It’s been about 48 hours since someone sent a photo of an engorged under-wear clad penis from Anthony Weiner’s twitter account seemingly directed at some young co-ed, and right-wingers are in a tizzy:
One thing is for sure, we can expect these intrepid sleuths to tug on every lead, massaging the facts until they get to the root of the issue. They are swallowing every detail, and eager for more, until they reach a triumphant conclusion.
In all seriousness, I have no idea what is going on- Weiner claims he was hacked, but the person the tweet was directed at was someone who was following him and mentioned Weiner in her own tweets. It wouldn’t surprise me if Weiner was this stupid- particularly stupid considering he is married to the beautiful Huma Abedin, but at this point I know about as much as you do.
aisce
so what they’re saying is that weiner technically still kept it in his pants?
progress.
what is it about the male mind and camera phones that leads automatically to dick shots at every turn?
General Stuck
It doesn’t help his momma named him Weiner.
or his pappy did, as it twer/
LM
I think this story has already been debunked. Rawstory (among others) has it here with a link to this.
StonyPillow
The taint of Breitbart hasn’t stopped anyone. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting your corporate media.
Hill Dweller
How many of those wingers rubbed one out while gazing longingly at the pic before joining the rabble in the echo chamber?
dr. bloor
Is “Huma Abedin” Arabic or Farsi for “Eating Disorder?”
It’s probably a hack but yeah, Weiner is entirely capable of being that dumb.
General Stuck
Since Obama’s poll numbers seem solid right now above the 50 percent mark, while grannies across the land are forming squads to jihad the GOP for fucking with medicare, the wingers need something to pound.
MikeJ
Why are they shoving this down our throats!?
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
anne coulter and brietbart both promised they won’t rest until they get to the bottom of that weiner.
muddy
My mac was running slow the other day and when I checked for viruses (not really expecting to find any) I did find one, which the finding program informed me had been making Wikipedia changes under my name involving lube. It said they were incorrect changes, whatever they may have been. I’ve never put anything into Wikipedia with or without lube, it is very weird.
Allan
Astute observers will note that Weiner spent much time on Friday tweeting and issuing press releases about the contents of Clarence Thomas’s financial disclosure forms, and how Mrs. Thomas’s employment creates conflicts of interest for Justice Thomas.
Even more astute observers will note that Andrew Breitbart dedicated his latest book to his personal hero and Savior, Clarence Thomas, and becomes verklempt when relating the magical moment that Ginni Thomas touched him (on the shoulder).
And the most astute observers will note that as of Sunday, the RW media is focused like a laser on following Breitbart’s lead to discredit Anthony Weiner, while the rest of the media is dutifully ignoring what Weiner highlights about Clarence Thomas’s conflicts of interest.
WereBear
I consider the source; and thus I do not believe it’s true.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Oh God I had managed to miss this story.
And now I haven’t.
So thanks for that.
Alex S.
I checked a few sites (lol), and I think he did it, which basically means that he might have had an affair, maybe even only over the internet. Eh, could be worse.
Some
“Coed”? Did I wake up in the fifties again?
Mister Papercut
That debunking amounts to exactly nil for me. Not to defend Slimebart, but why would he need to manufacture a screengrab of something Weiner admits was sent from his account?
I’m going with “meant to be a DM to the co-ed but (*ahem*) bollocksed all to hell.”
Jenny
I don’t get why lefty bloggers like Weiner (no pun intended).
He’s been in Congress for 14 years and other than voting for the IRaq invasion, he’s accomplished zero legislation. In short, he’s a taller Kucinich (once again, no pun intended).
I like rants as much as the next person, but as lefty bloggers have said, millions of times, they want legislation, not words.
shortstop
@Some: I know. I’ve gently mocked Cole for this one before. Never heard any other non-Republican under 80 using that term, which originated in the 1920s, if I’m not mistaken.
Alex S.
Here’s the complete overview:
http://justpaste.it/weinerboner
She’s a 21-year-old journalist with a crush on Weiner, he couldn’t get enough and failed to use Twitter appropriately.
Yutsano
Every time I see that picture it makes me want my own Chocobo dammit.
Umm…because the screen grab was shown to be altered? Or is it a simple matter of credibility with you?
