The Weiner issue is not a sex issue.

[Atypical Liberal]

I am totally saddened by Weiner's fall. From everything I saw of him in action in Congress, he was a politician who genuinely seemed to be for the People's interests. He appeared to be the kind of politician that that Democrats need and that America needs.

And he blew it.

This is not about sex. It is not about being prudish about nude, semi-nude, or otherwise erotic or explicit photographs. I don't care about anyone's sex life.

This is about judgement. Weiner showed terrible, terrible judgement in this day and age by sending explicit photographs of himself over the internet to someone. Every adult in this day and age, certainly someone like a Congressman, ought to realize that once you commit something to electronic form and send it over the internet it exists forever. Because he almost certainly knew this or should have known this, what it means is that he was unable to use better judgement to reign in his desires. Weiner's judgement is seriously called into question.

This is about honesty. Weiner showed that when the crisis was upon him and the stakes were high he was willing to lie to protect himself. If he will lie in this case what other cases will he lie about? Weiner's honesty is now seriously called into question.

This is about commitment. Weiner has admitted to sexting and sending suggestive photographs to six women he had never met over the last three years. While we can't know if his wife knew about this or is OK with it I'm doubting that is the case, as, I suspect, will most people. If Weiner can't be committed to his wife, what kind of commitment will he honor? Weiner's commitment is seriously called into question.

This is about integrity. Now I don't know much about Breitbart and I have never followed him or his web site. But I do know that since this story broke and today there has been a non-stop barrage of accusations that Breitbart was a villein in this matter and even that he had faked the pictures, or was using fake pictures to his advantage to smear Weiner. Weiner allowed this to continue for over a week, knowing all along that Breitbart was, in fact, telling the truth. Now it is good that he eventually told the truth on the matter. He was willing to let other people twist in the wind to protect himself. Weiner's integrity is now seriously called into question.

Now I'm sure for a lot of uptight people this will be an issue about sex. But the issue is not about sex. It is an issue of judgement, honesty, commitment, and integrity. As the saying goes, it takes a long time to build a good reputation but only an instant to lose it. Weiner lost it, and it is a damn, damn, damn shame.

[DontTreadOnMe]

1. great post

and I totally agree with your assertion and I expect honesty from our elected officials.

But I also believe in redemption. And that Mr. Weiner should be given a chance to move forward in his life, and learn from this experience. Maybe his political career is over, but that should not stop him from pursuing other goals.

I think we should hold our leaders to high standards, but not knock our fellow brothers and sisters to the curb. Should he resign? Yes, I think so. It would be the honorable thing to do, and could be used a closing point for his mistake.

I will gladly hold all our leaders to the same standards. Is it time for Newt to stop his run for President?

[leftstreet]

2. I don't understand why he lied

He could have said "yep that's me" and had an aw-shucks-my-bad moment, then moved on

It's the lying that always gets people with power

[Atypical Liberal]

8. I agree.

That is what he should have done. But he would probably still be destroyed by it.

Because even if he straight-up admitted it, he would still have shown terrible judgement in sending erotic photos of himself to people he did not know over the internet. Unless he was going to take the angle that he knew all along that they would get out and that he just didn't care. Which then implies that he either didn't care whether his wife found out about it, or she already knew and was OK with it. This is going to turn off people who see it as a disrespect of his marriage and wife, or turn off the people who look down on people with "open" relationships.

The lying made it worse. The lying just called into question his honesty and his integrity, because of the fact that he lied and the fact that he was letting someone else be accused of lying when he knew it to be the truth.

But even without that, he would still have destroyed people's opinion of his loyalty and of his judgement.

No, I don't think he could ever have moved on.

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. Even so, he had no way of knowing if he was communicating with minors who lied about their age.

I have been stewing on that all night. Breitfart is claiming to have proof of this. I hope for Rep Weiner's sake that this is just little Andy blowing things out of proportion since he's got the attention right now.

[Atypical Liberal]

18. Holy shit.

If that turns out to be true this thing just went nuclear.

[Ruby the Liberal]

19. Makes one pause and wonder why. Why the timing, why the admission, what doesn't he know

that others do.

