Saturday Massacre: Pelosi, Israel, Wasserman Schultz call for Weiner to resign

[Meeker]

I seriously doubt Weiner has ever actually logged on to his twitter or facebook account. Probably his press secretary or some press intern is in charge of that.

Nah, he's got a feed that's pretty clear he does it himself. The boring feeds featuring numerous tweets like "Check out this new video update about my farm bill!" are the ones run by staffers.

[Meeker]

The girl issues a statement:

The last 36 hours have been the most confusing, anxiety-ridden hours of my life. I've watched in sheer disbelief as my name, age, location, links to any social networking site I've ever used, my old phone numbers and pictures have been passed along from stranger to stranger....

I have seen myself labeled as the "Femme Fatale of Weinergate," "Anthony Weiner's 21-year-old coed mistress" and "the self-proclaimed girlfriend of Anthony Weiner."...

I am a 21-year-old college student from Seattle. I have never met Congressman Weiner, though I am a fan. I go to school in Bellingham where I spend all of my time; I've never been to New York or to DC. The point I am trying to make is that, contrary to the impression that I apparently gave from my tweet, I am not his girlfriend. Nor am I the wife, girlfriend or mistress of Barack Obama, Ray Allen or Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the fact that I have made similar assertions about them via Twitter.

There have never been any inappropriate exchanges between Anthony Weiner and myself, including the tweet/picture in question, which had apparently been deleted before it reached me. I cannot answer the questions that I do not have the answers to. I am not sure whether or not this letter will alleviate any future harassment. I also do not have a clear understanding as to how or why exactly I am involved in this fiasco. I do know that my life has been seriously impacted by speculation and faulty allegations. My reputation has been called into question by those who lack the character to report the facts.

[Meeker]

It's time for him to resign like every other New York politician with any ounce of decency has in the aftermath of a sex scandal. If redistricting keeps the district heavily White and Jewish to accommodate minority groups in Brooklyn, then he seriously risks the Democrats losing this seat when they shouldn't.

What?!  Are we living in the age of the Scarlet Letter?  How do arrive at the conclusion that a sex scandal has taken place?  Who had sex with who?  Who was trying to have sex with who?  Do you know what sex is?

No one has proven that Chris Lee cheated on his spouse sexually, but he resigned under much less public controversy and scrutiny.

The way Lee resigned so quickly, IMO anyway, made it seem like there was a lot more to the story that he didn't want anyone to uncover.

Right - and there was. The details about him seeking out transexuals never went national because he resigned quickly enough that the national media stopped covering it before that came to light.

[Meeker]

That the tweet linking to Weiner's picture was in his feed is not at all in dispute.

But that he sent it out is.

There's no proof that he didn't, and if Weiner truly thought the vast right-wing conspiracy hacked into his twitter account and sent the photo, Weiner would have had no problem asking the FBI or Capitol Police to investigate.  That he didn't and continues to not directly answer questions pretty much tells you everything any rational person needs to know.

The simplest explanation is almost always the correct one.

Guilty until proven innocent, eh? Garrow is rolling over in his grave...

[Meeker]

Great, now I'm not going to be able to do anything of a sexual nature for a solid week.

Oh, so it'll be just like any other week for you.

[Meeker]

Smart move. If he gets this out of the way now in three or four years no one is going to remember this except nasty Republican bloggers who bring it up when they write a post about him.

He's young; he can run for NYC Mayor in 2017 or whenever.

[Meeker]

Apparently Breitbart has shown up at the press conference and is at the podium taking questions

[Meeker]

Seriously, why is this even an issue? Nothing illegal was done

If he were under 18, he would be charged with child porn and be registered a sex offender. Funny how being older and having a cushy congressional job is like a get out of jail free card.

Uh, having a cushy congressional job has absolutely nothing to do with it. He's not under 18.

Mmhmm, anyone else with a normal job that was caught with photos like that online would totally still get to keep their job as well.

There are thousands if not millions of people out there who have pictures like that on the Internet and still have jobs.

[Meeker]

If his wife is pregnant, that's good reason for the media and others to stop harping on it. I don't care for certain politicians, but I really wouldn't want to see anyone personally destroyed from anything like this. Rather he leaves office or not, it really needs to be be dropped, the Medicare debate is far more important.

Of course.  We must stop discussing of Weinergate "for the children."  It's always "for the children" - the argument of that's the last refuge for a scoundrel like Weiner, I mean.

You know how Weiner can make Weinergate go away for good?  Resign and get out of the spotlight.

I'm curious - do you think David Vitter should have resigned as well?

[Meeker]

I think this story is a great example of how media has change and how the internet has disrupted the ability of the Democrats and the media to bury and/or plant a story.

In 1960 if CBC had run something equivalent to the 2004 Dan Ra^ther fabrications and forgeries about Bush, there would have been nothing anybody could have done about it - there was no offsetting megaphone to expose the bias and yellow journalism and get it into the  public consciousness, but in 2004 Drudge, and talk radio were, able to expose the forgery for what it was.

In 2011 with the Weiner matter, originally the media and the Dems tried to bury it - and in 1960 it would have stayed buried (just like all of JFK's affairs were) - Fortunately, in 2011 there are many ways to spread the word.

The twitter revolution from Egypt seems to have crossed the pond.................

You're entirely correct except for your implication that burying scandals is something only Democrats have tried to do.