General Stuck
`
And if they were serious, we wouldn’t hear a peep out of them.
JonF
I don’t buy for a second that a congressman would be trying to creep via twitter since all tweets/dm probably get archived by federal law-even personal accounts.
shortstop
The beauty of the spouse or partner (and she is stunning, although I want to join dr. bloor in offering her a sandwich) has fuck-all to do with whether people cheat.
Hill Dweller
@Mister Papercut: Brietbart is a piece of shit that has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to lie and deceive when trying to destroy anyone/thing the Right doesn’t like.
I don’t know if the pic is a fake or not, but I sure as hell won’t give Brietbart the benefit of the doubt.
Rihilism
@Some: Again?
Fred
Ah yes the always suspect John Galt Cole is ‘just curious’. ‘Just asking questions’ is all.
Never mentions Briebart once. And why would he. That has NOTHING to do with this anyways.
He could like TOTALLY see Weiner doing this but he is reserving judgement. Just want’s to get to the bottom of it is all and who better than to go read some right wing blogs in between the “why the birth certificate is a forgery” posts. John Galt Cole just wants the facts.
shortstop
@Rihilism: I’m guessing he or she woke up in the real fifties, when they were happening.
jane from hell
*whew* I need a cigarette.
Spaghetti Lee
@Hill Dweller:
Exactly. Every story he’s ever “broken” has turned out to be seriously suspect at the very least, if not an outright lie. Why should I believe anything he says?
Rihilism
@shortstop: Just teasin’…
jeffreyw
Mmm…weiners
John Cole
@Fred: Goodness, you are a clown. I’m openly mocking Breitbart and company this entire post.
shortstop
@jane from hell: Maybe I need to check this photo out. I like an accidentally exposed Weiner as much as the next girl.
Fred
@MikeJ: Actually you should be asking why John Galt Cole is shoving this down your throat.
MikeJ
Since no Republican has never had an account hacked, we know the explanation is false.
Edited to add:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/29/republican-twitter-accounts-hacked/
and
http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/118909-gop-lawmaker-my-twitter-account-was-hacked-by-robospammers
John Puma
It’s abundantly clear that the “intrepid sleuths” are simply not able to “reach a triumphant conclusion.”
The question is: “Why must their problems necessarily have to be transformed into ours”?
shortstop
@John Cole: But not! with exclamation points! You! naive! fool!
jane from hell
@Alex S.:
I appreciated the following from your link- I was about to panic, heh:
“UPDATE 4: Just a note, this is memorial day weekend… don’t attack the media too much… drudge doesn’t even have a link up yet let alone the siren…”
Fred
@John Cole: What part of “In all seriousness, I have no idea what is going on……Weiner claims he was hacked……it wouldn’t surprise me if Weiner was this stupid” did I not understand Mr. Galt?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Hill Dweller: This. Anything from Brightlight should be ignored. He’s proven himself to be totally unreliable.
Spaghetti Lee
Also, is it just me, or was this exactly the plot of The Adjustment Bureau? I think the Matt Damon character was even supposed to represent the same district as Weiner.
Anthony Weiner will soon be able to transcend space and time, is what I’m saying. And he’ll be wearing a bitchin’ fedora.
jane from hell
@shortstop: I was referring to JC in the second paragraph above. ;)
Martin
I’m going with a prank by Jon Stewart on this one. He just gave his show material for a week.
shortstop
@jane from hell: Well, there goes my cover for looking at the photo. Thanks a lot, Jane.
Yevgraf
I just want to go on record as being somewhat saddened that cute hardbody 21year olds don’t throw themselves at me.
Spaghetti Lee
@Fred:
I agree. The second paragraph obviously shows that JC is taking this story with the utmost seriousness and giving the right-wing all the respect they deserve.
MikeJ
Last week when Jorge Posada decided he was too afraid to play against the Red Sox? He was in the club house hacking Weiner’s account. Yet another reason to hate the FY.
jane from hell
@shortstop: I suggest looking at the photo while reading this aloud: “…we can expect these intrepid sleuths to tug on every lead, massaging the facts until they get to the root of the issue. They are swallowing every detail, and eager for more, until they reach a triumphant conclusion.”