It has been suggested that Breitfart basically 'blackmailed' him into the confession (he certainly didn't stop the Kanye-ing of his presser).

Allegations are of additional (1 or more) unreleased x-rated pics, but Breitfart & Co are floating out there the whole 'a minor was involved' meme. They may suspect and are trying to prove it, it may be completely false, but the bottom line is that Weiner probably can't say for certain one way or another until TMZ or RadarOnline or someone tracks it down.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this is all bullshit.

[FBaggins]

28. Or someone out to get him...

or a foreign agent...

A total collapse of judgement.

[ChrisBorg]

3. John Tressel n/t

[JDPriestly]

4. Weiner just got married less than a year ago. July 11, 2010

http://gothamist.com/2010/07/11/anthony_weiner_marries_huma_abedin.php

He was not engaged until 2009.

[wickerwoman]

5. For me it's an issue of portability.

Is how you behave in and about your sex life the same way you behave in and about your professional life?

I lied this afternoon. I told someone I was happy for them when in fact I was thinking "You bastard! What did you do to deserve that kind of luck?"

Does this mean I lack _honesty_ in all situations?

I've written personal diary shit I wouldn't want anyone to see. I even backed some of it up on a zip disk which I also used to bring an assignment in to school to print and then left the zip disk in the computer. If anyone else had found it, I would have been *mortified*. Fortunately, I realized what I had done half way home and was able to race back to school and get the zip disk.

Is this a lack of _judgment_ that reflects on my entire character and professional competence?

We've all said, written, photographed or otherwise documented shit that we wouldn't want widely distributed. We've all screwed up or had brain farts or exercised poor judgement. Does that mean our entire lives and careers have to be about that one screw up or weird peccadillo?

Anthony Weiner is a *great* Democrat and a *great* representative who has done a huge amount to energize the party, to say what needed to be said, to fight for the little people.

Do you really, honestly think that all of that should be outbalanced by sending naughty pictures and then being flummoxed when he got caught?

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. "We've all said, written, photographed (snip) shit that we wouldn't want widely distributed"

Your argument would make sense, but he was the one doing the distributing. On the internet. To people he had never met and didn't know.

[wickerwoman]

11. I'm not saying it was smart.

Although he wasn't publicly distributing it- he was trying to send it to a specific person and screwed up.

The point is whether or not this should be career ending- whether or not all of the great things that he has done should be erased by this one stupid thing he has also done- whether you can take one dumbass thing someone has done and use it to make judgments about how they will behave in completely different contexts.

[Ruby the Liberal]

12. This is the internet. He is a public figure.

ANYTHING he posts, emails, or tweets should automatically be presumed sent to the entire planet with no do-overs. Hence the point of the OP.

Hes 46, not 96 and this isn't rocket science.

[wickerwoman]

13. See post 11.

I'm not saying it was smart.

The point is whether or not this should be career ending- whether or not all of the great things that he has done should be erased by this one stupid thing he has also done- whether you can take one dumbass thing someone has done and use it to make judgments about how they will behave in completely different contexts.

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. Already responded to #11 :-)

Suggest you re-read OP. I think you are on the same page but missed his/her point.

[Atypical Liberal]

17. "Should all his great things be erased"

No.

But sadly, they will be. As they say, reputations take a long time to build, but can be lost in an instant. That is just the way it is. It doesn't matter if you were a saint for decades and then do something terrible. People will remember the terrible thing you did, and it will take a long time, if ever, before that trust and reputation can be regained.

whether you can take one dumbass thing someone has done and use it to make judgments about how they will behave in completely different contexts.

The sad fact is that now no one can be sure how he will behave in different contexts.

We now know that Wiener will lie when the personal stakes are high.

We now know that Wiener will lie even when other people are being thus painted as liars, when the personal stakes are high.

We now know that Wiener will allow sexual urges to cloud his judgement.

It may be that no other situation will come along where he would do these things again. But that seed of doubt is now, very understandably, planted.

It is a damn, damn shame that such a promising career and champion of the people would destroy his reputation so.

