Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Rep. Anthony Weiner is admitting that he tweeted that photo last week to a woman in Seattle as a "joke."> Is this new as of today? Because earlier he said it was a "prank" or "joke" played by someone else ON him. <it's just tiring to think we just accept this kind of behavior. If he's lie about this he'll lie about anything.> I've never quite bought that, regardless of party. It just seems to me that a lot of guys lie about sex while otherwise being honest and ethical in every other area. Some are unethical elsewhere too, but seriously - I can think of a couple of guys I know personally just off the top of my head who are very above-board and in one case EXTREMELY honest in business, say (he called our attention to a mistake we missed and never would have caught, saving us lots of money and "costing" him, when he could easily have let it slide)... yet dishonest about sex/lying to their wives etc. I don't think they necessarily go together; some guys just seem to "think with their other head" and compartmentalize when it comes to sex, and are dishonest in this one area but not elsewhere.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "...it's just tiring to think we just accept this kind of behavior." Do we? It seems as though the opposite is true - at least in politics. "If he's lie about this he'll lie about anything." All politicians lie. In this case Weiner lied because people aren't very tolerant of this sort of thing. If they were then he would have just admitted it and moved on. Again, I still don't understand why any of this matters. Why should I care that this guy is sexting some woman that isn't his wife and then lied about it?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Is this new as of today? Because earlier he said it was a "prank" or "joke" played by someone else ON him" Yep. <a href="http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/06/weiner-to-speak-to-media-this-afternoon/" target="_blank">http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011...ternoon/</a>
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I think he handled the press conference with class. He is going to be villifed...and he certainly opened himself up to it but we all want politicians and other public figures to face the music and you have to hand it to him. It is a good reminder to everyone about the power and the pitfalls of the online world.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt ^^ The man definitely lacked good judgement. I'm more concerned about that than I am about his morals.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Again, I still don't understand why any of this matters. Why should I care that this guy is sexting some woman that isn't his wife and then lied about it? --- because if he'd lie about that- he'll lie about budgetary items, investigations - people lives etc.. really I don't get this tolerance thing for this kind of crapola.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox I doubt this will hurt his political career. New York's 9th District is very liberal; Weiner won in Nov 2010 by 61%. He did have aspirations for NYC Mayor in 2013, but I don't know if he'll actually run now. But if he decides to continue serving in the House, he'll continue to win, regardless of how many times he tweets his Johnson.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^ as said before 1/ poor judgement 2/ willingness to lie about anything -- not good when they are making decisions that affect our lives...
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <because if he'd lie about that- he'll lie about budgetary items, investigations > I just don't buy that. Sometimes they'll go together, but not necessarily. My guess is that this ends his mayoral ambitions. He could well continue on as a congressman, but any ambitions towards the leadership will have to put on hold for at least a couple of years, and then they'd have to test the waters. Hell, David Vitter got re-elected after admitting to using hookers (after initially lying about it). If Weiner's transgressions were all online and not in-person, he can probably survive this.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "because if he'd lie about that- he'll lie about budgetary items, investigations - people lives etc.. really I don't get this tolerance thing for this kind of crapola." I don't buy that. In fact, it doesn't make logical sense. I do believe though that most politicians lie, or at least cover up the truth when they deem it necessary. The flip flopping on policy issues that happens on a regular basis is in some instances nothing more than lying. Right or wrong lying seems to be a part of the game of politics.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<because if he'd lie about that- he'll lie about budgetary items, investigations - people lives etc>> That is not necessarily true. Lying about sex doesn't always equal lying about other aspects of one's life. That goes for both Republicans and Democrats. That being said... why is it when conservative Republicans get caught and admit to lying and ask for forgiveness, they get a free pass. Liberal Democrats don't get a free pass when they fess up and apologize. Why is that?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 he'll likely survive because the bar is set so low no one can limbo under it. but it would have been refreshing to actually admit it up front - don't you think. Anything electronic- it's not like the truth wasn't going to come out anyway - so actually very stupid to lie.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt It was stupid. But so is tweeting pictures of your junk to a stranger.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox I believe the lying was born from panic. Even really good people have done this. Panic and the anxiety that flows from it really messes up your ability to think clearly.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<^^ The man definitely lacked good judgement. I'm more concerned about that than I am about his morals.>> EXACTLY!! Anyone in the post-Clinton era has got to know the he WILL be found out and that there will hell to pay when it happens. The guy's morals don't really bother me. What bothers me is that his judgment was so poor that he let his little brain override his big brain.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <really messes up your ability to think clearly.> So does using your little brain.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 It was stupid. But so is tweeting pictures of your junk to a stranger. --- probably even sadder yes- and the sign of other issues -- this one is poor judgement period.made larger due to denying it up front.
