Okay, okay, I get it.
You know what I like? Politicians whose raison-d’etre I can understand. I must admit to some annoyance at the Democrats jumping on the “Weiner’s gotta go” train.
I am so sick of this man’s penis, I get reflexively annoyed at anyone who mentions Weinergate. I want to move the fuck on — like, two weeks ago. But yesterday, DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz demonstrated why it is important to make sure that your glass house is stone-free.
If someone on your side commits ethically questionable acts, you call them out. Why? So when someone on the other side commits ethically questionable acts, you can call them out with a straight face, something that Reince Priebus is obviously unable to do.
Reince, you see, has been up-in-arms about this Weiner business, arguing that Democrats failed to show leadership by not asking Weiner to resign earlier. The hypocrisy swimming around this asshat is is so thick, I’m surprised he hasn’t choked on it:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has vocally called for Weiner’s resignation. But this has led many to questions if Priebus is exploiting the scandal for political gain by holding Weiner to a standard the GOP didn’t apply to their own members embroiled in scandal, especially Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) who admitted in 2007 to patronizing a prostitution ring. Vitter remains in the Senate to this day and easily won reelection in 2010. Fox News host Greta Van Susteren asked Priebus about this double standard last night, but Priebus refused to address it and Van Susteren, not surprisingly, allowed him to evade the question:
VAN SUSTEREN: Is there a difference with Senator David Vitter, I mean, with the whole — with his whole little prostitution — he’s on a prostitution client list. Is that different?
PRIEBUS: Well, I don’t know if it’s different.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, nobody called –
PRIEBUS: Frankly, I’m not relitigating the David Vitter situation.
And here’s Wasserman-Schultz pointing out Priebus’s pot/kettle problem on Meet the Press:
Today, the two party chairs faced off on NBC’s Meet the Press, where Wasserman Schultz called for Weiner to resign and called out Priebus’ hypocrisy on congressional sex scandals. Priebus again refused to discuss the GOP scandals, claiming they are old news and thus irrelevant — even though Vitter serves in the Senate to this day. He quickly pivoted to saying we should be talking about the economy instead of personal issues, but that hasn’t stopped him from harping on Weiner:
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: What Reince is saying doesn’t pass the straight face test from the chair of a party, none of whose leaders called for Senator Vitter, who actually broke the law, to resign. Who is still serving in office. … Hired prostitutes, and evaded the truth.
Chairman Priebus was chairman when Senator Ensign was also embroiled in unethical, unacceptable, and probably illegal conduct, and he did not call on Senator Ensign to resign. … So it’s a double standard. You only call for Democrats’ resignations, not Republicans.
So, under Reince’s own standard, every day that the GOP doesn’t call on Vitter to resign is a day the GOP doesn’t show leadership, right?
Oh, we’re supposed to forget about Vitter because it’s a five-year old problem? I didn’t know there was a statute of limitations on ethics and displays of “leadership.”
IOKIYAR, indeed.
The GOP is a party of punks, liars, and asshats.
Same as it ever was.
Fuck these people.
[via Think Progress]
[cross-posted] [oops. sorry jc!]
boss bitch
er, yep.
ABL
I meant to add, you call them out, also, too, so you can call out the other side for not calling them out.
meh.
it’s early. ish.
Yutsano
It’s almost as if Rence is offended by the question. But not in a “I don’t think that’s relevant” manner. It’s more like a “How dare you ever question me or my party on ANYTHING??” type of attitude. Like if you’re a GOPer you’re automatically above any and all sin and don’t you dare point out otherwise. Ugh.
Ruckus
ABL
Fuck these people.
With a rusty 5ft chainsaw. Faster than asiangrrlMN’s rusty pitchfork. And possibly much more permanent.
Ben H.
Clarence Thomas. The GOP’s 20 year old problem. And thanks to Virginia Thomas’s stalker phone call, Lillian McEwan, Clarence’s girlfriend at the time of the hearings finally came forward and said that Anita Hill and Angela Wright had it exactly right.
