Poor Anthony

[telcoman]

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/ ... erence/?hp

Will he survive?

I hope so

So far it appears he did not violate any laws.

Telcoman

[bigbadberry3]

Scott Brown was in Playgirl. If he didn't break any laws (Anthony), non-issue.

[telcoman]

Scott Brown was in Playgirl. If he didn't break any laws (Anthony), non-issue.

Hope so.

He is a good congressman

Not afraid to speak up

[mattblancarte]

What a dumbass.

I forgive him, though. He's still a pretty good guy, and without a doubt he fights the good fight. I've seen enough good things come from Weiner to drop support of him just because he showed his johnson to some chicks.

Infidelity is pretty much prerequisite to be a powerful politician, anyways.

[IBCoupe]

What a dumbass.

I'm going to have to hate him, now, right up to the point that he gives another interview on FOXNews and reminds me why I liked him in the first place.

[HashiriyaS14]

LOL, I generally like the guy, but he definitely burned himself on this one.

The Democrats should not spend one iota of political capital to help him. He's on his own, sink or swim.

[stebo0728]

I cant shake the urge to think this is a SNL skit. I mean come on, his last name is Weiner for pete's sake. LOL

But ya, as ugly a situation as it is, if no laws were broken then theres no response due other than a good round of point and laugh. He may find himself voted out next time around, but then maybe not, if he does a good job maybe his voters will overlook this.

[Eikon]

Howie.. you are rediculous!!!

Had the Weiner been a republican you would have crucified him on this forum. But, since he's got a D in front of his name you are complimentary and sorry for him. You are a joke! Time to start calling a spade a spade.. Take the blinders off and stop worshiping the D and hating the R.

As for d!ck Weiner and his Johnson.. his political career is over. Voters don't cast votes for guys who send pics of their member AND THEN LIE ABOUT IT! Stop feeling sorry for the guy... he's a slimeball. Unfortunately he's one of many on both sides of the aisle who don't live up to our high expectations.

[stebo0728]

Lets get truly bipartisan, and run an independent Boner/Weiner ticket in 2012!

[telcoman]

Howie.. you are rediculous!!!

Had the Weiner been a republican you would have crucified him on this forum. But, since he's got a D in front of his name you are complimentary and sorry for him. You are a joke! Time to start calling a spade a spade.. Take the blinders off and stop worshiping the D and hating the R.

As for d*** Weiner and his Johnson.. his political career is over. Voters don't cast votes for guys who send pics of their member AND THEN LIE ABOUT IT! Stop feeling sorry for the guy... he's a slimeball. Unfortunately he's one of many on both sides of the aisle who don't live up to our high expectations.

You sound just a tad biased

So far it appears he did not break any laws.
He does not preach anti homosexual, anti women, anti abortion,tax cuts for the wealthest so if I was still a New Yorker I would vote for him
If he does end up stepping down perhaps there is room for him in Keith Olbermans old spot on MSNBC
Many of those on the right who got themselves in trouble committed far worse than sexting on twitter.

[Eikon]

You're calling me a tad biased? Really?

I was simply calling you on the fact that you are the most blinded person who posted on this forum. Any mis-step by a R and you fillet them immediately. Then when a D screws up you compliment and defend them.

I don't think this guy is any better or worse than any of the other D's or R's who have had public transgressions.. He's in the same boat as all the other slimeball politicians.

So.. Am I biased? Sure.. I side R in most elections, but I'm not completely blinded like you are. I can call a slimeball a slimeball regardless of what side of the aisle they sit on. You, on the other hand, are the most biased person I've ever seen.. easily the most biased on this forum. Take the blinders off Howie and see the world for what it really is.. I'm not even asking you to convert to the elephant.. I'd just like to see you stop drinking the kool-aid and open your eyes a little bit.

[telcoman]

You're calling me a tad biased? Really?

I was simply calling you on the fact that you are the most blinded person who posted on this forum. Any mis-step by a R and you fillet them immediately. Then when a D screws up you compliment and defend them.

I don't think this guy is any better or worse than any of the other D's or R's who have had public transgressions.. He's in the same boat as all the other slimeball politicians.

