Lou Magazzu Resigns

[Bricker]

@Giles

So you’re attacking him because he sets high standards for himself? Politicians who set themselves much lower standards are more worthy of your vote?

My only “attack” is the repetition of a funny late-night quip: politico #2 has to resign for doing something that politico #1 was just caught doing and ALSO forced to resign.

To answer your question: I don’t agree that those are particularly high standards. I think he was foolish to send semi-naked pictures of himself over the Internet to anyone. I think choosing to do that, in light of better than ten years’ worht of increasingly obvious experience that keeping things on-line private is problematic, is rather foolish, and thus not an example of high standards.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

He emailed them privately, it wasn’t like he posted them publicly anywhere. He’s also single, so who gives a shit? Did he take a vow of chastity? Why do you care? Are you this zealous in monitoring and commenting on the private romantic lives of all other unmarried politicians, or just Democrats?

[Bricker]

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

He emailed them privately, it wasn’t like he posted them publicly anywhere. He’s also single, so who gives a shit?

Well, if you’re correct – no one gives a shit – then he resigned for no reason whatsoever. Not too bright.

Or you’re wrong, and some folks do give a shit – in which case he was foolish to send the pictures.

I can’t see an interpretation that makes him look like a genius, here.

Did he take a vow of chastity? Why do you care? Are you this zealous in monitoring and commenting on the private romantic lives of all other unmarried politicians, or just Democrats?

No. I don’t even think he did anything immoral. You might be confusing my gentle jab at his judgement with some some sense of opprobrium at the actual act of sending semi-nude pictures.

I do think he did something foolish. If you don’t, I’d love to hear your reasoning. His actions led to his resignation. He either foolishly resigned over something no one cares about, or he foolishly did something that, if discovered, would make it necessary for him to resign. Which is it?

[Peremensoe]

@Giles

@Bricker

However, if Palin herself said, “That act did not demonstrate the wisdom and balance that she expected from herself, and that the people of Alaska deserve and have every right to expect,” I would be comfortable repeating that comment with approval.

If she said something like that, my opinion of her would go up considerably.

Well, the referring to herself in the third person would be a little odd. But overall, yeah, that’s a really hard sentence!

[Bricker]

@spark240

Well, the referring to herself in the third person would be a little odd. But overall, yeah, that’s a really hard sentence!

Not at all. I’d imagine her speechwriters sending e-mail back and forth about what she should say, and Palin grabbing that one and running with it, dutifully reading ‘she’ without changing it to ‘I.’

[bup]

@Bricker

Well, if you’re correct – no one gives a shit – then he resigned for no reason whatsoever. Not too bright.

Or you’re wrong, and some folks do give a shit – in which case he was foolish to send the pictures.

I can’t see an interpretation that makes him look like a genius, here.

I agree that is fair.

I wish you had left a setup for pointing out that when a Republican gets caught sending pictures, it’s usually to a man while denying he’s gay. But you didn’t.

[cuauhtemoc]

You know what I find weird about this? That Jay Leno spent the time on his nationally televised talkshow to make a joke about a person serving on the Board of Chosen Freeholders in Cumberland County, NJ. The position of Freeholder is a pretty obscure political artifact. I grew up in New Jersey, in the county right next to Cumberland, and I don’t even know what a Freeholder does. Seriously, I’ve always wondered, but could never be bothered to look it up. I can absolutely guarantee you that three quarters of the people who live in Cumberland County right now had never heard of Lou Magazzu before this. So if anything, this is an extremely local news item.

I get that there are parallels to the Anthony Wiener story, and the other guy with the personal ad. So I can see how a writer might want to mine some humor out of that. Still, it seems like a long way to go for a joke. The man is a Freeholder. I don’t think that position even exists outside of New Jersey. Would it work if he were a county coroner? A dogcatcher?

[SJGirl]

I’m from Cumberland County and have been following the fellow who is locally referred to as “the Maggot” for several years now.

He has left a trail of destroyed lives behind him over the years - any common person who dares challenge him finds themselves in a bad way- forced retirements, slander, arrests (in the webmaster’s case, he was scheduled to go to court the next day to have his child support reduced because of lack of income-and bear in mind his children are adults. Yes, he was behind. Not cool! But we aren’t talking will-full nonpayment of young children, and he was pursuing correct legal means to try to have his support payments reduced.)

The webmaster of the site who ultimately “brought Lou down” has, along with many others, done much investigation into the sleazy politics of LM–illegal PAC donations, and many, many other unethical practices which have gone undealt with because he knew the right folk. It’s a shame for his family that he wasn’t brought down on those charges instead of dragging them through this type of scandal. I know so many people who have kicked under the bus by him, so to speak. People who are respected in the community–(and for the most part not controversial folk, unlike the webmaster)–Dem and Rep alike.