Culture of Truth
Weiner-gate only feels like a five-year old story.
Villago Delenda Est
With an unlubed, recently repaired and resharpened chain saw with no dead man switch and tied to a hydropowered electrical grid.
ABL
@Ben H.: ::fist pump::
kdaug
Sociopaths, ABL. You forgot sociopaths.
Not seeing from here how Rinse is more effective than Michael Steele.
ETA: Not a typo.
Strandedvandal
The problem is that no one gives a crap that the Republicans are hypocritical asshats. There is no price to pay for it as far as they are concerned. They will continue to lie and obfuscate with impunity because they can. I guess we can feel superior morally.
Fred
Finally was able to hold back my gag reflex to watch that clip. Looks to me like the Rethug shill got in the last word. So he was still able to make his horseshit liar lair pants on fire point.
PurpleGirl
@kdaug: LOL — the typo. Excellent word play by the way.
Nutella
More of this please! It’s a relief to see a DNC head actually doing politics. Keep on calling the Repubs out on this and other, much more important, issues. May I suggest Boehner’s promise to make jobs his first priority as another instance of stunning hypocrisy Wasserman Schultz needs to be pointing out?
Studly Pantload, a full-service troll
@kdaug:
It’s been fun watching RAchel Maddow sloooooowly drag Michael Steele into the reality-based community. At least, I hope she is. He completely copped last week on her show to the fact that the GOP hypocrisy is on this matter is, well, hypocrisy.
Baby steps, and all that…
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Strandedvandal:
I was just about to say something along this line. I think you honestly overestimate the significance of anyone calling out GOP hypocrisy, ABL. As much as I wish it so, and as awesome as it was to see DWS feed Prebius his own foot, it’s not going to make a dent in the almighty narrative of ‘Dems are Heathens, GOP are honest pure god-fearing folk’. It just doesn’t happen, it never happens, because GOP lies are more credible than Dem truths in our world.
Gravie
GOP lies aren’t more credible. People who swallow GOP lies are more credulous.
jwb
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: I don’t think this is quite right. Rather, it feeds the perception that politics is rotten to the core, that you are going to get fucked over no matter what you do, so what does it matter if the goopers are going to fuck us over or the Dems. Basically it is a strategy to get people to tune out, not pay attention, and hopefully not vote. That situation almost always favors Republicans and their rock solid 27%.
Mike in NC
He was just trying to do his bit for the economy in New Orleans.
13th Generation
And THIS is why there aren’t more Democrats on MTP, etc.
They might actually call you on your BS..
Julia Grey
I love Debbie.
At least she’s TRYING!
kdaug
@Studly Pantload, a full-service troll: Yeah, been interesting to see the mask slip.
artem1s
IMHO there is almost no circumstance where resignation should be the solution. If laws have been broken the DA or the AG should be pressured to prosecute. Due process demands an assumption of innocence AND that the prosecution be public in front of his/her peers AND accusers.
The pressure is being applied incorrectly. Too often the resignation becomes a way to dodge oversight responsibility and there is the added advantage of the issue or candidate not going before the voters. Resignation lets too many people off the hook. The media from not asking the hard questions before the election and the voters from not getting informed about the issues or candidates.
Nixon resigning was not an excuse to forgo prosecution but the resignation paved the way for the pardon. It set the stage for every political scandal to come. Use the messiness of the process to avoid doing the right thing and then sweep it under the rug once you have eliminated that contender from the competition’s tool belt.
Whenever I start hearing a call for resignation it sounds more and more like, ‘we didn’t like the guy you voted for so we’re going to get rid of him/her and find someone we like’. It doesn’t matter to me whose side you are on, the habit of un-electing via the court of popular opinion is just as damaging to the process as Citizen’s United.
