# 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:** 2
**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 9, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/21 "2011-06-09T03:10:20Z")
He’s fine. Nothing will happen. He didn’t break any laws. This story is already over. Some blonde will go missing by friday and everyone will forget all about it. ---
**Author:** ![JimH52](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@JimH52](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimH52)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/22 "2011-06-09T03:14:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > He’s fine. Nothing will happen. He didn’t break any laws. This story is already over. Some blonde will go missing by friday and everyone will forget all about it. Sadly, you may be right…☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/23 "2011-06-09T03:22:23Z")
All he has to do to not be finished is to not resign. So why would he resign? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/24 "2011-06-09T03:27:20Z")
As long as he can take the embarrassment factor he can ride it out, at least until the next election. And who knows? Things might turn around for him in the mean time. He seems to be indicating that he is going to brazen it out, and I haven’t seen anything indicating that they can boot him out if he’s not willing…not for some dirty pictures of himself. The moral of the story is that the Weiner isn’t finished until the fat lady sings… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/25 "2011-06-09T03:50:01Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Unfortunately personal issues like this are extremely important in this country. They are important to conservatives. Not so much to liberals. That is broadly stated. I think he is dumb for getting himself in this position though. Consider if you had a hot-shit salesman (or woman). That person was making you more money than the next three people combined. Would you fire that person for cheating on his/her wife/husband? Probably not because it doesn’t matter. Their personal issues are their problem, not yours. What you care about is if your employee is producing. Anthony Weiner’s constituents have to decide if he is still an effective congressman for them. It may be this scandal will make him ineffective in which case his constituents should vote him out. If he manages to continue to do the job he was hired for then fine…he keeps going. Note this only assumes personal foibles and does not address if he broke the law. That is a whole other kettle of fish. Currently it does not seem he broke any laws though. If that changes the calculus changes. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/26 "2011-06-09T03:51:59Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > He didn’t break any laws. … that we yet know of. But he could be skating on some thin ice WRT underage sexting. He said he doesn’t know the ages of his contacts, which implies he was willing to run the risk that some were underage. If it comes out that any were, he’s in bad trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/27 "2011-06-09T03:58:03Z")
Stick a fork in Weiner, he’s done! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/28 "2011-06-09T03:58:31Z")
> [@JimH52](#): > > … he has no friends. At least not at [salon.com](http://salon.com), which put out this item: [The dirty trick that launched Anthony Weiner’s career](http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/07/anthony_weiner_1991/index.html) ---
**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 9, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/29 "2011-06-09T04:01:40Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > … that we yet know of. You can say that about anybody. > [@](#): > > But he could be skating on some thin ice WRT underage sexting. He said he doesn’t know the ages of his contacts, which implies he was willing to run the risk that some were underage. If it comes out that any were, he’s in bad trouble. This is wishful thinking, and it’s misleading to say he didn’t know their ages. he communicated with women who presented as adults on social media, just like millions of other Americans do every day. This wild hope that maybe one of them was secretly underaged is not likely to pan out. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/30 "2011-06-09T04:27:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > he communicated with women who presented as adults on social media … If one is found to be underage, does her presenting herself as an adult insulate Weiner from legal trouble? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/31 "2011-06-09T04:31:25Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > If one is found to be underage, does her presenting herself as an adult insulate Weiner from legal trouble? If his message to her is [this leaked photo](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fortyseven/2801011920/), then the answer is probably no. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/32 "2011-06-09T04:48:31Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > If one is found to be underage, does her presenting herself as an adult insulate Weiner from legal trouble? If one of the girls was underage he is fucked. At least politically but quite possibly legally (as in jail). My understanding when it comes to underage kids is something like this: Imagine you are in a bar in the US (where everyone is presumably 21 or over and the bar is supposed to check). You meet a woman. She has all the girl parts in all the right places (i.e. she is not pre-pubescent but sexually mature…physically). She tells you she is 21. She hits on you. You go home and have sex with her. Turns out she is 16 and you get arrested. Even if she comes into court and says she seduced you, that she wanted to have sex with you, that it was all consensual and she lied to you that she was 21 and used a fake ID to get into the bar the court will ask one question: Did you have sex with her? If the answer is yes, despite all the above, off to jail you go. The above might mitigate your sentence but you are still guilty. If Weiner sent pics to an underage girl losing his congressional seat is the least of it. He quite possibly would be facing jail time (unless I misunderstand all this). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/33 "2011-06-09T04:49:11Z")
He looks to be an undisciplined fool. The Democratic Party has other liberal voices that can replace him and have some credibility. He destroyed his own credibility. Credibility is necessary to the success of a politician. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/34 "2011-06-09T04:53:03Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Credibility is necessary to the success of a politician. On what planet? Not this one. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/35 "2011-06-09T05:14:36Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If one of the girls was underage he is fucked. At least politically but quite possibly legally (as in jail). > > My understanding when it comes to underage kids is something like this: > > Imagine you are in a bar in the US (where everyone is presumably 21 or over and the bar is supposed to check). > > You meet a woman. She has all the girl parts in all the right places (i.e. she is not pre-pubescent but sexually mature…physically). > > She tells you she is 21. She hits on you. You go home and have sex with her. > > Turns out she is 16 and you get arrested. > > Even if she comes into court and says she seduced you, that she wanted to have sex with you, that it was all consensual and she lied to you that she was 21 and used a fake ID to get into the bar the court will ask one question: Did you have sex with her? > > If the answer is yes, despite all the above, off to jail you go. The above might mitigate your sentence but you are still guilty. > > If Weiner sent pics to an underage girl losing his congressional seat is the least of it. He quite possibly would be facing jail time (unless I misunderstand all this). Nice story. Who did he have sex with exactly? Last time I checked this whole thing was about texting. What law did he break? ---
**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 9, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/36 "2011-06-09T05:16:31Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > If one is found to be underage, does her presenting herself as an adult insulate Weiner from legal trouble? If the Queen had balls, she’d be the king. Millions of Americans flirt online with people they don’t know. You are grasping at straws. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/37 "2011-06-09T05:17:44Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > If the Queen had balls, she’d be the king. > > Millions of Americans flirt online with people they don’t know. You are grasping at straws. Wow. This is funny coming from you. ---
**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 9, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/38 "2011-06-09T05:19:00Z")
He didn’t fuck any of them, and they weren’t underaged. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/39 "2011-06-09T05:19:25Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > Nice story. Who did he have sex with exactly? Last time I checked this whole thing was about texting. What law did he break? No one. It was a hypothetical. He has broken no laws whatsoever that I am aware of. Which frankly makes this fuss somewhat odd. As sex scandals go it is kind of tame. The outrage seems disproportionate with the facts as they are. ---
**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 9, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783/40 "2011-06-09T05:23:59Z")
A lot of people are just really _hoping_ he did (and I’d like to see a cite that flirting with someone online who presents in every way an adult is a crime). Conservatives, in particular, are not outraged or offended by Weiner, they’re gleeful. They will be very disappointed if he turns out not to have harmed any children. If they find out he did harm a child, they’ll be overjoyed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-weiner-finished/584783.md?page=3)