Why The Weiner Scandal Has Been So Damaging to the man

At first glance, you have to wonder what all the fuss about. A man sends things to half a dozen women with no evidence he even met them physically. Much less ever had any kind of sexual relations.

As Paul Riser's character explained in "The Story of Us" about how his having cybersex with a friends secretary "wasn't cheating".


"Hello?!?! We're TYPING".

But Jay Leno had it nailed last night about why this scandal has hurt the congressman so much.

"Congressman Weiner says he sent messages to six women in two years but never had sex with them.

Six women in two years with no sex. That's high school".

And that is the problem.

People would've understood if he had paid a few thousand dollars for high end hookers.

People would've understood his having an affair with a hot staffer.

But sending pictures of yourself to women you've never met and probably never will.

That is

A) Something a horny 15 year old high school boy would do.

B) Something a 30 year old nerd with no hope of ever getting laid would do.

It doesn't help that Weiner looks like B either.

A politician can stand being feared, hated, disrespected, all of that is survivable

But a politician can't survive being laughed at.

The guy is an asshole and a moron. That is all that needs to be said about him.

Who wrote this -- you, Dayton? It's very good, and someone deserves credit.

Just a few minutes ago my boss asked, "So I guess this Weiner guy wants to be a Republican? Sending out those pictures and stuff?"

I said, "No. If he wanted to be a Republican, he would've been sending those pictures to men."

He laughed.

Ok, I'm with you so far.

You lost me there.

I'm not sure it's been "so damaging," but if it has, it's mostly due to his poor handling of the situation. You think someone so close to the Clintons would have understood how to handle something like this, but no.



Related note: How long has Dayton been trying to pass himself off as an expert on how society views sex?

Since this picture hit the internet. NSFW

I would think it would be way more damaging if he had actually carried out affairs with these women or done something illegal.

^But then we wouldn't have 5 threads on the same topic, 4 of them posted within 24 hours of one another.

Who cares, baby?

6 now, since Dayton started this one.

It may be a new record. I had no idea so many people are interested in Anthony Weiner's cock....You'd think they were Twitter fangirls themselves.

Seriously though, I thought we would simply refresh an existing thread with new information. Is that the new norm at Wordforge, that every development in a situation is now worthy of a new thread??

Since when is Wordforge representative of New York's 9th Congressional District? The people posting these threads or who think poorly of Weiner aren't even in a position to vote against him.

Every time I see him in an interview on TV, his arrogant, smug attitude makes me want to slap his head off and he's not even my congresscritter.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

And his wife is pregnant.....

^It was mentioned, though which of the other 100 threads, I couldn't tell ya....

And all the Demoncrats are telling him to get the fuck out.

You can tell they are scared of 2012 when they are trying to cut his throat now.......

In 2008 he could have kidnapped and barbecued a baby and ATE it and not gotten the demand from his own party to resign.

They aren't even waiting. They were probably pissed when he said he wouldn't resign.

^Here, I'll throw a bone to the Repubs, in terms of what you wrote....

There does seem to be the rumor that 2012 will be a significant election for Republicans. It may possibly turn the Democrats not just into a minority, but a minor party.

How far that is true? Who knows. It seems not likely, the extent anyway, but those are some of words tossed around.

So, no Gunnrunner thread here yet? Isn't that the next biggie biggie, with the hearings starting next week? It may even warrant a thread (or 5 or 6!) of its own.

We've already discussed Gunrunner and will discuss it again when it comes up.

And I'm not seeing the Democrats turned into a minor party. It will be a big election for the Republicans in the House and Senate but the POTUS is still up in the air.

But it ain't looking good for the Democrats.....

It will not. That rumor is as silly as those claiming in 2008 that the Republican Party had been relegated to the status of a regional party for at least a generation.

Politics swings back and forth, especially when the public is presented with two choices as unacceptable (and yet similar in so many ways) as the Republican and Democrat parties. You get tired of one, you vote in the other. You get tired of them real fast, so you vote the other back in. You remember why you voted them out in the first place, so you switch again. And so on and so forth.

