If Weiner's issue is privacy, why not defend his behavior from the start?

[loyalsister]

Seems to me that instead of going on a media tour with a bunch
of BS, he should have said: "yes it happened, it's my
private life, let's move on."
At least when Clinton lied he was on the defensive in front of
the camera so that it seemed to me to be a little more knee
jerk. What Weiner did by giving interviews in order to tell
that lie was more offensive to me.
I don't care what he does. I do care that his behavior and
refusal to be up front about are a drag on the party and our
agenda. It's worth remembering that one reason Joe Leiberman
was on Gore's ticket was because he was the first Democrat to
speak out against Clinton. Isn't it just what we need for
another RW Democrat to gain notoriety?
This kind of damage wrongly ripples. He knows how this story
goes and still dove in with colleagues and constituents tied
around his ankle.

[pnwmom]

1. Exactly. He scheduled those press conferences, he wasn't ambushed.

He planned the conferences and knew how he intended to lie.

On top of being a liar, he's an IDIOT. How he ever thought he could get away with the lying -- with all those pictures and texts out there -- is beyond me.

[loyalsister]

2. I'm expecting a sex\internet addiction defense

"addicts lie and it's part of the disease" I personally think he is just arrogant. Shame he can't use that to work in favor of progressives anymore. I am especially pissed to see him throw away his credibility because I used to like hearing him. Since he has shown such stupidity I want him to go away. Not necessarily resign but keep a low profile.

[Doctor Hurt]

3. cause he was embarassed, and wanted to cover it up.

That's what people do in this situation. It's pretty simple, really.

[loyalsister]

16. Scheduled lying seems different from a "deer in the headlights" lie

He had time to look at the facts and no doubt knew on some level how this would progress. He was around for Clinton's scandal.

[JDPriestly]

4. Moral smugness makes the inferior feel so superior. That's why

Republicans have so much to say about sexual morality. It's at least one area in which they can be proud of their boring, greedy little lives.

For most of us, it is pretty easy to at least keep up the appearance of being beyond reproach in our sex lives. This is especially true for me at the age of 68, wrinkles and all. Of course, I could go around pointing my finger and feeling so proud of myself for my sexual virtue, but what is the point.

Frankly, the country has more important problems. Our economy is falling apart. The rich are stealing from the poor. And our so-called democracy has been made a joke by Citizens United.

Meanwhile, Clarence Thomas failed to declare over $100,000 that he received from corporations via his wife.

It's easy to point fingers at other people's sexual eccentricities.

I want everyone who points a finger at Weiner's sex life and tweets to tell us all about their own sex lives. As long as we are putting one person in the stocks for his naughty (but harmless -- no one was so much as physically touched) behavior, let's all show what clean slates we are.

I used to have a job in which people told me all sorts of confidences about -- yes, their sex lives among other things. This is something I have not admitted on DU before. I can't tell you the context, but I will tell you that it opened my eyes and made me a lot more humble and a lot less judgmental about people's sex lives. You would be surprised at the number of married people who cannot abide the physical presence of their poor spouse. That, to me, is far more dishonest and far more condemnable than what Weiner was doing.

We all need to be loved. To tie another person up in a sham marriage is perhaps the greatest sexual wrong there is.

There but for the Grace of God go I. If you ever really found out what miserable sex lives many people have, you would keep that in mind and not post obnoxious, judgmental posts on DU. Have some compassion. Many of us are not as virtuous as those condemning Weiner.

[elocs]

5. It's also easy to point fingers at others' lies or screw-ups in an attempt to justify your own.

I could care less about Weiner's sex life or his stupidity concerning it. Lying is far, far different.

I notice the word "lie" does not appear in your post. Lots about sex though.

Maybe telling the truth is just not that important. Of course lying can be excused because we all know that "everybody lies".

[JDPriestly]

13. And everybody, no exceptions, lies about sex. That is something I have

learned through working in a position in which people told me about their sex lives. Everybody lies about sex. If they don't lie about what they do sexually, they lie about what they think sexually.

It's a small step from collecting pictures of movie stars as a teenaged girl to sex texting with a boyfriend. It goes forward from there, especially in a society in which even discussing sex is a taboo that we all enjoy breaking because of our emotional conflict between our natural sexual nature and the restraints on that nature that are necessary in our society. It is a conflict that probably cannot be resolved. So we lie about it. It's unfortunate, but you don't come home from a party and tell your spouse or significant other just how good looking you thought that guy you spent some time talking to really was. That's just not something that you do. That is also a lie of concealment. And there is nothing wrong with it. You do it to protects a relationship that means a lot to you. That good looking guy doesn't really mean anything to you.

It was improper for people to ask Weiner in a public venue about what he was doing. Someone close to him should have confronted him in private.

[pnwmom]

6. Why should we tell you anything about our sex lives? That is the whole point --

he should have kept his to himself -- but he was sending photos out to virtual strangers. What did he expect?

But this isn't about his sex life. He could have ended this whole scandal that very first conference by just laying the facts out and acknowledging his error in pushing the wrong button -- instead of trying to blame the whole thing on some sort of conspiracy.

It's about his lying, his stupidity, and his ego. We can do better in Congress, even if the Rethugs can't.

