Weiner has addiction problems beyond adultery. You can't tell me this is normal.

[dkf]

Weiner's pattern: Political admirers became online pursuits

It was nearly 9 p.m. on a Friday when Cordova, who was preparing to head out for the night with a friend, logged onto Twitter and discovered that Rep. Anthony Weiner had sent her a suggestive photo of himself in gray boxer briefs.

"It didn't make any sense," Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in northwestern Washington state, said in her first extensive interview since Weiner confessed in a news conference Monday to sending her the photo. "I figured it must have been a fake."

Cordova's experience with Weiner appears to fit a pattern: In rapid and reckless fashion, he sought to transform informal online conversations about politics and policy into sexually charged exchanges, often laced with racy language and explicit images.

Cordova, who had text-messaged with Weiner, a New York Democrat, about their shared concern over his conservative critics, said she had never sent Weiner anything provocative. Asked if she was taken aback by Weiner's decision to send the photo, she responded, "Oh gosh, yes."

http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_18234352?nclick_check=1

[meow mix]

1. without help he'll be at it again, if not already..

needs to resign

[Kingofalldems]

7. Looks like he is begging for help---how reckless and disrespectful

He has to resign.

[Mugweed]

2. What the hell is normal these days?

I can point out much stranger things that seem pretty commonplace in our current times. Really, what do you think people did with Polaroid Instamatic cameras a few decades ago? This is nothing new or unusual.

[dkf]

3. When is the last time you did this here or got something like this from someone here?

[HipChick]

5. I get it all the time...I just either delete the person

or block them

[dkf]

12. No kidding. Interesting.

[FLPanhandle]

13. Whoa. DU'ers send you unsolicited pictures of their penises?

And this happens all the time!?!

I hope you report them and their accounts are deleted. Wow.

[butterfly77]

73. I know people who...

get them weekly(sexting/texting). I have seen many.(No I haven't recieved any) I have a friend who recieves them daily and she gets upset because so many people keep sending them to her,I know other people who have shown me naked pics of many types of people.

This is nothing new Chris Matthews,Rendell,Ed and many others seem to not know what is really out there. Many who are pretending outrage know about it and practice it themselves. Many who are outraged are really outraged.

Some can't believe this has been going on for years because they have just become familiar with the internet in the past few years. The teens in this country have been doing it for years so who do they really think they are hiding it from or protecting.

There as so many other things I have seen on the Internet that have outraged me for years and I couldn't believe that this country would let go on but I have been desensitized I guess to it because it is getting no better. For those who watched Phil Donahue,years ago I know there were many subjects that outraged people at that time. Those things are `10 times as bad now.

I have seen people showing there asses all over the internet and it ain't pretty in many cases.

[Warren DeMontague]

76. I miss the good old days, when people would photocopy their butt at the office

then they could distribute it to maybe 50 people, tops.


Sorry, I just don't think folks sending nude pics of each other rises to the level of societal crisis.

[butterfly77]

79. I agree..

[KittyWampus]

16. You get crotch shots and overt sexual banter? Yikes.

[HipChick]

23. Junk Pics? I find it juvenile...I don't click on them

Women are not interested in pics of your junk..

[Warren DeMontague]

77. They just haven't seen the right junk. Women LOVE my junk.

[liberal N proud]

8. Normal is conditional

If you are like me and my friends you are normal, otherwise you might not be.

What one group defines as normal would be abnormal by another group. So find your group that accepts your normal and fit in.

Don't be defined by someone else normal.

[KittyWampus]

15. So if Weiner decided to send a pix to a 16 year old girl who looked 20 in her online pix?

[formernaderite]

17. exactly..

think how nervous it would make a young girl if a congressman in a position of power sent them this. She doesn't know what he knows about her, or what he wants.

[HipChick]

25. People use fake photo's, fake accounts all the time..there is no verification process..

[KittyWampus]

32. Exactly. And Weiner better hope he didn't make that mistake. We don't know if he did.

Saying to the police "she looked 20 in her photo" doesn't cut it. And when this gets to a House investigation, the Republicans WILL be going through every tweet and phone call.