Hawt.
aisce
how exactly did this thread become about the professional left, huma abedin’s weight, and john cole’s stealth republicanism?
weird crowd.
John Cole
A.) I can’t with any certainty say I know for sure what has happened. You can’t either.
B.) Would it surprise you if male politician was this stupid?
C.) And even if he was this stupid, so what. He didn’t break any laws.
shortstop
@jane from hell: It’s deeply subtle, yes, but isn’t that what gives it its effervescently provocative quality?
Mister Papercut
@Yutsano:
How was it shown to be altered, though? If it’s that the photo may have been resaved multiple times compared to the yfrog site graphics, well, *shrug*. Assuming it was a high-res cell phone pic, I imagine it could have undergone processing and downsampling in the process of being posted.
Fred
@Spaghetti Lee: He is Libertarian curious, voted for Bush twice….AND worships Greenwald. So I wouldn’t put it past him but that is a bit of a stretch…even for him
Gravenstone
I haz a sad that the pie filter seems to have stopped working for me, because Fred desperately needs some pie.
Alex S.
@jane from hell:
It’s really interesting. The person behind that link must be some kind of republican operative or conservative blogger, and a clever one at that. But he seems to be talking to his own people and doesn’t give the impression that all this stuff is fake.
shortstop
Is this Fred person for real? Because I’m getting bored troll vibe off him.
Fred
@John Cole: Still no mention that Briebart is behind all this. Because why would that have anything to do with this eh? How could that answer those bogus questions of yours eh?
But I like totally understand Mr. Galt. You’re just curious. You just want it out there…you know…to talk about it…to get to the bottom of this. That’s all.
Oh yea, I know where your comin from….wink!
jane from hell
@Gravenstone: Fred desperately needs
some piea hug.Spaghetti Lee
@Fred:
I was more trying to subtly imply that you’re a complete fuckin’ idiot who doesn’t understand sarcasm without getting all obvious about it, but I guess it didn’t work. But sure, John is totally pretending to be a Democrat, for 5 years, during which time no one was able to figure it out except you, because…um, it amuses him? He’s got nothing better to do? I don’t speak Paranoid Lunatic, so you’ll have to tell me.
John Cole
Ok. It is clear now that this is spoof.
MikeJ
@jane from hell: I may modify the chrome version of the filter because of the inspiration of your comment.
Mouse Tolliver
@StonyPillow:
This post needs a vomit smilie.
RossInDetroit
@Fred: Are we getting played by a prankster? Because if so I want a different game.
Rihilism
@John Cole: John, it’s quite clear that the only reasonable means for you to settle this dispute with Fred is to post an image of your erect penis covered suggestively by a pair heather gray boxer-briefs.
The logic demands it…
lamh34
I honestly don’t really care if Weiner did or did not do anything, but I’ve long since given up being surprised or shocked at how stupid straight male politicians can be when they get a little power and prestige and are able to get a little “pootie tang” from young, stupid congress-groupies.
Anyway, true or not, it’s beyond interesting to me all these “scandals” going on and someone’s been blogging about Where Are the Obama Scandals?
Aren’t there enough non-Presidential scandals to go around?
lamh34
O/T, I apologize to anyone who knows someone who suffers from dementia or Alzheimers, but seriously is McCain just losing it or what?
McCain: ‘Of course’ Palin can beat Obama
Admiral_Komack
Oh, come now.
Spaghetti Lee
@lamh34:
That’s one of the more village-y things I’ve read recently. Don’t know if this guy has that reputation, but that’s the vibe I got.
Rihilism
Oh, come on. Moderation? It was “logic” wasn’t it?…
Anya
@dr. bloor: That would be Urdu.
General Stuck
Fred strikes me as living in the gray zone between spoof and what I call hypersnark. I don’t think he is pretending to be something he is not, which mostly is asshole, and left of center. I also call these personal mendacity trolls, after much experience experiencing these my self low these years on BJ.
I don’t sense hatred, like so many of them bring, but Fred got in line twice when they were handing out smartass.
At times, he flashes some similar to TZ, other times not so much. I fully approve of Fred, so long as his target is you and not me. the interwebs are cruel that way.
