Weiner Sends Lewd Photos

[pdogg]

Brooklyn Congressman Weiner sends lewd photos to numerous women.

Seems like a minor indescretion to me.

June 6, 2011

Weiner Admits He Sent Lewd Photos; Seeks Not to Resign

By MICHAEL BARBARO

Representative Anthony D. Weiner, a rising star in Democratic politics who many believed would be the next mayor of New York City, admitted on Monday to having had inappropriate online exchanges with at least six women, and repeatedly lying about sending a sexually suggestive photograph to a young woman over Twitter last month.

After a week of sometimes indignant public denials and insistence that he was the victim of an Internet hacker, a weeping and stammering Mr. Weiner, 46, acknowledged at a news conference that he had sent the photo of himself in his underwear to the woman, a college student in Seattle.

The six-term congressman from Brooklyn said he had broken no laws and would remain in office, calling the matter an “aberration from which I’ve learned.”

During an extraordinary 27-minute appearance, Mr. Weiner went on to describe a side of his life that he had kept secret from his closest confidants and family members, befriending young female admirers over the Internet and engaging in intimate sexual banter with them, sometimes sending them racy self portraits taken with his BlackBerry.

In one of the photographs, he is sitting bare-chested at his home computer, with a row of personal pictures behind him.

“Over the past few years, I have engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and occasionally on the phone with women I had met online,” Mr. Weiner said.

The congressman said he had never personally met the women with whom he had corresponded. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” he said. “This was a destructive thing to do. I’m apologetic for doing it.”

Mr. Weiner’s political standing appeared in grave danger after his news conference. There was a striking absence of public expressions of support from his colleagues, and the House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, called for an ethics investigation into his conduct. “I am deeply disappointed and saddened about this situation,” she said.

House ethics rules state that members should conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”

Mr. Weiner’s public confession was prompted on Monday when Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger and provocative critic of the left, followed through on a vow to publish photographs Mr. Weiner had sent to a woman online. As Mr. Breitbart began to unveil the photos one by one, from midmorning until early afternoon, Mr. Weiner’s staff seemed paralyzed, failing to answer questions or challenge the authenticity of the images.

In one of them, the congressman is pictured holding up a handwritten sign reading “it’s me.” He had sent it to a 26-year-old woman in Texas after she had expressed skepticism that she was exchanging personal messages with Mr. Weiner.

In his remarks to reporters, he declined to characterize any of the specific exchanges with the women, saying he was respecting their privacy. “This isn’t anyone else’s fault,” Mr. Weiner said. His news conference at a Midtown Manhattan hotel was a singular spectacle: the House’s most pugilistic liberal, known for skewering his rivals in YouTube-ready bursts of righteous anger, appearing on live television as a penitent, teary figure behind a spare wooden lectern.

He explained, in a soft, clinical tone, that the online relationships with the women had begun three years ago and that several of them began after he was married in July to Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in an elegant ceremony officiated by former President Bill Clinton.

While he emphasized his failings, Mr. Weiner strained to point out that there were lines he had not crossed. He stressed that he did not have physical contact with any of the six women and that he believed they were all adults.

Pressed about their ages, he responded: “Well all I know is what they publish about themselves on social media. Someone could theoretically could be — have been — fibbing about it, and that’s a risk.”

Mr. Weiner said he owed his most profound apology to his wife, who, unlike spouses of other misbehaving male politicians, did not appear at his side. “ “We have been through a great deal together, and we will — we will weather this,” he said. “I love her very much, and she loves me.”

The congressman said his wife had known about some of his previous online connections with the women. But it was not until Monday morning that he told her that he had lied about the most recent incident, and had in fact sent the photo to the woman in Seattle.

It was a day of severe diminishment for Mr. Weiner, who has emerged as a hero of the left and a relentless troublemaker to the right.

As the event wore on, the members of the media grilled him about seemingly intimate topics like phone sex and whether he had used his government computer to compose his sexually charged messages.

Mr. Weiner, always a voluble figure, could not seem to stop talking, as if the questioning was somehow therapeutic.

The episode, with its hints of digital danger, echoed the swift political fall of Mr. Weiner’s fellow House member, Christopher Lee, a New York Republican, who e-mailed a shirtless photo of himself to a woman online. Mr. Lee resigned.

David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs in New York City, said it would be hard for Mr. Weiner to argue that his conduct was any less damning. “By the Chris Lee standard, these are offenses that merit resignation,” he said.

Mr. Weiner has long been dogged by questions about his temperament and maturity: Former aides have complained that he could be a bully, and the New York tabloids eagerly chronicled his dating life.

Even if Mr. Weiner remains in office, political consultants said his ultimate ambition, to succeed Michael R. Bloomberg as mayor, has very likely been extinguished.

“There is zero chance today of a Mayor Weiner,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political analyst. “Mayors don’t do these things. It’s too much already.”

Mr. Weiner’s ordeal began two Fridays ago, on May 27, at 11:35 p.m., when he sent the now infamous photo of him in his gray boxers to the college student over Twitter, assuming it would remain private.

When it appeared publicly on his Twitter account, Mr. Weiner, a technophile, panicked, went online and tried to delete the photo. It was too late: the image had been copied and distributed across the Internet.

Now powerless to erase an embarrassing image of his groin from the all-seeing eyes of the Web, Mr. Weiner instructed his staff to tell the public that somebody had broken into his account.

On Sunday, May 29, a spokesman told the news media that “Anthony’s accounts were obviously hacked” and that the congressman had asked a lawyer to advise him on how to proceed.

But he declined to answer basic questions about the origins of the photo, first in a testy exchange with reporters on Capitol Hill, and then in a series of increasingly fraught interviews with major news outlets.

