June 7, 2011

I'm about to record a Bloggingheads on the Weiner thing.

What topics would you most like to hear discussed in real time?

55 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...

Me! Me! Me!

I'm being a dick today!

Jake said...

The tortured attempts to prove Breitbart and others attempted to frame him.

Anonymous said...

how about the lie he told DURING his admission. Does anyone really think the photo was sent as a "joke" as he stated?

ndspinelli said...

Honor. Asking dishonorable people to act honorably is like asking a blind person to paint. Please discuss how our culture; particularly our political/legal culture, has lost any sense of honor.

Fred4Pres said...

Channel Titus and discuss Weiner;s tits and his cock.

That will throw the person you are doing the Bloggingheads thing with.

Anonymous said...

His stereotyping of Jewish women as unusually unwilling to perform a certain sex act.

Daryl said...

The big question is whether anyone can prove Weiner sent inappropriate material to under-18s (or, even worse, induced them to send inappropriate material)

We know he used his Twitter account for flirting. We know he chose to follow pretty women (and girls) and very few other people. We know some of the girls he followed were under-18 and that they were crushing on him. For example, the coed (you know her name I don't need to repeat it)--Mr. Weiner sent a tweet about going on Rachel Maddow's show and said "that's 5:45 in Seattle I think" meaning that he was letting the coed know he was thinking about her. He wanted her to become a sexy picture friend.

At the press conference he admitted to "conversations" with "about six" women. First, "about six" is baloney--he knows exactly how many and does not need to estimate. He has had time to review his archives. Second, he did not include the coed in his six (because he sent the photo to her "as a joke"--he says they were not having sexy conversations, which appears to be true. I think he wanted her to become a sexy picture friend.)

What this means is, there are other woman than just the "about six" whom he sent dirty pictures to but who did not have sexy conversations with him. How many of those women were under 18?

That's almost the only question that matters.

Whether he used house resources in pursuing his affair is only relevant because (1) it's a way for the house to give him a slap on the wrist to show they disapprove; and (2) it's an excuse to open an investigation in order to find out whether he was sending lewd pictures to 16-year-olds.

That's the only career-ender--which means it's probably the only marriage-ender.

Daryl said...

And it goes without saying that I'm a deeply partisan right-wing hack so the only thing I care about is whether Weiner has to leave office--that's why I want you to talk about the age issue.

I think there was enough said at the press conference about the ages of the women involved that you would have material to discuss this subject.

tim maguire said...

I'm much more interested in the cover up than the crime and would like more of the aftermath focus to be on that. When he made his mistake, his first reaction was to slander a public company. Then he attacked journalists, then, when his supporters thought they identified the hacker, he did nothing to stop them from attacking him.

This has been a test of character and Weiner failed spectacularly. His MO throughout was to impugn the motives and character of innocent people and organizations for no better reason than to save his own guilty self.

Wannie said...

By what logic does Rep. Weiner (or any politician) separate personal integrity and morals from his constitutional duties? Really, Mr. Weiner? REALLY??

Anonymous said...

I am still surprised that no one in Washington seems the slightest bit concerned that the husband of the closest advisor to the Secretary of State has been a huge target for blackmail.

AllenS said...

Who are you doing the Bloggingheads with? Might make a difference on answering what questions should be asked. Is it going to be a Liberal wienie?

vet66 said...

The lack of values, ethics, and morality among politicians and their supporters. The only reason he apologized was because Breitbart had pictures yet to be released as "beyond the beyond!" Breitbart even threatened the media that if they didn't back off the women coming forth he would release the photos. The water carriers for Obama had better take heed.

The democratic party did not want to deal with this major distraction. Wasserman is being put to the test and Weiner is waiting for the call from Bill Clinton. Is this a gamechanger?

wv: marying-Weiner sexting!

The Crack Emcee said...

Alright - I was coming back to be stupid, but then I saw ndspinelli mention "honor" and then my obnoxiousness dropped away and I thought I'd give it to you straight:

Yes, mention honor, but talk about how the weenie said he didn't know what he was thinking as he was doing it. How much else didn't he know about? I mean, if he wasn't thinking clearly as he did this, then he wasn't thinking clearly to cover it either, and so on. Can he be trusted in public office? I don't think so. He's already admitted his mind gets away from him.

We live in a world where Lady GaGa has people sweeping her dressing rooms for spirits and Rhonda Byrne can become a millionaire (billionaire?) from "The Secret". Is that sane? How far do we let this madness go before the rest of us say stop? Is it unfair to think, if we allow these outward and very public forms of insanity go on, we shouldn't be surprised at the private nonsense that occurs in such an environment? Nobody stopped Oprah from pushing quackery, why should Hot Dog have thought there were limits? He was married? What does marriage mean in this environment?