[Raschel]

81. Why should they be? They still brainwash kids in school about George Washington, cannot tell a lie

blah blah. All the while he was writing love letters to someone else while married, owned slaves and purchased more even when he didn't need them for labor, plus there was and is a rumor that he had a son by one of his human chattel.

[seabeyond]

29. no, we all havent. most people i know havent. i know i havent.

when i get on internet, i am of the understanding anything i write will be viewed by husband, kids, friends, family.

some people can actually manage and control behavior.

way out there concept i know. but can actually be done

on edit... was responding to your quote so guess wickerwoman

[Carolina]

55. Exactly, he did this to himself

How someone can take such pix and send them into cyberspace to unknown individuals is beyond poor judgement and stupidity.

[Atypical Liberal]

15. good questions.

I lied this afternoon. I told someone I was happy for them when in fact I was thinking "You bastard! What did you do to deserve that kind of luck?"

Does this mean I lack _honesty_ in all situations?

I think everyone has told "white" lies before. "Tact" is really just a nice way of saying we lie to spare people's feelings. But there is a difference in lying to protect someone's feelings and lying to protect your own interests, or lying to protect your job, and certainly lying when other people are consequently being thought of as lying themselves for bringing forth the evidence that was, in fact, true all along.

So if you tell a lie about how you feel about someone's luck, I don't think this really means that you would lie about anything really serious. But when you like about something really serious, or when the potential loss for yourself is very high, well, then obviously it means you are willing to lie about really serious issues or whenever the stakes are personally very high for you. And that is bad. That is how you loose trust, and rightfully so.

I've written personal diary shit I wouldn't want anyone to see. I even backed some of it up on a zip disk which I also used to bring an assignment in to school to print and then left the zip disk in the computer. If anyone else had found it, I would have been *mortified*. Fortunately, I realized what I had done half way home and was able to race back to school and get the zip disk.

Is this a lack of _judgment_ that reflects on my entire character and professional competence?

That would depend on what the material was that you didn't want anyone to see. If it was something benign, then no matter how embarrassing, it would not reflect bad on your character. For example, perhaps you wrote that one day you had an upset stomach and had diarrhea in your pants while driving to work one morning. Surely this would be a horribly embarrasing thing that most people would not want other people to know about. But if people found out, well it's no character flaw that you had an upset stomach. But if the material was about the cats and dogs that you mutilated for fun on sunny Sunday afternoons, well, that sort of thing would of course not only be very embarrassing but also would very much call your character into question.

In the case of Anthony Weiner, I think that this particular embarrassing information at the least shows incredible lack of judgement.

We've all said, written, photographed or otherwise documented shit that we wouldn't want widely distributed. We've all screwed up or had brain farts or exercised poor judgement. Does that mean our entire lives and careers have to be about that one screw up or weird peccadillo?

Like I said above, it depends on exactly what the shit was. If you do something that pretty clearly indicates that you have serious judgement problems, well, yeah, that is probably going to screw up your entire life and career if people find out about it and remember it.

Anthony Weiner is a *great* Democrat and a *great* representative who has done a huge amount to energize the party, to say what needed to be said, to fight for the little people.

Yes, he was.

Do you really, honestly think that all of that should be outbalanced by sending naughty pictures and then being flummoxed when he got caught?

Again, it's not about the naughty pictures, nor is it about being "flummoxed" when he got caught. It's about being an absolute idiot for sending naughty pictures over the internet to six people he didn't even know. I mean there's just no nice way to put that - he was - is - an idiot for doing that. Enough people have already gone down in flames from this kind of shit that there is really no plausible excuse that he didn't know this kind of thing would happen.

So at a minimum, we've got some undeniably very idiotic behavior. But on top of this we now have all the other issues that I brought up - commitment, honesty, and integrity.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. I wish I could rec this more than once.

How does he know that some of these 'friends' weren't under age (and lying about their age)?

He doesn't.

Sheer stupidity.

[RufusTFirefly]

9. Ginni Thomas n/t

[quinnox]

10. Weiner has become a national laughingstock

Its time to resign, he is a big time joke and punchline.

Another one bites the dust.

