NBC News producer Shawna Thomas counts six congressional Democrats who've said Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-New York) should resign. Shawna's list:
- Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas
- Congressman Mike Ross of Arkansas
- Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania
- Congressman Mike Michaud of Maine
- Congresswoman Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts
- Congressman Joe Donnelly of Indiana
Meanwhile Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana), who slept with hookers, won re-election and remains in office, is holding a $2,500-a-person fundraiser tonight. You might as well read in now.
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Why is it those who spout the most about family values and want to impose their brand of morality on everyone else, are so tolerant of the flagrant violation of those values by their party only?
Let's just say "Thanks" to Rachel for breaking it all down so clearly. Wow!
But really, I am NOT a happy democrat ....I really liked Anthony Weiner, thought he was good for the party.
I guess if he didn't violate any ethics laws then let his constituents decide...like Eric Canter said about his buddies.
It is just awfully disappointing that the Democrat who was rapidly raising to be one of the "best of the best" (from the Democrats perspective) should have shown such poor judgement and come crashing down from what appeared to be a brilliant career in politics. But unless more comes out that isn't known now, all he's really guilty of is enormous stupidity, and if members of congress had to resign on that basis, those chambers would be mighty empty.
Exactly! I don't understand how these holier-than-thous can spout the family values platform with a straight face. They rationalize opposition to same sex marriage based on the fact that it will destroy American families. If this is the type of family values they're championing, I'll stick to the choices I've made!
Do not care on "what he did", that fact is lying (as a politician) should not be accepted and justify by the American People, or the Press.... Stop...
Those who spout the loudest about "family values" are either trying to fool themselves or others that they actually follow those values. Too many examples to mention.
If he or she is a republican who supports no laws that govern what we here on the ground should be doing in, out of, or with our pants, then no, I don't give a @!$%#. Does that kind of republican even exist anymore? Even ostensible "moderates" like McCain, for instance, opposed ending DADT.
Please stop slandering Kool Aid. The Jm Jones mass suicide congregation drank Flavor Aid, not Kook Aid. So Bleat on your question should be corrected and read:
How's that two-party Flavor-aid? and
By the way, what's your favorite flavor of Flavor-aid?
Sadly, a great political leader is no substitute for being a good man.
Yes, but the operative question is does one need to be a great wo/man in order to be a great political leader?
Let's see ... Ben Franklin, Sally Hemings/ Thomas Jefferson ...
No laws were broken. House ethics violations are unknown. Lies were told about sex. What new? No resignation necessary!!!!!
Not even lies about sex but sex TALK!!! People are acting like he was actually Shagging outside of his marriage. Big difference.
What is most disturbing to me is the pre-pubescent nature and the compulsiveness of his behavior. He certainly was a rising star to me and I agree that he should not resign and let his constituents decide. Meanwhile, there does seem to be a different set of rules for Repubs, doesn't there.
There IS a different set of rules for Repubs who got elected on the "family values" platform. The ones who do and then go on to participate in sexual escapades are being hypocritical. Still, I think sexual infidelity should not be a resignation offense. Let the person settle that with his/her spouse. It's personal business.
Yes, a different set of rules. Democrats can shag interns right in the Oval office or drive them off a bridge...
"Democrats can shag interns right in the Oval office" when was that?
Lewinsky alleged nine sexual encounters with Bill Clinton:
November 15, 1995, in the private study of the Oval Office
November 17, 1995, while Bill Clinton was on the phone with a member of Congress
December 31, 1995, in a White House study
January 7, 1996, in the Oval Office
January 21, 1996, in the hallway by the private study next to the Oval Office
February 4, 1996, while Clinton was meeting in the Oval Office
March 31, 1996, in the hallway near the study of the Oval Office
February 28, 1997, near the Oval Office, when the blue dress stains were created
March 29, 1997 (Clinton, however, denied that this day's encounter actually happened.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewinsky_scandal
The only time the budget you are always whining about was balanced (in recent memory) was under Bill Clinton and the Democrats... created surpluses as well... so who cares what he did or didn't do with Lewinsky. We all know who then screwed it up.
Is that beard itchy Katy?
I agree. Let lying Dick stay in office so that we can be distracted by this instead of real issues til the next election.
Don: I think Sure You Know may be Unaffiliated Joe. Whomever he is he is definitely a re reg and will be discovered and banned eventually. He's latched on to me just as Joe did before his demise. :) Funny. Katy's White Knight or whatever.
shag
Verb: Have sexual intercourse with (someone).
Clinton and Lewinsky never had sexual intercourse.
Consider the source Covah?
