The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!

Posted on | June 4, 2011 | 33 Comments

Luke Broadwater of the Baltimore Sun really wanted to believe Anthony Weiner was innocent . . .

But then I heard Weiner start to explain himself and everything changed. The more he talked, the more it became obvious that not only is the photo of him, but he sent it. . . .
“I think this is one of the worst public relations strategies regarding an embarrassing event for a public figure that I have witnessed,” writes Towson University communications professor Richard Vatz in an email about Weiner’s press interactions. “It is obviously a picture of him, taken for a possible variety of reasons, but his inelegant warding off of the inquiries should have instead been a refusal to engage the issue. That would not have solved the problem, but it would have lessened the humiliating spectacle which exacerbates his problems.” . . .
Weiner says he doesn’t want the police to investigate and tries to make the case that it would be a waste of federal dollars. (Let’s not forget that police are already paid salaries to investigate crimes.) The only reason that makes any sense why he doesn’t want the police to investigate is because he’s afraid they would find out that he sent the tweet and that his hacker claim is a lie. If he was truly hacked and publicly humiliated by a political opponent, he would want that person brought to justice.

Via AOSHQ Headlines. To explain the headline, for kids too young to remember when Doonesbury was funny:

And today’s Washington Post headline:

Who had the worst week in Washington?
With certitude, Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Don’t you feel sorry for the guy’s wife? The New York Post:

Rep. Anthony Weiner’s humiliated wife sheepishly showed her face at a Washington event yesterday, keeping a stiff upper lip amid the swirling scandal surrounding her husband’s tawdry Twitter photo.
Huma Abedin, 34, briefly hesitated at the State Department ballroom door before working up the courage to go in — but she left after just five minutes and steered clear of her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“Seriously, an investigation? Your penis didn’t rob the Bellagio.”

UPDATE: Lisa Graas has a theory, but doesn’t link my blog. Dan Collins has no theories, but does link my blog and, even though Dan’s name isn’t “Ace,” the name of the game here is Link My Blog.

So Dan wins that round, if you’re keeping score at home.

UPDATE II: Lisa Graas has now updated to link me, so she is now even with Dan “I’m Not Ace” Collins. Meanwhile, I’m also linked at King Shamus and POH Diaries — thanks!

UPDATE III: Now that we’re caught up on the Link My Blog game, let’s take a look at some other blogs, shall we?

Ladd Ehlinger Jr. scored an online interview with Dan Wolfe (a/k/a “PatriotUSA76”) whose anti-Weiner obsession explains why he was the first to re-Tweet the now-infamous crotch-shot.

The Smoking Gun has the goods on “GoatsRed,” who was ping-ponging anti-Weiner items on Twitter with PatriotUSA76. Let’s see: Foul-mouthed porn-forum moderator, twice bankrupt, IRS liens, domestic-violence rap sheet . . . .

Well, OK. And this is relevant how?

  1. You gotta be careful who you trust on the Internet; and
  2. People are wrong to think they can maintain multiple identities online, while engaging in atrocious online behavior, and that none of this can ever be connected to their real-life selves.

But this says nothing about the facts of the case in regard to whether Anthony Weiner’s been sending photos of his junk online, except perhaps that Weiner’s supporters are obsessed with the two Twitter users who busted Weiner.

UPDATE IV: It’s kind of weird that the three Weiner threads today on Memeorandum — here, here and here — are scattered up and down the page, rather than aggregated together. Memeorandum is basically run by an algorithmic formula, and I’m not sure what this odd pattern shows about how bloggers are aggregating the story. But I thought I’d point it out.

UPDATE V: Associated Press:

“Weiner Exposed.” “Weiner’s Pickle.” “Battle of the Bulge.”
Those were some of the tabloid headlines lampooning Rep. Anthony Weiner as he struggled to explain how a photo of a man’s crotch had been posted to his Twitter account. The normally media-savvy New York Democrat squandered his chance to make it right with a cringe-inducing TV blitz that raised more questions than it answered.
It’s a surprising turn for the pugnacious 46-year old Brooklyn native, who until this mess was widely seen as one of the smartest members of Congress.

“Surprising”? Maybe “ironic” would be a better word, but when you think about it, how often do smart guys turn out to be a lot less smart than they seem to be? Being smart, they become arrogant, then they start thinking the rules don’t apply to them and  then — bingo! — it all falls apart.

Isn’t that what happened to John Edwards, for example?

UPDATE VI: Linked by Dave C. and Republican Redefined — thanks!

Category: Anthony Weiner, Congress, New York, Scandal

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