Legally I am not sure but even there my suspicion is he’d be in trouble (per my hypothetical above). Politically he’d be dead regardless of the reality. The House would fall over itself kicking him out…Dems and Reps joined in bi-partisan nirvana.
Credibility is as essential for an effective politician the same way it is for a lawyer. Yes, ha, ha, ha. I get it. The thing is, when I have chaired groups or appeared before judges in cases where I have established that I am going to do what I am saying, I have seen those groups and judges do things I request that they utterly would not consider doing for a stranger, nor would I ask if I were a stranger. When a group is going to be doing voter registration and I want volunteers to help, they know I will actually put my ass in the chair in the hot sun and sit with at least as many shifts as any other volunteer, and I can point and say, “will you do it with me? can you do it with Bob?” and I know they will say yes with a smile when they otherwise would sit at home. I can go to a settlement conference with a judge I regularly appear in front of and know that the judge is telling the other party and his/her lawyer: if this guy says he will try the case pro bono, win or lose, he will do so, and if he says he has x evidence, then he has it, he appears in front of me several times a year.
GWBush was hated by the base for being a doofus and an idiot by 2004, but they worked their asses off for him because he had credibility with them. He had promised to push their agenda and boy did he. They got their agenda through, and then when it was convenient, they blamed everything bad on him they couldn’t tag on their opponents.
Weiner may continue to say things that please Democrats. Great. But he can’t promise his colleagues that he will push through legislation because he has no clout left and because he might not be sincere. Democrats have too few voices and Weiner talked the talk, but he has years of credibility rebuilding to do.
Should he resign? Probably not. But I don’t want to waste resources reelecting him.
Why are you referencing your irrelevant hypothetical? You just admitted that he hadn’t broken any laws.
Hypothetically he could be a mass murderer, or you could be. That has nothing to do with reality either.
Credibility and ability are two different things.
I am not sure what definition of “credibility” you are using but not one I am familiar with.
You are right though that his ability is at stake. I agree that even if you like the guy (go with it for the example) if he cannot achieve the things you voted him in there to do then he should be voted out.
In short can he still do his job?
I dunno. Time will tell.
His constituents have roughly 18 months to decide that. I am hard pressed to think of a way he could be forced out before that as is (inasmuch as it’d be so close to the election anyway not sure what is gained).
The point of the hypothetical was to illustrate that messing with minors in a sexual manner, even if you do not know and could not know they were a minor, would still get you in deep trouble.
Their has been speculation that since Weiner has apparently been doing this for years some of these young women may have been underage when it started.
That is not to say Weiner knew or pursued underage girls. My point is it doesn’t matter what he knew or intended if that is the case.
Mess with underage chicks and you’re in deep trouble. As a politician you are dead meat. At that point you’ll be lucky to avoid jail.
Personally I’m less bothered by the sex scandal aspect than I am by the sheer stupidity of it.
The guy isn’t smart enough to figure out that posting sensitive photos to the Internet is a bad way to keep them secret… and he’s one of the people we have running the country?
Many people are fooled by the apparent anonymity of the Internet. It’s going to be worse for public figures who are used to having a staff that insulates and protects them from consequences.
Political figures have made stupid moves over sex since there have been political figures. For every one that’s been caught, there are probably at least as many that haven’t.
People being surprised that political figures lie is just silly. They all lie. I think it’s actually to Weiner’s credit that he’s not good at it. It was clear from his denial interviews that he was trying to cover his ass (albeit a bit late.)
The guy who does circumcisions is a moyel.
Until yesterday I thought Weiner had a good chance at surviving this, but his wife is pregnant, House Democrats are upset, the picture of his schlong apparently makes things worse (even though it was already obvious this is what was going on) and people on the news have taken to reciting some of his embarrassing tweets. I knew Weiner and Jon Stewart were old friends, but apparently he’s an even bigger Daily Show fan than I thought. At this point I don’t see how he can weather the continuing embarrassment and ridicule and the irritation of the other Democrats, who don’t want this to be used against him. If he’s lucky maybe he can stay quiet for a year or so and hope people won’t laugh at him if he runs for mayor, but he’ll have a lot of work to do.
sigh
I know the feeling of being tempted to use this line of argument (with Diogenes, no less!) in the earlier thread. “How can you say he’s broken no laws?” We don’t know know who he might have sent that stuff to!"
But (grinding my teeth) Diogenes is correct to object. This is argument from ignorance – we don’t know, so we should assume he did? No. The default position is that he didn’t; it’s for the contrary claim to produce evidence that he did.
The man’s an idiot with not a shred of integrity or honor. Of course he isn’t finished. None of those things matter in modern politics.
The atmosphere around him is growing cold, and there is considerable shrinkage in his support. He may have to zip things up!
Heh, just remember, politicians are like talking dogs at the circus - they make an interesting and amusing spectacle, but you shouldn’t believe what they say. 
Look, there are two questions here.
One, is can Weiner be forced out of office? Answer, he can’t. Unless he resigns, he’s going to stay in his seat.
Two, will Weiner be re-elected? Answer, who knows, but probably not. But that’s not up to the general public, it’s up to the voters in his district. Even if everyone else in the country thinks he’s a clown, if they like him and vote for him, he can keep his office. This is how Marion Barry got re-elected after smoking crack with prostitutes.
That’s probably correct, since even if there is an ethics investigation and he sees it through, the worst that would probably happen is censure.
And the NY legisature, since his district may not exist soon.
Unfortunately, I think “he’s fine” / “the story is already over” are examples of wishful thinking. No particular desire to see him go, but I think he’s toast.
I can forgive suggestive texting for a single male, but when it continues after marriage and begins to involve bare body images and ultimately sexual organs, then into the toaster you go. Shame really, he seems like an intelligent guy with some good ideas. But credibility is everything and how can you have that when wierd images are floating around the intertubes?
I’ll say it one more time, your hypothetical of someone having sexual relations with a minor is irrelevant to the facts that have come to light in this specific situation. Your hypothetical is fantasy, and this is Great Debates, so let’s focus on reality. None of the women have been minors, and Weiner didn’t have sex with any of them, so at this point it’s nothing more than scandal mongering.
Once again you brought up jail, so clearly you believe there is a law against flirting and sexting with others who turn out to be minors. There was no such law when I did some research about this years ago regarding Second Life. None of this has anything to do with what Weiner did, but I’m genuinely curious if there is a new law I don’t know about and obviously you aren’t going to stop bringing it up, so show me the law that says if you text “with underage chicks and you are in deep trouble”. No hypothetical, a cite. No making up scenarios of whatever other fantasies live in your head, cite something that fits the facts I laid out, cybersex with another person who presents as an adult and turns out to be a minor.
I think it all depends on whether he lets himself be buffaloed into resigning. If a family-values Republican can be re-elected to the Senate after wearing a diaper and being spanked by a prostitute, I see no reason why Wiener can’t be re-elected as well. This story will have less impact in the fall of 2012 than it does now.
He wasn’t wide stancing himself in a restroom either. Craig was not outed nor was he ousted. He stayed in. It is whether Weiner feels up to the fight and ridicule.
Barbara Walters supported him on TV today. She said he was a hard working and effective representative. If he can work it out with his wife, then it is up to him if he thinks he can serve well.
Okay, now I KNOW he’s fucked.