Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt >>You've lied in your lifetime. I have in mine. Hopefully not about stuff like this. Yes, there are degrees to honesty; it's nothing like "a little pregnant."<< ecdc, this kind of reasonable logic goes against the way many of us were raised. That is, most of us were probably taught two things: there is only right and there is wrong. It's a whole lot easier to be judgmental when you see everything in black and white, and the level of condemnation and ridicule Weiner's facing in the media and in Washington over this has crossed into the territory of hypocrisy.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt No. I'm not joking. These are my actual opinions. Do you have to be so obnoxious?
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "No. I'm not joking. These are my actual opinions. Do you have to be so obnoxious?" You know Hans, I've gone out of my way not to make this personal towards any poster here because this thread has seen some people who don't normally agree side with each other and vice versa. If you find me obnoxious, then let's hope you really meant my viewpoint, because that's really where that little segment of this better end. "You've lied in your lifetime. I have in mine. Hopefully not about stuff like this. Yes, there are degrees to honesty; it's nothing like "a little pregnant." Ah, but it is. This is our disconnect. Sure, we've all lied. But I can guarantee I've never lied publicly about anything while holding an elected office about something like this while simultaneously flying in the face of reality and much evidence. That's the distinction for me. Moreover, I arrive at my conclusions honestly and based on my own experiences. Doing what I've done for a living since 1978, there's no other way of looking at it. I can't remember the last time I lied. Dishonesty has no degrees. What one is dishonest about can have more weight than another thing, like stealing clothes to stealing a car to embezzling millions, or slapping someone on the face to breaking their jaw to shooting them in the head, or stealing a kiss from someone other than your wife to getting oral sex from that person to having intercourse with them, but whether I lied about the clothes or lied about the sex, there just isn't any difference, I didn't tell the truth about it.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "If you find me obnoxious, then let's hope you really meant my viewpoint, because that's really where that little segment of this better end." Better end? That sounds like a threat. Why be so uncivil? Once again I'm scratching my head as to why I bother posting in this section of LP. Goodbye.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Better end? That sounds like a threat. Why be so uncivil? Once again I'm scratching my head as to why I bother posting in this section of LP. Goodbye." Oh, for heaven's sake. You seem to WANT to be insulted. Have at it.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Someone can be a liar in one area of their life and honest in another ---- I think that's actually exactly the part some of us are having a hard time agreeing with. I look at it that if one is willing to stand up on TV and say he is innocent because it is in his best interst politically to do so....then he is willing to compromise most else as well. let's look at two things we already know-- he is willing to look past his marriage and I assume lied to his wife about this also -- and is willing to put his political career ahead of the truth. that's 2 strikes. None of us likely know more than that but the house bet is that there is more and it doesn't just stop at wife and public.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 and I'm willing to bet more coming soon. as you know people are scurrying to uncover whatever else they can now-- I don't like the way it surfaced- but now that is has I am unwilling to ignore it as well.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Interesting talk here in NY that may not have filtered out to the rest of you over the past day or so: Talk is that Weiner is (at least for now) holding fast to the seat and not resigning. NY is losing two congressional seats before the 2012 elections. Because the state Senate is controlled by Republicans, and the Assembly (house equivalent) by the Democrats, probably they'll agree to redistrict to redraw the lines of the district of one sitting Republican and one sitting Democrat. And because there's always a city/upstate dichotomy in NY state politics, and because most GOP seats are upstate, that means that they'll probably cut the GOP seat upstate, BUT even though the city gained in population and the population loss was upstate, they'll leave the Dem. upstate districts alone, and re-draw the city Dem. district. Now whose district do you suppose they might mess with now? That's the thinking, anyway, and for sure the OTHER city Democrats would throw Weiner under the bus in a second if it meant that their districts would be left alone. This essentially allows the Democrats to re-district Weiner out of his seat, and the question of which city Democrat would draw the short straw has gone from "tough dilemma" to "no brainer," at least for now. You heard it here first, folks. Unless Weiner does something major to rehabilitate his image somehow, he probably won't be able to hang on to his seat even if he insists on it, as his seat as we know it will probably disappear.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Do you know how hard it is for a former Jungle Cruise skipper to ignore all of the potential jokes that could come from this whole Weiner situation? I applaud myself for keeping it civil.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I think that's actually exactly the part some of us are having a hard time agreeing with.<< Fair enough, but I guess I don't understand why. The proof is all around us - this is human nature. Case-in-point: I'm a supporter of the Innocence Project that works to get wrongly convicted people released from prison. You read enough about this stuff and you learn very quickly that innocent people lie. They lie all the time out of embarrassment, fear of being misunderstood, etc. Ed Smart had nothing to do with his daughter Elizabeth's kidnapping and disappearance; he lied to the police and temporarily planted suspicion on himself. Why? Because he was embarrassed at the gay porn on his computer. The most important thing he could've done is tell the police the truth to help them find his missing daughter. He lied anyway because he was ashamed and fearful of his family's reaction. This is how humans behave; we have emotions that cloud our judgment. We evolved this way. We expect consistency from others but do not behave that way ourselves. We're better off trying to understand it than simply condemning it.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 If I lied at work about something important, I would expect that losing my job would be a very possible consequence. Don't civil servants take intergrity oaths ? that is what I apply to this situation. I agree- almost everyone lies at one time or another I think most of us understand there can be potential consequences each time...
