NYC Letter: EMWTK* -- Weiner World, Taking The Absence Cure

Day 877 of CHOPE

Sadly, the Internet is the predator's venue of choice today. We need to update our strategies and our laws to stop these offenders who are a mere click away from our children.

Anthony "Incertitude" Weiner (D-NY, 9th),
under his "Tough On Crime" rubric, bragging on
H.R.719, "KIDS Act of 2007"
No dateline (weiner.house.gov)

[Hat tip: Joe at ¡No Pasarán!]

We forewent posting on Weiner World yesterday. Everyone needs an occasional break from the will-he-won't-he world of Anthony Weiner. As of this writing it's "won't", as in "won't resign", but that's become a secondary detail amidst new important, embarrassing developments.

BUFF TO PUFF
At Least He's Dressed

JUDGEMENT DAY: WEINER'S WIFE RETURNS HOME
TO CONFRONT ERRANT HUSBAND AS NEW IMAGES EMERGE
SHOWING CONGRESSMAN CROSS DRESSING AND 'OILED UP'

June 15, 2011 (Daily Mail) - Beleaguered congressman Anthony Weiner is set to face his humiliated wife Huma Abedin after she arrived at the family home in Washington home earlier today. ... Her arrival comes as a fresh set of images emerged demonstrating the shamed congressman's early appetite for exhibitionism as a cross-dressing teenager.

... The National Enquirer pictures show Weiner protectively posing in a pair of pantihose and a bra as he smiles cheekily at the camera. In another photo an oiled Weiner poses in y-fronted swimming trunks in front of a Christmas tree. The pictures, taken by a college friend in 1982 when he was 18, demonstrate Weiner's reputation at the State University of Plattsburgh as a flamboyant figure.

Hurrying to get her 5 minutes of Weiner World fame, porn star & policy dilettante Ginger Lee talks to the press.

PORN STAR GINGER LEE TALKS
ABOUT REP. ANTHONY WEINER:
‘HE ASKED ME TO LIE’

June 15, 2011 (Mediaite) - A dancer and sometime porn star, Ginger Lee, spoke out for the first time today about her Twitter relationship with Rep. Anthony Weiner, telling a news conference that Weiner "should resign" and that Weiner instructed her on how to handle the media, saying "he asked me to lie."

... Lee says her relationship via Twitter and in some hundred or so emails began about politics, and she insists she rebuffed the congressman’s efforts to turn the conversation to sex.

Ah-um. She's a porn star. Earlier she tweeted, "I want to have sexual relations with Anthony Weiner." And, "You're the only Weiner I need." [Pause.] Perhaps Ms. Lee has mistaken "rebuff" for getting naked twice.

The undeniable fun of Weiner World is anticipating just how bizarre it will get.

Meanwhile the intrepid Demo House caucus -- many key members of which had made little splashes sputtering for Mr. Weiner to resign (though not everyone) -- convened and adjourned taking no party action against Mr. Weiner. The caucus leader, Nancy "Speaker No More" Pelosi (D-CA, 8th), emerged and before the press again demanded Mr. Weiner resign.

NANCY PELOSI EXPLAINS TO CAUCUS
WHY WEINER HAS TO GO

June 14, 2011 (TPM) - Emerging from her first meeting with the Democratic caucus since calling for Rep. Anthony Weiner's resignation, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters that she used the gathering to explain her decision to cut him off. Ms. Pelosi:

I'm never prouder of my colleagues than in times of challenge like this, that our caucus understands our concern for the rights of the individual member but our higher responsibility to our country to uphold a high ethical standard in the Congress of the United States.

What high ethical standard Ms. Pelosi refers to we are not certain. It is certainly not the high ethical standard that drove Charles Rangel (D-NY, 15th) or Barney Frank (D-MA, 4th) from office. Nor is it the high ethical standard yet to be applied to Maxine Waters (D-CA, 35th).