[loyalsister]

9. That's right

Everyone keeps asking why the Republicans who got busted are still there... Well, maybe because they admitted it or at least didn't book time with the press to lie, and the story died?
Seems like we have complained that the media was favoring them, when actually the story was just no longer interesting once the facts were left undisputed.

[JDPriestly]

12. And, of course, you have never lied about anything. Of course, you are perfect.

As am I, of course.

Weiner has the right stands on the policies, and he is one of the few in Congress who can speak well and strongly about his opinions.

I would put up with almost anything from Weiner because he has been straight on the issues that matter to me.

I could care less who he sends photos of his penis to. That is really not my concern. He doesn't pretend to the be the model of sexual purity. So what.

As for lying, you might be surprised at how you would actually react in front of the cameras.
He contacted a lawyer before "confessing." Wise of him.

[pnwmom]

14. He wasn't "reacting" before the cameras. He set-up the press conference.

He had plenty of time to plan what he was going to say -- to plan his lies, that is.

I'm not asking for him or anyone else to be perfect. But he lied for 10 days, asked someone else to lie for him, and blamed other people for what HE had done -- all because he had the idiotic idea that he could cover this up, even after sending all those photos and texts.

I think we deserve more from our Representatives.

[ljm2002]

7. Actual, Thomas failed to declare nearly $700,000...

...that his wife made from right wing sources over a few years. He just kept checking that box that said "No income", while continuing to rule on cases that benefited those organizations and therefore that benefited him and his wife financially.

But you will notice how carefully our media avoids mentioning that. Nope, nekkid penises are MUCH more relevant and Americans NEED to know so we can all get a case of the vapors. Why, the very IDEA that someone would do something like that! Over the INTERNET! (never mind that porn is a multi-billion market in this country, some of it purveyed by the very moralists who are trying to drag our country into a theocracy)

[loyalsister]

8. It's hard for me to put this into the more ordinary context

His responsibilities related to his behavior are beyond those of a married man. Those responsibilities are not sexual or personal, but honesty and credibility are essential to contribute effectively.
He has responsibilities to Democratic colleagues, the Democrativ party, progressive grass roots, not to mention his own constituents. He's in a tight spot, but it's too late to use his "truth to power" voice to defend his right to his privacy.

[JDPriestly]

11. Look, honesty about his personal life is the least of my concerns.

He is very honest about his policy stances. Obama, for example, is not. Obama pretended to be for the public option. The rest is history.

[loyalsister]

17. I appreciated his policy stances and voice

Trouble is that he has created a situation where if he speaks out on the floor now, people will just make jokes. He is now useless for progressive causes.

[JDPriestly]

20. The jokes will at least get him some attention and also some attention

to our point of view.

Limbaugh is a joke. So are half the folks on Fox. They get attention because everyone pokes fun at them -- but they get their messages across.

Weiner is a funny guy. That is what makes him effective. This is another joke about his name. He did not commit a crime as far as we can tell.

[customerserviceguy]

10. Let's not forget how he let himself be extorted by Breitbart

He put Breitbart up on that stage, and the only thing he got in return was a false promise not to release the really nasty stuff. I don't recall anyone else in any of the recent sex scandals who did something like that.

[loyalsister]

19. Yup

There's something to be said for being incompetent in handling a scandal due to a lack of experience. At the same time, it takes an extreme level of arrogance for a person to think they can beat it with personality or something. My main issue is the fact that it will influence congress and my political causes pisses me off.

[joshcryer]

15. Politicians, and increasingly normal people, never play their hand, never tell the truth.

It always bites you, being completely truthful always fucks you. I admit to some indiscretion and within hours I'm chided for it (and it'll follow me around the internet, too!), nevermind that I've admitted to it. It's the same thing in political life. The smart thing from a moral and ethical standpoint one could argue would be for Weiner to say, from day one, "those are my pictures, and I have had sext chats with various people over the years and shown 'em my junk." Ideally this would work out, people would overlook it, and things would move on, but the political and increasingly the social culture doesn't work that way. Had Weiner done that he'd still be looking at an ethics violation, bare minimum. Maybe the media would've moved on, but I don't see anything else taking up the slack (no disasters, no big political murders, no big terrorist acts, etc). Maybe the Arizona fires, but they're in the middle of wilderness with low populations so those probably would not have taken the news over. So basically it was a no win for Weiner.

I do still wish that he did it the moral and ethical way and came clean from the start, however.

Look at it this way, if you tell other politicians what you have going for a certain bill and they know beforehand that you're going to submit it, they can try to sabotage it. Look at the recent house bill where the House Republicans had to vote down their own bill. Had anyone squeeked, had anyone honestly told what they were going to do, then it wouldn't have gone down that way.

Lying is part of political life and it's one reason I don't run (I'm extremely clean as far as money / sexual scandals are involved, and could run in a heartbeat). Particularly lies of omission which I consider just as bad as outright lies, telling a constituent one thing while going on and neglecting to tell them something else. "Yeah, we'll fix that road..." omitting "...but we'll take the money to fix it out of your school funding." (Extremely simplified example.)

[RB TexLa]

18. Because people who ask questions about private matters and press for answers deserve to be lied to.

[Zax2me]

21. There were only cries of account 'hacked' from his defenders -

The first week.
I even saw 'proof' threads that he was hacked. Several of them.
It became a private issue only when he admitted he lied to everyone about everything.
I'm waiting for the new defense strategy after the underage girl stories are told.