[Raine]

20. Excellent post

totally on point! :thumbsup: :applause:

[madmax]

21. IDC

I'm sticking with him. The Repukes get away with more shit that hurt the poor and middle class.

Wiener's weiner did none of the sort. And I'm not that kind of girl but, I would kiss Anthony's weiner over seeing him leave congress.

Stay Calm and Carry On.

[SmileyRose]

22. With all due respect - BULLCHEESE

I hear ya, I do. Oh that this whole saga were really about such altruistic things.

But this non story only reached your ears in the first place for 2 basic reasons.



#1 Wiener obviously pissed someone off and they went after him. For every Wiener with his wiener hanging out there are 100 more out there flashing it around. As long as they don't rock the boat America will never know, nor care. This is a takedown. If they hadn't nailed him on this, it would be something else.

#2 Shiny diversion du jour for ratings and $$$ for the MSM.

[Atypical Liberal]

39. "they went after him"

#1 Wiener obviously pissed someone off and they went after him. For every Wiener with his wiener hanging out there are 100 more out there flashing it around. As long as they don't rock the boat America will never know, nor care. This is a takedown. If they hadn't nailed him on this, it would be something else.

The way I see it, whether there are other people out there like that doesn't matter. The motivations of the people who brought the truth to light don't matter. What matters is the truth.

The truth of the matter is that over a period of three years, the last of which he was married, Congressman Weiner sent compromising photographs of himself to six women over the internet that he didn't know.

The most charitable thing you can say is that Congressman Weiner has judgement problems. But having good judgement is, arguably, one of the most important things we would expect a Congressman to have.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[divvy]

24. The Tweed-Hat democrats again destroy one of their own.

How is the air up there on your lofty pillar? There is lots of false equivalence going on here.

This is about the moral indignation of those who are so ethically miserable that they have to constantly search for someone they feel that they are better than. Isn't that the true purpose of false indignation? To soothe the miserable into believing that their actions are not so bad in comparison?

Isn't this really about whole wheat toast and a white Subaru? How about a tin of axle grease and a box of Cheerio's?

[Waiting For Everyman]

25. He wasn't elected Saint Of Brooklyn.

Remember that it was Newt Gingrich who started the morality police.

[Atypical Liberal]

36. Of course not.

He wasn't elected Saint Of Brooklyn.

No, but he was expected to be able to exercise good judgement.

[kentuck]

26. Well said.

kick

[HereSince1628]

27. Yes, all true, but also quite human.

This is also about personal impulsiveness to engage in risky behavior and the need to protect himself from the downside consequences of it. Only Mr. Weiner, and perhaps his therapist, can plumb the depths of these needs.

Who among us is completely free of desires to gratify personal needs or capable of standing completely vulnerable to the consequences of making our need for that gratification known? Maybe some of us, probably not most of us. These are human traits that we should be able to recognize not only as common, but as shared by ourselves.

All the things you say about Mr. Weiner are true.

Yet, Mr Weiner hasn't failed as a human being. He's actually behaved like many human beings. I recognize that what bothers me about this scandal is that he has primarily failed my dreamy characterization of him as a perfect heroic advocate.

The larger questions are whether Mr. Weiner's proclivities to risky sexting thrills and self-protection from personal embarrassment represent just that one compartment of his life or is it part of some more general condition that permeates and taints his entire existence? Does that make him unsuitable to retain support as a leading advocate within the progressive wing? The answer to that has more to do with us than it does with him.

I have no crystal ball to tell what will be. Across my life I've regularly witnessed national democratic heroes fall short of being idealized human beings in their personal and sexual behaviors...JFK, Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, Henry Cisneros, Bill Clinton, John Edwards. It's a painful litany whose message seems to be that the great men among us are still and yet only men with imperfections.

[ladjf]

31. Anything humans do is "quite human". However,for an adult male

to think that showing off his genitalia to women was either (1) fun or (2) it might favorably impress the female by it's beauty he would have to be in a complete fog of fantasy. This is undoubtedly some form of arrested psychiatric development on the Congressman's part.

[Carolina]

58. Touche,

it's exhibitionism and he has a problem!

