Via Dave Weigel, the NYTimes breathlessly reassures us that Anthony “Dick Pics” Weiner is the latest beneficiary of the revolving door:
… Over the past two years, it appeared as if Mr. Weiner, once the irrepressible fireball of New York City politics, had spent his days as a stay-at-home dad, licking his wounds and mourning his ambitions after the salacious images and messages that he sent to women prompted his resignation from Congress.
But it turns out that from the moment he left public view, the man who had relied on a government paycheck his entire adult life was consumed by a corporate career whose profits and progress came to him, by his own account, with remarkable ease…
As he weighs whether to leap into the race for mayor this year, Mr. Weiner’s lucrative stint in business could serve as a compelling campaign credential, blunting efforts to portray him as a career politician, even as it raises uncomfortable questions about the speed with which he cashed in on his government connections.
He and his wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, disclosed last week that they had a combined income of $496,000 in 2012, most of it from Mr. Weiner’s work. The money provided a lifestyle-changing infusion for the couple, who moved from a modest home in Forest Hills, Queens, to a large apartment on Park Avenue South in Manhattan.
Mr. Weiner’s rapid rise from disgraced lawmaker to in-demand strategic consultant demonstrates the enduring power of Washington’s revolving door.
New York’s tabloids merrily beat him up with pun-filled headlines, but companies eager to navigate federal regulations and red tape say that a tainted congressman is worth every cent.
“Business is business,” said Harold Gubnitsky, formerly executive vice president at Parabel, a Weiner client that harvests an algae-like crop used for food and fuel.
“He’s a very quick student,” Mr. Gubnitsky said. “He had a natural instinct for it.” …
Mr. Weiner said he had reached out to federal officials at the Energy and Agriculture Departments, as well as members of Congress, on behalf of his clients. But he insisted that the work did not meet the legal definition of lobbying, which he said his contracts made clear he would not do…
NO, no, he just plays the piano in the parlor at the bordello. Although when it’s really busy, they might ask him to help out upstairs…
replicnt6
Whew. Fresh thread. That last one was starting to smell like feet.
Face
He reaches out to Congressmen on behalf of companies, is paid for it, w/ regards to the bill-making process. But its not lobbying. Lulwut?
David Koch
is this the same Anthony Weiner the liberal blogosphere weeped over and slit their wrists when he resigned because he was a “fighter” or something?
no. it most be a mistake. surely the vaunted liberal blogosphere wasn’t once again taken. atleast not soon after being taken in by john edwards
PeakVT
I certainly thought he was a scumbag before, but it’s good to have that confirmed.
BGinCHI
As bad as this is, and I’m not defending him, he’s still better than every single Republican in the whole USA.
By a mile.
NotMax
When he jumps into the ring for NYC mayor, his campaign slogan can be “Nothing To Hide.”
Or maybe “Weiner Stands Up For You.”
(now dialing the sophomoric knob down from 11)
amk
ah, yet another dkos dahling bites the corporate bullet. grayson for prezinent.
David Koch
@BGinCHI:
not a mile, more like 6 inches.
mai naem
I always thought Weiner was a little slippery but you have to love the clip of him on MSNBC with Maria Antoinette Bartiromo during the health care bill when she turned to him and said “If medicare is so great how come you’re not on it.” Freaking classic CNBC Wall Street no nothing shill ideology.
David Koch
@amk:
you mean the guy who bilks money from poor dumb liberal bloggers billing himself as a “fighter” with “guts” who just sold them out on Friday, voting for the private-jet-business-class-air-traveler relief act?
mai naem
@NotMax: I actually kind of like Grayson. Look up his bio and you’ll be impressed. He’s a self made guy. I know he’s a bit of a self promoter but to me he’s a lot more genuine than Weiner.
NotMax
@mai naem
??
Never mentioned Grayson at all.
David Koch
speaking of grifters who bilked lefty bloggers, it comes as no surprise that Dennis Kucinich is now working for…. wait for it…. Fixxed News.
see, even the liberal Dennis Kucinich vouches for Fixxed News’ fair and balanced coverage.
TaMara (BHF)
Completely OT: it’s raining here. Soon it’s going to snow. Why is that important? Because in an hour an a half Colorado allows civil unions for same sex couples. And right now, there are a few hundred people standing in the rain, waiting for the doors to open at midnight so they can get their licenses and have civil ceremonies.