DonBoy
@Martin: Actually, this will put Stewart in a bind, since he and Weiner are old friends — roommates when they were first out of college. His reaction, if any, will be worth watching.
eemom
@Some:
uh….what happened to Just and Fuckhead? Or is this an exercise in super-stealth Nickery?
elle
@JonF:
thank you!! i mean, does jcole know something about congressamn weiner that no one else does, or what exactly makes him dumb enough to do that?
Svensker
@MikeJ:
At last, a reasonable explanation.
eemom
@Rihilism:
that would make an excellent addition to our photographic collection of John Cole body parts. So far all we’ve got is a pair of hairy legs and an elbow.
It may take years, but sooner or later we’ll piece him together, like a blogger Mr. Potatohead.
Sharl
Cute hover-over text on that image, Mr. Cole.
Svensker
@John Cole:
If Fred is DougJ then you need to give young Doug a talkin’ to cuz it’s uber lame. Take off the raspberry beret, DougJ!
And if Fred is just Fred then I apologize to DougJ.
Martin
@lamh34:
Wrong tense.
piratedan
So Weiner doesn’t sponsor enough legislation but is good at cogent intelligent rants while speaking on the telly and while on C-Span. Sorry, the Dems don’t have enough of those folks around, hence I’d like to keep him on “our” team. We need a few folks who can muster well-spoken outraged truths against the folks that spew their idiotic righteous indignation… just sayin’.
Also, anyone who goes after Uncle Clarence is gonna draw fire from the right and lets face it, the right has shown a healthy inclination for a total disregard of the rules, much less apologizing for what they did after the fact. as has been said already, no laws have been broken, no proof rendered of any wrongdoing and the timing is odiously dubious considering what is on Weiner’s political agenda.
@ JC, maybe you should have used “turgid” somewhere in your post, that’s always a good word…. “heaving” would have worked too… ;-)
NobodySpecial
@eemom: Bwahahah, you see sockpuppets everywhere!
Hint: The internet is really all two people: You and a really bored guy.
DJShay
the default position for any story involving Breitbart is that it’s a fake. The fact that you “don’t know what’s going on” disappoints me. Every scandal Breitbart has broken has been shown to either an outright fake or manipulated.
ChrisNYC
Here’s why I don’t believe this yet. It was, what, 3 days ago that there was that tiny scandal about Twitter dm’s from that Palin person, where she was talking about Bristol, etc. Plus once every couple of months another GOPer is exposed as chronically unfaithful/gross/pitifully chasing sex. Now there’s this thing about Weiner. The wingnuts are copiers and sore losers. I can just see them saying, “What if we could set up something along those lines about some prominent Dem? Awesome!” It just feels made up. And, Breitbart.
hamletta
@piratedan: I’m rather fond of “tumescent.”
MaximusNYC
I don’t always agree with Weiner (I even argued with him at a town hall meeting once about health care reform), but he is far too smart — and ambitious — to do something like this.
Consider the lying, malicious source. This deserves no more notice than a bad photoshop of “Bat-Boy” on the cover of the Weekly World News.
Larkspur
If this story lasts over 24 hours, Breitbart should seek immediate medical help to avoid long-term injury. Or not. Let’s not tell him.
lllphd
@muddy:
you sure it wasn’t this:
http://www.macworld.com/article/160085/2011/05/apple_posts_mac_defender_fix.html
moe99
Weiner just gave a phenomenal takedown of the Republicans’ medicare cravenness. It makes sense that they would want to discredit him asap.
maya
As everybody should know. The best time to commit a sex scandal is right on the heals of a big one –
or is that Wall Street scams?
piratedan
@hamletta: that’s a good one, I would have been okay with “fevered”, perhaps even a “glowing” reference would have given it the right tone of playfulness…
Yutsano
@maya: Yes.
@DJShay: And this. Breitbart has shown himself to be neither a credible source nor a trustworthy human being in general. Not. Buying. It.
Rihilism
@piratedan:
Agreed.
@eemom:
Really, I could have sworn John had posted some candid pics from his Easter celebrations last month…
eemom
@NobodySpecial:
‘twaz a joke, loozer.
Mister Papercut
@Rihilism:
Not Safe For Life, she says, putting her eyes back in her head.
Evolved Deep Southerner
@Fred: Those Michael Gass-esque ellipses …
Rihilism
@Mister Papercut:
I beg to differ. Celebrating life to it’s fullest is how I sees it.
