An honest question about Wiener from somone conflicted on Resignation or Not..

[KoKo]

Here's the THING about Weiner that bothers me....

So he is "sexting his Dick" around on Twitter and Facebook. He made a mistake with one or two postings but he thought his "DICK" was so "exceptional" that it needed more views beyond what his wife might be seeing in their bedroom so he felt compelled to expose his abundance to the internet.


Wiener thinks his "DICK" is so extra-ordinary that he has to use the "TAX PAYERS Funded White House Gym" as an opportunity to use his Blackberry to photo himself in the Gym Mirror to show how "virile and abundant" his "junk" is.

Now...I think Wiener did a great job exposing Clarence Thomas in his rants. I think he's been a good mouthpiece for Liberal/Progressive causes (like Alan Grayson was) and his heart about "politics" might be on the side that we Dems here on DU (well some of us) want him to be.

BUT...........On my TAXPAYER MONEY...he's taking Pictures of his BONER...his ripping Buffness? In the US House of Representatives GYM? To SEND TO "Twitter Fans?"

GIVE ME A BREAK!

If this was a Republican we'd be crawling all over his "appendage,." and his flaunting of it and his abuse of his power and the damage to his wife his family and most of all to those who voted for him...who are now feeling like they were abused.

Some good stuff that we trash those who want Wiener gone? ..YET, we claim to support VALUES for Democrats as OPPOSED to Repug trashers of "Morality?"

WE, Democrats, ask... What is the "meaning of Morality?" We Democrats can't agree on much these days and MORAL COMPASS is probably too much to ask. What really IS MORALITY?

In the absence of an answer to something we Democrats can't agree on ...then just let's look at COST!

FACT IS:

Wiener did USE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS FUNDED ..US House of Representatives GYM...to take pictures of his "private parts" in all their glory...towel...naked...peek-a-boo. He worked out there and I guess he had the place all to himself where he could have time to whip out his Blackberry to do the deed.

This goes Beyond PRIVATE photo's sent to "Twitter Fans" (which is questionable) but it goes to a Congress Person taking photos on our taxpayer dollar to show off "their JUNK."

I don't know if he should resign. I just think that we should have better "vetting" of our candidates who run for office and not take for granted that their "posturing rhetoric for either Right or Left gives them a pass to do the kind of juvenile or hurtfull stuff that many of them seem to think goes with the "perks of office" that allows them to do whatever they want to do...and the voters and public 'be damned."

Just saying.....


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/12/anthony-weiner-photos-resign_n_875534.html

AND...if you haven't seen the latest Pictures...Go Here...they are "fig leafed" so not "X-Rated."...But, you can get "his Deal." :-(

[Maru Kitteh]

1. How would you feel about what he's done if he were a republican?

There's your answer. Simple.

[Enrique]

2. he grew up looking like this

so now he's a grown man with a grown man's thing and he wants to show it off. Nothing mysterious about it.

[LadyHawkAZ]

3. You're pushing the definition of "on taxpayer dollars"

JMO. By that definition, since he's being paid by tax money, a pic taken in his own home would also technically be on the taxpayer dime.

You don't sound very conflicted, btw.

[KoKo]

6. It's the United States House of Representatives Paid for GYMNASIUM...

Is this not an abuse?

He has constituents and millions of Dems who saw him as a Hero for speaking out for Democrats against Clarence Thomas and his Wife's Abuse of Power.

But...he's there showing off his "private parts" taking photos?

He's 48 years old....! This isn't like some 20 Something new Congressman who is still living his Teenage Years.

How could Wiener not have known he'd get caught? Why did he Push It?

That's my question.

[LadyHawkAZ]

14. No

it's not. Please re-read what I wrote. To expand, he could take a picture in a highway rest stop and meet your definition of "on taxpayer dollars".

"How could Wiener not have known he'd get caught? Why did he Push It?" - why is that your business, or anyone else's? Unless you are married to him, it's not.

