Weiner’s gone—for now
Weiner’s gone, and not a moment too soon. He stayed far too long at this particular fair, until even Nancy Pelosi was forced to publicly call for him to step down and seek treatment.
Sometimes the “seeking treatment” meme is just a ploy and an excuse. But in this case I think it’s real and very needed.
However (and it’s a huge “however”), Weiner’s departure from the political scene might just be temporary. He’s taking a leave of absence rather than resigning.
Must need those health benefits.
He is not gone–he did not resign. He has found a way to drop out of the public eye until the controversy blows over, and then will return saying that he have been cured and it is uncivil for anyone brings up past indiscretions. It is a smart political move on his part.
I doubt if his “treatment” will do anything to curb his willingness to lie when it suits his purposes.
nohype: that’s why I wrote “for now.” There is a high likelihood that he’ll return, although it depends. One of the things it depends on is whether the Democrats want him back.
As for the rest—it depends on whether Weiner is a sociopath or just a cybersex addict who lied as a coverup. I don’t know which he is. But I agree that he has shown a tremendous flair for deception.
Neo, you were prophetic . Quoth Neo:
At least in a treatment center, Weiner will be away from the hubbub. That in itself will have a therapeutic effect.
I agree that Weiner needs some self-evaluation. He is currently a convincing liar and an attack dog who can change his target at the snap of some fingers: a rather repulsive person. At the same time, these attributes are essential to his success as a politician. He cannot be a healthy, well-centered person and be the politician he has been.
Time will tell if he emerges from the treatment center a better person. If he does, he will no longer be the politician he was.
As Neo pointed out, the guy needs the pay check. His wife may have cut him off in more ways than one.
Sometimes the “seeking treatment” meme is just a ploy and an excuse. But in this case I think it’s real and very needed.
You’re giving a large benefit of the doubt to a not very nice man, but sigh I guess you’re right.
umm….I’ll not be overly surprised if he soon enough announces that he must resign after all “based on MEDICAL advice”. I expect his therapists in ‘treatment’ are going to conclude that he will need more long term, in-house treatment……and, and, he really really does not want to resign BUT his docs feel he must, blah, blah. It would be exceedingly difficult for him to return at this point and right now I think he is just looking for a face saving(HA!) way out of the mess he finds himself in.
I doubt Weiner’s strategy of laying low will work. The 17 year old apparently deleted messages from Weiner. There may be other minors he contacted. The House leadership would be remiss not to ask the FBI to investigate.
I am extremely dubious about any form of counseling or other talk therapy yielding useful reductions in aberrant behavior like Weiner’s or Woods’, or Strauss-Kahn’s. Cloaking such behavior in the guise of a malady or an addiction is a sign of our times.
AA’s 12 step program is probably the most effective way of treating alcoholism there is, but absolute abstinence from alcohol is a critical ingredient to that program’s success and the maintenance of sobriety.
Sex is different. It is built into us, hormonally and neurologically, for teleological reasons if one subscribes to that. Pedophilia is not corrected by any therapy, including castration or progestin drugs.
A return by Weiner to a “normal” life after “therapy” will be akin to an alcoholic going to bars and parties for “normal” drinking.
Basically, one never is cured of the afflicting vulnerability. Alcoholics talk of “being in recovery” but never “recovered”, as in “cured”. Branding him on his forehead, and shunning him for the rest of his days is likely to be more socially useful.
I’m with Don Carlos on this one. I just don’t see how sitting down and talking to a shrink will help him change his behavior. But I’ve never been to a shrink, or a therapist of any kind, so what do I know.
If there is any doubt about whether he’s a sociopath, just go back and watch the interview he gave to ABC’s Jonathan Karl (linked below). He insists repeatedly that he is a victim. He comes very close to saying the media is at fault for disrupting the life of an underage woman Weiner was following on twitter.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/06/weiner-flashback-i-was-the-victim-of-this-.html
It reminds me of when Obama got the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. Bill Clinton gave a compelling speech endorsing the man who had just taken the nomination away from his wife. Charles Krauthammer remarked that nobody can fake sincerity better than Bill Clinton.
That quote came to my mind as I watched that interview. The ease with which Weiner can present himself as a victim — with no sense of guilt, remorse, or shame — is pretty amazing.
I think he’s a sociopath.