Since I’m rudely sharing other people’s family pics, here’s a shot from my family’s trip to Mount Rushmore last summer. I’m the second one from the left…
Fred
@Rihilism: Clearly you want to see that. So yea, I’m game. Yea, that’s it. I totally want to see John’s dick. Finally someone got to the bottom of what I am all about.
Steve
When was the last time a politician claimed “hack” and it was actually a hack? Put my prediction down as “not a hack” for the record.
MikeJ
@Steve: See my #35.
Fred
@General Stuck: But you did not answer the most important question Yoda. WHAT…Isssssssss my favorite color (sound of dramatic music). Hmmmmm?
Rihilism
@Fred: Why does it always have to be about you and your desire to get to the bottom of things?
General Stuck
@Fred:
That’s classified. I ain’t no wikileaks.
Fred
@Svensker: Right now I am seriously speculating that John Cole is this mysterious Patriotusa76 that starting this whole Faux manufactured nontroversy which is obviously another Briebart manufactured smear campaign. And of course you people are there to take the bait once again.
But you people couldn’t even figure out Chump had no intention of running so clearly not the sharpest tools in the shed around here.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/29/980400/-Breitbarts-#TwitterHoaxHow-It-Went-Down?via=siderec
shortstop
@Rihilism: I’m not sayin’ you’re not sexy as hell just the way you are, but I have it on good authority that Chris Hayes likes his tube socks pulled all the way up to his kneecaps.
Sixers
If a GOP member(ha!) posted his bulge on twitter this place would revel in it like a motherfucker. I’m a dem who likes Weiner(ha!) but this is pretty shady shit. If you believe he was hacked you’re no better than Breitbart every time he pretends not to see Palin make a fool of herself.
shortstop
Fred, if you don’t learn how to spell Breitbart, we’re going to have to stop taking you totally seriously.
Allan
@shortstop: Could it be some form of obscure snark? Briebart? A soft runny French cheese?
Fred
@Spaghetti Lee: A democrat that voted for G Dubya twice and likes Greenwald Libertarian Presidential candidate picks?
That is not a democrat in my book. DINO or Professional Left (ie. Primary Obama because “insert your special interest or hidden agenda here”). But not what I call a real democrat. A solid independent at the very least.
Like I said yesterday. I don’t trust anyone who can be convinced to vote for the texas dummy….TWICE! If you can be convinced of that you can be convinced of just about anything. Like voting for a Libertarian because they say they oppose war. Even if it means ignoring the other problems with libertarians like, oh I don’t know..say opposing child labour laws and civil rights laws for starters. None of that matters as long as they ‘say’ they oppose war.
the stupid it burns.
Rihilism
@shortstop: Hayes is such a tease…
shortstop
@Rihilism: Oh, honey, yes. But don’t he make it hurt so good?
Cacti
@Sixers:
Andrew, is that you?
Keith G
@shortstop:
Me too.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Fred:
That’s what all of your nonsense was about? Jebus…
Look, maybe Cole is a pearl-clutcher when it comes to Obama-related civil liberties issues, but I’ve read through the archives, saw how he went through the transformation he did, and he’s fine by me. Who appointed you the Grand Inquisitor of the Democrats?
Citizen_X
To Our Esteemed Customers:
We understand that many of you are concerned as to _XCorp’s take on this matter. It is our official position that:
A) Given that its source is a lying piece of shit, we consider this story to be a crock.
B) Even if this story were true, we would not give a flying fuck.
Thank you for your attention. And, as always, thank you for choosing _XCorp.
Citizen_X
CEO and Junior Assistant Flunkie
_XCorp
shortstop
@Keith G: Keith! Do you kiss your right-wing brother with that mouth?
John Cole
@Fred:
LOL. I was so drunk Friday night when this happened I couldn’t run my own fucking twitter account, much less someone else’s.
Ghanima Atreides
@John Cole: I smell James O’Queef.
pablo
John Boehner weighs in…
elle
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/29/2011-05-29_statement_from_gennette_cordova_student_who_was_sent_lewd_twitter_photo_from_rep.html
thats a link to the supposed mistress’ statement about the whole findango.
yet another breitbart faked up pseudo scandal
Jules
Seriously, people actually believed the Weiner story from AB?