I wish them all happiness and peace. Congratulations.
Roger Moore
@BGinCHI:
Thank you for providing the paradigm version of damning with faint praise.
Mnemosyne
@TaMara (BHF):
Traditionally, rain on your wedding day is very good luck, so I guess Mother Nature approves.
mai naem
@NotMax: Sorry that was in responce to amk’s comment.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
I thought it was ironic.
MattR
@Roger Moore: You win because I paused to look up how to spell Mor
rissette. (which I then misspelled)Roger Moore
@MattR:
You have to move pretty fast to be the first one to make an obvious response.
David Koch
Something extraordinary happened today during the President’s news conference — a useful question was actually asked.
CBS’ Bill Plante did the unexpected and asked a pertinent question about the hunger strikes at GITMO.
Anne Laurie has posted a number of articles on the hunger strike. While Laurie didn’t post anything today on the President’s response, I’m sure it was just an oversight. So let me help out by posting a transcript of the exchange.
Meanwhile, CNN and Fixxed News both wasted the President’s time asking him about… wait for it… Benghazi1!1!. No really, they did.
MattR
@Roger Moore: It’s late enough at night that I thought I had a chance.
mdblanche
@Roger Moore: It’s not ironic, it’s just coincidental!
Hill Dweller
@David Koch: Apparently, Special Ed Henry’s question was based on complete bullshit that had been debunked before he even asked it.
Villago Delenda Est
So, Mr. Dick Picture’s mendacity is a feature, not a bug, for corporations looking for someone who knows the ropes of DC.
Hardly surprising. Honor is a concept best left to fantasy, like Game of Thrones.
max
the NYTimes breathlessly reassures us that Anthony “Dick Pics” Weiner is the latest beneficiary of the revolving door:
Yeah, they’ve been on a roll with that sort of thing lately. I’m curious to see when they’re going to stop hearting Bloomberg, given that
the nutty right-wing billionairethe guy got up on TV and made a heartfelt defense of your friendly neighborhood fascism.max
[‘Rule one: no one should have sex, ever. Rule two: it’s bad to make money stealing/whoring, unless you work in banking, in which case, GREAT!’]
Spaghetti Lee
Mr. Weiner’s lucrative stint in business could serve as a compelling campaign credential, blunting efforts to portray him as a career politician
So his career as a powerful lobbyist will help him seem less elitist and out-of-touch. What a weird political system we have.
The phrase ‘career politician’ just doesn’t work its dark magic on me, I’m afraid. I’m more likely to interpret someone who constantly jars about how he’s not a career politician as a corporation-worshiping nut who thinks his skill at selling insurance or farming equipment or whatever makes him totally super-qualified for public service. I hear “I’ll bring innovative, pro-business solutions to those career politicians in Washington!” and think “I would sell your children into sweatshop labor if Wall Street could make a buck from it.”
Of course, there are plenty of shitty career politicians, too. And even the good ones have a tendency to not know what it’s like for people in other walks of life, which is only true of, oh, every other profession.
burnspbesq
@Villago Delenda Est:
You’re so fucking cute when you’re being deliberately obtuse.
Mandalay
@BGinCHI:
No Republican exceeds Weiner’s undying devotion to the causes of blindly defending Israel, and fucking up any prospect of progress in the Middle East.
He is just as much a liar, fool and lunatic as any Republican you care to name. The only difference is that he has a D instead of an R after his name.
He is a liability to the Democrats, and a liability to the United States. Fuck him.
Joel
No Markey-Lynch, AL?
The prophet Nostradumbass
@replicnt6:
This thread’s already starting to smell.
Yutsano
@The prophet Nostradumbass: I really need to get to work on getting that troll spray formula finished.
AA+ Bonds
The Times makes all of its money off of people who imagine they live next door to this creep. Hands off the china! There but for the grace of God go their advertisers.
AA+ Bonds
Literally kill all the fucking kulaks
Nicole
@Roger Moore:
Heh. Really, a more appropriate and accurate title for that song would have been “Isn’t It a Bummer.”
Speaking of pop songs stating things incorrectly, I was reading comments on another site about this week’s Mad Men (which included the assassination of Dr. King). One commenter asked if the scene of everyone hearing the news at night could have possibly been accurate, seeing as how she knew Dr. King was shot in the morning. All I could think was that that little band from Ireland sure misled a lot of Gen Xers about a particular moment in American history.