So.. Am I biased? Sure.. I side R in most elections, but I'm not completely blinded like you are. I can call a slimeball a slimeball regardless of what side of the aisle they sit on. You, on the other hand, are the most biased person I've ever seen.. easily the most biased on this forum. Take the blinders off Howie and see the world for what it really is.. I'm not even asking you to convert to the elephant.. I'd just like to see you stop drinking the kool-aid and open your eyes a little bit.

Perhaps I'm the way I am because:
1- My age
2- I've been around longer than most others on this forum and have experienced first hand what the republican party has done to the middle and working class Americans
3- I really despise almost everything the GOP and their tea party friends stand for
Their small government and fiscal responsibility bs took us very deep in debt under 8 years of bush along with screwing up our economy that has been tough on Obama to fix it.
Here in NJ a republican by the name of Whitman managed to get elected some years ago. She borrowed huge sums of mony from the state workers benefit fund,failed to make pension payments, gave tax cuts to her wealthy friends and we now have a 30+billion deficit. Our current republican governor is blaming the teachers and other state employees for the fiscal mess created by a republican predecessor.

The small government that the GOP expouses want to put the government into every bedroom and doctors office
Don't get me started

BTW I did like Ike but was too young to be able to vote for him

Telcoman

[IBCoupe]

What sets Weiner apart is that he's

1) not a criminal slime-ball.
2) not a public slimeball (as in "not in his official capacity")

I don't anticipate him being kicked out.

[telcoman]

What sets Weiner apart is that he's

1) not a criminal slime-ball.
2) not a public slimeball (as in "not in his official capacity")

I don't anticipate him being kicked out.

He is not like Newt Gringrich

http://www.realchange.org/gingrich.htm

[Cold_Zero]

This guys's career is over. He lied in his official capacity about something really stupid. Had he done nothing over the holiday weekend, it would have probably blown over. But I have a concern that a government official conducts himself like this and opens himself up to blackmail. At a minimum he violated the House Code of Conduct.

[Eikon]

What sets Weiner apart is that he's

1) not a criminal slime-ball.
2) not a public slimeball (as in "not in his official capacity")

I don't anticipate him being kicked out.

He is not like Newt Gringrich

http://www.realchange.org/gingrich.htm

Why do you continue to cite these liberal website as thought they are factual? You might as well use Wikipedia.

Do you understand that most of the links you provide have zero credibility to anyone who doesn't drink the Kool-aid? Let's say I was trying to convince you that Nissan gets better gas milage than Toyota across their lineup. I could find a source from Nissan, from Toyota, from a Nissan fan site, from a toyota fan site, from a car magazine site, from a government agency site, etc... All of these have varying degrees of reliability, accuracy, and bias. I'm sure you will agree that the fan sites would be the least reliable, least accurate, and most biased. So would you believe my argument if I used a fan site as my source of news in my argument? Not likely... You would immediately discount the credibility of the information because it comes from a known bias. That is exactly what I do almost every time you post a link. You use the most biased, least credible sources.. and therefor, your arguments are discredited.

Get it?

I'm not holding my breath...

[bigbadberry3]

Just want to clarify, people are mad that he lied not the obscene pictures part?

[Bubba1]

Excellent video speech by Mr. Weiner...(courtesy of Jimmy Fallon)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntK2IRfO6fM[/youtube]

[IBCoupe]

Just want to clarify, people are mad that he lied not the obscene pictures part?

Yes, I think. To clarify, only one released picture was obscene.

But this leads me to ask Bud: where did he lie in his official capacity? Would it have been possible for him to lie about anything at any time in his unofficial capacity? If he blamed a fart on one of his apparently many cats, would he similarly be "done?" are you upset about the lie or the subject matter of the lie?

The only way for him to be out of a job is to resign or be impeached. Chances are, he's still popular enough in Brooklyn to be reelected, and if the Republicans were to start the impeachment in the House, it would give Democrats yet another opportunity to rake Republicans over the coals for focusing on distractions before the impeachment trial inevitably fails in the Senate.

I don't anticipate that much will come of this.

[Cold_Zero]

I don't know which is is more sad, that we as a society can accept being lied to or the fact that this guy forced me to once agree with Nancy Pelosi in calling for an ethics investigation. The guy was acting like an idiot, got caught by his own stupidity that inside of it self, probably not going to cost him his job. Goes on Fox News and lies about an account he uses in his capacity as Representative being hacked. Then when the story doesn't stick he continues to lie, blaming it on his political enemies. Yes I think he may have lied in his official capacity. But like it or not this guy is bound by a code of conduct that probably extends to outside Congress.