Tim, Interrupted
@Fred:
This.
Step2
Before the Weiner overexposure-gate gets blown out of proportion, I think it is important to consider all the screw-jobs connected to an enlarged scandal like this. Each rumor needs to be thoroughly exposed to get to the naked truth, no matter if it is hard to swallow, until the issue is drained of its juice.
Rihilism
@elle: Wow! Fucking wow! There needs to be some serious consequences for Britebutt for this one. If I were that young woman’s father, I’d have a very hard time staying out of jail…
Cat Lady
That’s a huge cock.
Svensker
@Fred:
You are a big silly.
PS
@Cat Lady: You’re just trying to tempt the perp into, ah, exposing himself, aren’t you?
Djur
I’ve always been skeptical of Weiner, but this stinks to high heaven. I hope he doesn’t get bullied out of office by the Breitbart clowns. And the way the woman is being treated is despicable.
Tim, Interrupted
Could we PLEASE just agree to not use the terms “penis” and “weiner” and “prick” when referring to the tubular portion of the male reproductive unit?
To my ear these three terms denote something best prodded with a tweezers while wearing rubber gloves.
Wiser to stick with the jocular, All American-sounding “COCK.” Just making the word requires two hard, muscular, noisy contractions of the throat; toss a soft “O” sound in between, which forces the mouth open, and you’ve got the perfect word for this pleasure giving and receiving appendage.
Then there’s always my personal favorite, “SCHLONG,” the saying of which honors my German heritage and blood. Go ahead, say “Schlong.” It just sounds huge and moist, doesn’t it?
Spaghetti Lee
@Fred:
Like I said yesterday. I don’t trust anyone
That’s real nice dear but your opinions ain’t worth a hill of shit to me. Leastaways not until you show you’re someone more worthwhile then today’s brand of troll.
Spaghetti Lee
@elle:
From the comments section on that story: “Doesn’t this girl realize she’s being used.” Obviously, from an expert on being used.
Tim, Interrupted
@Spaghetti Lee:
Spaghetti, could you please share your definition of “troll?”
Thanks.
Spaghetti Lee
@Tim, Interrupted:
The classic definition of course is someone who seeks to derail a topic thread with off-topic and/or inflammatory replies. I’d say Fred’s contribution to this thread is off-topic, having nothing to do with examining the content of the post or the news story it relates to, and inflammatory, as accusing someone of trying to make excuses or provide cover for Andrew Breitbart is fighting words around these parts, as is accusing the bloghost of a popular Democratic blog as being a sleeper agent for the other side. A comment element of trolling is the use of logical fallacies, which Fred is using here in the form of ad hominem (Don’t trust him! He’s a secret Republican!) and a related No True Scotsmen argument (anyone worth listening to would have never voted for Bush), and raising ambiguous questions about John’s secret alliegances without taking the time to actually back his claims up-all insinuation with no substance, ironically the same thing he’s accusing John of.
TooManyJens
@shortstop:
Did anyone else read this in William Shatner’s voice?
El Cid
And while you libruls are here trying to coverup Weiner, America is left wide open for Obama to once again ram a massive package down our throats.
He had barely even shut the door behind him in the Oval Office when suddenly he’s pushing straight through the biggest ‘stimulus’ most Americans had ever heard of, bigger than the average librul’s wildest dreams and every good conservative patriot’s worst nightmare, and America barely had time to say even one word before that stimulus was pushed through.
And if that wasn’t satisfying enough for him, suddenly he carries through with Democrats’ long-time fantasy of having Obama take care of all our health needs. And no matter how many times American conservatives stood up and screamed how we would never ever let it happen, Obama followed through with his plan, and so with health care reform the biggest most complicated legislation ever seen was squeezed through.
And now, thanks you your dear leader and all his smooth talk, he now has a firm hold over the biggest, juiciest part of our entire economy. But just you wait — just when he’s least expecting it, America will rise up and throw off the chains tying them down.
So you people make all your snicker snicker sex jokes and your double entendres, because somebody out here has to push back against your Great Leader and his savage desires to rule over us.
