What does everyone think of "Weinergate"?

[Avalondaughter]

I think he's a sleaze, but it's not my business. Granted, stupidity like this could be an indicator of other types of stupidity, so I suppose there is a point to him resigning.

Yet I'm sad to see him go. He was a pit bull (the good kind - without lipstick) in Congress and stood for a lot of important issues and wasnt' one of those wussy Democrats who never stood up to the Republican agenda.

I don't think it was a coicidence that this came to light while he was investigating Clarence Thomas. I notice sex scandals come up pretty often when a Democratic POTUS is popular/doing well/catching evildoers.

Why is it that John Q. Public wants their politicians to be "Jsut like us" and not be too well educated, or too smart, or too rich, but we don't want them to have the same moral failings as the rest of us. Why do we demand our politicians be the best possible most moral Christians ever?

Why do we care so much about sex scandals, but look the other way when the president provides false intelligence to get the country to go to war, or ignores the warnings that cross your desk that a terrorist attack is imminent, or sells arms in exchange for hostages and diverts the funds illegally to support guerilla activities in Central America?

[lexiloumarie]

Um, yes. And don't be surprised if I go to my grave never having done it.

To each his own, consenting adults, yada, yada.

Once he confessed, it became an issue between him and his wife.

Prior to his confession, I'm torn between the seriousness of his lying to the public, and his right to privacy. I still haven't answered that question in my mind. I don't believe we should have to answer intensely personal questions to those for whom it doesn't matter (meaning answering Huma? Yes. The rest of us? No.)

The problem was not all of the women were consenting. It's criminal behavior. He's lucky no one has filed charges yet.

[hoipolloi]

(1) The case is proof of the old Yiddish saying: "When the prick stands up, the brains lie down."

(2) It caused me to really question the Weiner's judgment although I can't tell that he did anything illegal, unlike Senator David "family values" Vitter, who is still in office, his adventures in prostitution ignored by the mainstream media. Talk about selective focus.

(3) This dinosaur-lady loves her some tech, but, no, she won't be sexting anyone, ever.

[starfish]

He showed some incredibly poor judgment. That being said, WHY is David Vitter still in office?

I can't help but wonder if Weiner has some kind of undiagnosed mental issues. That's some strange hypersexual behavior for an elected official. The unsolicited part, is the part I find troubling and unusual.

Oscar, didn't you say you had some interactions with him? Tell us more!

[LynnKaboom]

The problem was not all of the women were consenting. It's criminal behavior. He's lucky no one has filed charges yet.

Criminal charges? Yeah.... no.

BLOCK. USER. FUNCTION. I have absolutely no pity for these people who were "traumatized by multiple Twitter messages." Pardon my French, but why the FUCK did they not block him if it was THAT upsetting to them?

This is in no way comparable to being flashed by the creep guy in a trench-coat, or having the guy in the cubicle next to you fap while loudly moaning your name on work time, which I've seen this compared to. No. Just stop. It's the Internet. There are dicks everywhere. If your constitution is so delicate that you can't handle seeing one now and then, then either get NetNanny or just stop your Internet service.

Was it sketchy of him to do so? Yes. Was it wrong? Yes. Should he have done it? No. But saying he ought to be brought up on charges is reactionary and naive. God forbid you ever go to Chatroulette.

[dawn9476]

I think it is absolutely the biggest waste of time. The entire political world is focused on some idiot's Twitter page instead of actually trying to, you know, do their jobs. I don't see why anyone cares.

Exactly. It was ridiculous.

[lexiloumarie]

Criminal charges? Yeah.... no.

BLOCK. USER. FUNCTION. I have absolutely no pity for these people who were "traumatized by multiple Twitter messages." Pardon my French, but why the FUCK did they not block him if it was THAT upsetting to them?

This is in no way comparable to being flashed by the creep guy in a trench-coat, or having the guy in the cubicle next to you fap while loudly moaning your name on work time, which I've seen this compared to. No. Just stop. It's the Internet. There are dicks everywhere. If your constitution is so delicate that you can't handle seeing one now and then, then either get NetNanny or just stop your Internet service.

Was it sketchy of him to do so? Yes. Was it wrong? Yes. Should he have done it? No. But saying he ought to be brought up on charges is reactionary and naive. God forbid you ever go to Chatroulette.

I've been to chatroulette. And Omgele. Big difference is I know what I'm getting into using those sites. Hell I use to visit /b/ on occasion. So let's stop the condescending "you don't know the internet b.s". The thing is I've consented when I visit places like that because of the types of sites they are. It's well within their website policy and rights to publish explicit material. Fuckm if I have to give my birthday to watch porn, or read Adult literature (...fanfiction, whatevs :oops: ) online, how is it legally okay to publish dick pics to the public? This is besides the fact that sending random strangers pictures of your junk crosses a big f-ing line into harassment territory.

I was a big fan of his politics before this. Contacting someone with unsolicited sexual images through private or public means is not any different than someone sending you multiple dick pictures in the mail, or knocking on their door and flashing them. It's not some juvenile prank where he pretended to be the Bieb or something. Did he know how old these women really were? For all he knew, he was sending explicit pictures to a minor (which is not that far from possible considering he was in contact with at least one that we know of). How many may have blocked him, letting this behavior continue? It's predatory and it's a big red flag.