On Wednesday, Mr. Weiner surprised reporters when he conceded that he could not say with “certitude” whether he was the man in the photo.

On Thursday, Mr. Weiner said that he would no longer discuss the matter.

Throughout this period, Mr. Weiner misled even those closest to him.

Over the weekend, he hunkered down at his home, skipping a Salute to Israel Parade up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Mr. Weiner had enjoyed marching in the parade for years and had pledged to participate in this year’s.

By Monday morning, he simply staggered under the weight of the media attention, the impending revelations from Mr. Breitbart and his own deceit. He began placing calls to the closely knit team that has guided him through years of political campaigns and calculations: Jim Margolis, Anson Kaye and Joel Benenson, a prominent pollster.

He told them that he had lied to them, and everyone else, and had to make it right.

[pdogg]

Here's a pic of Weiner's wiener which he sent to a number of women. Conduct unbecoming a Congressman some say. He'll never be Mayor of New York now.

[Lefty]

Anthony Weiner's Uncensored Penis Picture Plus 10 Other Images That Are Even More Obscene (Warning: Graphic)

Weiner's junk isn't the only perverse image rocketing around the Internet -- here are 10 other shocking pics.

Editor's note: The following article contains images that may be shocking to some readers. It is not “work-safe,” and is intended only for mature audiences.

Almost two weeks have passed since the first racy picture of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-New York, emerged on the Internet. Since then, the eyes of the world – or at least the major news media – have been riveted on the story as it has unfolded.

The photographic evidence of the congressman's perfidy has become ever more extreme. What began with a pair of boxer shorts led to pictures of Weiner's uncovered pectoral muscles, and finally, to the unvarnished image of a man's erect penis – a penis later confirmed to belong to Anthony Weiner.

But Weiner's wiener wasn't the first obscene photograph to zoom around the Internet, and it won't be the last. We scoured our files for some other perverse images that may be getting less attention than the Weinergate pics, but are just as important.

Here are 10 of the most profane.

http://www.alternet.org/story/151259/anthony_weiner%27s_uncensored_penis_picture_plus_10_other_images_that_are_even_more_obscene_%28warning%3A_graphic%29?akid=7086.145352.ln4uSp&rd=1&t=5

[Lefty]

The Breitbart Effect: Why Weiner's Boring (Non-) Sex Scandal Is Getting More Play Than Republicans' Sordid Sexcapades

The sensational interest in Weinergate is a sad reflection of our shallow, sex-and-celebrity-obsessed culture.

Weinergate, as it has been dubbed by pundits across the political spectrum, must be the lamest (non-)sex scandal to come down the pike in years, yet it seems to be getting as much play as Watergate.

That such trivia as an adult sending relatively benign photos and “racy messages” to other consenting adults should be of interest to anyone besides the Representative's wife – much less the making of a week-long “news” story – is obviously a sad reflection of our shallow, sex-and-celebrity-obsessed culture.

But it's also a testament to what you might call the "Breitbart effect" – the ability of conservative activists to push a news story to the forefront of the national discussion, and hold it there for an extended run. Breitbart, like the Drudge Report and a host of other dedicated right-wing provocateurs, has learned the value of gaming the refs – of hounding the mainstream media with angry and unsubstantiated accusations of “liberal bias” for so long the latter tend to overcompensate and give prominence to whatever story the activists are interested in amplifying.

http://www.alternet.org/story/151254/the_breitbart_effect_why_weiners_boring_non_sex_scandal_is_getting_more_play_than_republicans_sordid_sexcapades

[pdogg]

Breaking News Alert

The New York Times

Saturday, June 11, 2011 -- 3:26 PM EDT

-----

Anthony Weiner to Enter Treatment Center and Seek Leave From House

Representative Anthony D. Weiner planned to check himself into a treatment center on Saturday after House Democratic leaders, including Nancy Pelosi, called on him to resign and suggested he needed psychiatric counseling.

I think Weiner is getting a very raw deal. Although the Breitbardt Effect is a good explanation I find it even more useful to compare Weiner's problems with President Clinton's since they are both liberal Dems.

Clinton received oral sex form an Intern in the Oval Office and stated he had "no sexual relations" with her because in his opinion neither oral sex nor his putting a cigar in Monica's pussy qualifies as sexual relations.

All Weiner did was do what millions of Americans do on cams everyday which is show their dick.

I think the fact that it's on the internet just makes for a more interesting story and Weiner's surname doesn't help either.

Lots of politicians on both side of the aisle have been involved with much more serious stuff much of which is illegal.

Weiner has absolutely nothing illegal. Raw deal.

[Kahuna]

Weiner has absolutely nothing illegal. Raw deal

NBC is reporting that he is going to resign his seat...Whether you agree or not, I believe that it's in the best interests of the Demo Party...

And I'm not certain that he didn't do anything illegal...The police are presently investigating...One of the girls is reported to be only 17 years old...That's not to say that I haven't knowingly or unknowingly banged a 17 year old ladyboy...But I'm not a member of Congress either...In other words, I got no one to embarrass but myself and nothing to resign from...

When you're a Ladyboy Worshipping Dicksucker...You're always a Ladyboy Worshipping Dicksucker...

[pdogg]

Anthony Weiner was heckled during his resignation announcement this afternoon, with a frenzied crowd yelling some things you wouldn’t hear at most political press conferences.

At the moment he officially resigned, cheers could be heard from the gathering, along with a scream of “Bye bye, pervert!”Moments later, someone yelled,“Are you more than 7 inches?”

And as Weiner left the podium, he was asked, “Will you maintain your hot physique?”

Watch video of the full circus below!