Church Lady
He’s a Congressman and, as such, nothing any of them do surprises me. As sex scandals go, this is about as milquetoast as that other guy sending a picture of himself shirtless to some woman he contacted on Craigslist.
Embarrassing for Weiner? Yes, whether it’ true or not, and I’m leaning more towards true. Resignation worthy? Nah. The only thing he really needs to worry about is how his wife will react.
I look forward to the FBI investigation of this matter.
Tim, Interrupted
@Spaghetti Lee:
Thank you for your reply.
So do you consider it “trolling” for a commenter to occasionally remind fellow readers of a blogger’s past credibility issues, or to mention past lapses in judgement that may cast light or lend context to something the blogger is writing or saying now?
Also, in what way is BJ a “Democratic” blog? Is there an official designation?
Is it fair game to call attention to JC’s former hard core Republicanism as a healthy reminder when considering his current hard core Democratic party affiliation? As a matter of judgement/character, or is that trolling?
karen marie
@eemom: +1
AxelFoley
@General Stuck:
I see what you did there.
AxelFoley
@MikeJ:
Well played, sir.
Roy G
Well, when you’ve got Santorum all over your Breitbart, what’s the first thing you do?
Yell, ‘hey, look at that big Wiener over there!’
karen marie
@Tim, Interrupted: I’m wondering why you’re here if you are so concerned about John Cole’s “credibility issues.”
Or perhaps you’re drink-addled and have him confused with Breitbart?
muddy
@lllphd:
I don’t think it was that, doesn’t that come in through Safari? I use Firefox. Dunno, it’s gone now and good riddance. Thanks for the link though!
GregB
Republican men are infatuated with cock. They have been talking about Bill Clinton’s cock for almost two decades now.
One conservative co-worker once mentioned the rumor that Bill Clinton had a curved penis.
I then pointed out how often Republicans and conservatives talked about Bill Clinton’s cock and how weird it was that a supposedly straight guy was talking about another dude’s cock.
He stopped talking and walked away quickly.
It was a direct hit on his psyche.
brad
I follow Weiner, and in case there’s anyone with a non-concern trollish curiosity as to why he was following a 21 year old girl, it’s very, very simple. A few weeks back he tweeted to say that he would follow anyone who asked him to.
http://twitter.com/#!/RepWeiner/status/69020628388290560
It still shocks me how stupid some people are, sometimes.
Tim, Interrupted
@karen marie:
Do you associate only with humans who will echo back to you exactly what you already think and say? Do you have any familiarity with shades of grey?
Spaghetti Lee
@Tim, Interrupted:
So do you consider it “trolling” for a commenter to occasionally remind fellow readers of a blogger’s past credibility issues, or to mention past lapses in judgement that may cast light or lend context to something the blogger is writing or saying now?
At the minimum, I’d like an explanation of how the credibility issues, such as they are, significantly affect the topic at hand, because I think what’s going on now is basically ad hominem. Yeah, John used to be a Republican. He’s also spent the last 4-5 years ripping into the Republican Party with all the fury he can muster. To wildly accuse him of relapse because you think he’s being insufficiently passionate, on one post out of hundreds, strikes me as kind of silly.
Also, in what way is BJ a “Democratic” blog? Is there an official designation?
The vast majority of people who post here regularly are Democrats, and the site has done fundraisers for Democratic congressmen and Democratic issues in the past. I don’t think such an “official” designation as you’re searching for, which I assume would involve the Democratic Party itself, exists for any political blog.
Is it fair game to call attention to JC’s former hard core Republicanism as a healthy reminder when considering his current hard core Democratic party affiliation? As a matter of judgement/character, or is that trolling?
Well, I think focusing any real amount of energy on scolding people who haven’t been Democrats their whole life is counter-productive regarding things that Democrats and liberals actually hope to achieve, so I’d say no from a big-picture perspective.
I haven’t been here for all that long, but from what I’ve seen of John’s posts, he’s a pretty solid Democrat at this point, and has basically nothing but contempt for the Republican Party. If it’s all a put-on, it’s a pretty good one, to the point where it defies any rational belief that someone could keep it up so well for so long.