Nonetheless the caucus inflated Ms. Pelosi with pride by its collegiality and professionalism:

The renewed effort comes even as some of Weiner’s closest friends in the House are criticizing Democratic colleagues for piling on. Those tensions spilled out in a private Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday when New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell laid out his views on the right and wrong ways to handle allegations of wrongdoing by a member of the caucus. He said he understands the need for certain Democrats — party leaders and those whose reelections could be affected by the scandal — to call on Weiner to resign, but then, by implication, scolded Pennsylvania Rep. Allyson Schwartz for jumping ahead of leadership last week when she told POLITICO that Weiner should step down and followed up with a round of national television interviews.

“He was upset that some of the members of our caucus, prior to the leadership acting, had acted in their own right,” said a senior Democratic aide who attended the meeting, which had dwindled to between 10 and 15 lawmakers by the time the fireworks launched. An emotional exchange among Pascrell, Pelosi, Schwartz and a handful of other lawmakers ensued. ... Asked his opinion by Pelosi, Massachusetts Rep. Michael Capuano told the room, "I’m just here to make sure that Anthony doesn’t get railroaded." ... It grew so heated that many lawmakers left the meeting voluntarily, and aides were kicked out to try to prevent leaks.

Meanwhile at an undisclosed location:

CONGRESSMAN WEINER IN TREATMENT
AT AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
WASHINGTON June 14, 2011 (KTRE9/AP)

OK. Treatment for what? Being a jerk? Is that treatable? If so why are there so many jerks?

James Taranto at the WSJ asks:

CAN HETEROSEXUALITY BE CURED?
June 13, 2011 (BOTWT/WSJ)

That, of course, is more therapy than Mr. Weiner seeks. He just wants a little off the sides.

IN REHAB NATION, SIN BECOMES ADDICTION

OP-ED June 14, 2011 (WaPo) - Didn’t you know, from the moment the story broke, that New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner would end up checking himself in somewhere? ... But whether or not Weiner manages to hang on, the episode underscores how rehab has become an all-purpose laundromat for irresponsible behavior, an infuriatingly easy substitute for accepting blame and living with consequences.

... “This is not something that can be treated away,” Weiner said at his tearful news conference. One excruciating week later, Weiner was, yes, getting it treated away. The congressman, his spokeswoman said, “has determined that he needs this time to get healthy.” Excuse me, but this isn’t about Weiner’s health; it’s about his shameful behavior.

And that, dear gossip sponge, is the heart of the public matter. Dennis Prager at Townhall makes the argument for shame alone:

The point -- the whole point -- is the effect of what he did on the United States House of Representatives and on the country as a whole, especially young people.

There is a simple way to prove this. Let us imagine that some congressman had walked onto the House floor in his underwear. I think it is fair to assume that just about every Democrat and Republican in the country would demand his resignation. But why? That action is not illegal, and it certainly does not constitute a form of infidelity to his wife.

The reason people would demand his resignation is that such behavior disgraced the House of Representatives. That is the issue here. When a member of Congress sends pictures of his penis to women around the country, he has demeaned Congress.

... I cannot think of a single event that symbolizes the decline of American society -- and especially of its liberal elite -- as much as Weiner's actions and his retention of his seat in Congress.

... It is almost surreal. ... Salon's Joan Walsh on MSNBC: "You can't accuse him of hypocrisy; he's not a family values moralizer. You can't accuse him yet of breaking the law."

... New York Times editorial, June 6: "Mr. Weiner says he will not resign, and there is no evidence yet that he broke the law or abused the resources of his office. He said the computer and BlackBerry that he used were his own, not issued by the government."

If you ever need to show someone how low liberalism has sunk in our lifetime, just show him this New York Times editorial. A congressman sends photos of his genitalia to women he doesn't know, and The New York Times doesn't think he should resign unless the BlackBerry he used was issued by the government.

It is quaint to think a nation that abides desecration as protected political speech** can still manage a little indignation for the wounded institutional dignity of Congress. It doesn't have the force of law, only the moral force of shame. [Pause.] And that can be treated at an undisclosed location.

CHOPE.

The high ethical standard of political expediency.

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* EMWTK = Enquiring Minds Want To Know.

** Thank you. Yes, we are aware that this is The Onion.

Posted by Damian at June 16, 2011 07:15 AM