[HereSince1628]

80. My understanding is that impulsivity can be related to developmental problems.

Healthy adults generally can control their impulses enough that dealing with the impulse doesn't cause self-harm.

Regarding a fog of fantasy I think you are correct on that as well. Sexual behavior is frequently shrouded in it.

[Atypical Liberal]

35. I agree with you.

There is no doubt that impulsive, risky behavior is very human. Sadly, history is full of great men who were brought down because of it.

[ladjf]

30. I'm pretty old now. But, as best I can recollect, the children in my

neighborhood got passed the "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours" or the old standby "Let's play doctor" stage by the time we hit the second grade in elementary school. When we were in Jr. High, nobody I knew thought that flashing some babe with your package would produce any positive results.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. oh please. of course its a sex issue.

you can pretend by adding words like commitment and integrity that its something else but its not.

its a sex issue and a invasion into privacy issue. unless weiner had broken laws, i wish i didnt know about this, cos its really not my business

[Atypical Liberal]

34. I disagree.

I truly believe the subject matter that he lied about is irrelevant.

Yes, many sexually uptight people are going to latch onto this as an example of sexual immorality. I am not one of those people. I don't care about other people's sex lives.

This is 90% about lack of judgement. Who, in this day and age, would send a naked picture of themselves to a stranger on the internet? As someone above said, Weiner "is 46, not 96, and this isn't rocket science."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

37. bad judgement about one's personal life still does not equate

to things like commitment and integrity

[Atypical Liberal]

40. I would say...

bad judgement about one's personal life still does not equate to things like commitment and integrity

Well, to me, as a married man myself, I would say that bad judgement involving a three-year stint of sending compromising pictures of himself and sexting to six women he didn't know over the internet - essentially trolling for cyber sex - while in the process getting married almost certainly equates to questioning his commitment to his wife. The only way this would not be true is if his wife was aware of his activities and was OK with them. It is certainly possible - some people are in "open" relationships. But I doubt that this is the case.

Further, perpetuating the lie that the pictures were fake or that his account was hacked in order to protect himself diverted the blame onto Twitter for having bad security and onto the reporter who breached the story, who was widely vilified as spreading untruths. By allowing the lie to continue he was allowing Brietbart to be called a liar. When you set up other people to take the blame for your own actions I see this as an issue of integrity. Now in the end he did the right thing and came forward and admitted the truth. But I have to admit that I can't help but wonder if the mountain of evidence was starting to get so high that it was simply no longer possible to lie about it, rather than actual integrity driving him to no longer lie about it.

[frylock]

77. how many times has it been posted here that X isn't sorry it happened..

they're sorry they were caught. does that standard not apply to weiner as well? really enjoying your posts on this thread btw.

[closeupready]

43. 'Who would send a naked picture of themselvs to a stranger on the internet?' Sheltered much?

Or live in a monastery? Lots of people do this or else all these dating sites would have gone belly up.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

47. so true. nt

[Atypical Liberal]

48. I've been on the Internet since there has been an internet.

I've seen it all, from goatse to rickrolls.

And I would never send naked pictures of myself to strangers on the internet, especially if I was a 46-year-old married Congressman.

[closeupready]

51. Okay, backing up a minute, most gay people have an online presence on Manhunt or

any of dozens of gay dating sites. The internet has made it possible for gay people to find each other with less physical risk in terms of bashers and harrassment and entrapment-type sting operations that continue to happen, even in New York.

I think our difference of opinion springs from our different viewpoints from my being gay and you're being straight (I presume). Cheers.

[Atypical Liberal]

62. I've done online dating, too.

I'm not familiar with Manhunt, but I have done online dating sites myself, and even gone out on dates with women through them.

Gay or straight, I don't see how participating on an online dating service equates to trolling for cybersex with strangers.

[closeupready]

65. Your wife was a stranger once, correct? Did you meet her online? Sex appeal had nothing to do

with why you two clicked?

Those are rhetorical questions, but give light as to how a set of circumstances can be interpreted in ways that seem to lie at polar opposite ends of the spectrum.

People participate in online dating services to, in some form or another, eventually hook up with attractive strangers.