Mattminus
@Yutsano:
I think this is true in a weird born again sort of way. In the mind of the true believer, the Republicans have access to a type of forgiveness and absolution that secular humanist doesn’t. David Vitter mouthed the right magic spell about his sin, so it’s a non-issue now.
Han's Solo
There are two real reasons Priebus and the GOP are going after Weiner so hard.
1) Weiner has a much larger phallus than most Republicans and has now proved it. They don’t like their lack of endowment to be shown. If all they can muster is three inches (on a good day) how dare Weiner have such a… weiner.
2) Weiner’s emails went to women. Wide stance republicans don’t like that. It would be okay with the GOP if the women in question were hookers, or if Weiner’s wife had cancer, but otherwise it is unacceptable.
Citizen Alan
Every time I read about Reince Priebus, I think his name is Prince Rebus, which sounds like the villain in a Grant Morrison comic book.
rikyrah
I enjoyed DWS. She’s totally not SKURRED of anyone, and will be all IN YOUR FACE with the FACTS.
gene108
@Mattminus:
To be more specific, Jesus forgives Man for all his sins.
Unfortunately for Democrats, Weiner’s a Jew, who has not accepted what he needs to do to be seeking true spiritual forgiveness anytime soon: Accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
David Vitter reaffirmed his faith in Christ, therefore his sins have been forgiven in this world and will be forgiven in the next.
If Weiner converted to Christianity, so he could have his “come to Jesus moment”, I think Republicans and / or their supporters would be more accepting of his mistakes.
cleek
Priebus and W-S are professional partisans, so accusing either of them of hypocrisy is kindof silly – it assumes they’re participating in some kind of rigorous intellectual endeavor, and not just trying to cheer-lead for their team. it’s like accusing the home team cheerleaders of being hypocritical for urging the home team to score when not two minutes ago they were telling the home team to stop the visiting team from scoring! OMG! make up your mind, dumb cheerleaders!
Tom65
Shorter Prebus:
Jay in Oregon
@gene108:
FTFY. The one unforgivable sin is having a (D) after your name…
MagicPanda
@cleek: Calling Priebus a hyporcrite is not meant to point out some sort of personal failing. You’re right. He’s just doing his job.
Calling him a hypocrite is an easy and effective way to point out to viewers that Priebus is full of sh*t.
Do you think DWS would have been more effective if she had refrained from calling Priebus a hypocrite?
cleek
@MagicPanda:
of course not. but she’s just doing her job, too.
Studly Pantload, a full-service troll
@gene108:
Your faith that Republicans actually have principles, even if they are based on the teachings of someone who is billed as the son of an anthropomorphic Ceiling Kitteh, warms the cockles of my heart. It also makes me giggle. Jay in Oregon got it right.
joel hanes
same as it ever was
Since Nixon, it has seemed to me that the Republican Party has slowly and systematically cranked up the evil, with the effect that they’re always, at the moment, a little more evil than they’ve been.
Openly advocating torture was a big step.
flounder
When Ensign tried to bribe his mistress and her husband in to going away, sitting Republican Senator Tom Coburn acted as middle man, negotiating the price that Ensign was charged for getting for sex and silence.
I figure this to fall under some sort of felony: accessory to an act of bribery or a conspiracy charge.
Tom Coburn is the guy Prebus should be asked about, both so he can’t pull his little “re-litigate” dodge, and because it makes the “Gang of Six” fanboys cry.
JCT
@cleek:
Well, at this point, given the colossal gridlocked clusterfuck that Washington has become, I guess we should be happy that anyone is doing what they are supposed to do.
Jim Pharo
@Strandedvandal: I agree that the press and far too much of the electorate could care less if the GOP is routinely full of crap.
The real reason for calling out our Weiners isn’t that it removes the taint (I swear I can’t help it) of hypocrisy from our attacks on them (though it does that). The real reason for doing it isn’t to feel superior, either. It’s to BE superior morally. That means something to me, and it should to all of us.
El Tiburon
If you smack someone down and no one hears it, does it matter?