As far as the emails between his lady friend–he is in process of divorcing currently, and has been separated for 2 years. His relationship with this woman extends back 6 years. During that time he never told her he was married. She found out online, after she tried to break things off (after he approached her for loans, and he continued to contact her, against her wishes, prompting her to FINALLY research the guy. How can you go that long involved without researching someone, I cannot say…some people are too trusting.)

You do the math…

In the poorest county of NJ, with one of the highest unemployment and poverty rates, and numerous schools who are “schools in need,” cleaning up government is a much needed thing.

Given that the webmaster was told by the local papers that it wasn’t "newsworthy,’ which then prompted his decision to post the photos on his website, it is amazing to those of us in CC that this story has spread worldwide-South America to Australia, and even as far as the Leno show. It was even news in Las Vegas. Go figure.

[Miller]

@Bricker

I see, by the way, that we are uncritically accepting his story that she requested the pictures, just as we uncritically accepted Weiner’s story that his account was hacked.

People actually believed Weiner about that?

Huh.

[Bricker]

@Miller

People actually believed Weiner about that?

Huh.

Yes:

@Mr.Moto

Link.

I’m going to make a prediction - Congressman Weiner will issue an apology for this incident sometime in the next two weeks. Once the story starts changing like this, it is to cover up an embarrassing truth.

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

How has Weiner’s story changed?

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

What business is it of yours?

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

I’m asking how it’s your business why he chose to go that route instead involving the FBI. He’s the victim, he can take it as seriously as he wants to.

[Roderick_Femm]

Huh. My thread on this topic died after about 5 posts. This thread goes on and on.

I understand my mistake now. I asked for information. I didn’t give anyone anything to argue about. And I didn’t make a relatively benign and straightforward statement that seemed to mean a lot more than it said, thereby giving me plausible deniability* about the crowing that I was actually doing.

Lesson learned. Just wait for my next thread!
Roddy

*Hmm, spell check doesn’t like this word, but it doesn’t offer an alternative spelling. Isn’t this a word?

[Miller]

@Bricker

Yes:

Sorry, I didn’t realize that when you meant “we,” you were speaking specifically about Diogenes. I thought you were saying that Wiener’s lie had some sort of wider traction before the bottom fell out of it.

[Bricker]

@Roderick_Femm

Huh. My thread on this topic died after about 5 posts. This thread goes on and on.

I understand my mistake now. I asked for information. I didn’t give anyone anything to argue about. And I didn’t make a relatively benign and straightforward statement that seemed to mean a lot more than it said, thereby giving me plausible deniability* about the crowing that I was actually doing.

Look at the time I posted this note.

Consider what time Leno does his opening monologue.

Leno said it, I thought it was funny, I posted it moments later, giving credit to the originator. No more deep thought than that. I posted it in MPSIMS for this reason.

[Finagle]

@Bricker

Look at the time I posted this note.

Consider what time Leno does his opening monologue.

Leno said it, I thought it was funny, I posted it moments later, giving credit to the originator. No more deep thought than that. I posted it in MPSIMS for this reason.

Just as a point of interest, would you have thought it funny enough to be worth posting if he were a Republican? Honestly? (Seriously, introspect away and then answer.)

[Little_Nemo]

@Bricker

I didn’t say he did anything morally wrong, either.

No, you’re just repeating how other people have said he is morally wrong. Your hands are clean.

[Bricker]

@Little_Nemo

No, you’re just repeating how other people have said he is morally wrong. Your hands are clean.

No. There’s nothing in Leno’s comment that suggests he was morally wrong, either. Leno’s joke highlights the foolishness of sending naked pictures when another, more prominent politician just lost his job for the same reason.

[Bricker]

@Finagle

Just as a point of interest, would you have thought it funny enough to be worth posting if he were a Republican? Honestly? (Seriously, introspect away and then answer.)

Absolutely. The wording would have had to be slightly different, of course, but the basic jab would be the same/

[Finagle]

@Bricker

Absolutely. The wording would have had to be slightly different, of course, but the basic jab would be the same/

You know, without dragging this into the pit, the best I can do here is just call shenanigans and move on.

[Mr.Moto]

@Miller

Sorry, I didn’t realize that when you meant “we,” you were speaking specifically about Diogenes. I thought you were saying that Wiener’s lie had some sort of wider traction before the bottom fell out of it.

@Marley23

The story hasn’t changed so far. Despite the thread title I haven’t seen a comment where he said the picture wasn’t him.

@Gangster_Octopus

It seems to me that he is saying he can’t say with certitude that the picture was posted on a his hacked Twitter account. The evidence is VERY strong that Weiner did not do this, yet the idiots at CNN cannot even do a single slight bit of creative reporting to try and figure it out.

It wasn’t just Diogenes - this view was widely held here, at least initially.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

There was no reason not to take him at his word. I was right to do so.

It was not a widely held view, though.