[Atypical Liberal]

72. Yup.

Your wife was a stranger once, correct? Did you meet her online? Sex appeal had nothing to do with why you two clicked?

I did not meet my wife online, but of course sex appeal is a part of just about any relationship. Still not seeing what you are getting at here or how this relates to sending naked pictures and sexting to strangers on the internet.

People participate in online dating services to, in some form or another, eventually hook up with attractive strangers.

Perhaps I'm not understanding what this "Manhunt" is all about. The online dating sites I was on (Yahoo Personals, etc.), you filled out a bio about yourself, and maybe had a few normal pictures of yourself. Nothing sexual or risque by any means.

If you are talking about an online dating site where you post naked pictures of yourself, yes, I could see how that could be just as big a predicament for someone on one of those sites as what Weiner got himself into.

[closeupready]

74. okay.

nt

[frylock]

76. he posted the pic to a PUBLIC website..

where was the invasion of privacy?

[ensho]

33. exactly

nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. Judgement, honesty, commitment, and integrity + politician = oxymoron.

It is about sex. If all politicians were held to the standards you list and were removed for failing to meet them they could turn government buildings into theme park.

[Atypical Liberal]

45. Standards.

If all politicians were held to the standards you list and were removed for failing to meet them they could turn government buildings into theme park.

If we are just going to stop expecting those kinds of standards from our politicians we probably should just go ahead and turn them into a theme park.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

49. Or, have an expectation that people, including politicians, have a right to privacy.

And, that their private sex lives should be up to them to deal with. Not the sex obsessed American media and public.

[riderinthestorm]

53. Except Weiner didn't keep it private. He broadcast it in public.

Weiner chose the public route and broadcasted his sexuality all over the world. Scolding folks, that we now suddenly have no right to talk about, judge or critique that decision because his sex life is "private", is too late. Weiner himself set the terms of this deal. Public it is.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

56. But, wait, if it's not about sex, why the interest?

If he had broadcast pictures of his car around the world would it have garnered this much interest or outrage by the public?

You said that it "isn't about sex". If it's just about "judgement" etc, would a picture of him wearing a lemon meringue pie on his head have had the same effect. Or, if he lied about wearing pie?

I contend that what he did deserves a rousing chuckle rather than the tempest the modern day puritans and the media promoting.

[riderinthestorm]

59. I think that if Weiner were posting pics of a lemon meringue pie on his head

to strangers, there would be some conversation about his mental health state, yes, I firmly believe that. Furthermore, if he lied about sending those pictures for a couple of weeks and then was discovered to have actually been doing that, I think he also would be setting himself up for a lot of WTF conversations about his judgment and grip on reality.

If Breitbart's credibility was also further enhanced because of that kind of nonsense, I think its fair that people would be ticked. If supporters of Weiner who spent a couple of weeks left twisting in the wind - saying the pics of Weiner with a lemon meringue pie on his head were photoshopped or hacked, and then they discovered that those crazy pie pics actually WERE real - yeah, I think there'd also be some conversation about that too.

Lemon meringue pies on his head or x-rated photos broadcast in public by this politician both show a crap sense of judgement. The lying about the lemon meringue pie pics or the x rated photos is pretty crappy too. Enhancing the reputation of that despicable Breitbart is heinous. Leading on your supporters so they spend a couple of weeks basically lying on your behalf - yeah, probably some pissed off folks.

But if you want to keep thinking this is just about sex shots, be my guest.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

61. So, do you want to fire every politician who ever lied?

Not just about their sex-lives but about substantive things like political, economic, international issues.

But, if you want to keep thinking this isn't about sex in the finest tradition of the National Enquirer, be my guest.

[Atypical Liberal]

64. Do you want to start accepting lying as acceptable behavior? n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

69. Expecting other from politicians is downright delusional.

[Atypical Liberal]

63. Because it shows lack of judgement.

If he had broadcast pictures of his car around the world would it have garnered this much interest or outrage by the public?

You said that it "isn't about sex". If it's just about "judgement" etc, would a picture of him wearing a lemon meringue pie on his head have had the same effect. Or, if he lied about wearing pie?

Sending pictures of your car or putting a pie on your head don't call your judgement into question.

