Glenn Foden/Townhall.comWow- so much schadenfreude in this one, I'm not sure where to start.
Apparently at some point over the Memorial Day weekend, an alert Twitter user had discovered that Congressman Anthony Weiner (D- NY9) sent a message from his official account that contained a blurry snapshot of what appeared to a closeup of somebody in their underwear with an erection. The image was apparently intended for a Seattle-area coed identified as Genette Nicole Cordova who followed Weiner's twitter account [on top of everything else, the image was apparently sent to Cordova unsolicited- NANESB!].
I'll spare NANESB readers the widely circulated image of Weiner's namesake and instead post an image of the attractive college student Wiener had sent the picture to via Twitter.
The strident and bombastic liberal Congressman representing parts of Queens and Brooklyn immediately denied any wrongdoing and followed up his claims of innocence with what would have to be categorized as the world's most perplexing series of damage-control interviews with a normally adoring and compliant media.
Even by the most objective standards, Weiner's behavior was bizarre, vague, combative and evasive when faced with simple and direct questions as to whether or not it was his crotch in the picture or whether or not his account was hacked (which would require the involvement of the FBI if that were the case) as he had earlier claimed. Liberal bloggers and groups such as the Daily Kos, Media Matters and Little Green Footballs unquestioningly and reflexively swallowed Weiner's version of events, with the latter fabricating some bizzaro-world CSI-style forensic proof that Weiner's Twitter account had definitively been hacked, implying that certain conservative bloggers and pundits had arranged exactly such a scenario.
Things took an even more bizarre turn on Monday when Congressman Weiner announced a press conference for 4PM ET in New York. However, while the assembled media was waiting for the Congressman to appear, conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart took to the podium to announce that more women who had been 'sexted' by Congressman Weiner had come forward with even racier pictures. During a 10 minute back and forth with reporters, Breitbart demanded an apology from the Congressman and the various media outlets and bloggers who had claimed Breitbart himself was behind the hacking.
Weiner's appearance at his own press conference was basically an afterthought, but he tearfully confessed to sending sexually explicit messages and photos to various women both before and after his marriage to Huma Abedin in addition to lying about his account being hacked before apologizing to his wife, Breitbart and his constituents [altho' it seemed more like he was sorry he got caught more than anything else- NANESB!].
However, he also said at the press conference that he didn't intend to resign even though House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Damascus) formally requested an ethics probe of Weiner's conduct [which means we'll likely be seing more of the words 'Weiner' and 'probe' together in the same sentence in the foreseeable future- NANESB!].
While Weiner's Congressional seat may be relatively safe for the near-term, the scandal has all but assured that Weiner's mayoral ambitions will remain unfulfilled. But that's only as long as there's a seat for him to hold on to- the State of New York is set to lose three congressional seats through redistricting before 2012. There's an outside chance that Wiener's district could be one of the ones that ceases to exist.
That said, there's a case to be made that both Democrats and Republicans might benefit from Weiner remaining in office. The Democrats might rally around him on general principle, or he could serve as a distraction for their abysmal handling of the deficit, jobs, entitlement reform, the budget and the economy. Heading into the 2012 election cycle, Republicans could benefit from the skeevy, loudmouth, obnoxious and duplicitous Congressman continuing to serve- protected thanks in large part to his party's elite- being held up as an example of the prototypical democrat.
To be honest, I thought the Congressman was a vile, contemptible human being long before it was known that he was texting images of his junk to girls 25 years his junior. Among the more recent examples was his pom-pom shaking for 0bamacare back in 2009 before requesting a waiver from the Department of Health & Human Services for all five boroughs of New York City earlier this year- a move that many saw as an indicator for his preparing to run for mayor of New York City.
Weiner is also infamous for racking up in excess of $2000 worth of parking tickets in Washington D.C.- a fine he only recently paid off when New York City media outlets caught wind of the story. With the scrutiny he's come under because of 'Weinergate', it also was learned that the Congressman apparently hasn't renewed his vehicle's registration since 2007.
Aside from the execrable Weiner, I must also confess that I'm enjoying seeing the Congressman's unthinking defenders in the progressive blogosphere fall flat on their face after a week of furious spinning, over the top conspiracy theories and baseless accusations. To quote Ace of Spades, its as though some of them have decided to 'double down on the stupid and wrong' if not try and change the topic altogether.
Stick around, though. This summer's just getting started and that's the best time of the year for a good old-fashioned Weiner roast.
[Hat tip- Ace of Spades, Big Government, Leg-gal In-sur-rec-tion, Lonely Conservative, Diary of Daedalus]
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