[cherokeeprogressive]

31. He was in the building in which the power vested upon him by The People resides.

That's why it is OUR BUSINESS.

[LadyHawkAZ]

33. Did it add extra costs to the building?

If not then it's not costing taxpayer money. I think you're trying to manufacture fresh outrage, but with no real material to work with.

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. It's costing the Democratic Party much needed confidence and respect

which is magnatudes more important.

His consituents represent but a fraction of those whose votes we need in every single election.

[LadyHawkAZ]

36. We're manufacturing that, too

if we'd ignored it the issue would have been dead days ago. We're doing that to ourselves.

The OPs issue was financial costs, which just wasn't there.

[DireStrike]

4. If this was all I had on a republican, I'd be looking for a better angle of attack.

[KoKo]

7. Repugs have had their OWN Private Parts in Litigation...It seems to be Bi-Partisan these days...

And that is NOT good for Our Country...and Representation...going forward that we have things like this going on.. That's what I'm trying to point out.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. .

[baldguy]

8. Just because he gets a paycheck from the US Govt, does that mean his dick is yours?

He needs your permission to whip it out?

[KoKo]

18. Yep...his Dick belongs to those who voted for him...and the vaginas and dicks belong to we who

elect them if they are going to be "showing off"..."texting and tweeting" their "private parts" around the internet and facing loss of their jobs because of their VANITY and lack of accountability to their voters and constituents!

If it's BIG MONEY who elected them...then let it all fall on their heads. Its you and me and our puny little donations that "get the hit" for his actions.

Just saying....

[Little Star]

9. You made me laugh! At least our elected Dem's want him to resign..

unlike the Republican leaders who wanted Diaper Boy to stay! Thank heaven for that!

[TuxedoKat]

10. How do you feel about

the representatives that live in their offices instead of finding a place to rent in the DC area?

[TexasProgresive]

11. I don't like what Weiner did but I don't think in warrants resignation

If this was an action by someone on the other side of the aisle then I might think differently since they are so hung up about sex and yet many seem to do what they condemn. It is hypocrisy that makes my skin crawl.

[LAGC]

12. Actually, if he limited his exposure to what he did in the gym during his off-hours...

That wouldn't be so bad.

On the other hand, if he actually took pictures of himself from his OFFICE as has been rumored... well, Congressional Ethics Panel may have something to say about that.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. Did it increase the cost of running the Gym? No, therefore there is no cost to you

or to any other taxpayer.

Not one penny

[KoKo]

19. Well...if a Rep wanted to bang a prostitute in that gym on their own time...it might be a bit much?

:shrug: Ya Think?

[Broderick]

15. Forget about the salacious details

He put himself in prime blackmail position with anonymous pixels friends. Anyone of those "women" could have been a Breitbart in drag, or a foreign country spy that could have leveraged vast knowledge with the threat of exposure. Even when warned he continued on. AND, if you think he wasn't blackmail material - think about the fact that he offered up PR services with his "people" (could be congressional office personnel) to a porn star.

[KoKo]

22. Good point you make...I didn't think about...but.

I will say, that I've wondered who was "gunning" for Wiener that he might have some stuff that Pelosi and others were worried that would come out about him.

Josh Marshall just today said on TPM that he didn't feel Wiener should resign but he might be willing to eat his words if more came out.

I can't see the Dem Leadership throwing Wiener Under the Bus so fast if they weren't worried there's more out there. He might have been targeted because of his weakness for "display" but to have such a swift move by Dem Leadership and even Obama's newest call about Wiener needing to resig might seem to say there is "more than we know" about him. Either Clarence Thomas's influence pulled the trigger or there's something more that Dems didn't want to get caught with in this "elections cycle."

My post was more focused on "morality...use of taxpayers funds" and "exposure."

But, your post is interesting about how he could have a blackmailer waiting to expose him and that's why Dem Leadership jumped on him to pre-empt worse news that would be coming out.

[Whisp]

16. that don't look like ripping buffness to me.

