It seems like only a week has gone since I first learned of the unwelcome protrusion on Anthony Weiner’s Twitter feed.
From the beginning, I was of two minds.
My first piece on the matter relayed an anecdote that showed Weiner’s adolescent obsession with female pulchritude and his capability for using his office in pursuit of orifice, but the sheer ludicrousness of the story, together with my being hi-tech challenged, my deep respect for the presumption of innocence, and my tendency to not come to a conclusion before the evidence was in, combined to keep me from drawing the proper conclusions.
And through the week, I bounced back and forth, initially giving Weiner more benefit of the doubt than even due process merited,:
In other Phallacious News, the right is now criticizing Weiner for not taking his being hacked seriously enough. » Gennette Nicole on Pic Tweeted from Rep. Weiner’s Account – Big Government biggovernment.com
And they may be right (far right), because no matter how hard (perhaps not the best choice of words) I try to take this story seriously, all I can do is make more pee pee jokes.
Weiner's frat boy style made him an ideal target for such a prank (if that is what is was), but also made him the ideal one to fight such an onslaught. For Rep. Anthony Weiner, Twitter Has Double Edge www.nytimes.com
At the same time, there was always my underlying feeling that something in Weiner’s personality gave this allegation some credibility:
A poll on Weiner's attributes.
Luckily there's a large enough percentage of the population with actual knowledge for the sample to be statistically accurate. #Weinergate Poll: Does photo show Congressman Weiner? dailycaller.com
It soon became apparent that even the best case scenario for Weiner was pretty bad:
In Weiner's defense, it is entirely credible that he did not post the shot, but that such pictures do exist, and that there is a women out there in possession of such a picture who hates him enough now to have shared the shot with others.
And if that is the case, there are surely others with other pictures and just as much malice, and we have barely seen the tip (perhaps not the best choice of words) of the Weiner. Rep. Anthony Weiner 'can’t say with certitude' photo isn't him – Jennifer Epstein www.politico.com
Skip to near the end and learn about Anthony Weiner, the “cheesy” hotdog. Meanwhile, Back on Capitol Hill … | Politics | Vanity Fair www.vanityfair.com
Chuck Berry, world's keenest political observer, on one particular "Brown Eyed Handsome Man":
"Hey, there! Anthony boy, why are you in such a rush?
The girl she wanna talk to you,
Look at him he's-a blush." Chuck Berry – Anthony Boy 45 rpm! www.youtube.com
Unintentionally funny quote of the week:
Fidler on Weiner retaining counsel:
“In this gotcha mentality in the world, you do some things prophylactically to make sure.”
I define "prophylactic" as something used to give a schmuck some cover. The ‘Mouth’ goes mute! Weiner humbled in Twitter underwear scandal www.brooklynpaper.com
Since my last Gateway piece, the postings concerning Weiner on my Facebook page have virtually abandoned any caveats whatsoever:
Lucky for Weiner he lives in New YorkRick Scott, Republican Florida governor, signs bill that bans students from wearing sagging pants www.nydailynews.com
Has Weiner gone flaccid? Weiner’s Vanishing Act Highlights Lack Of Comeback Plan www.cityhallnews.com
Stopping such silliness seems like perfect crusade for Congressman Weiner (who’s surely proven that circumcision does not negatively impact male sexual desire). In California, Efforts to Ban Circumcision Gain Momentum
The new registration is on the pile with the unpaid parking tickets.
Rep. Anthony Weiner's car is registered in New York but way out of date www.nydailynews.com
His problem was so little, but it just kept on getting larger. He may or may not be a show-er, but he sure is a grow-er. The brief on Rep. Anthony Weiner www.washingtonpost.com
So today did not catch me totally by surprise.
But, my G-d, he even took a Christopher Lee shot.
Despite all my caveats, Domestic Partner is clearly correct that she was right, while Dybbuk and I were wrong to hedge our bets. DP sat by her computer all night gloating while sharing every new detail:
"Have you seen the pictures? He has a very nice pillow and two very handsome cats.Gatemouth, I told you, you are married to a very smart woman, and you are such a naive schmuck."
She was right, yet, in a way, I was already on record well in advance of anyone else.
Behold, this 2006 Daily Politics thread, which contains several prescient Gate observations about southern Brooklyn’s two most beleaguered elected officials, during what were presumably happier times:
BEN SMITH: Brooklyn Democrats are buzzing today about a confrontation Thursday night at a dinner for 41st Assembly District pols in south Brooklyn.
The combatants were Rep. Anthony Weiner and State Senator Carl Kruger, and witnesses saw the Congressman get right up in Kruger's formidable grill. Apparently impolite language was used.
And…not to beg and plead but … anybody got a picture?
GATE: Don't know why Weiner yelled at Kruger and don't really care; my only objection is that he didn't slug him. Kruger should be buried up to his neck in horse dung, and beaten senseless with a baseball bat three times a day until he comes out of the closet and admits he's a Republican. If the Democrats ever gain control of the Senate, they'd better do it by more than one vote or Kruger will conference with the Republicans, but he won't ever have the cojones to actually change his party enrollment. Carl Kruger; the RuPaul of the Democratic Party. For when ugly, nasty, reactionary and completely lacking in charm aren't enough.
Rock Hackshaw: Please let Chuck Barron know that if he is willing and able to enact my Kruger fantasy described above into reality (for mental health reasons, of course), I'll back him for Congress.
ANON: Is Weiner gay?
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Weiner’s opponents have spread those rumors for as nearly as long as they’ve spread the false rumor that he’s half Italian]
GATE: If Weiner is gay, he's made the most valiant effort at disguising it ever attempted by any pol.
