with her having that. She had built it up over 30 years. Truth is, though, Obama didn’t have it. In some ways, he still doesn’t.
    An honest comparison to Ferraro gender-wise, if Ferraro is going to position herself as some truth-teller? Palin. A VP pick who was chosen (mostly) because of her gender.
    That would have been an interesting conversation. Instead we got a bunch of nonsense.

  103. 103.

    bob h

    June 7, 2011 at 7:42 am

    Exactly. They’re not sending a Paul Ryan clone to replace him. Throw him overboard.

  104. 104.

    Carl Nyberg

    June 7, 2011 at 9:30 am

    Unless Weiner has done something illegal or that violates House ethics rules, it’s up to the voters of his district to decide whether he should stay in Congress.

    And even if he’s done something illegal and/or violated House ethics rules, he’s still entitled to due process.

    I don’t think Democrats should be in the business of pushing Democratic politicians out of office because their sex lives are embarrassing.

  105. 105.

    Carl Nyberg

    June 7, 2011 at 9:41 am

    @eemom:

    I’m fucking sick of our side getting fucked over by the male dick-ego.

    What if the proximate cause of this situation is outdated attitudes about sex? Failure to acknowledge how people are incorporating digital devices into their sex lives? What if the proximate cause is the media?

  106. 106.

    eemom

    June 7, 2011 at 10:06 am

    @Carl Nyberg:

    how many women who exist in the exact same outdated-attituded, digital device saturated, and media-plagued world have fucked us over in this way?

    That’s the world we live in, and these assholes fucking know that better than any of us.

  107. 107.

    par4

    June 7, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    Quality Democratic Politicians? Are you out of your mind or off of your meds?

  108. 108.

    handy

    June 7, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    Member of Congress

    Damn. Am I the only one who saw what mistermix did there?

  109. 109.

    Larkspur

    June 7, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    I hope he does appear at Netroots. I hope he doesn’t resign. I hope he gets back to work and starts re-earning people’s trust. It will not be easy, but a lot of people count on him for both representation and employment, and there’s nothing about this incident that raises questions about his ability to do his job, so he should get back to work. He doesn’t get to walk away, he needs to make amends and get the fuck back to work.

  110. 110.

    jefft452

    June 7, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    “Ferraro (in her prime, before she was reduced to ugly PUMA racism).”

    back when she was a crusader against the evils of “forced busing”?

  111. 111.

    Brian

    June 7, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Did Ferraro even represent any of this district? Schumer succeeded Liz Holtzman, who primaried Manny Cellar (one of the guys who got the Civil Rights Acts passed). Ferraro was the 7th, now the Joe Crowley seat.

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