# Is Weiner finished? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 8, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783 "2011-06-08T21:25:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/201 "2011-06-12T20:04:35Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Sorry, I was tired when I wrote that. I’m wide awake now and really meant to articulate that his request for a cite regarding the idea of public opinion was rhetorical nonsense. His responses have taken on a Weiner quality to them in this thread. Your first post on that subject was, at best, sloppy. It wasn’t clear that you were only talking about the court of public opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/202 "2011-06-12T20:38:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Your first post on that subject was, at best, sloppy. It wasn’t clear that you were only talking about the court of public opinion. Uh huh. “there’s a law against politicians making a jackass out of themselves and cheating on their spouses. Those accused are tried and convicted in the court of public opinion”. It’s pretty simple. The first sentence was poetic license and the 2nd sentence explained it. Sorry if that confused you. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/203 "2011-06-12T20:46:57Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I found the source of the spelling problem: it’s the link (upthread) to the [Code of Ethics for U.S. Government Service](http://usgovinfo.about.com/blethics.htm). > > My apologies for passing along a typo that you found troubling. I’ll check such things more carefully in future. Yeah, I know, which is why I shook my fist at the Code of Ethics instead of you ;). But it’s not a typo (which I don’t much care about), it’s clearly a confusion of terms which is what irked me, especially in what looks like official material that, presumably, got proof-read. What can I say ? I’m anal about words, in case you hadn’t picked up on it already :). Job hazard. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/204 "2011-06-12T20:54:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The claim that he lied to protect his wife is self-serving and there’s no reason to believe it. Quite right. “I lied to protect my wife” is uttered because it has superficial plausibility, but is basically nonsense. > [@](#): > > Yes, the damage could extend beyond him to include other people in his political party. Based on what a number of prominent Dems (among many others) are saying, it not only could, it absolutely has. And I’m claiming that someone a lot dumber than Weiner would have foreseen this. > [@](#): > > Which is why you can’t argue he put his loyalty to his political party ahead of his loyalty to his moral principles or his country. (Note that the standard is not “your moral principles” but rather “highest moral principles”.) I think when he was in “I’ve been hacked” mode, he was not thinking solely of himself - he was aware of the problems a revelation would cause both for himself and his party, and was hoping to avoid those. So I do argue that the lies represent putting loyalty to party ahead of loyalty to the highest moral principles. I don’t think that’s all they represent, but it was in the mix. > [@](#): > > He didn’t think of his political party or other persons in the government at all. This could accurately be said about the time during which he was doing all that sexting. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/205 "2011-06-12T21:10:38Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Based on what a number of prominent Dems (among many others) are saying, it not only could, it absolutely has. And I’m claiming that someone a lot dumber than Weiner would have foreseen this. Anybody thinking clearly could have foreseen it. > [@](#): > > I think when he was in “I’ve been hacked” mode, he was not thinking solely of himself - he was aware of the problems a revelation would cause both for himself and his party, and was hoping to avoid those. So I do argue that the lies represent putting loyalty to party ahead of loyalty to the highest moral principles. I think he was attempting to save his own ass. I don’t think he put loyalty to the party ahead of anything. I think your reading of this code of conduct suggests that anyone who cheats on his or her spouse and lies about it is unfit to work for the government. (It goes without saying that practically everyone who gets caught cheating lies about it. Cheating is itself dishonest behavior.) That’s not just elected officials, mind you, _it’s anyone working for the federal government_. I don’t think that’s what this code of conduct is about. Weiner has revealed himself (heh) to be a jerk and a liar, and whether he resigns or not makes no difference to me. But I don’t think it follows that anyone who cheats and tries to cover it up is unfit for any form of government service. The government is not the clergy. A Congressman who cheats on his wife or a deputy undersecretary who cheats on her husband can still do the job. They may be jerks, but I’d rather have a government with some jerks who know what they’re doing than wait for a government made up of saints. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/206 "2011-06-12T21:17:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It isn’t a big deal. Not a single human being on the planet actually cares. Perhaps only Dio could make dozens of posts to a thread dealing with a topic he believes no one cares about. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/207 "2011-06-12T21:29:20Z")
“Nobody cares,” in the sense that no one is genuinely offended or hurt by the behavior beside maybe his wife. All the moral outrage from Dems and Republicans alike is phony. Republicans are gleeful (though they’re in danger of a backlash if they keep btrying to overreach too much and turn Weiner into some kind of predator when he’s really just another dick texting idiot), Democrats are annoyed that it sucks all the oxygen out of the news cycles for anything else, but nobody is truly, sincerely outraged. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/208 "2011-06-12T22:18:59Z")