Until the storyline shifts from Weiner’s weiner to the rank hypocrisy of the right, what’s it matter? Hey, we need more of DWS and Alan Grayson, and, gulp, Anthony Weiner out there making a stink.
But until the narrative shifts, then it is all mostly for naught.
Did I see Ann Coulter on one of the Sunday shows? This proves nothing has changed. Republican can, mostly, keep on being degenerates with little or no blowback. Democrats, on the other hand, not so much.
PurpleGirl
@gene108: If Weiner converted to Christianity, so he could have his “come to Jesus moment”, I think Republicans and / or their supporters would be more accepting of his mistakes.
Well, remember when Tiger Woods had his crisis, someone said that he needed to learn about Jesus and ask for forgiveness (or something like that).
Martin
Yep, still happy DWS got the job.
Nitish
admittedly being a conservative / GOP / wingnut / whatever the , there are differences between Weiner and Vitter:
1. Vitter’s john-ing was years before his election to the Senate while Weiner’s transgressions were ongoing–meaning, while still in office.
2. a (flimsy libertarian) argument could be made that consenting adults yada yada yada, while Weiner’s were seemingly unsolicited that some people may consider inappropriate. remember, weiner’s current operative explanation is the crotch shot was intended to be a joke to the college student
3. Vitter promptly issued a statement once caught/outed as a whoremonger, while Weiner went on that infamous media tour calling people ‘jackasses’, peddling lies, and pretty much being a douche nozzle.
seriously, or as serious as i’m gonna get…
both parties have shaky records on this: doing well with pushing out tickle me Massa and NY26 Lee, while allowing chumps like Ensign and Rangel to stick around, and the GOP leadership turning a blind eye to Foley echoes Gerry Studs somehow keeping his job.
btw, fuck all y’all–as this language is apparently perfectly acceptable around here–and it’s just plain fun to type
(if this post is otherwise acceptable aside from this silly joky last comment, you can moderate this last bit out)
Joel
How appropriate that the Republicans have a committee chairman named Rancid Pubis.
bob_is_boring
“If someone on your side commits ethically questionable acts, you call them out. Why? So when someone on the other side commits ethically questionable acts, you can call them out with a straight face”
This used to be — not that fucking long ago — the reason we DIDN’T FUCKING TORTURE PEOPLE.
brendancalling
@Villago Delenda Est:
fuck ’em in the dickhole with a rusty picklefork.
still tired of hearing Democrats pile on Weiner though.
Hal
How do you pronounce Reince Priebus? Is it like Rinse Preebus?
Southern Beale
While I agree that the Weinergate story is annoying, there is hypocrisy on a lot of levels, etc. I do not have the same anger for Pelosi and the others calling for Weiner’s resignation as some of my fellow liberals do. I have to remember that Pelosi knows Weiner, she’s worked with him for years. Maybe she knows something we don’t. Maybe, just maybe, she’s doing him a favor.
You know, when Mark Foley and John Ensign and the rest got in trouble, the first thing people did was dig up all the ways the party leadership knew this person had an issue and failed get the guy help, take action, etc. Maybe, just maybe, Pelosi is being responsible here.
I dunno but I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Anyway, I wish we would just stop talking about him so he and his wife and his colleagues can figure out the best thing to do. I’m not in his district, I don’t feel like it really concerns me, frankly.
Hal
@Nitish
He was a member of the house, and made a point of being the family values candidate even while he was slapping on the diapers with his prostitutes.
He broke the law as a sitting member of Congress and the only reason he wasn’t prosecuted was because the statute of limitations had run out.
And he did in essence lie everytime he claimed to be a strong family values candidate, and is an immense hypocrite.
TaMara (BHF)
@Strandedvandal:While this is true, I think it’s important for Democrats and Independents to see the Dems standing up for what is right (calling out this IOKIYAR bullshit). That will prove more important than the 27% who will swallow anything the Regressives want to shove down the throats of the willing.