Treatment results depend on the patient’s need to come to grips with his issues. I would wish him well on that front. Not because I like the man, but because he is, after all, a human being. However, if the ‘treatment” is merely a ploy to gain forgiveness, it will be a waste of time and health benefits. I rather think this is the case here. We’ll see.
“He’s taking a leave of absence rather than resigning.”
Next will be ‘sabbatical.’ Kicking and screaming – No Leftist voluntarily relinquishes power, trake that to the nearest bank that hasn’t been nationalized yet.
d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
“Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”
From now on, I’d use, refer to, and link to that little image of Weiner’s weiner wearing a Groucho Marx set of glasses and a mustache, any time that any individual Democrat, Democratic proposal, statement or policy, or the Democratic Party was mentioned in any context whatsoever, on the Internet, making this the “face” of the Democratic Party.
Do this often and ubiquitously enough and I doubt that Weiner could last a week in his little “leave of absence” from Congress, but would be forced to resign.
What is the problem that Weiner now wishes to have resolved? Just yesterday, there was nothing wrong with him.Even Pelosi said so, yet today, he has issues.Just what are they? Does he require an assholectomy? There will nothing left to him if he gets the procedure.
Pure, crystalline bullshit, diffracting out to 90 degrees in 2 theta. He didn’t seek “therapy” until he lied to people’s faces, b) accused others of malfeasance, c) played the sanctimony card, d) been caught in a bare-faced lie, e) finally admitted such, and f) had his feet held to the fire by the Party hierarchy. Not exactly a road to Damascus kind of moment, yes?
What he needs is a character transplant.
The assumption is that he’s actually “entering a psychological treatment center.”. My bet is that his leave of absence is nothing more than a vacation, designed to take the spotlight off of him so that he can carry on with his life (and all of its activities) once the media is looking elsewhere for news.
It’s not just about his sexual predatory behavior, it’s about him being a pathological liar and a total narcissist. That’s not going to change.
The right phrase to describe Weiner is “shameless predator.” He was probably always manipulative and narcissistic. He probably always will be.
…but not a big predator, like a tiger or bear. Something from the weasel family, perhaps.
Shoot, I am behind the NY Post in this. Must read it more to stay on top of the news.
Is there one sex offender that has ever been cured? Ever? And make no mistake, Weiner is a sex offender. There is no difference between his sending unsolicited pictures of his junk and the guy wearing trouser legs rubber banded to his legs so he can open his raincoat on unwary women.
And flashers escalate. He’d already started to escalate. Perhaps his private messages to that teenaged girl had not got to nasty talk and lewd pictures. Perhaps. Anyone ready to bet the farm that, left to himself, they would have?
Weiner doesn’t need any rehabilitation every other progressive democrat doesn’t need. There’s not a single one without some level of inverted morality. Which is the catalyst for their horrible policies toward decent people.
I agree. It was the serial lying for over a week in national news interviews that will always stick with me. He blamed his problems on everyone and everything else until forced to, not so much to come clean but, to admit he was responsible. I think his presser was more of an apology for getting caught. And just how does his taking full responsibility for his actions equal not resigning from his position?
The best thing about Li’l Anthony staying in the House is that he will be effectively neutered, that his angry progressive shtick will no longer work. The odds are he will not get as much tc face time as a spokeman for Democrat policies is also a bonus. Too bad some of his tweets were not to Debbie Wasserman-test. Now that would have been a solid two-fer.
Had he done this when the tweet first appeared, it would be credible. After his much too long belligerent denial, this can only be seen as a ploy to wait it out. He’s no doubt hoping that after 30 days the controversy will have been replaced by another 24/7 news controversy or missing blond so that he can slink back into his office. Good luck with that, perv!
I note that now a dozen or so photographs have surfaced in the last 24 hrs on TMZ that were taken by Weiner of himself in various states of undress in the Congressional Gym.
Boy, what an advertisement for what the supposedly august Congress so vaingloriously calls itself, i.e. “the world’s greatest deliberative body.” Now, I submit, changed to something like “the most overexposed Weiner club,” or “the pervs let it all hang out club,” etc., etc.–you can make up your own slogan.
If Weiner is allowed to retain his seat in Congress by pulling this “going into rehab” gambit, the Congress– from which whiffs of decadence and corruption have been increasingly smelt, making it start to resemble, say, the Roman Senate during Caligula’s reign–will never be able to regain its luster, and the Democrats, in particular, should be mercilessly, consistently, and constantly hammered about Weiner–beaten over the head with a Weiner, in fact, in the next and subsequent elections.