Oh simple joe. As katy's sock puppet? Maybe.
Ya never know.
Covah:
SHAG MEANS TO HAVE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE. SEXUAL INTERCOURSE CAN BE DEFINED AS:
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract.[1][2] The two entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails. The definition may additionally include penetrative sexual acts between same-sex pairings, such oral intercourse, anal intercourse, and fingering, which are also commonly practiced by heterosexual couples.[2]
(Wiki)
Interesting they show up at the exact same time.
Katy had quit drinking her glass of water.
She's not been in this rare form since she descibed in excessive detail the steps of an abortion procedure. I think this is over the line into pornographic. I'm flagging it.
It's an improper copy and paste...no link for conformation...same as the abortion procedure previously posted. All for our viewing pleasure. Sweet.
Not improper, I cited the source.
Not properly...obviously you've never written a college paper.
I didn't know I was being graded!!! Proper enough for this forum. Unless you have now appointed yourself the blog police. As I have said before, try to be less controlling, it is better for your health and overall well being.
This would be more appropriate,
A caution before citing Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_Wikipedia
Actually it borders on improper for this forum...we can't see where you got it. You copied and pasted it without a direct link to it. It would be better for your health and well being to try and be less controlling.
Hermaphroditic sex between snails is shagging? What has hermaphroditic sex with snails have to do with the Lewinski affair?
Is that what Wiki says?
As per Katy's post appropos Clinton shagging interns. Snail sex. Wow. Put it like that, it does sound sexy. "Hey baby, your place or mine...I don't know, how about both places...at the same time? You are on!"
Even better is SYK's,
Boo-YAH BABY!!!
His name is Senator MARK Pryor, but all the same this is disgusting. It's up to the voters to decide who they want to represent them, not high and mighty politicians who probably all have their own dirty secrets.
Good catch. David Pryor is Mark's father. He held the same seat in the 90s. As far as I know Richard Pryor was not related. :)
Fixed. thanks.
It is difficult to take the GOP seriously on this one, especially since Weiner's c**k didn't have a transsexual prostitute or an underage boy on the end of it. Is it worse to lie about sex or to be utterly pusillanimous in the face of Republican mock outrage? Weiner is cogent, courageous, and effective in public life. Character is more complex than people pretend to imagine.
There is also legislative activity happening right now on the state and federal level that is immoral if not unconstitutional and, whatever the legality, horribly scandalous. Republicans are enacting unprecedented corporate friendly policies and draconian "emergency" budget measures that have resulted in the actual death of actual human beings.
Like Lewinsky, this Weiner matter makes for a convenient and strategically protracted distraction. Weiner may have his shortcomings, like these innocuously non-coital and rather boring extramarital issues (when put up next to the likes of David Vitter). Cantor and Boehner, on the other hand, are consummate corporatists screwing us all while pretending they're doing us a favor.
Generally, Americans are more interested in "moral" problems than real ones--except when they are hurting. For example: right now, when most of them would really like to take back that "message" they screwed themselves with in the midterms. I expect most folks with genuine anxieties will lose interest in the Weiner story rather quickly, perhaps EVEN before the next Grand Old Pedophile is outed and, true to form, refuses to resign.
Instead of trying to eliminate one more job, perhaps the focus should be on creating jobs through a historically proven, time-tested model of economic stimulus, instead of one more fruitless round of flaccid, supply-side voodoo.
Well Said!
Well, we aren't presently in a great depression with a 30%+ unemployment rate, or has that escaped your attention? I'm sorry you had to pay 810 Billion for the last stimulus; I do hope you recover before we ask you to shoulder another burden as huge as the enormous debt left by the last 4 Republican administrations who told us deficits don't matter and the rich shouldn't pay taxes. Radical tax cuts, the elimination of revenue, while conducting 2 wars simultaneously and failing to cut spending over 8 years lead to an economic blowout. I'm sorry the black dude hasn't cleaned up that rich white guy's mess fast enough for you.
Bush cut taxes to fund the wars (stupid stupid STUPID) but never allowed the wars to be reflected in the budget , becase as Dick "Baby Eater" Cheney said: Deficits Don't Count.
Further, they lied and tortured us into a war with Iraq that devoured the lives of over 4000 service men and women and countless Iraqis that had exactly ZIP to do with 9/11 or WMDs. And with their "enhanced interrogation techniques" they have as well as guaranteed that our service personnel will get the same treatment. GRAND!
The Democrats got in because Bush was trying to privatize social security, but all of those acct on the stock market. Can you imagine? If every senior had their social security tied up in the stock market with mortgage backed securities when the housing bubble burst months before Obama was even elected? FUN doesn't even BEGIN to describe it.