[Austin]

I still am a big fan of his politics. Just not his stupidity. I hate that he gave the sanctimonious GOP ammunition, especially with the likes of David Vitter on their side of the aisle.

Plus, he is very articulate in explaining President Obama's healthcare legislation, which is a valuable service which needs to be provided as the legislation tends to be poorly understood and this is only complicated with the GOP constantly lying and twisting it.

[Angri-la]

Weinergate Priceless moment: sitting on my 70 year old Mama's couch, watching CNN. The story of his admission broke, and Mama turns to me: "Weinergate just exploded!" and then "Do you find those pictures on the Twitter erotic?" No!

*We had just polished off a nice Chardonnay. It was after noon--what?

[LynnKaboom]

I've been to chatroulette. And Omgele. Big difference is I know what I'm getting into using those sites. Hell I use to visit /b/ on occasion. So let's stop the condescending "you don't know the internet b.s". The thing is I've consented when I visit places like that because of the types of sites they are. It's well within their website policy and rights to publish explicit material. Fuckm if I have to give my birthday to watch porn, or read Adult literature (...fanfiction, whatevs :oops: ) online, how is it legally okay to publish dick pics to the public? This is besides the fact that sending random strangers pictures of your junk crosses a big f-ing line into harassment territory.

I was a big fan of his politics before this. Contacting someone with unsolicited sexual images through private or public means is not any different than someone sending you multiple dick pictures in the mail, or knocking on their door and flashing them. It's not some juvenile prank where he pretended to be the Bieb or something. Did he know how old these women really were? For all he knew, he was sending explicit pictures to a minor (which is not that far from possible considering he was in contact with at least one that we know of). How many may have blocked him, letting this behavior continue? It's predatory and it's a big red flag.

EDIT #3: I'm sorry, I'm really coming off as an asshole here. I'm just touchy about this kind of thing, because I know several people (including myself) who've been harassed in real life, and I will say this- getting that to stop was a thousand times more difficult than just blocking someone online, so all of this talk is really getting my hackles up. I'm sorry I came off so condescending and I can see your point, although I do not think that it is as severe as dealing with a real-life flasher.

[Austin]

Weinergate Priceless moment: sitting on my 70 year old Mama's couch, watching CNN. The story of his admission broke, and Mama turns to me: "Weinergate just exploded!" and then "Do you find those pictures on the Twitter erotic?" No!

*We had just polished off a nice Chardonnay. It was after noon--what?

OMG, that's hilarious :banana-explosion:

[daharyn]

poor judgment, no doubt. and creepy and gross. but nothing illegal. a majority of his constituents wanted him to stay in office. he should've listened to the people who sent him to Congress to begin with.

[lexiloumarie]

EDIT #3: I'm sorry, I'm really coming off as an asshole here. I'm just touchy about this kind of thing, because I know several people (including myself) who've been harassed in real life, and I will say this- getting that to stop was a thousand times more difficult than just blocking someone online, so all of this talk is really getting my hackles up. I'm sorry I came off so condescending and I can see your point, although I do not think that it is as severe as dealing with a real-life flasher.

As someone who was bullied online for quite a long period of time in high school but thought it was "normal" because that's what people do on the internet, I'm also probably taking it pretty personally. The internet can do more damage than most people realize, and it's harder to erase than just "blocking" or "deleting" sometimes. Screencaps, new accounts, google searches.

[treemom]

Honestly? I did the exact same thing that he did the week before, and several men returned the favor to me. Is there anyone here who hasn't sexted? In a decade every single politician will have sext pictures and everyone will stop pretending that it's scandalous.

.

Me! I haven't!

[Beeks]

Me! I haven't!

Is sexting sending dirty pics? I've never done that. I have sent my husband some naughty text messages though. Does that count? I'm a dork. :oops:

[Austin]

Me! I haven't!

Uh, me neither. I can think of lots of people who haven't "sexted" actually. A lot of high school and college kids I know are informed enough to realize that whatever gets uploaded to the webz ain't never going away.

I don't honestly care what other people do, and am not advocating that consenting adults not be able to send whatever they want to other consenting adults, but I suspect I am in pretty good company in finding this behavior personally scandalous.

[JesusFightClub]

Uh, me neither. I can think of lots of people who haven't "sexted" actually. A lot of high school and college kids I know are informed enough to realize that whatever gets uploaded to the webz ain't never going away.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Bananacat said she did sexting, I know people who do it (I don't, not being remotely conventionally attractive - people would probably pay me not to.) It is fine but what is incredibly saddening and gives me a low regard for Weiner's intelligence is he is an elected politician and didn't realise "Hey, the circumstance of me being an elected politician means there's a greatly heightened interest in my personal life. And I've heard this internet thing isn't much on the old forgiving and forgetting business. So I had probably better not distribute those pictures of my penis I was going to send out."

[Cartmann99]

Nope.

 

[Pecansforeveryone]

I love 10 year gap in posting here. Geez 10 years already. Anthony Weiner should have known better. Plus wasn't one of his recipients underage or did I just imagine that?