Papantonio: Have Liberal Dems Turned Into Lockstep Type Republicans

[GoLeft TV]

Run time: 05:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoY-6X77UUU   Posted on YouTube: June 13, 2011 By YouTube Member: golefttv Views on YouTube: 5   Posted on DU: June 13, 2011 By DU Member: GoLeft TV Views on DU: 3462

 
Liberals are unwilling to call for Anthony Weiner’s resignation, and are offering him their undying support. But as Mike Papantonio points out to Ed Schultz, they are acting exactly like the Bush Republicans, who refused to acknowledge that their dear leader might have a few flaws.

[TheWraith]

1. There are some times when we could learn valuable lessons from the Repubs solidarity.

This isn't one of them. If a Republican sexually harassed at least one random woman, we'd be calling for his head. See Mark Foley. Anything else is hypocrisy.

[HighLowRoller87]

5. I thought Mark Foley resigned.....

after it was found he was sending sexually explicit messages.....to someone under 18. There was a reason to call for his head.

[sulphurdunn]

6. Wrong!

There is no evidence of which I am aware that Weiner sexually harassed anyone or broke any law. Furthermore, Foley's escapades were targeted toward serving and former congressional pages, some of whom were minors and who were also under his authority and protection at the time.

[TheWraith]

11. Keep rationalizing support for unacceptable and unethical behavior.

By the way, a 46 year old man sending unsolicited, unwanted sexual photos to a 21 year old woman? Yes, that's sexual harassment.

[sulphurdunn]

14. How do you know

they were unsolicited and/or unwanted? Please read this:

http://fhdafiles.fhda.edu/downloads/diversity/Def.ofSexualHar.pdf

[TheWraith]

15. Because Weiner ADMITTED they were.

The young lady who was the target of the tweeted crotch shot had not expressed any interest in receiving a lewd photo of him. He admits this.

[sulphurdunn]

29. And of course

he continued sending these kind of pictures after she asked him to stop? I'm sorry, but there is just no way this rises to the level of sexual harassment. I doubt even the woman you mention thinks it does.

[HighLowRoller87]

24. Exactly. A 21 year old woman.....

She may not have wanted it but you can't compare Weiner to Foley who broke a common sense rule and sent his sexual stuff to an underage person.

[AgainsttheCrown]

41. Now they want people to be free thinkers...

So say the two that called out people like Michael Moore and Glenn Greenwald for criticizing the bin Laden raid. Referring to them as "Birckenstock" Libruhls and intellectual hand wringers.

:eyes:

[Warpy]

2. No, we just think hand wringing and dumping one of our best voices in Congress

over such a monumentally stupid manufactured scandal is WRONG.

YOU are wrong, buster.

I'd love them to clear the government of every male who has talked dirty to a consenting adult. The only thing left in the marble halls would be the dust mice.

[neoralme]

8. Talking dirty is one thing. Sending a relative stranger a full-blown

erect member photo is quite another. It indicates something maybe not quite right upstairs. It is good that Weiner is now getting help. But his very face on screen now is eliciting derogatory comments from some rather normal people.

[Warpy]

10. It was false intimacy on the net, he thought he "knew" those women.

I'm surprised how few people get that. At least he's enough of a gent not to share any of the pictures he might have gotten from them. It usually works both ways, you know, and escalates to bare genitals after a lot of tamer stuff.

Trust me, what he did wasn't strange or extreme or anything else.

(and yes, people have sent me stuff like that. I've just put them on block and moved on)

[neoralme]

16. Well, then, viva la difference. Also, your escalation phrase is "facts

not in evidence" and, as such, does not diminish the picture. As for your statement that what he did wasn't "extreme or...etc.", here we
may have an age difference causing that opinion. I am 65. I think what he did is horrible. However, if you think what he did was not strange or extreme, and part of your belief of that is due to age, then I understand that, even though I don't agree with it. Put another way, in 1968 on back, Weiner would now be in jail or in a noose, depending how far back. By 2056, he may be repeating his actions on cspan while viewers eat popcorn. It's all relative. But, then, so are most voters perceptions of right and wrong.

[Warpy]

17. I'm close to your age

but being a nurse destroyed any illusion that men and women are angelic.

[neoralme]

19. My wife is my age and a 35-year DON, and she agrees with me. So

people think differently about things. I do not hold your opinion against you. You have simply been on a different train than I. Also, I haven't watched tv since Dallas. That may have something to do with it also.

[Warpy]

26. Management aint in the trenches.

However, I'm glad you think your wife is a convenient rubberstamp for your opinions.