I “care” about lots of things that neither hurt me, offend me, nor cause me outrage. And if I were in his district, I would want him to not run again if he didn’t resign. There are plenty of potential Congressmen who don’t have a habit of texting their junk to random strangers. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/209 "2011-06-13T11:26:00Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > …There are plenty of potential Congressmen who don’t have a habit of texting their junk to random strangers. And we are a poorer nation for it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/210 "2011-06-13T12:50:05Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > No cite. I just can’t imagine another reason the recipients would have sent them to a news agency, outside of a deliberate honey trap sort of thing. To update this, [ABC has acknowledged it did pay one of the women for her photos.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/business/media/13payments.html?_r=1) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/211 "2011-06-13T15:36:29Z")
By the way, the investigation into Weiner’s conversations with the girl in Delaware is now closed. The police said they have not discovered any crimes or inappropriate activity, or any shit like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/212 "2011-06-13T16:23:54Z")
So Patterico’s insinuations were just baseless slime after all. Astonishing. Who could have seen that coming ? ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/213 "2011-06-13T16:31:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > By the way, the investigation into Weiner’s conversations with the girl in Delaware is now closed. The police said they have not discovered any crimes or inappropriate activity, or any shit like that. I’d like to be the first to call for Marley23’s resignation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/214 "2011-06-13T16:32:11Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > By the way, the investigation into Weiner’s conversations with the girl in Delaware is now closed. The police said they have not discovered any crimes or inappropriate activity, or any shit like that. I wonder if that was just dumb luck on his part, or did Weiner know she was a teenager and temper his tweets accordingly? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/215 "2011-06-13T17:07:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wonder if that was just dumb luck on his part, or did Weiner know she was a teenager and temper his tweets accordingly? I think that, dumb as he was, he didn’t send pictures of his dick to every female who followed him on Twitter. He said he did that with maybe six women over three years. If he’d sent them out that freely, he would have been caught a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/216 "2011-06-13T17:15:22Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > And we are a poorer nation for it. yes, that’s quite the resume maker considering the skill-sets needed to become a member of congress are identical to that of a cheerleader. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/217 "2011-06-13T17:45:02Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wonder if that was just dumb luck on his part, or did Weiner know she was a teenager and temper his tweets accordingly? Well, judging from her tweets (those published by Patterico anyway), she’s pretty obviously a dim bulb overly smitten by the simple fact that he’s aware of her existence. You know, kinda like a teenager with a crush :). Maybe I give him too much credit, or maybe I’m just projecting, but I’d think he didn’t temper his tweets as much as he wasn’t interested in the first place. Blind adulation is unappealing. Even if all you’re looking for is a cybersex partner, the seduction game is half the fun. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/218 "2011-06-13T17:49:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wonder if that was just dumb luck on his part, or did Weiner know she was a teenager and temper his tweets accordingly? Is there any evidence she pretended not to be a teenager? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/219 "2011-06-13T18:03:46Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Is there any evidence she pretended not to be a teenager? No, I don’t know that she gave any indication about her age one way or the other. There was never any concrete reason to think Weiner did anything wrong here. It was just assumptions: ‘Weiner sent pictures to some women on Twitter’ ‘Weiner spoke to this girl’ ‘Maybe Weiner sent pictures to the girl.’ He has 79,000 people following on Twitter. He wasn’t emailing pictures of his wang to all of them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/220 "2011-06-13T18:22:30Z")
The reason I asked the question had to do with what Weiner said in his press conference-- that he hadn’t been tweeting anyone underage. If we take him at his word (ha!), then it might have been just dumb luck he didn’t tweet his wiener to her, since he assumed he was only tweeting to adults. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783.md?page=12)