There is an active part of this society determined to establish there are "no limits," but that also indicates there is no meaning, and - as such - even the persecution of Weiner is wrong because the man didn't come up in a vacuum:

This is all learned behavior - and he learned it from a cultural subset run amok.

Anonymous said...

How brazen of a lair he is to push back on the reporters with such chutzpah.

Beta Rube said...

I would love to hear a discussion about internet contact somehow counting as real sexual contact.

It seems online is replacing significant areas of traditional human interaction, and I wonder what the mindset is of someone who gets turned on by this type of artificial flirting.

In other words, when did f**king cease being f**king?

Patrick said...

I'd love to know how Weiner's defenders feel now, especially guys like Eric Boehert who really harangued Breitbart and stated outright that this was a set up. the guy is kinda quiet now..

Shouting Thomas said...

Let me know when you've posted the highlight reel.

Mary Beth said...

People are still defending his behavior. They support him because he does the "right" things politically and they say that Breitbart is a liar even if he was right this time. I've also read one suggestion that this was a honeypot trap set by some vague enemy.

The means justify the end.

traditionalguy said...

The ABC interview needs to be the highlight, because that reveals the Toxic Narcissist at work. Like the Loughner gunman that shot Gabby Giffords, this is not the Democrat Party's fault. It may be said to be the news media's fault for not vetting the mentally ill Dems better. Weiner did seem entitled to a soft ball interview.

clint said...

The coverup -- and the media's complicity. That's the big story here.

And the issue of his underage fans is certainly worth a mention.

(wv: orshutp -- Putp orshutp)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

he he he

Althouse said thing.

Anonymous said...

"I am still surprised that no one in Washington seems the slightest bit concerned that the husband of the closest advisor to the Secretary of State has been a huge target for blackmail."

And we have absolutely no assurances that he hasn't been being blackmailed.

His wife is Iranian, a Muslim and she lived most of her life in Saudi Arabia for Allah's sake. Are we not conducting three wars in Islamic countries?

The reason we don't have any assurances that he's not being blackmailed is because the fucking FBI refuses to do its job and investigate this entire matter and has been unwilling to do its job from the get. fucking go.

We need a new security agency that is willing to investigate Congressmen, because all the FBI is doing by refusing to investigate Mr. Weiner is helping him to cover it all up.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I really do hope they keep it short..

ah, nothing to do with the Weiner.

ok here it goes!

Weiner needs to resign so we can at long last get our common language back!

How about that?

Anonymous said...

"What topics would you most like to hear discussed?"

I'd like you to discuss how excellent your commenters are as a group. We predicted two weeks ago that Weiner was lying through his teeth and laid out the reasons why.

Lo and behold ... two weeks later? Vindication!

You read it here first!

Fen said...

How Weiner is open to a lawsuit from Facebook, Twitter and Breitbart.

In fact, Weiner falsely accused Breitbart of a federal crime. There should be consequences for that.

Lincolntf said...

The media and their willingness to run interference for creeps, criminals and kooks whenever there is a (D) next to his/her name. An entire culture that lies to themselves in order to justify lying to the rest of the country. It's sad, sick and pathetic.

chickelit said...

How about a discussion of the "hypocrisy defense"? link

Fen said...

Sitting Congressman loses classified files. Makes up story about how Althouse must have broken into his office and stolen them.

Would you let him get away with it?

The Dean is calling. He wants to know why you are stealing state secrets.

Anonymous said...

Media's reaction- why did anyone believe him; why attack Brietbart; does anyone owe Brietbart an apology (yes)

Criminal aspects: Weiner accused people of federal crimes, knowing that he was responsible- does he (should he) have to be responsible for this?

Hubris: Why did he think he could get away with this? Why does anyone think that this is a good idea? Are there congressmen doing this sort of thing and getting away with it all willy-nilly (hehe, willy)

Hypocracy: why is so frequently treated as the worst sin? He took marriage vows- doesn't that make him a hypocrite?

Is this harmless fun? Maybe this is more like looking at porn than cheating? (I don't think it is, but it would be an interesting discussion.)

- Lyssa

Anonymous said...

"Is this harmless fun? Maybe this is more like looking at porn than cheating?"

You can't ask a porn actress for her address, or to meet you at a restaurant.

This is not the same as porn, sorry.

These were live women who were expressing an interest in doing nasty, nasty things with a married man.

Men beat off. Part of our sex lives. Lots of women do too. Men watch porn. Lots of women do too. There's a multi-billion industry supporting this basic fact of human makeup.

But once you start down the trail of mutually masturbating other live people, that quickly devolves into meet ups to do it in the same room.

And then to bumping uglies.

Human nature.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find out in the next few days that Weiner was doing this with some underage girls and may have had some strange on the side we haven't found out about yet.

He's a very, very good liar. Just watch him in action.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, NevadaBob, porn is (or was when it was recorded) live people, too.