[PeaceNikki]

42. Then why the fuck didn't Weiner do this?

Oh right, that would cramp his style of USING his respected position to troll for ladies.

[HipChick]

44. that's the part I don't understand...it's like he wanted to be caught..

[dkf]

56. I'm guessing he likes the adulation.

That is why he sends pics of his face so they know it's him.

[DevonRex]

47. Exactly. That's why bartenders have to check IDs. It's hard to tell

if a person is 16 or 25.

[snooper2]

45. Give me three things stranger than an elected official

sending pictures of his erect cock around to random people?


ready, start, GO!

[sabrina 1]

65. Lying about war

Instituting torture as a policy

Rewarding torturers with medals of freedom

Rewarding with a trillion dollars, the corrupt criminals who raided this country's treasury.

Not holding those who commit war crimes, accountable.

I could go on and your priorities may be different from mine. But I regard the rape and torture of detainees as a crime and find it incredibly strange to say the least, that not one of those in Congress who are reaching for the smelling salts over Weiner, find any of these crimes worthy even of investigation.

A also find it very strange for this president to say we 'need to move on' from those crimes while someone engaging in sexual activity requires an ethics hearing.

[snooper2]

83. That isn't strange,shit likethat happens all the time..

I'm talking like, our Bichon Frise trying to hump the HUGH German Shephard we are watching...

try again...

[dionysus]

86. creativity points for managing to cry about obama in a weiner thread.

[JVS]

67. Polaroid was a boon to dirty pictures.

I remember walking down the street once a long time ago and seeing the unmistakable back of a polaroid pic on the sidewalk in front of me. Picked it up. Picture of some guy's junk.

[hack89]

92. He can be "normal" as a private citizen

is it asking to much for our elected officials to refrain from such antics?

[HipChick]

4. It's much more widespread than people think...

[emulatorloo]

18. +1. Hopefully one lesson from this to people is don't put pics out on the internet

that you don't want to catch up with you later.

[seabeyond]

i am aware of the issue. i have been listening as i see marriages break up

and people effected. why i dont do well when people tell me it is "normal". i have seen the pain and chaos and problem it creates.

[HipChick]

39. Agree..facebook 'friends' have been causing much martial discord

[quinnox]

6. Oh heck, he probably looks at porn on the internet too

Let me tell you, most guys do. Its not that big of a secret.

[liberal N proud]

9. And here I was trying to keep a secret from my wife

:rofl:

[sasha031]

10. i agree, there is some kind of compulsive disorder

his brother who passed away had a problem with alcohol, maybe there is some kind of connection.
I hope he gets the help he needs, once he is on the other side he will be stronger for it.

There is a little bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us.

If you asked Weiner why he did it, he may not be able to come up with a sensible answer because he doesn't know. The desperate attempt to cover his tracks at the last minute was probably based in deep shame.

In a perfect world he would be looked upon with compassion not contempt.

[KittyWampus]

24. What a beautiful post.

[sasha031]

35. thank you, I just can't help having empathy for Weiner, although I'm pissed also

if you look at what his beliefs are and his voting record, you can't help but see underneath it all he is a good soul.

Who should truly be judged are the ones on the right, who without hesitation would take food out of the mouths of children in order to give massive tax breaks to their billionaire friends.

[leveymg]

11. Indict Clarence Thomas

[Wind Dancer]

49. Thank you!

:applause:

[KittyWampus]

14. Totally agree. It's treatable. And understandable. Most DU'e'rs probably have some form of addiction

For most of us, it's mundane- coffee, DU, shopping.

But most of us don't have addictions that are so utterly self destructive and potentially so offensive. Or illegal.

[Booster]

19. And so stupid. A 13 yr old would know better.

[NorthCarolina]

20. LOL....the cons sure do get active when they smell liberal blood in the water. nt

[rubberducky]

21. Adultery? Are you serious??

If you consider this adultery then half the men I work with would be guilty. Some of the pics seem over the top,but adultery??

[dkf]

26. Adultery is consensual. Sending unsolicited crotch pics is something else.

If its so normal when is the last time you did it?