Oh, and eff Anthony Weiner. Never a good Congressman; heaven help us if he gets in the mayor’s office.
The prophet Nostradumbass
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this elsewhere, but some good news from the FDA. The so-called “morning after pill” (Plan B) has been moved to over-the-counter for women as young as 15.
AA+ Bonds
jl
I had a few feeble hopes for Weiner being on the up and up, when I read one his clients say that Weiner was a very quick study. I had a brief vision of earnest Anthony ‘boning up’ (ha ha, the dude is branded for life!) on technical subjects and giving clever and wise advice on regulatory and legislative strategy.
And gosh by golly, it started out looking that way.
But then I read ‘reaching out’. Like other commmenters, I would like to know what kind of ‘reaching out’ to current U.S. federal officials does a prominent ex-Congressman do that ain’t lobbying.
Maybe that is explained in the second installment.
Edit: Weiner would do better back in Congress. He might do some good there, rather than just be a corrupt ex-pol. I wish he had not lied and said “Yeah, I flirt with chicks with goofy junk shots I send out. Sorry, my bad.” and not resigned. that probably could not have happened, though.
scav
CO!
Cacti
I didn’t dislike the aptly named Congressman Weiner because of his dick-pics.
I disliked and still dislike him because he’s a typical, grandstanding, left-bagger prig, who couldn’t be arsed to take a stand on whether Muslims ought to have first amendment rights in lower Manhattan.
New Yorkers, please keep him.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Cacti:
Oh yeah, the Park 51 thing. Yeah, he was a real shit about that.
AA+ Bonds
@jl:
o_O
AA+ Bonds
Where do you want his dick? Ass or mouth? Ass or mouth
jl
@AA+ Bonds:
He’ll have more training with much broader expertise on how to be a corrupt current pol. We want legislators with expertise, you know. Why do you hate America?
jl
@The prophet Nostradumbass:
” Oh yeah, the Park 51 thing. Yeah, he was a real shit about that. ”
Thanks, that brings back some unpleasant memories, which I had put out of my mind. Fine, he can stay where he is ‘reaching out’, or ‘around’ or whatever it is (as long as its not really lobbying during little Anthony’s time out period!).
Groucho48
@David Koch:
I wonder if that was an arranged question? Obama certainly had an excellent reply ready. Maybe this is a trial balloon?
Suffern ACE
Antony Weiner, job creator? Nah, he’s just the lobbyist living in the penthouse by the river. The times really sucks at local influence peddling.
David Koch
@Groucho48: there was a big front page story on the hunger strike 5 days ago in the NYT. I’m sure he prepares for all topical issues and doesn’t have to use bill plante as a plant.
David Koch
@jl:
he was in congress 14 years and he didn’t pass a single bill. the only thing he did was cheerlead the invasion of iraq.
then there was the time when he smeared bloggers who opposed Joe Lieberman as illiterate Palestinian dupes:
can you imagine meltdown if obummer has said that. yet, weiner got a free pass.
priscianus jr
@mai naem: I actually kind of like Grayson. Look up his bio and you’ll be impressed.
Yeah, I agree.
priscianus jr
@The prophet Nostradumbass: Oh yeah, the Park 51 thing. Yeah, he was a real shit about that.
Factor in that his wife Huma Abedin is a Muslim. I’m not sue how it factors in, but how could it not?
Amir Khalid
Off topic, but it’s May Day already. International Labour Day, commemorating the Haymarket Square affair in Chicago and celebrated everywhere on Earth — except of course in America.
TheMightyTrowel
@Amir Khalid: There were may day protests on my campus today. Unfortunately they like to do their shouting and marching just outside my office and the windows aren’t soundproof.
Also, OT, Mr. Trowel is back in Oz tomorrow morning after 2 months on the other side of the world. WOO.
Amir Khalid
@TheMightyTrowel:
Don’t you get the day off?
TheMightyTrowel
@Amir Khalid: HA HA HA HA HA.
HA HA HA HA HA.
HA HA HA HA HA.
Australia may have a vaunted and noble labour history (and a currient labour PM – just barely) but no. Especially not with Anzac day on 25 April – two public holidays in 5 days is too many.