[IBCoupe]

Being lied to about someone else's personal life? I dont expect that only from politicians. I assume that when anyone is asked publicly about their sex life, the next thing out of their mouth is a lie.

Lying about policy? That's different.

He didn't blame his political opponents for hacking him, as far as I recall. He blamed them for hounding the woman involved in the errant tweet. As far as I know, that part wasn't at all a lie.

Again, what part of the scandal was the lie in his official capacity? You THINK he MIGHT have done it? That appears to be the basis for your interest in this issue. It might be that your objection is justified, but I want to explore the basis of it.

The subject matter of the lie was entirely personal. Congressmen aren't issued twitter accounts, and so the medium wasn't official. Your reasoning seems to be that, as a Congressman, he's always on, and everything he does is "official." I can see why you might take that stance, but it seems pretty radical.

I, for one, don't think it's a politician's job to be a wonderful and honest human being, unless that's part of the platform upon which they were elected.

[szh]

I, for one, don't think it's a politician's job to be a wonderful and honest human being, unless that's part of the platform upon which they were elected.

Lying shows shows poor judgement. If he lies about this, what else will be lie about and try to get away with if he feels he can do so?

In my worldview, trust is given upfront ... does not need to be earned. It is then the responsibility of the recipient of that trust to maintain it. If unethical actions cause the trust to be lost, it is gone.

Like I once said in another thread, I (a Republican) believed President Clinton in the famous "that woman" speech. My wife (a Democrat) didn't. Later I was proven wrong ... needless to say, that was the end of any support I had for him.

Did Weiner do something horrible with his actions? Not particularly, imho.

Were they illegal? I don't know.

Were his lies acceptable? Not at all.

If he had simply admitted it up front and apologized, I would have more respect for that.

(Ultimately, do I care? No.)

Z

[Cold_Zero]

The ethics investigation will flush out if he send the sexts or pictures from his Congressional blackberry or not. Which last time I was issued a phone/smart phone by my company had rules around its usage. Or if he in fact did offer up his PR team to help this p0rn star lady wrapped up in this mess. Or if he lied in his official capacity. I think it is best to let a House Ethics investigation do their job, investigate the matter and if it comes to any censuring let the House decide his fate. I would expect, IB, you would have agreeded with me. But no, let’s take a guy that lies and admits about it to the national media at face value to determine his guilt. Rock on!
There are plenty instances where because of your job, work does invade into your personal life. I know that the Military and the church two examples. Even my work has a code of conduct of what I can NOT do in my personal life that affects 'the company.' One rule is that I cant have a personal Twitter account where I talk about ‘the company’ or ‘the industry.’ While this may not be the rule of the Congress, my point was simple it blurs the lines between personal and work life and can be construed by many people as being linked to your official capacity. Does he talk about work matters on his Twitter account? Probably. Does he Tweet (sp?) at work? Probably. At what point is he working or on his personal time? Skewed.

I kind of get the impression that you all think it is more important 'to win' at all costs, so you guys will defend this guy to the bitter end. If this guy were one of my guys, I would cut him loose faster than the Republicans did to John Ensign (who is a scum bag). Stop acting like the Republicans from the last 8 years.

It was funny, one of the news shows this morning (on the drive in) was playing audio clips of all the pundits on the news shows defending the Representative and bashing Brightbart (sp?). These clips all occurred before the Representative confessed that he lied. And now no one is sticking their necks out for this guy. He didn’t even get the complementary Charles Rangel treatment from Nancy Pelosi!

[Cold_Zero]

This is my only polemic comment about this story. Does this Representative seem desperate to keep his job? Almost as if he needs this job more than he needs to save face or wants to serve his Congressional district. Kind reminds me of another Representative I know. At least he doesn’t Tweet pictures of his Johnson.

[IBCoupe]

I have no idea what you're trying to say with that last bit.

And, again, Bud, I'm challenging the "lied in an official capacity" bit. I'll try to phrase myself more concisely this time:

WTF DOES THAT MEAN?!

