Readers react to my initial thoughts on Weiner's press conference. One writes:
You see "little reason" why he should resign? Really? Seriously? Here's the reason: people given to extraordinarily stupid, reckless behavior should not hold public office.
Even my thirteen-year-old daughter knows a basic rule: you don't send sexually explicit photos electronically. Anyone who doesn't live in a cave knows this. Just like you don't do other things highly likely to result in public embarrassment and dismay, if you care in the least about your reputation. And politicians need to care about their reputations.
How far would Weiner have climbed in his political career if he hadn't been caught? I've volunteered for political campaigns; can I just say how bitterly angry I would be to learn that my hours of work had been in support of someone who not only couldn't behave decently – among other things, Weiner's behavior represents a deep and extremely public injury to his wife – but who couldn't be bothered to exercise basic precautions to hide his own stupid proclivities?
Clearly there is something about politics that attracts men with a taste for recklessly immature sexual behavior. But let's try to weed at least some of them out before they jeopardize, say, a Democratic seat in the Senate – or make it to the Presidency and then waste the government's time and resources on an impeachment after they (inevitably) resort to lying about said behavior.
Another quotes me:
Yes, he absolutely should not have lied. He should never have lied. But he has now also copped to his lies.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but are you saying it is generally acceptable for public officials to lie to the media, the general public, and their constituents so long as they eventually cop to it? And that there should be no formal punishment for it? I think it would be great if you could write a bit more about your thinking here, where you draw the line, and connect it to some of the other recent incidents involving political officials.
Another:
Further, you say, "No one, so far as I can tell, was harrassed, no one was abused" Really? Does the recipient of the tweet matter? You may downplay the impact on her life, but Weiner's odd lies left a lot of blood in the water, which sent the reporters after this girl in a way that may not have occurred had Weiner simply fessed early and loudly. Even though she is innocent, she has suffered the trauma of national media glare and the taint of an association with this matter that will take some time to wear away.
This lying had real world consequences for real people. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to say offhand that this type of lying – or any type of lying for that matter – by public officials does not have collateral damage. It does.
Another:
You wrote: "Moreover, if online flirting is unforgivable, why isn't off-line flirting unforgivable? And what really is the difference?" As a broad principle, I agree with this sentiment. But there's definitely one big difference here: Weiner, I'm pretty sure, was using public resources to do this.
And yes, Twitter is free and a House blackberry doesn't have a per minute charge or anything, but still: there's a big difference between being a little kinky and sketchy in your private life, and brining it to work. If anyone at my government office does this on government equipment, I'm pretty sure they're not given a second chance. Or even a chance to explain.
That's not to say that Weiner's job circumstances aren't different than mine or most peoples; but this is still his place of employment, and that counts for something.
Another:
Here's why I'm pissed off at Anthony Weiner – it's that he let this salacious debacle define him, and I've been counting on him to take on the newly elected GOP majority. How dare he be so stupid? Did it not occur to him that people like Andrew Brietbart would have a field day with this?
A couple months ago my husband and I spent a good part of a morning of our DC vacation in the House Gallery watching Weiner. It was beautiful – he sat there pretending to read the newspaper as Eric Cantor and John Boehner glowingly welcomed their new members. Then he took the floor and asked if all the members of the congress had now been properly sworn (referring to the two freshmen who had failed to show up for the swearing in), just putting the excited Tea Party candidates on notice that they weren't going to get anything by him.
Well, there'll be no more of that from Anthony Weiner. And that's just so incredibly sad and stupid.
My subsequent thoughts here.
The Dish 