Neither one of them can ever turn the other one into a "minor party." Nor would I want them to. As long as these two disasters are the only serious choices we have, the only hope for America is keeping them against each other, with split government. When the Republicans controlled everything, and when the Democrats controlled everything, we got unmitigated disasters (albeit in different areas, which reflect what differences actually do exist between the two). When each one can block the other, it helps a lot.

The Dems are almost certain to go back to being a minority in the Senate, and continue to be a minority in the House. So what about the White House? I don't want Obama re-elected, but I don't want any of the major Republican candidates elected either.

Aren't there any reasonable Democrats out there who could block the Republican Congress, without their entire political credentials being limited to "I'm black, so you can't criticize me because that's racist, and I can talk nice, so I can be a perpetual candidate"?

I think I'll just stay in France.

(Except the choices here aren't really any better...)

Hmm, well the title of the hearing was interesting I thought and believe it was released recently.

It was something like "Obstruction of Justice: blah blah blah."

The Obstruction of Justice bit, while not commenting on the accuracy (how can you, the hearing hasn't even started)....is kinda serious, and kinda funny.

Aren't the two choices in France "liberal" and "way liberal?"

Cheap shot aside, what ARE politics like over there?

This pregnancy story is convenient isn't it?...I want to see the proof if she's really pregnant or is this some cheap stunt to divert attention or garner him sympathy?

I'm only 1/2 serious she may be pregnant but you know there telling everyone now to help blunt the bad press Weiner is getting....I'm sure certain members of the MSM will use this as an excuse to say we should take it easy on the Guy and his poor Wife.

By the way I've heard that if Weiner resigns she'll divorce him and not because of his Tweets but because he's wouldn't be a Congressmen which is all that matters to Her she clearly had high hopes for his career and may even had the White House in her eyes so that says a lot about Her.

And a this talk about him resigning might be moot anyway as it's possible his seat in Congress may be lost to redistricting in NY anyway.

Actually, you answered the question quite accurately with your "cheap shot," which wasn't far off the mark at all. Then, you have "leaders" who are no leaders at all. In the last presidential election, we had a choice between Sarkozy and Royal. Fortunately, not being French, I don't have to worry about who to vote for. (Unfortunately, the following year, I did get the choice between Obama and McCain and chose "none of the above"...)

The big worry of the Socialists right now is that Royal will get the nomination again, thus pretty much ensuring 5 more years of Sarkozy. Otherwise, Sarkozy is a very "beatable" president, much like Obama. But the big scandal with the Socialists' best choice isn't helping them much.

Politics just isn't what it used to be, back when we had good presidents like Johnson and Nixon.

Oh, wait...

If that's what it was supposed to be, it isn't working at all. People are considering him worse scum than ever, cheating (even virtually) on a pregnant wife.

Personally, I don't think there is any reason to doubt the story, though of course I don't have proof that it is true.

The perception of the US is the opposite from this side of the water. "Conservative" or "Very conservative".

Not likely. Liberalism is firmly entrenched. A lot of people are now heavily dependent upon government. It will take a lot of work to set them free again.

However, 2006 was a very big year for Dems, which means they're really exposed in the Senate in 2012.

Fortunately for them, they've been making the most of their time in power, with popular programs like Obamacare and quantitative easing. I know the public can't wait to go to the polls and show their support. What the hell -- it's not like anybody's going to be working that day.

If someone doesn't make this into a classy porno called "Anthony's Weiner" I shall be very disappointed.

C'mon now, there's no crying in partisan ball. Where are your tears for Sarah Palin? She holds no office, didn't post crotch shots on her website, didn't make up some "hacking story" yet her every word has been lambasted by the donkey fearful for years. Her children and grandchildren included in the ridicule.

Then there is the oh so clever moniker "Tea Baggers" commonly used to dismiss a new political party.

The donkey/elephant wars are but an idiot's circus, sport for morons who fancy themselves enlightened and the opportunists/righteously deluded who profit from their idiocy.

Why would think that? Are you calling for a Weiner box-set?

The US political landscape is rife with pseudo outrage coupled with the false belief that we've more than one political party. Keeps us dumb citizens entertained and more importantly distracted from issues of any substance.

Oh, c'mon.

The problem is the guy's name is WEINER.

WEINER WEINER WEINER WEINER WEINER WEINER.

If somebody else did this it would be news, but it wouldn't dominate the news cycle.