[neoralme]

27. Virtually all the people I know well think the same thing. However,

your last statement seems a little snarky, so I'll end this conversation now. Good luck at the Golden Gate.

[Dawson Leery]

3. Ed is now being jackass. Pity.

This is one of those times where Democrats should be in lockstep, letting the people of Weiner's district decide whether he should continue.

[fredamae]

4. Lemmings, Pap? Really?

This is one time I am standing my ground. Why? Not because there isn't anyone to replace Weiner. Not because there are not other effective progs out there and indeed from NY.

I stand with Rep Weiner Because There is No crime. This is the First time I have heard such a kerfluffle over a non sexual, sex scandal where everyone has dog piled a very effective, very popular (with the people) politician.
I see this as an attack from the RW and You, Ed, and Dem "Leaders" have demonstrated your own weakness by buying into the RW "think tank" BS.
Weiner, for chis' sake was going after Justice Thomas! And has exposed a Lot of RW BS! Mr Weiner has the Moxie we want to see coming out of All Dem politicians and If they are so fkn Plentiful and Effective? Where the Fk Are They?

[gtar100]

28. My sentiments. I like Pap but I see it differently than they do.

Too bad. But the fact we can have these disagreements is what makes liberals and progressives far more dynamic and real than repugs. Still, I don't see lemmings in the democratic ranks like he's saying. He shouldn't play that card just because other progressives disagree with his take on Weiner's situation.

So yea, where the hell are these politicians so able and willing to stand up to the repugs like Anthony Weiner? I'm more than happy to vote and give money to them.

[neoralme]

7. I live in a southern California neighborhood that is very liberal. At

least I thought so... I hear them talking about the Weiner situation and they mostly all say the same thing. Not anything about the sexual angle, but, rather, the stupidity of it all. They say: 1. Is this guy stupid? 2. Why did he do that? 3. Why hasn't he resigned. My family and I just got back from a trip to San Diego. They were saying the same things down there. So has the damage vector now switched from Weiner himself to the relatively few Democrats still supporting Weiner? And who will ultimately hurt the Party more? I don't care for Pap or Ed, so I didn't watch the video.

[fredamae]

12. I guess then that MSM wins another round...

I believe it was their rabid coverage definitely created this....I still maintain, someone wanted/wants Weiner gone.
I'd be in a completely different position if there was a crime. Being personally irresponsible, as far as I know isn't yet a crime.

[neoralme]

18. I absolutely agree with your first elliptic and second whole statement. But

his actions, although not a known crime(s) yet, was prurient enough to place him in an unsavory category.

[fredamae]

30. Perhaps this is a Medical issue

and he has been suffering silently until it finally manifested itself to the public. The subsequent Public and workplace response is typical of how we view and treat those with "unsavory mental illness".

The Weiner matter may reveal more about "us" than him, in the end.

[neoralme]

35. If by revealing more about us meaning how our lascivious society

actually creates the conditions within which a Weiner operates, then, yes, I would agree with that. If you mean that we are at fault for going after a man for such a relatively unimportant matter, then, no, I would not agree with that. Let him resign, get medical help, then rerun once repaired. That would be okay with me. But, right now, he has to go. He is making Progressives look bad. He hangs on at our expense, and his wife's--not his.

[fredamae]

36. I don't consider this unimportant ...

I refer to How we respond to those suffering a Mental disease/disorder we cannot see and have relatively little understanding of.

If we had recognized this for what it is from the beginning...things would never have been so ugly.
Rep Weiner can be fixed, but can we?

[neoralme]

37. You may be right. However, it is not the obligation of society to

fix medical conditions of its lawmakers while they are on the job, thus risking more people in the chance of setbacks of the person being treated. I can appreciate you willingness to extend kindness, but that kindness needs to be tailored in application.

[fredamae]

38. Thank you, However

It was MSM that publicized this way beyond reason. I am convinced this was an attack against him for pure politics because he is so outspoken, and he was going after Justice Thomas to recuse himself.
If all (mental) health issues of all politicians were made as public as Rep Wieners situation, would you still feel the same?
I'm willing to bet a cuppa that there are Multiple lawmakers getting mental health care services, everyday of every week...it just hasn't made MSM news yet.
So why not afford Rep Weiner the same courtesy and privacy?

[neoralme]

39. Because of the abject stupidity of Mr. Weiner rather than the deed

itself. And the lying. Course, the way things are going I'm not sure it makes any difference. I appreciate the chance to converse about it rationally. Thank you.