Crimso said...

What chickenlittle said at 8:51. Althouse, just a few days ago you made the assertion in a post that a Dem can't (or perhaps it was won't) be attacked over the morality issue because (unlike Repubs) they don't run on "family values." I vehemently disagree. That is of a piece with "Walker didn't campaign on union-busting," or George Costanza trying not to get fired for having sex with the custodian on his desk because nobody told him that was frowned on. What Weiner campaigned on is utterly irrelevant when one considers whether or not it is a good idea to have such a despicable liar and blackmail target sitting in Congress. While I've never sent photos to anyone in the context Weiner did (your welcome, world), I really don't care if consenting adults do such things. As always, the coverup is worse (and tells us much more) than the crime.

Irene said...

Why the powerful flirt with risk (Clinton, Spitzer, Sanford).

Anonymous said...

"To be fair, NevadaBob, porn is (or was when it was recorded) live people, too."

Yes, but what I mean is you can't have an interactive live conversation with the porn stars.

You can't say something like: "Man this feels so good. Let's do this in person. I'll be in your city on March 1 for a fundraiser. Meet me at Joe's Pub at 8pm."

With instant messaging, this is possible and is how Chris Hanson makes a very, very good living.

Anonymous said...

"Why do the powerful flirt with such risk ..."

They do not perceive it to be a risk in the first place.

Because for the most part, they get away with it for very, very long times. And the media wants to help them cover it up.

Eliot Spitzer didn't start out being a moron. He was very, very careful at the beginning to not get caught.

Once you get away with it for years and years and years, though, you get sloppy. Or just bad luck catches up with you. In Spitzer's case he can blame Osama bin Laden.

Spitzer's bank tripped him up because he was moving so much money around and banks suddenly were required to report suspicious transactions following the 9-11 terrorist attacks. He forgot about that or it didn't occur to him, and so that's how the Feds got on his trail.

He was laundering about $80,000 over the years though the banks. So they thought he was washing bribe money.

He never thought he'd be caught because for years and years he didn't get caught.

Same for Weiner. He'd been doing this for years. Never got caught. No reason to think he's going to get caught. And he believes the press will cover for him anyway even if he does get caught. And they did!

If it wasn't for one reporter - Dana Bash at CNN - this thing probably would have blown over.

Once he called that producer a jackass, though, it became personal.

Everybody knew he was lying because he claimed his accounts were hacked but he deliberately would NOT call the FBI and file a report because doing that is a felony. That fact pattern was very revealing, so really, it was only a matter of time before he had to fess up.

But he really believed there was no risk in this because for years and years he'd been conditioned to think that.

clint said...

nevadabob said...

"And we have absolutely no assurances that he hasn't been being blackmailed."

True. He certainly seems to have left himself open for that.

"His wife is Iranian, a Muslim and she lived most of her life in Saudi Arabia for Allah's sake. Are we not conducting three wars in Islamic countries?"

Um. Her father was Indian, not Iranian. You may be confused because he was a professor of Islamic studies.

An interesting background piece on her from three years ago: here.

I have to admit. If this were a novel, and I were writing it, I'd reject out of hand the notion of making her a spy -- because it would be too obvious. But then, real life isn't a novel.

Anonymous said...

"Her father was Indian, not Iranian. You may be confused because he was a professor of Islamic studies."

Point, taken.

And, for the record, I'm not suggesting that Huma is the spy. I am suggesting that she - in her position as Aide de Camp to the Secretary of State, is in possession of information she probably pillow talks with her husband about. And that this is information that a terrorist blackmailer or foreign government would be very, very interested in.

As I said, we have no reason to believe he wasn't already being blackmailed because the FBI is not on the case. We have absolutely no assurances that this Congressman hasn't been compromised for years and years.

There needs to be an official investigation of this man by the FBI.

Anonymous said...

the only thing I want to hear is he has resigned. maybe that will stop the endless discussions that I am very tired of

Fen said...

Sitting Congressman loses classified files. Makes up story about how Althouse must have broken into his office and stolen them.

Line 2 for you Professor.

FBI would like you to come and interview as a "person of interest".

At least now you understand why your neighbors were looking at you funny this AM when you left the house. And why your co-workers seem so awkward around you today.

[seriously, a congressman falsely accuses a journalist of a federal crime, and he's going to get away with it? who's next? Meade?]

William said...

There are scandals and there are scandals. Gov. Stanford's had a kind of Harlequin Romance quality. JFK's had such breadth, range, and depth that even now it takes the breath away. Those are the only two scandal laden men that I have heard women speak of sympathetically. (Clinton had his supporters, but they were his supporters before the scandal.)...I was just wondering if you can think of any other men whose reputation was actually enhanced by the passion or dignity or whatever with which they handled it.....In terms of sheer ineptitude, Weiner has set the benchmark for this kind of thing.