As for the rest of your comment, there's honestly no partisanship at play here: I do not care about a politician that lies about his sex life, unless he made it part of the justification of why he should have been elected. The parallel to other forms of employment fail for two reasons:

1. The Constitution says nothing about it, so any other requirements you've placed upon Representatives must come from the House's self-imposed regulations, or else it comes from nowhere but your own mind.
2. Representative Weiner didn't implicitly or explicitly impose any other requirements on himself.

Unless you can point to a House Rule of Conduct that applies (I'm sure they're available online), I advise that you drop this line of argument.

[szh]

From the House Rules of Conduct (here http://ethics.house.gov/Pubs/Default.aspx?Section=8), the very first rule states:

1. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall conduct himself at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.

Both the texting actions and lying about it fail the above. By the way, the "at all times" pretty clearly means that he does not have to be "on the job" to be subject to it.

And the next rule:

2. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules of the House and to the rules of duly constituted committees thereof.

The "spirit and the letter" comment is also very important - can't claim to do one and not the other.

And, from the House Ethics Manual here: http://ethics.house.gov/Media/PDF/2008_ ... Manual.pdf,

GENERAL ETHICAL STANDARDS

Overview

Members, officers, and employees of the House should:

Conduct themselves at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House;

Abide by the spirit as well as the letter of the House rules; and Adhere to the broad ethical standards expressed in the Code of Ethics for
Government Service.

and from page 2 of the same Manual:

General Ethical Standards

Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people. HENRY CLAY

That "public office is a public trust" has long been a guiding principle of government.

To uphold this trust, Congress has bound itself to abide by certain standards of conduct, expressed in the Code of Official Conduct (House Rule 23) and the Code of Ethics for Government Service.

Again, IMHO, the actions were minor and personal and if he had simply not lied about it, then I would care even less - maybe not at all.

Z

[Cold_Zero]

I have no idea what you're trying to say with that last bit.

At least I had the courtesy to say that I was being polemic which was a warning that I was going to be a bit self indulgent with a stupid comment. (You know, a bit of mudslinging.) A courtesy not extended by most people around here. As where all their posts are polemic and passed off as relevant. Yourself excluded, of course.

[Cold_Zero]

I have no idea what you're trying to say with that last bit.

And, again, Bud, I'm challenging the "lied in an official capacity" bit. I'll try to phrase myself more concisely this time:

So then what do you or the Representative have to worry about an ethics investigation in the matter? I would think according to your logic that he would be cleared of all charges. All he has to say to the special prosecutor is “Back off this is my personal life, here. If I want to Tweet pictures of my Johnson and lie about it, there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it. Leave me alone I am a family man and my bark is much worse than my bit” (oh sorry) And all charges will be dropped. *shrug* Why then is Nancy Pelosi calling for an investigation and the Representative being thrown under the bus by the Democrats? Hell, they circled the wagons around Charles Rangel and he really did something wrong!

Oh and darn you and the Representative for making me agree with Nancy Pelosi! You are making me hate myself.

[IBCoupe]

Respectfully, Z, I think "creditably" is way too squishy to hang your hat on.

Bud,

I'm not at all opposed to an ethics investigation, and I'm sorry if you had the perception that I was. I'm arguing against the objections you're making to his conduct, not to actions you've supported taking. The investigation is going to look for rules violations, and it's doubtful anything serious will come of it (remember all the bad stuff that happened to Rangel? Oh, wait). An ethics violation of this sort is likely going to be a technicality: it doesn't look like there's been abuse of the system or Weiner's power. There's really nothing to be upset about.

And re: your polemic comment, I still don't know what you were trying to say. I'm not trying to be hostile, and I wasn't before. I literally cannot figure out what you were referring to. You got too cryptic for me to follow.

[szh]

Respectfully, Z, I think "creditably" is way too squishy to hang your hat on.

It is not my rule or my words.

But I think that it is pretty obvious what it is supposed to mean. Particularly based on the "spirit and the letter" wording too.

Seriously ... do you really think that lying to the people who elected him and to other members of Congress does not fail that rule?

But, whether he survives an ethics committee investigation (or not) is of no real consequence perhaps. He will be abandoned by the Democratic party, I think, and not go any further in politics.

Z