Sending naked pictures of yourself to people you don't know over the internet does. I'm sure we can think of lots of non-sexual examples of things he could have done that would likewise call his judgement into question. For example, he could have emailed pictures of himself throwing puppies into a river:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/31/girl-sparks-animal-activi_n_701011.html

He could have emailed pictures of himself crushing small animals:

http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/stories/rabbit-crushing-video-girl-comes-forth-apologizes-explains.html

There are countless non-sexual things that would, quite aside from the behavior actually shown in the video, clearly indicate a lack of judgement in electronically recording and distributing such content over the internet.

I contend that what he did deserves a rousing chuckle rather than the tempest the modern day puritans and the media promoting.

Do you think his wife is chuckling about it?

Do you think Twitter is chuckling about the insinuation that their system was hacked?

Do you think Breitbart is chuckling about being called a liar for a week and a half?

Yes, if it was just a picture of his dick, we'd chuckle about it. But it's not.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

68. Who knows who's chuckling. And, why should we?

Why is what he does sexually any of our business? Did you feel the same about JFK's or Clinton's "judgement"? Were they due the attacks and outrage that Weiner is getting for his peccadilloes?

Is sending naughty pictures equivalent to crushing puppies? Or, does sex sell more beer and hair gel to the puritanical wing of the sexually obsessed American public.

[Atypical Liberal]

70. On Clinton.

Who knows who's chuckling. And, why should we? Why is what he does sexually any of our business?

Again, this is not about what he has done sexually. This is about his lack of judgement, his lack of loyalty, his lack of honesty, and his lack of integrity.

He showed poor judgement by sending naked pictures of himself and sexting to strangers over the internet.
He probably showed a lack of loyalty to his wife, unless she was aware of what he was doing and approved.
He showed a lack of honesty by lying about the situation, and
He showed a lack of integrity by continuing the lies which placed the blame for the situation he created onto others.

Did you feel the same about JFK's or Clinton's "judgement"? Were they due the attacks and outrage that Weiner is getting for his peccadilloes?

JFK was before my time, and all I really know is that he is said to have been quite a womanizer, though I don't know any of the details. As far as Clinton, yes, this was at best a supervisor engaging in compromising activities with a subordinate. But assuming everything was consensual, I have less of a problem with an affair than sending naked pictures and sexting strangers on the internet. One could say, I suppose, that having an affair is just as bad a case of judgement, but I would suppose that if you were having an affair and there was mutual trust that you could say he had some reasonable expectation of privacy. However, any man who cheats on his wife absolutely has some serious character flaws.

Is sending naughty pictures equivalent to crushing puppies?

Of course not. But recording both acts electronically and distributing them over the internet is equally idiotic and shows terrible judgement. Lying about doing it and trying to assign the blame to someone else is equally immoral and shows a lack of integrity.

I trying to make an equivalency. I was simply pointing out that it is not the ACTION here that is the primary reason for criticism of character. It's not about sex.

Or, does sex sell more beer and hair gel to the puritanical wing of the sexually obsessed American public.

Of course it does. And, as I said, for many Americans, this issue will only be about sex. But it's not about sex at all.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

71. How about the "lack of judgement" in escalating a lost war or acquiesing to tax breaks for the rich?

I'm a helluva a lot more interested in what a politician votes on or enacts than whether they're fond of showing off their dicks.

I assume the voters of his district will have the final say whether his sex life or his politics are of more value.

[Atypical Liberal]

73. False dichotomy.

How about the "lack of judgement" in escalating a lost war or acquiesing to tax breaks for the rich?

I'm a helluva a lot more interested in what a politician votes on or enacts than whether they're fond of showing off their dicks.

Oh I absolutely agree with you. There are far, far worse travesties of Democracy going on in our Congress right now. But it is a false dichotomy to say that we have to only choose one issue to be upset about.

I assume the voters of his district will have the final say whether his sex life or his politics are of more value.

You are right again. Look at Marion Barry. Here was a guy who got caught smoking crack cocaine and he got re-elected. Talk about lack of judgement!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

75. Looks like our priorities differ.

As I said, I couldn't care less about anyone's sex life. I do, however, care about people dying in lost wars and politicians being in the pockets of corporations.