And really, its not like any of the Republicans who got rolled in during the '10 election are going to last another turn, much less all the frickin GENIUSES you've got running for president.
The only Republican that would do our nation any good would be another Teddy Roosevelt or an Eisenhower. Any other will leave our nation a smoking desolated ruin. It will be an end to the experiment of representitive govt.
I would rather see any of those dems resign before I would Anthony Weiner.
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more!
Something is wrong with this... for the Democrats - they sound like Republican wolves in Democratic clothing. Stop attaching Weiner... go after Bohner who has had 2 affairs over the last 14 years and actually slept with women besides his wife.
I am not defending the morality of John Boehner (I actually find his policy positions on social and social justice issues to be decidedly immoral) but spreading unconfirmed rumors about people is not right regardless of the target. A quick google of those allegations reveal nothing sourced by anyone more credible than the National Enquirer.
For goodness sake, the man sent a few pictures out on the web, he didn't have an extra marital affair like some.
This is a huge distraction from real issues like getting everyone back to work and the US economy growing again.
Rachel, please stop adding fuel to this fire and move on.
Whats wrong with these people! So what! there are worse things in the world than naked photos!
Why is it that we care so much about lies told about sex, but not so much about lies told to take us into wars, or lies about being illegally wire tapped, or lies that destroyed our economy... Americans attitude towards sex is like teenagers... time to grow up and talk about serious issues that effect our lives... this "thing" only really effects him & his family... its not news!
Agreed! As I said about B. Clinton years ago, I'd rather he be screwing M.L as screwing the American People!
Amen.
Why is it that republicans speak with one voice and democrats cant get thier chit together on anything.
Democrats are individuals; Republicans are Borg.
Excellent question. Excellent answer.
That's about as astute as it gets... :)
Are also soulless, devoid of individuality, incapable of independent thought. Let's see katy drink a glass of water while you talk.
and what is it that the Borg 'get done'?
and while my Borg comment was... sarcastic? hypberbolic? it's not just rhetoric: (today's) Republicans are conservative which is about conforming, uniformity, and a narrow, limited (i.e., conservative) way of viewing and doing things.
Right Tomm...hence my "astute" comment. Sure You Know is a re reg and will be short lived here.
It is fascinating that I am following Sure when my first post on this thread was
#3.7 - Thu Jun 9, 2011 5:41 PM PDT
and his was three hours later...
#3.8 - Thu Jun 9, 2011 8:41 PM PDT
lol...ahh...just another day on the blog.
Woo her. I bet she'd be real inviting.
How can I be ignored and yet he posts what I say?
What happened to the voices from last week who said "Come clean and you'll be forgiven."?
Today's New York Post's cover blasted "Fall on your sword, Weiner". Of course that's a "figure of speech", but if a liberal were to say that about a conservative, the right would be all over him for suggesting that he kill himself!
As I said on the #IOKIYAR post:
Weinergate, as presented to the public, was designed to shock and repulse. Just like the Starr Report of the Clinton Administration.
How the Dems deal with Weiner will be the model for all scandals that break between now and 11/2012, which, I have a hunch, we'll have a few, increasing in frequemcy.
It's also the Dems' response to the right of their willingness to get caught up in this game of "gotcha!".
Odds are, there's a percentage of people in Congress with one "secret" or another. Likely in even proportions on both sides of the aisle. The Right is clearly better organized and funded to seek out and expose the Left's "ick factor".
I would not be surprised if some of the women Weiner got caught up with were not working for his enemies.
Assume Weiner is not the last Democrat snared in the web. Are the Dems prepared for "defense"? Or will the Republicans thrill us every few months, or weeks with a new Democratic scalp, and a party happy to let the GOP win by throwing people like Weiner (and next month's Weiner, and the next, etc.) under the bus?
Better yet, are the Dems prepared to play "offense"?
I don't understand why they would want to take the risk of having him resign in the first place. Does New York 26 ring any bells?
NY26 flipped parties because the Republican candidate embraced the Ryan budget, not because of Chris Lee's photo of himself. He resigned too quick for that to really register. Weiner's camera problem has definitely registered, but even if he resigns, it's hard to imagine his district flipping. After all, any GOP candidate for that seat only has to be hammered on the Medicare issue, whether or not that candidate explicitly comes out in favor of the Ryan budget. That's toxic enough that the Republican party's support should be enough to tar any Republican candidate...provided that the Democrats really press their advantage.
It's a simple enough equation: Republican candidate + Ryan budget = Democratic victory.