Unlike, say, another pol who's combated such rumors for years by having a Community Board DM beard for him. Ironically, that pol is so ugly, nasty, reactionary and lacking in charm that there's no possibly way he could be gay; if he was gay he would be a living rebuttal to the concept of "Queer Guy". And, anyway, what man could possibly want to sleep with him?
I find this sad for a number of reasons.
First, it is too soon after Shirley Sherrod to allow Andrew Breitbart to re-enter polite society (to the limited extent he ever dwelled there).
Then there is the local reason.
As I noted after the Mayoral 2009 election:
“…there is a lot of dissatisfaction from other quarters, not all of them liberal. To try to carve out a middle class existence in a City like New York is a constant battle in which residents often feel besieged by forces seemingly intent upon driving them to embark upon a suburban existence. Some of those forces are beyond the realm of government to even impact upon. But some, like the multiple and manifold forms of taxation by summons, are enough to drive even the City’s most ardent lovers into the arms of another.
I hate Rudy Giuliani liker poison, but he is, in living memory, the Mayor of New York who best understood this phenomena. In this regard, Bloomberg is the Mayor who most does not get it. It is why even worthy proposals of his like Congestion Pricing so drive middle class outer borough New Yorkers out of their minds.
There is a out there a great seething resentment, not all of it rational, but much of it quite on the mark, for the sort of clueless lack of concern over this legitimate frustration. And for many, Bloomberg is its personification. In fact, the perception that there is nothing to be done about Bloomberg only fuels the fury of those so afflicted. I think the secret of Thompson’s good showing was, that unlike the local press, Thompson understood all this extremely well.
The problem was that this phenomenon was strongest in our local equivalent of the “red states,” and as Barack Obama has discovered, the fact that people in places like Arkansas and Louisiana have large populations in need of health insurance does not make those people more likely to support a black man who may actually be sensitive to their concerns. Bill Thompson did far better in our local “red states” than anyone expected, but there was a point which he could not get beyond.
Perhaps the winner needed to be a Weiner.”
As I’ve noted, I think Weiner gets this better than any other potential Democratic Mayoral candidate for 2013. For those of us who this message speaks to, we have lost our best spokeperson.
Then there is the national reason.
In the face of the Hochul victory, Democrats were on a roll (no pun intended), with a message that people were finally buying.
Then Weiner sucked the air out of the room, and the fire has gone out.
Further, Weiner‘s fall deprives the Party of one of its best political combatants.
As a spokesman on any issue, Weiner is now less than useless–he’s a detriment.
I have two suggestions.
The first is that he serve out his term.
The second is that he not run again.
Let me explain.
While Weiner is often portrayed as Chuck Schumer’s “mini-me,” it’s more complicated than that.
Chuck’s political progeny, who I call “The Chicklets” come in two distinct flavors, each embodying one distinct side of the Schumer aura. .
There are the cerebral policy wonks like Former Councilman David Yassky and Former Assemblyman Dan Feldman, both Ivy Leaguers and former Schumer staffers, who when they held office were thoughtful intellectuals and workhorses rather than show horses.
Then there are the borsht belt publicity hounds, like Weiner, who are pure id and schtick.
When .Weiner beat Feldman for Congress, I came up with the mathematical formula for Anthony Weiner:
Chuck Schumer minus Dan Feldman = Anthony Weiner.
Show horses serve a useful purpose, and Weiner, a great television presence, served it better than most.
Granted, it was often self serving.
When left wing whining over Health Care Reform helped cost Democrats Ted Kenendy’s Senate seat, it might have been useful if Weiner, who surely knew better, stopped feeding the fantasy that Harry Reid could force Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson to engage in the old fashioned form of filibuster as trial by endurance–even though it has been decades since the Senate rules provided for any such thing. Every time some idiot or opportunist made such a nonsensical proclamation, the damage done got multiplied exponentially over the Netroots and MSNBC.
But generally Weiner served a very useful purpose with flying colors.
But, as I’ve noted Weiner’s usefulness is at an end.
Perhaps if Weiner represented a safe seat in a state not losing seats he could recede for a few years onto a back bench, and bide his time until the bad taste went away.
But Weiner represents a marginal seat in a state losing representation.
As I was probably the first to point out, Weiner’s district is no longer that strong for the Democrats, and the demographic trends are heading south (as in Red State). To the extent it was not marginal, it was because of Weiner's personal popularity, which I submit has been squandered.
Republicans have now noticed. As I noted on my Facebook page this weekend:
What amazes me is that every article, whether left or right, opining on Weiner's strength or weakness in his district, fails to account that such a district, to the extent it still exists, will have different lines come next election. Besides that, the article overstates His 2010 GOP opponent’s vote (39%) by 2 points.
Fact is Turner's vote illustrates not his strength, but his weakness. In the far worse GOP year of 2008, John McCain got 44%.
If the GOP wants to get serious about this seat, it needs a real candidate, not their version of a Steve Harrison. GOP foe weighs rematch www.nypost.com
With New York losing two seats, someone downstate has got to go.
Weiner’s going would eliminate a weak link and calm party infighting over redistricting to a very large degree.
But he should not resign, no matter how great the pressure. He's hurt the Democratic Party enough, and should refrain from doing it any additional damage.
Weiner's resigning would could additional damage.
A resignation would lead to a special election under the worst circumstances (resignation by scandal and the Obama/Israel controversy at its hottest) with a strong Republican who has nothing to lose by running (Councilman Eric Ulrich); even a Democratic victory would lead to nothing but another ass to seat when some of the chairs are being removed.
Weiner is apparently not guilty of any crime but idiocy and lack of impulse control. He should quietly take a seat on a back bench for the next year and a half, shut his mouth, cast his votes, and quietly decline to play in this year’s game of musical chairs.
He will make a great MSNBC commentator.