MikeR said...

I'd like to know what a Congressman "should" do and say in these circumstances. I'm assuming he doesn't want to resign. (I vote for a simple, No comment, repeated as needed.)

MadisonMan said...

The nothing-newness of this story?

Penny said...

Before you start, refamiliarize yourself with THIS Bloggingheads between Joshua Knobe and Ray Baumeister on "self control".

Every time a politician does something incredibly stupid, think Gore with the masseuse, Strauss-Kahn with the maid and now Wiener with his Twitter friends, I think about this Bloggingheads about self control being a scarce resource.

Actually, I think you did a blog post about this one under the banner of "Free Will".

For those of you who find Bloggingheads boring? Trust me, if you go back and listen to this, you will change your mind.

edutcher said...

How about should Breitbart really stick it to the little weasel and release The Photograph and ruin him completely? Also, if Breit knows anything more incriminating about his contact with underage girls, should he release that?

t-man said...

I am still surprised that no one in Washington seems the slightest bit concerned that the husband of the closest advisor to the Secretary of State has been a huge target for blackmail.

Hell, nobody was concerned when it was the husband of the SoS, back when she was FLOTUS, when he had been a target for blackmail.

Werehawk said...

If I'm not too late...

Why do people keep underestimating Andrew Breitbart is it because they don't like his ideological bent or for some other reason?

Cedarford said...

I would like a little less emphasis on "unfaithfulness" and a little more on Weiners week of flat out bellicose lying to media and his constituents.
He may be a perv, he may have lusted in his heart for others without physically consummating anything....
But......
This was a guy that was as camera-loving (read media whore) as Schumer and Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and John McCain. His credibility is shot as a bombastic liar. He has 10 years of interviews of him going over the top demanding resignations of top Republicans.
I think the deeper long term damage is not from females now obsessed with "unfaithfulness" and "how poor Huma feels" - but in Weiner being thought of as a little man full of shit everytime he opens his mouth - by the public and media that sat through a week of his strident lies.

Titus said...

his pecks.

Chip Ahoy said...

How Huma Abedin must feel now the attack dog she married is Andrew Breitbart's bitch.

Cedarford said...

edutcher - "Also, if Breit knows anything more incriminating about his contact with underage girls, should he release that?"

I don't think the "underage" fetish some US conservatives no have is a fruitful avenue for going after Weiner. You have to take things on face value. I watch a "Girls Go Wild" clip someday or look at an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue with some nudity on some page I rely on the posting "all models are over the age of 18, documentation available USC 2257, blah blah blah.

In Weiners case, they told him they were all over 18 and consenual about sexual flirtation. For all I know, edutcher portrays himself as an adult - but could be 16. So if Titus asks for a pic of edutchers "hog", edutcher sends it and later reveals he is not an adult..what exactly would Titus be guilty of???

The underaged "must prosecute!!" fetish often leads to really stupid actions. 16 year old girl arrested on felony child pornography charges for flashing her tits on Facebook. Guy arrested and demanded to plea to statutory rape and permanent dangerous sex offender status for being 20 and having a 17-year old GF.

edutcher said...

Not sure what Cedar is babbling about (maybe he thinks I'm Jewish?), but the issue of underage girls being flashed by Weiner was raised yesterday and could be a heavy rap for the little weasel.

Thorley Winston said...

A couple of things you may want to bring up:

1) The security risk – Weiner was the husband of the Secretary of State’s “body woman” and sat on the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Does anyone seriously think he wouldn’t be a ripe target for blackmail? At the very least, why is he still on this or any other House committee or sub-committee unless and until he’s been cleared of being a security risk?


2) Misuse of his employer’s property – we have confirmation from one woman that he used his office phone for sending inappropriate communications and it’s possible (even likely given his recklessness) that he may have his computer or other devices provided by his employer (i.e. the US taxpayer) to send obscene materials and messages. In the private sector and even the public sector (such as the SEC employees who got fired recently) this can cost you your job. So far, no one seems to have looked into the extent his misuse of taxpayer property which could also tell us if any laws were broken.


3) If any of the messages and content were sent to minors, what if any criminal charges could Weiner be facing?

Fen said...

The underaged "must prosecute!!" fetish often leads to really stupid actions.

Only if you are one of the little people. Elites like Weiner ger a pass.

Fen said...

The judge bought Lawrence Taylor's "I didn't know she was 16" defense, and let him plead guilty to avoid jail time. He's on probation for a long while and must register as a sex offender.

http://deadspin.com/5733571/oregon-fans-still-have-a-couple-things-going-for-them

Trooper York said...

Jeeez you guys are really reaching.
What makes you think Hummus and Weiner ever shared a pillow?

Seriously dude. Sharpen up.