[HipChick]

29. Did the women say stop...block him or unfollow?

Doesn't look like it..they participated in it..they aren't 'victims'

[KittyWampus]

31. The woman who got the crotch shot (that started this whole thing) didn't ask for it.

Someone just posted a more recent statement from her.

[HipChick]

34. People normally don't..but that's the way the medium works..

Someone tweets you..there's link..someone chats with you in Facebook..there's a link..I think the problem is people don't understand how the technology works..there is no soliciting per say

someone tweeted a full front pic of themselves on their FB feed..I can see it..others can see it.. no one requested it..if people are offended they can report it..

[LoZoccolo]

41. "People normally don't..but that's the way the medium works.."

[dkf]

40. This woman didn't. Frankly she didn't have time since it exploded pretty fast.

What is weird is his stalkers seemed to know something about this. They were warning the women Weiner followed on twitter.

[frylock]

69. uhhhhh... you may want to peep this before you go blaming the victim..

Gennette Cordova said she did not even think the photo was real.

It was nearly 9 p.m. on a Friday when Ms. Cordova, who was preparing to head out for the night with a friend, logged onto Twitter and discovered that Representative Anthony D. Weiner had sent her a suggestive photo of himself in gray boxer briefs.

“It didn’t make any sense,” Ms. Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in northwestern Washington State, said in her first extensive interview since Mr. Weiner confessed in a news conference Monday to sending her the photo. “I figured it must have been a fake.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/nyregion/weiners-pattern-turning-political-admirers-into-online-pursuits.html?_r=1

[rubberducky]

37. Maybe I feel differently than you cuz I`m just a factory rat, but when we recieved the free

computers, through our jobs, an awful lot of the men I worked with went nuts. Would some of them sent pics? Probably. The puritan mentality just bugs me. We just seem to feel differently, agree to disagree. BTW, no I`ve never sent nude pics, but if I was younger?? I would never say never.

[HipChick]

43. That's you...but I've personally seen very many men do this..

at one company I worked at, I was able to see all the network traffic..I'm not standing up for Weiner ...but it seems to be very common..

[KittyWampus]

48. Interesting perspective. I have never had a job in the office space.

[HipChick]

58. I've been in IT for 20yrs..stupidity doesn't surprize me....when it comes to stuff like this

[snooper2]

54. More detail, so you saw all the network traffic...

What data layer are you talking about?

did you look at all the payload data? Just looking at TCP traffic? Where you running everything through a protocol analyzer?

[lumberjack_jeff]

57. I also think it's safe to say that adultery involves sex.

What has consent to do with the issue? Is it frustrating that you can't take the next hyperbolic step past adultery and call it rape?

One of the things that frustrates me most about people is their tendency to take anything they don't like and describe it using the worst word in that category. Therefore, eating a hamburger = murder. Sex = rape. Listening to a song = stealing. Disagreement = assault.

[TwilightGardener]

22. For him to send a picture of his junk to someone with whom he has

NO kind of relationship, sexual or otherwise, is actually very creepy, stalkerish, and isn't really any different than a perv in a trench coat who exposes himself to random victims.

[RoadRage]

27. +1000

[Stuckinthebush]

33. Nice analogy

I haven't thought of it like that but you are correct. It's the 21st century mode of flashing. He did it for his excitement and never thought about the effect on others. What a freak. I was mad before but this really pisses me off.

Thanks for that analogy.

[deacon]

36. I agree. And, in this case he wasn't even sure they were old enough. Off the wall. n/t

[DevonRex]

55. Someone here called him an e-flasher. Nt

[cbdo2007]

28. It's more obsessive compulsive disorder than addiction.

So don't expect him to get much sympathy for this illness here at DU.

[notesdev]

30. For politicians this is perfectly normal

Getting caught at it is what is not normal

[DainBramaged]

38. So what, work to get Diaper Boy Vitter to resign first

[dkf]

51. I haven't called for him to resign.

I just wonder if those who are defending him know what is going on.