As for the voters, hopefully, their priorities have little concern for Weiner's naughtiness on the computer.

[Atypical Liberal]

78. I agree.

As I said, I couldn't care less about anyone's sex life.

And as I said, I agree - I couldn't care less about anyone's sex life, either.

But this isn't about his sex life. It's about lying to protect his self-interests, hurting the people closest to himself, and pushing the blame for his actions onto other people.

These are serious character flaws for a politician who is supposed to represent the people's interests.

I do, however, care about people dying in lost wars and politicians being in the pockets of corporations.

I care about those things, too. But that doesn't mean I'll turn a blind eye to other problems.

As for the voters, hopefully, their priorities have little concern for Weiner's naughtiness on the computer.

They might, but I doubt it. But even those who realize this isn't a sex issue will probably realize that it is an issue about lying, loyalty, and integrity.

[frylock]

79. your private sex life becomes public..

when you're STUPID enough to post pics to a public forum.

[closeupready]

41. Oh, the drama.

:eyes: How about this - when he comes up for re-election, don't vote for him, k?

[Iggo]

42. Of course, it is.

Otherwise none o' y'all would be interested.

[Javaman]

44. with this one screw up, Weiner has effectively declawed himself.

And that is the real crime here.

I will still support the guy, but honestly, I will now think he's no better than the rest of the over inflated egotists in congress.

He may still fight the good fight, but honestly, with this on his record, who will take him as seriously as they once did?

[Atypical Liberal]

46. I agree. n/t

[bullwinkle428]

50. Shame on you for using "Breitbart" and "integrity" in the

same paragraph. Weiner could have fucked an entire flock of sheep, and it would not make Breitbart any one iota of a more decent human being, given all he's been involved with in the past.

Weiner's going to have to deal with every last bit of fallout that comes from this, and he can't really blame anyone else for what happens from this point on, but I'll be fucking damned if I ever feel the need to offer up any kind of apology to the piece of shit that's attempted every dirty trick in the book to slime ACORN, Planned Parenthood, Shirley Sherrod, Abby Boudreau, etc. etc.

[Atypical Liberal]

66. I don't know anything about Brietbart.

Up until this incident I had only heard his name in passing and lumped him in with the likes of Limbaugh or Coulter or any of those right-wing names that I have heard of but never listened to.

The bottom line is that a reporter, no matter how vile, reported the truth, and was vilified for it, and Weiner allowed that to continue for over a week.

He let other people take the blame for the problem he caused. That is an integrity problem for Weiner.

[soupkitchen]

52. The commitment argument is weak (or at best superfluous)*

But the judgment, honesty and integrity issues are right on the money.

Even if this is another Cock and Bull story the emphasis should be on the Bull.

*judgment, honesty, and integrity are virtues of a different order than commitment (the ability to be commited?) or loyalty.
When you lack any of the first three, character wise, not much else matters.

[Atypical Liberal]

67. I agree with you.

I agree with you that the commitment argument is weak. For all we know, his wife was aware of his cybersexcapades and approved.

*judgment, honesty, and integrity are virtues of a different order than commitment (the ability to be commited?) or loyalty.
When you lack any of the first three, character wise, not much else matters.

Exactly.

[Carolina]

54. K&R

excellent post.

[indepat]

57. The presence of judgment, honesty, commitment, and integrity is rare in an individual, perhaps

a combination nonexistent in any modern-day politician. :patriot:

[RoadRage]

60. If Weiner had an (R) behind his name....

75% of the people who are defending him now, would be calling for his resignation or worse.

Stop the politicing.. both D's & R's have scumbag politicians (John Edwards.. Arnold Schwarteznagger.. anyone)?

When DC is filled on both sides of the aisles with people who disagree, but at least have a somewhat decent moral foundation.. we have a shot at making this country better. Until then.. as long as we "support" these ass-hats even when they prove to be slimeballs, we're doing ourselves & this country a dis-service.

Stop focusing on the affiliation, and look at what he did! If it wouldn't be OK for a republican to do it - it's not OK for a democrat to do it.