Originally Posted By mele <<Ed Smart had nothing to do with his daughter Elizabeth's kidnapping and disappearance; he lied to the police and temporarily planted suspicion on himself. Why? Because he was embarrassed at the gay porn on his computer.>> Wow, how did I miss this tidbit?
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin I'm not making this up...on CNN.com one of the breaking stories is Weiner Calls Clinton.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>If I lied at work about something important, I would expect that losing my job would be a very possible consequence.<< And I'm with you there. I've gone from thinking he need not resign to leaning that he probably should. Much as it might sound like it, I'm not arguing for a consequence-free world, live and let live, etc. I'm no hippie (celebrated bin Laden's death, remember...) I'm probably just waxing too philosophical about human behavior because it fascinates me. Anthony Weiner is not an idiot. He is not a dumb guy and he's a very capable, compassionate person. And yet...here we are. How does that happen? The question makes me tick, and the answer is more than he's just an idiot.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<'m not making this up...on CNN.com one of the breaking stories is Weiner Calls Clinton.>> Which Clinton?
Originally Posted By mele Did anyone here post that Weiner and his wife are expecting? This alone makes me think the guy is a turd. His poor wife should be ecstatic but, no, she's dealing with this crap. She doesn't even have the option of deciding to have an abortion because of how public this is. (Definitely NOT saying she SHOULD or would...just that she has to deal with this in front of the world.)
Originally Posted By Mr X One interesting aspect of the human nature angle (and it's interesting you bring this stuff up EC because it's fascinating to me) is the fact that when it comes to such in-the-spotlight sort of rich and famous people, we the unwashed masses really can't know what life is like for them. I mentioned this before when Tiger Woods got caught with his pants down. Not that I condone it, I do not. However, I have no clue the sorts of temptations a famous handsome billionaire goes through on a daily basis. He literally had gorgeous women throwing themselves at him at all times. Of course, this congressman is small potatoes compared to someone like Tiger, but even so when you read those messages one thing is clear. Aside from his geeky horndog routine (which was gross and pathetic), when you read what the chick wrote to him she was stroking his ego BIGTIME and it was clear she was all into having a "celebrity" for a BFF/secret boyfriend. She pushed ALL the right buttons, and beyond the fact that he was married and lied (two wrongs, obviously) what guy among us wouldn't be flattered and intrigued by a mysterious vixen talking about how awesome you are. Just sayin...again, this is not a message of support by any means. Just commenting on human nature and the nature of today's 24/7 "celebrity" status that gets conveyed on people at the drop of a hat and ripped away just as quickly. As my Grandma used to say, I've lived too long.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost OK, but what number of brain cells have to be missing, when you are in the public eye and do this stupid crap anyway. Does the ego step in and say...I'll never get caught? Heck, I am almost certain that nobody would care if I sent nude photo's of myself to every woman in America. It wouldn't even be a column inch (I'm talking about paper space here) in any newspaper. Still, I wouldn't be stupid enough to do it out of fear that someone might use it against me. What are they thinking???
Originally Posted By Mr X ***OK, but what number of brain cells have to be missing, when you are in the public eye and do this stupid crap anyway*** Oh, I agree completely. Particularly in this case, he always came off as a smart guy to me but to put a bunch of horny filth ONLINE...that's just plain idiotic really.
