# Would the Weiner fiasco have blown up so large if he had a different last name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934 "2011-06-18T13:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/1 "2011-06-18T13:55:10Z")
Just seems like this is one they couldn’t resist, and I think his name had a lot to do with it. Would it have been such a major story if his last name was Smith? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/2 "2011-06-18T14:10:41Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Would it have been such a major story if his last name was Smith? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/3 "2011-06-18T14:12:47Z")
Without any doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/4 "2011-06-18T14:18:59Z")
Moved from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. **Gfactor** Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/5 "2011-06-18T14:34:02Z")
If anything, Weiner probably benefited from his last name because it made it easier to believe that someone was playing a joke on him. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/6 "2011-06-18T14:59:45Z")
Sure, it would have been just as big of a scandal. The jokes were just easier and cheaper because he was named Weiner. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/7 "2011-06-18T16:33:05Z")
pictures always make the scandal worse. pictures that are revealed bit by bit daily turn it into a major fiasco. ---
**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 18, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/8 "2011-06-18T16:53:16Z")
I think the name did inflate it a _little_ in that the name gave it joke fuel. If he had been named something normal, like Congressman Wang or Congressman Peter Johnson, I don’t think there would have been any jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/9 "2011-06-18T16:58:54Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > If anything, Weiner probably benefited from his last name because it made it easier to believe that someone was playing a joke on him. I agree. I had no trouble believing his story for that very reason, until the “I cannot say with certitude” comment. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/10 "2011-06-19T04:19:47Z")
What did Weiner in was his delay in owning up to the gaffe. If he had told the truth when he was first made aware (that he accidentally sent the pictures to everyone instead of a select few), everyone could have had a good laugh and then forgotten about him once the next scandal hit. He kept waffling and lying and acting guilty as all get out, and now he had no choice but to resign. If he would lie about this, what else would he lie about? ---
**Author:** ![gone2thedogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@gone2thedogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gone2thedogs)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/11 "2011-06-20T05:05:46Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Just seems like this is one they couldn’t resist, and I think his name had a lot to do with it. Would it have been such a major story if his last name was Smith? well, considering he’s pronouncing his name incorrectly.. in the original german it would be pronounced similar to “whiner”, not “weener”. maybe it predisposed him to this crap.. just kidding, the guy is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/12 "2011-06-20T11:54:51Z")
I think that the name added to the notoriety of the story. That is why he had to resign and David “Hooker Diaper” Vitter remains a Senator. That and Conservative hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/13 "2011-06-20T12:05:45Z")
Since this is IMHO, I will add my opinion that the whole scene was absurd. With an entire congress in the pocket of the lobbyists and fat-wallet contributors for whose benefit it acts, why pick on some guy for scattering photos of his equipment. Nothing illegal was ever alleged, AFAIK. Even his sex life was trivial compared to Newt’s. The finest congress money can buy and the bluenoses force him out. Editorials in the NY Times. Absurd! ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-the-weiner-fiasco-have-blown-up-so-large-if-he-had-a-different-last-name/585934/14 "2011-06-20T14:45:54Z")
I have to believe that the congressman’s choice to actively lie to the public about the source of the original photo, then the revelations of subsequent photos and activities would have harmed any person equally, regardless of their name. Without the lying I think that yes, the congressman would have taken a week or two of ridicule before real news overshadowed the silliness, and in that case his last name may have helped the talk show jokesters get a few more jokes out. But that’s all.