P.S.–All those sob stories about how, if Weiner resigns he has no law degree or business to fall back on to the contrary, he has been in Congress long enough to collect Federal retirement and medical benefits for the rest of his life that are superior to those which most Federal retirees are entitled to. So, I wouldn’t worry too much abut his impending impoverishment, and his likely hanging around Capitol Hill dressed in rags ,and caging money for cheap whiskey from passing tourists.
The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body would be the Senate, and that tag is usually accompanied with a great deal of irony. But if writ small, the tag would still never fit the Weiner, though he’s more muscled up than the nerdy NYC leftist Jew I heretofore thought he was.
Don’t just sit there–
–do something!
Weiner’s gone–for now,,,,
I don’t think that Weiner has a psychological disease OR an organic disease. I believe he has a moral disease: utter lack of humility.
The impulse that led Weiner to do this is, IMO, the same impulse that leads people to flirt. But there are appropriate times for flirting and inappropriate times, and appropriate ways and inappropriate ways.
Weiner lacked the humility to accept the inhibitions of an ordinary man because, in his view, they didn’t apply to him. His position does give him some privileges and powers. He can vote in Congress, a huge privilege and responsibility. When he reports a possible security problem, it gets attention. These are proper and appropriate to his position. When he asks for money to run a campaign, people come with their checkbooks. This is necessary, but far less innocent, especially in this age of bread and circuses. But the (conservative) media reports that Weiner wasn’t even a “fix the potholes” guy.
This incomplete picture appears to show a man who has taken to power while shaking off responsibility. This is a moral failing or, if you prefer, a character failing. It is not in any ordinary sense a psychological condition.
nj: Hubris to the nth power. He is not alone, and the Country Class knows it.
Treatment isn’t what he needs. It’s punishment.
TMZ and Weasel Zippers have the latest photos. In one, the congressman is standing stark naked in the Congressional gym, with only a towel covering his “wedding tackle,” dangling coyly from his hand. In the others, he’s wearing his tighty-whities, and, er, clutching himself. Staring into the mirror intently, like Narcissus (but not so purdy).
It will be interesting to see if the Dim leadership can bludgeon him hard enough to get him out of there. I predict that they’ll have to make some serious threats behind the scenes: after all, Rangel is still there, Barney Frank is still in the Senate, and so are several other unsavory characters. Tax-cheat Geithner is still the Secretary of the Treasury, for cryin’ out loud.
Caligula’s Rome indeed.
Interesting theory on Weiner’s bizarre behavior, one I had not considered:
http://www.verumserum.com/?p=25678
Like I said, interesting.
Oh gawd no. Frank’s in the House, and that’s bad enough. But at leaast he has to run for reelection every two years, not every six.
Beverly–“wedding tackle”?–I bet I know one of the books you read recently, and a good one too.
I wonder if the dim bulbs in Congress have quite yet grasped that in our Internet Age, this image of Weiner in the Congressional Gym, naked and clutching his genitals–somewhat reminiscent, if I recall correctly, of a scene in a gymnasium in the old movie Ben Hur– is now immortal and indelible, and will never be able to be erased and that, from now on, this will be one of the images that comes to mind when people think of Congress?
Weiner’s sexual addiction/perversion is perhaps his least objectionable quality.
Thalpy
Weiner’s sexual addiction/perversion is perhaps his least objectionable quality.
Weiner’s being a convincing liar, an attack dog and the user of a sneaky race card attack in his initial campaign are sufficient reasons to come to Thalpy’s conclusion.
It is one thing, a very bad thing, to be this picture-sending freak.
Still, world’s full of them, one variety or another.
What ought to worry voters is the intensity and viciousness with which he lied.
Of course, voters who think he’ll lie in their behalf may be impressed.
His problems are character flaws, not emotional problems treatable with meds.
I agree with Richard Aubrey immediately above. Some photos I have seen of him are of a very angry, and yes vicious, man. One that, were he looking at me in that manner, I would knock him out before turning my back on him to walk away. I would not feel comfortable turning my back on him were he conscious.
RickZ: I’ve seen the steroid theory re Weiner before. It certainly could be part of his problem, but there’s no specific evidence (other than the photos) for it. I’ve observed that Weiner has the sunken face and muscled body of a bodybuilder who starves himself into having almost 0% fat percentage on his body. But that can all be done without steroids, too.