:D

[Curmudgeoness]

17. He was a asshole to do this, but he is my asshole.

I do not want him to resign. It was stupid, he acted badly, but on a professional level, he is sooooo on my side. I do not want to lose him. There are just a handful of politicians (Dem or Rep) who will stand up for the things that I care about.

At least he is not always running around all high-and-mighty about how holy and moral he is.

I keep going back to Ted Kennedy, and how lucky we were that he did not leave with his head hung.

[ljm2002]

20. Thanks for posting that picture...

...NOT.

I've managed to avoid all the pics save for the initial shorts pic. But good on ya for making sure it gets as wide an exposure as possible.

And then wringing your hands about it all.

[KoKo]

23. These photo's are out there, everywhere. Believe me...this was the least offensive of them...

:-( I know...not saying much that it's the "least offensive."

[JI7]

25. it's the ones wringing their hands over it that show it the most, like those old men protesting him

they had the pics on their signs and were even passing out the pics to people as they walked by

[Melinda]

21. I am conflicted by your OP; your apparent support of an opposing view....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1290134#1290301 confuses me when juxtaposed against this thread.

The entire article sourced in that thread is here: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/06/13/sexual-puritanism-and-empire/

At present, in contrast, the dismal air is signed with the scandalous tweets of a congressman’s undergarments and the concomitant, predictable howling from the hectoring ghosts of U.S. Puritanism, conjured from their graves by the contrived spectacle and its promise of anonymous arousal intermingled with the blood sport of public shaming.

-snip-

How many times do the prigs, ninnies, and scolds of the U.S. have to repeat this sort of inanity before they grow up and realize that human beings have strong libidos? Libido propels both creativity and contretemps, and it is wise to aver that “the issue of character” should best be evoked and debated, as a general rule, when the situation involves hypocrisy.


Moreover, those claiming that their own sexual desires have never rendered them vulnerable to silly misjudgments evince a more noxious form of hypocrisy.

Yet, if, in fact, their lives have been absent such propitious misfortune, then one should withhold the scorn reserved for hypocrites, and, instead, grant these poor souls pity, for they have been afflicted with the awful circumstance of having passed through their lives without ever being seduced by life.

Based upon my own observations, you are one of the most liberal members on DU and yet here we are on this thread. Color me confused KoKo... I don't understand why Rep Weiner has become a moral cause for you. :shrug:

[KoKo]

24. I have always been interested in conflict. I have been here forever...

and my posts are always out there. I am often conflicted..and often throwing things out for folks to answer what I say. Always been here and always been who I am...as you note.

[Melinda]

26. You and I have interacted many times over the years, I've read many of your posts over these years..

and I know you to be as liberal as I. Yet I've never observed you on this type path. Not once. I've apparently missed reading your similarly expressed thoughts, and so I'm kind of thrown for a loop...that's all I'm sayin'.

Best,
Melinda

[customerserviceguy]

27. Are there more able people to represent the voters of his district?

My answer is "yes", even though they might not be as bombastic on the floor of the House.

[deaniac21]

28. That is one wierd looking and acting dude.

[cherokeeprogressive]

29. Vitter! VitterVitter! VitterVitterVitter! YadaYadaYadaVitterYada!

Just keep repeating the above mantra to yourself and you'll eventually become convinced that this isn't about a man who lacks character but about Us vs Them.

[Nye Bevan]

30. Jock itch, perhaps?

Really bad jock itch?

And he was photographing himself so he could show his doctor just how itchy it really was?

OK, maybe not.

[JohnnyLib2]

32. Others must have been in the gym. Bet they'll be talking soon.

Another congressman? Staff member?

The proverbial fat lady hasn't sung yet.

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. Are there timestamps on the pics I wonder? Who knows he wasn't there in the wee hours

all by himself?

[JohnnyLib2]

37. No clue, but I figure big $$$$ are being offered for such a story.

Same with his office staff.

[cherokeeprogressive]

38. If his wife travels with Secretary Clinton, I'd wager he has oodles of time to himself

and visits the House Gym after hours quite regularly.