Unless they know something we don't, I would agree that the matter is for his constituents. By election time, the whole matter will have faded. If Republicans try to use it on a national basis, they are opening themselves up for attacks because of Vitter. The issue will be relevant to his district and possibly New York. Outside of those areas, the issue is a nonstarter.
I would add that Anthony Weiner has a say in addition to his constituents regarding whether or not he remains a representative. We all have opinions. Only the relevant parties actually have a say.
I want Rep. Anthony Weiner to maintain his seat in Congress
I want Rep. Anthony Weiner not to have lied.
No one's perfect though, and no one gets everything they want either.
Should he resign? Perhaps. Will he? Perhaps. Either way, one of this country's strongest progressive leaders has taken a powerful and self-inflicted blow. I find it tragic.
We all have secrets and weaknesses and kinks we hope no one will ever find out about. Yet we continue to judge one another so harshly that the temptation to lie in order to avoid personal humiliation is gargantuan. What does that say about our society?
The lie is always worse than the transgression. The Black Eyed Peas kinda sum it up:
And I lie and I lie and I lie till there's no turning back
I don't know why, and I lie and I lie till I don't know who I am.
Nononono. DON'T LIE.
You are correct. Parents know that if they make the consequences for telling the truth worse than the actual offense, their children will lie every time. As fallible human beings, our first instinct is always self preservation.
Weiner. Sad. I have no sympathy because he should have known better. When one becomes a politician they must walk a straight line.
I totally disagree. Human beings screw up. And royally. Becoming a politician doesn't change this fact. Everyone *should* walk a straight line. No one gets it right. Public figures just get to be wrong in front of everybody. Judge not.
I agree Michele... I think the way to fix these kind of problems is to elect more women... hear of any women pols texting naughty pictures or showing up on Craigs list looking for love in all the wrong places?
Believe you me, women can and do engage in sundry self destructive, reckless, stupid behaviors. Women get no presumption of superior judgment from me. Human is as human does.
That said, in my personal experience women do *tend* toward more effective leadership, superior self control, and greater demonstrated ability in the critical analysis of complex issues. But these are thoroughly unscientific observations. The sample size it limited. The outlier data is all over the place. And some men are awesome, too. (Hi Dad!)
I'd like to see more women elected because women are egregiously under-represented in our bland tapestry of elected officials. White male entitlement is clearly the primary common thread in our political sex scandals. But since they have the majority of the *opportunity* that data is skewed, too.
Just sayin'. Ducking and running now in anticipation of the feminists here who are going to think I'm giving arrogant white men of privilege a free pass. #NotMyIntention
I think he has an addiction to cyber sex or whatever it's called. He made a mistake an then panicked. Life is really about how we respond to our (and other's) gaffes rather than the gaffes as they stand alone...for the most part.
The fact that he lied about it all, or was engaging in these activities (allegedly) while at work is certainly worth an ethical hearing.
It's interesting how hard core right wingers like to pounce on this and drudge up every sin in the past as if they are all squeaky clean . Cast the first stone much?
So Sure...all due respect...I'm not playing your game.
Whether he stays in office or not is a decision the voters should make (unless he violates some major rule that automatically and consistently gets people kicked out of office). When elected officials start calling for each other to resign, what's next? Calling for each other to shut up?
The job title is "representative." He represents the people in his district, and they should have the only voice in who represents them. If they want to elect, or re-elect, a creepy, icky, cyber-stalking, egotistical, self-important liar, that's their decision. If they want to elect the guy who works as a greeter at Walmart because they like his smile, that's their decision.
That's why I oppose laws on term limits. If people want to elect the same person over and over and over, let them! It's their decision.
And then we get the government we deserve. Unfortunately.
Oh I really really believe in term limits. Senate, one 6 year term.. Representatives 2 4 year terms. No life time pensions, insurance or other perks! Not so much time wasting taxpayer dollars running for office.
If you have term limits then they spend the little time they have in office not working for us but lining up which corporation or special interest group they will cash in with when they are out of office.
Limiting time in office is not the answer. Tighter controls on corporate and lobby cash might help.
You all should like this. And have your friends like it.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Support-Anthony-Weiner/125389590877586
Figures, democrats no one has ever heard of.
I've twittered this, but I'll elaborate.
Democrats have ALWAYS sucked at message discipline. When defending their own under such circumstances, Republicans are always "God forgives, its between him and his family, he's in our prayers, he shouldn't quit."
Now at this rather inopportune time Democrats finally get shark ethic: Eat the weak and the wounded. And there ain't no friend for Anthony to be found nowhere. Now that's disgusting! The Republicans can't be any worse as enemies than Democrats are to themselves.