[fredamae]

40. Was it "stupidity and lying" or a symptom of his illness?

I feel as tho I have been caught up in MSM's "court of public opinion" and he has been incarcerated without due process by folks who know nothing of his illness, his history and why it manifested in this manner.
I appreciate discussing this with you as well.

[TrollBuster9090]

9. New Rules...

We need to stop making sex "scandals" the achilles heel of some of our best politicians.

1. If you're a family values hypocrite whose election hinged on your claiming to be more moral than your opponent, you do have to resign over a sex scandal.
2. If you didn't claim your sexual morals were superior to those of your political opponents, you don't.
3. Morality extends to more than just sexual behavior. So, if you're a progressive who claims (rightly) that it's immoral to exploit or take advantage of people, economically or otherwise, and it comes to light that you own shares in a sweatshop textile company that has ten year old kids making basketball shoes in Bangladesh for a dime a day, yes you have to resign.

Bottom line for me personally: if you stop feeding the pigeons they'll go away. If you stop feeding the tabloid media machine it will go away. If you stop demanding that politicians, who never made a fuss about having superior sexual morals to their opponents resign over sex scandals we'll probably end up getting better government leaders and better policies. So, while I agree with Papantonio that Weiner is not indispensable, and could easily be replaced by somebody who's even better, I've decided to make a stand on this for the sake of getting better government in the long run.

[neoralme]

13. To me that indicates a selective lack of morality or a low-scale

moral turpitude. If man or women has previously been a suitable congressperson, senator or president, suddenly violates my moral principles, I do not want him, her serving me any longer. I wish them well in their pursuits but I don't want them in a position where they can repeat their offenses in front of children or others unacquainted with various promiscuous behaviors. But that's just me. Some people like to watch porn or even the Housewives of Whatever city. Not me. Sooooo, I believe sex scandals that are either actual or those perceived to be actual by sufficient evidence should remain the Achilles heel of politicians. God help us if that changes.

[TrollBuster9090]

22. So, you'd rule out most of the great American leaders in history, starting with Thomas Jefferson?

All I can say is, thank goodness we didn't have a bunch of ink-stained wretches plastering the newspapers with tawdry details of Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemmings, who was both Jefferson's slave and Jefferson's wife's half sister. Or gossip about Jefferson having an affair with Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams.

[neoralme]

23. Without hesitation.

[GoLeft TV]

20. Missing the point

I think what a lot of the Weiner defenders are missing is that he lied to the American public - to you, staunch defenders. He lied to your face saying he didn't do this, just to save his own ass. He threw YOU under the bus to save his career. The action is not what we're pissed about - it is all about the lie. Say what you want about the good things he's done, lying to all of us to save his own skin shows that he's no better than anyone else, and isn't someone we should put our trust in. Give him a chance, he'll lie to us again if he believes it is politically beneficial.

[JJW]

21. All politicans lie

Bill Clinton lied about sex. Bush lied about reasons for war and torture. The GOP lie every day about climate change. Obama lied about what he would do if he won during his campaign.

[HighLowRoller87]

25. Agreed.

[fredamae]

32. Obama Lied? About What? n/t

[fredamae]

31. What exactly did he lie about and what

would an ordinary person in Similar circumstances do?

[GoLeft TV]

33. well...

He lied saying that he didn't send the pictures. He held a press conference to tell us this. And then he held another one a few days later to admit that he lied. That's really what started all of this. How can you get on here and defend him if you don't even know the story?

As for what an "ordinary" person would do, I can't answer that. People are assholes, so they would probably lie. But in their case, they wouldn't be in a position of power, and the lie wouldn't effect their credibility among the public. His credibility is shot, and that means that he can no longer fight for us and be effective.

And the whole "well, every politician lies" argument is weak. Every human being lies at some point - but what makes it significant is when someone lies to be mean, to be nice, or to save their own ass. Weiner did the latter, and in my opinion, the guy is just another asshole who got elected into public office.

[fredamae]

34. I think you did answer:)

"And the whole "well, every politician lies" argument is weak. Every human being lies at some point - but what makes it significant is when someone lies to be mean, to be nice, or to save their own ass. Weiner did the latter, and in my opinion, the guy is just another asshole who got elected into public office."

Can you, perhaps give me the name of one politician who has never lied?
You just answered the question: What would an ordinary person do in similar circumstances? It is not a defense, it is a fact of Human Behavior. Has Rep Weiner ever lied to Americans about the Politics, Bills and their consequences to all of us?
For me, this matter is personal, likely involves a health care issue--but at the end of the day-This is between he and his wife. He and his constituents will decide the future and fate of his career.