And even if he did, the implication would be that if he disagrees with popular Democratic opinion on one issue (not even disagreeing, more like waiting for all the facts to come out) then suddenly he’s not a Democrat and 5 whole years of blogging are suspect. That’s counterproductive at the very least, and it’s basically ideological fundamentalism of the sort that liberals should seek to avoid. If you think that his conservative past might have left him with a few blind spots, and you have a logical argument as to why, then by all means bring it up, but the sorts of claims people are making are just foolish.
Spaghetti Lee
@GregB:
One conservative co-worker once mentioned the rumor that Bill Clinton had a curved penis.
Is that some kind of wingnut code for something? I guess everything has some secret meaning to them, so maybe it’s better that I don’t know.
karen marie
@Tim, Interrupted: Yes, I am well familiar with “shades of grey,” but I do not frequent sites that I find to have credibility issues. I consider it a waste of my time.
Now go concern troll somewhere else. You’re taking up bandwidth that could otherwise be more profitably used to show internet kitteh videos.
electricgrendel
I know that half the people in this thread hate DailyKos for some reason, but this nontroversy has been pretty thoroughly debunked. The picture Breitbart has posted is (surprisingly!) faked.
This guy is toxic. Why on God’s green earth anyone, anywhere would EVER take seriously anything he tells them is beyond me. He’s a sleaze pipeline. Only sleaze comes from him.
brad
Also, if anyone’s as much of an insomniac as I am, and bored, #weinergate on the twitters is proving to be quite fun. Asking simple questions like why a tech-savvy congressman would post such a pic on his public twitter feed is getting the #tcot morans all worked up.
Yes, I know, I need a life, but this will do in the meantime.
Larkspur
@Tim, Interrupted: Oh, Tim, do whatever you want, but I will not listen to you any more, because you smell like troll, and life is too short.
eclecticbrotha
@electricgrendel: Doesn’t matter if ts true or not. Having a Representative who’s last name is also a euphemism for the male anatomy is more than enough to keep our juvenile, shiny-object obsessed media stoked for weeks. Weeks, I tell you.
eclecticbrotha
Fascinating reading a progressive blog and seeing so many people leaning toward believing Weiner guilty simply because 1) he’s a member of Congress and 2) they saw something bad about him on the internet.
I blame Bush. No pun intended. I blame the former president because I’m old enough to remember that before 2000 we weren’t this cynical.
Lojasmo
John: stop. Full stop.
Lojasmo
@Tim, Interrupted:
Shut it.
Modusoperandi
aisce “what is it about the male mind and camera phones that leads automatically to dick shots at every turn?”
What’s the point of a camera if it’s not for taking pictures of one’s package? For further info, send me your email address.*
Alex S. “She’s a 21-year-old journalist with a crush on Weiner…”
Is that like a pinchcock?
DonBoy “@Martin: Actually, this will put Stewart in a bind, since he and Weiner are old friends—roommates when they were first out of college. His reaction, if any, will be worth watching.”
So, he can vouch whether or not that’s Weiner’s weiner (because, you know…”Dude! I’m in here! Knock!”)
* Note that I don’t have a cameraphone (my cell phone is old enough that it’s got a rotary dial. And a cord). I do, however, have a graphing calculator, so you’ll get an email with my parabola (which isn’t naughty, but sounds like it is. “Parabola”.
El Cid
@eclecticbrotha:
For a number of people it seems to be because he says agitated stuff in Congress and is liked a lot by people who are considered too leftist or too hyperactively anti-Democratic, so a guy like that needs to be taken down a few pegs to show those types what’s what.
Tim, Interrupted
@Lojasmo:
Hmmm…you have issues with words that delineate sexual organs, and how those words sound? Or you just have issues with me as you imagine me to be?
Either way, fuck you and fuck off, dipshit.
Tim, Interrupted
It is simple: About 3/4 of the commenters at BJ are Obama Democrats, which is roughly equivalent to being a Reagan Republican. Looked at thru that lens, this makes perfect sense.
RalfW
Anthony Weiner has a knack for spouting off in ways that piss off rich, politically connected people like the Koch brothers, health care profiteers, etc.
So they paid or enticed Brietbart to engage in a smear campaign. It’s so friggin’ obvious.
Brietbart is a fraud. A man on the make. Everything he does is tainted, as if he’s sniffed so much Santorum over the years that it’ll never get off his nose entirely.