[bluestate10]

80. You constantly change the subject. People have called for Vitter

to resign. Vitter ignores those calls, like Weiner is doing. Both of them should resign, hopefully on the same day.

[hobbit709]

46. so you are qualified to make an online diagnosis like Dr. Frist.

[lumberjack_jeff]

50. "Beyond"? Show us some adultery, then we'll talk about the problems beyond that.

So much hyperbole.

[Sinistrous]

52. The only important fact to come out of this whole fiasco is:

The republicans and their traitorous cabal have taken out another top tier Democrat who was making trouble for them.

We are all poorer and less free and less safe due to this.

[frylock]

70. weiner took himself out of the game

[bluestate10]

81. Exactly!! nt

[Sinistrous]

84. You need to to review the timeline of this.

[frylock]

85. did weiner send the pic or not?

he's admitted that, yes, he did. any other "timeline" is completely irrelevant.

did breitbart fake the photo? NO.
did breitbart FORCE weiner to upload the picture? NO.
is breitbart scum? YES.

[Sinistrous]

87. Is that a private matter or not?

[LatteLibertine]

53. The Broussard girl

made it sound like AW was stalking her, then she admits to sending him "PG-13" photos and says she doesn't want them to come out during an investigation. My guess is they're more than "PG-13" in her case.

[The Midway Rebel]

59. Oh, My. God. That man is a horn dog!

Where are my pearls when I need them.

[ladjf]

60. I believe that Freud would have considered this type of immature

exhibitionism to be a case of arrested development. This is most definitely not adult sexual behavior.

[Bozita]

61. I've got your normal ... right here

[Bluebear]

82. lol

[LanternWaste]

62. I've been lectured time and time again..

I've been lectured time and time again that when it comes to sexual preferences, "normal" is too subjective a word to be validly used.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

63. I wonder if he had so many balls in the air, he didn't know which woman

was whom, and how far he had gotten with them.

[meow mix]

66. +rec..

"half a dozen" sounds pretty bad lol

[JVS]

78. If only he'd had a staffer to keep track.

[Rex]

64. I wouldn't try, you've already made up your mind on Weiner.

So what would be the point?

[arbusto_baboso]

68. And so you're a counselor or therapist now?

Please. :eyes:

[Cali_Democrat]

71. This is very strange

I hope he gets the help he needs.

[krabigirl]

72. I think the media has an addiction problem too. Addiction to churning out tabloid crap.

[Warren DeMontague]

74. poor judgment, bad relationship sense, even being a horny adulterer isnt 'addiction'

'addiction' is a real physiological syndrome that happens to people in conjunction, basically, with a relatively short list of psychoactive substances- we cheapen both the concept of addiction and the complexity of the human animal when we label every naughty, inconvenient, or even obnoxious behavior an 'addiction'.

[Forkboy]

88. +1

[orion007]

89. Addictions

Addiction is generally associated with increased drug tolerance". The term addiction also includes behaviors or compulsions that are not substance-related, where an individual continues to engage in a re-occurring negative activity that causes harmful consequences psychologically, socially, legally, financially or in other life areas.

[Warren DeMontague]

91. ....According to SOME people's definitions, esp. treatment 'professionals' whose careers/finances

conceivably might be favorably influenced by society defining everything from masturbating more than twice a week to playing video poker as an "addiction".

(Odd, though, that people can be 'food' addicts, 'sex' addicts, they can apparently be addicted to everything from the internet to shopping... yet if they go to 12 step meetings obsessively, blowing off family and friend relationships, blowing off jobs, etc. etc... yet that seems to be the ONE activity that never gets slapped with the label 'addiction'. Hmmm. Odd, isn't it?)


Sorry, I'm old school. I've seen people go through the DTs from alcohol. THAT is addiction.

Looking at porn even though your wife doesn't want you looking at porn, for instance, may be a bad habit, it may be bad for your marriage or otherwise detrimental to your 'life areas', but it's NOT an 'addiction'.

[Scuba]

75. Normal? It appears to be becoming the norm....

...just ask Brett Favre.

[Stinky The Clown]

90. Bill Frist? Is that you? Long time no hear, bud. How ya doin'?