I completely agree.I wish Dems would quit pussin out on things.Issues, people, ect. They could learn a few things from Weiner,grow some balls,and Man up. Instead they throw one of their own under the bus to take the spotlight off them and their Gop buddies. (Yes, I believe to a certain extent they are)It doesnt matter in ANYTHING what the will of the people is, they do what they want!
Okay, the feminists are gonna like me again...
DQ: Right on, as per usual...
Troy: Are you remotely aware of how big of a misogynist you are being here? I want to agree with you but I can't, because you don't even see that you live by the same male-superiority code as the dumbass, scandal-ridden male politicians. You seem nice enough, so I say this with all sincerity: rethink the way you think. Be a part of the solution and you won't feed the problem.
Not to worry. These traitors will change their tune once their own box shots and sex tapes surface... children such as these should never thrown stones in glass houses.
Haven't they learned anything from the Republicans? Rhetorical question.
As an old friend said yesterday, "It's a mighty hairy mess Wiener's gotten himself into, but I, for one, am hoping he can pull out of this sticky situation."
If the Dems run him out, that is it for me and the Democratic ticket! Obama resigning the Patriot act(more freedoms taken away),ect. I thought the Dems were going tom be different and change things. Stupid me.They want Weiner gone,(both sides) because he's a rabble-rouser that speaks the truth, and doesnt take anyones crap. He scares them on both sides. They want a go along to get along yes man. And Weiner is not. This is their excuse to get rid of him. FOR SHAME ON YOU DEMS!! This will be the last straw for me and the Democratic ticket. And will leave me NO ONE I would think about voting for. This country is going down the SH!%Hole, and nobody gives a rats ass. I AM ASHAMED!
DQ: Anti-intellectualism is the great stupid-cancer, devouring our society. Never forget that trolls love their own ideas more than any truth, logic, or pesky historical fact. Ironic the founding fathers are "embraced" by these people only because they have no idea what the founding fathers actually stood for.
And they're all turning like stuck pigs on spits in their graves right about now.
It is funny how the "strict constitutionalist" Tea Partiers all have laundry lists of how they want the constitution revised: revoke first amendment non-establishment clause so that freedom OF is not freedom FROM, strip freedom of religion from Islam, fourth amendment protections from racial and religious minorities, making peeing in a cup mandatory for every activity, stripping birthright citizenship, giving state rights supremacy over federal laws.
Truly, we must destroy the constitution in order to save it. Just like everything else.
"we must destroy the constitution in order to save it" is the Republican strategy in a nutshell.
Exactly...what is up with that?
I don't think – to a person anyway – they all know Constitution destruction is what they favor. I've had conversations with glassy-eyed Constitutional conservatives who are blissfully unaware of the sheer depths of their ignorance, and it scares me. A lot.
They have every right to their political opinions, even if they are anti-Constitutional opinions. We get to propose amendments precisely because something in there might be flawed. But I honestly suspect many of them have no idea the baseline for their beliefs doesn't constitutionally exist.
Did you see this tweet from Steve Benen yesterday? There's infatuation with your own opinions, and then there's saying untrue stuff that falsely substantiates your opinions and manufactures gravitas. The part that I find chilling is that I actually don't know for sure whether this guy realizes he spewed a bunch of total nonsense. Is he a lying, cynical, manipulator, or is he truly and hopelessly just that ignorant? I don't know which scenario is worse.
"Founding Fathers rejected evolution nearly 100 yrs *before* Darwin" http://bit.ly/ljIm0B
Mmmm
Remember that horrible, ridiculous, callous thing Eric Cantor said recently, something about how federal money could only go to Joplin if we could make some spending cuts. I think HE should resign. Priorities people! Let's get angry about the right things!
My wife and I are seriously considering moving to and gaining Canadian citizenship. This episode is just another of a long line of pushes in that direction.
This kind of thing goes on everywhere - including Canada. Look up the Tar Sands project in Alberta for a good dose of corrupt politics!
Uh, Buh Bye!
The Right understands the power of images. A news report that a representative's name is in a madam's black book is not as potent (pardon) as a picture of a bare chest or an erect p-. Allegations of infidelity are not as damning as the Starr Report's play by play of sex with a cigar (and the theater of loading 29 boxes into a truck).
I recall a story about lawyer (and McCarthy flack) Roy Cohn. He was representing a woman in a divorce case and she wanted something from the man which she was not entitled to. Cohn asked if there was anything she could shame him with. Turned out she had a pic of her doing oral sex on him. Cohn had the pic blown up to 6 feet, lat the man know it would be displayed in court. Man settled.