El Cid
@David Koch: This is more to the argument that Weiner could do less damage in Congress than out — at least from time to time he provided TV entertainment value. And since Al Franken refuses to use his comic talents on the Senate floor, we need someone to do so.
Bruce S
@David Koch:
Weiner, Grayson and Kucinich in Congress could never come close to fucking up policy and pandering to the wrong people as Timmy Geithner did as Treasury Secretary. He told everyone except Wall Street to go fuck themselves in the wake of the financial crisis. Your outrage meter seems to have a pretty narrow – an increasingly boring – bandwidth.
Bruce S
I’m not here to defend Weiner – who proved to be a reckless asshole and is obviously self-serving – but let’s not attack him on his Israel stance without recognizing what district he was running in. Purists who attack congressional Democrats over deviation from ultra-liberal PC need to step back and realize what the fuck it takes to create a winning electoral coalition in the real world.
I’m much less critical of Dems like Weiner or Claire McCaskell who know their electorate and can win elections based on that understanding than I am of Dems who consistently bend on issues that have nothing to do with their district or state. I can even forgive Chuck Shumer for cozying up to Wall Street because it’s a local industry. Others, not so much.
I didn’t see evidence of Weiner pandering to corporate interests to cushion transition to a lobbying career. I think he expected to be in Congress until he saw some other political opportunity. He’s that kind of animal.
His positions on Israel were pretty much dictated by the composition of his district – had he not hewed in that direction he wouldn’t have gotten elected. It’s not pretty but a lot of our politics and substance of our politicians is really that simple.
Weiner was an arrogant prick, but he was OUR arrogant prick and he was better at brutally taking down the GOP in TeeVee soundbites than 99% of Congresscritters. That was a gift that he used to the max. I’ll always have to give him credit for that because he earned it.
Lurking Canadian
@Villago Delenda Est: To the best of my knowledge, honor is safer in DC. It’s never gotten anyone beheaded there.
Emma
@Bruce S: Don’t stomp on the purity parade, bro.
Bruce S
@David Koch:
Quite a few solidly liberal congresspeople voted for that bill. I thought it was a bad idea – but you are coming off as a hysterical purist if you want to impugn integrity based on that one. A lot of folks who voted for it had the same opinion of the bill that the President has in agreeing to sign it – not a solution to sequester, but probably better not to just block it given that there aren’t any real solutions on the table with this crap congress. Jan Schakowsky – who is definitely not a scumbag – voted for the bill in that spirit. My guess is that Grayson did as well.
You probably hate Grayson for other stuff – like Weiner he was pretty adamant in pointing out the very real weaknesses of the ACA – which will be costing Democrats politically for years to come – but of course voted for it when other obviously more cost-efficient options had no traction. Both of those were the right thing to do IMHO. My guess is that’s your issue – these guys didn’t fall quietly into line behind Obama’s pre-compromises on some very visible pieces of his agenda. Cop to what really pisses you off about Grayson and Weiner without using straw men that disingenuously appeal to generic left-liberal PC.
Also, I don’t know what your definition of “liberal blogger” is, but Juan Cole was one of Weiner’s biggest critics for his crap positions on Israel and, essentially, Likudnik apologetics.
Yes, Weiner was a scumbag steeped in his own ambition and living in AIPAC land re: Israel. But in context of the Democratic party as it actually is, he was something of an asset in publicly confronting the GOP effectively on domestic politics at their own level.
JGabriel
In the Wash. D.C. version of Game of Thrones, Anthony Weiner’s house words are: Weiner Is Coming.
Larkspur
@TaMara (BHF): Best wishes to the Colorado folks from me, too. It brings back memories of those few weeks in 2004 in San Francisco, when Mayor Newsome said, “Who wants to get married?” and started issuing marriage licenses. It was around Valentine’s Day, and we were being pummeled by rain and wind. The lines were long, raincoats and tarps and umbrellas were fluttering about, and everyone was so happy. Those people in line started getting bouquets of flowers from total strangers around the country. There may have been pizzas involved, too.
By August, the California Supreme Court had voided the marriage licenses, and that sucked. But they couldn’t undo history. Bad weather is one thing; climate change is another. In the case of gay rights, the metaphorical climate change is beautiful.
Ted & Hellen
I don’t give a fuck that he shared pics of his dick. Big deal.
What everyone really gets off on it the fact that they get to say WEINER why writing about him.