TaMara (BHF)
@Han’s Solo: So much win here.
blondie
@13th Generation: You got that abso-fucking-lutely correct!
Bostondreams
@gene108:
Um, no, silly, Weiner is apparently a secret Muslim!
burnspbesq
OK folks, here’s a conundrum for ya.
A unanimous Supreme Court upholds the Constitutionality of a Nevada law that prohibits state legislators from voting on proposed legislation where they have a financial interest or other conflict of interest, where plaintiffs argued that voting is a form of speech and the Citizens United rule should be extended to cover voting. Scalia writes the opinion.
‘Splain this one, those of you who thimk the Supremes are in the bag.
...now I try to be amused
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
The Republicans had to repeat a lot of lies for a long time to get to this position. Countering those lies will be a long slog too. A lack of visible success now doesn’t mean there won’t be success later.
gpleigh
@Southern Beale: I think what Pelosi knows is that he fucking lied to her and put her on the hook for his shit. She is very, very pissed off.
Calouste
@Hal:
His real name is pronounced Rainhart Preeboos.
The man is apparently not very proud of his German heritage.
Nitish
@ Hal
i wasn’t actually fully aware of the Vitter Ho-ing timeline.
apparently the Louisiana Weekly had the goods back in 2002, prompting Vitter to drop out of the Gubernatorial Race.
so, by the time this became national news in 2007 via the madam’s phone list, Vitter had already been elected Senator. and he has subsequently been re-elected after these allegations.
and here i thought Louisiana politics was squeaky clean…
in any case, ‘let the constituents’ decide was the Weiner-Dem plan until they discovered him grooming a high school girl in that creepy Dateline “To Catch a Predator” way.
wait, there’s another shiny object over there to distract from a Dem scandal
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
So, the constant, repeated shoving of Weinergate down her throat makes ABL hot. Nothing wrong with that – I think ABL speaks for everyone here, as usual.
.
.
Geeno
@kdaug: As in “Lather (at the Mouth), Rinse. Repeat”?
SRW1
@burnspbesq:
Some things are still just too blatant and could make the rubes angry?
SRW1
@Calouste:
There is a German first name ‘Reinhold’ and another one ‘Reinhard(t)’. Reince is a ‘Reinhold’, which is pronounced ‘Rainhold’. (‘Rainhard’ is the pronunciation for the other first name).
If the family name is of German origin, it most likely is derived from some place in what used to be Silesia.
russell
reince preibus has got to be some kind of alien name.
not german alien, star trek the next generation alien.
mclaren
Am I the only one who thinks Reince Priebus is some kind of sexually transmitted disease?
BruceFromOhio
When DNC named her chair, I rejoined, because it meant that the ijits were finally serious about shit again.
GO DEB! Make the Baby Priebus Cry!
AxelFoley
@Citizen Alan:
I thought I was the only one who thought that way.
[terrorist fistjab]
AxelFoley
@Hal:
That’s how I imagine it in my mind (don’t watch the Sunday shows, so I haven’t heard anyone pronounce his name).
I know one thing–this asshole better not have a word to say about Barrack Obama’s name.
I mean, what the fuck kinda name is Reince Priebus anyway? I’m pretty decent at figuring out a person’s background by their last name, but I have NO clue what kinda name that is.
Nickws
@Nitish:
This is your sophisticated not-a-winger way of suggesting the woman in Seattle was underage, is it?
If so, FAIL.
Otherwise, if you’re bringing up your supposed libertarian values then FAIL, as you don’t mention anything about Vitter’s role in the illegal act of soliciting for sex, something a real libertarain would argue shouldn’t be a crime.
And needless to say FAIL if you’re actually a not-a-winger mild social conservative, what with you failing to mention the whole prostitution thing.
Ah, so you are just another full-of-shit winger, projecting all sorts of speculative bullshit you have absolutely no proof for.
Dickhead.