Everyone who engages in affairs and inappropriate extramarital behavior lies about it. The ones who come clean to the public only do so because their spouse found out and made them, after they lied about it to the spouse.
Like I said, I do not equate all lies and I do not equate all issues. Lying to me about civics =! Lying to me about intarweb sex0rs. Lying to me about civics > Lying to me about intarweb sex0rs.
Yup i agree with this also. It was definitely how he handled it that made it into a bigger scandal than it should have been. If he had come clean like Scott Brown he might have been able to shrug it off. Anyways I do agree with you that the media is obsessed with silly scandals but at the same time we can't simply ignore it either. Well I think thats all I have to add to this topic. on to the sarah palin thread.. ehh nevermind..
I felt like he handled it well for a while, and then he lost it once he went on the offensive. Going the "no comment" route was the right thing to do, it's a personal matter that only distracts from his professional duties. Not encouraging the media or populace by talking about it was smart. Then he went into his lawyer talk about how he "couldn't confirm or disconfirm that it was him in the picture", and then onto really mean, snide, jerky treatment of the press, and it was all downhill from there. He should've either just shut up about it totally, or came clean from the start. Both of which would be difficult to do, though.
Hmm I don't think you can look at it like a mathmatical formula here. If he lied about this issue he can lie about other issues. He clearly seemed okay with lying if he wasnt going to get caught. His one hope is that he wasnt caught engaging in a full on affair or trying to have sex with prostitutues. Well like you said earlier I think we will just have to agree to disagree since it looks like we are approaching it from different angles.
Devil's advocate: If I was random voter who found out my congressperson was lying to his spouse, I would absolutely believe he/she would be willing to lie to me. The problem is not that one lie is necessarily the same as another for a given circumstance, but rather that lies dilute a person's (real or perceived) honesty. Agreed. But it's not a non-issue, so your objection here is rhetorical.
If he had owned up to it from the start and cried mea culpa, I could better empathize with those defending him. He lied about it and went on the offensive. Big mistake. Hubris. He should resign and slink away and thank his lucky stars if his wife forgives him. This is just detracting from the more fun game of belittling Palin and the other GOP cast of misfits.
Handled it well? He immediately jumped to the "my account was hacked" routine. He then called the press and ASKED for one on one sitdowns where he could say he was hacked and it was all just a prank and no one should care about it. The best was when he was interviewed by Brett Baier and got asked a question he didn't like. He started to say something about "this is what the media does" and Baier jumped in with "sir you invited me for this interview..." I know you want to brush this off as being a non-story because it makes a liberal look bad, but it simply is a story. A sitting Congressmen is sending semi nude and nude pictures of himself to women on the internet, lying about it, calling it a hacking, allowing other individuals to undergo ridicule for being the perceived "hackers," attacking media members, etc. It's not a non-story.
This is true, lying about it was wrong, lying about it does not improve his professional credibility in any way whatsoever, lying about it may, in fact, hurt his professional credibility. But I'm not going to pretend that the guy is now untrustworthy as a U.S. Rep, because the reality is 1) the issue in question is not related to his duty or responsibilities as a U.S. Rep at all and 2) I can't name a single person who would have come clean instantly about it. In summation: - I accept, though disagree with, why other people feel that his professional credibility is harmed. (as a matter of personal values) Some people feel that all lies carry the same weight, I do not. C'est la vie. - In his denial, he acted as most probably would have in the same situation. So I cannot hold him to an unreasonable moral standard on an issue like this. I don't vote for saints (although if they are one, I suppose it's a nice bonus), I vote for responsible governors. He could've spared us the righteous indignation and just kept his mouth shut, though. - Though he lied to me, he lied to me about something of which I feel is irrelevant and of no consequence to me. So, in the end, I am unphased by it. His wife, on the other hand, may give him a well-deserved black eye.
I thought his "I'm not going to comment" routine was before the "I was hax0red" stuff. Yeah, like I said, when he went on the offensive, he really failboated. His indignant attitude is made all the worse by his lying. I don't care about liberals, or Mark Weiner. I want people to stop obsessing over people's penises and who-f**ked-who (no matter what party they are) and start paying attention to issues that actually affect the country. Just because people care about something, doesn't make it important. With the Clarence Thomas story I referenced earlier, what would you call that, since no one cares? A non-story? I guess so, even though it has a much larger affect on our country. My big beef here: Weiner's response to this whole thing is a bigger deal than the actual incident itself. That is the tell-tale sign of a non-story.
Well stated, but I think you're still avoiding the elephant in the room: Lying to his spouse (and to his constituents, and, well, to everybody) about an affair that could ruin his career should give you cause to doubt his word elsewhere in the political realm as well.
Well, that may have been his kneejerk response, but he did spend a while doing the "no comment" stuff before going into super defensive "f*** all of you" mode.
That's an elephant in your room, not in mine. (In my room, it's more the size of a small dog... or large cat, perhaps)
Denial or naivety, can't decide which... I certainly agree with you in regards to: 1) The photos are a non-story 2) Bigger issues should be taking precedence. But to imply that anyone upset about Weiner's lying is being irrational is ridiculous.
Don't go there dude, it's a matter of personal choice here for everyone. My values dictate how I feel about this, just as yours do. I'm not going to say those things about you for disagreeing with me about how you choose to feel on a matter of pure opinion. I could say the same thing about you, you know. "But to imply that anyone not upset about Weiner's lying is being irrational is ridiculous." I'm (mildly) miffed he lied, but do I think it is the end of the freaking world? No.
lol at everyone up in arms about his lying about sending a **** pick when our previous administration lied and led to the deaths of thousands of people and got re-elected. this country sucks.
who here is claiming its the end of the freaking world? bush should be executed for war crimes, but that doesnt mean that weiner shouldnt resign.
