Weiner’s Apology to Andrew Breitbart a Bitter Pill to Swallow
WASHINGTON – After admitting that he sent the “lewd” photo via private direct message via Twitter that ended up public, Rep. Weiner revealed he did what he’s been accused of doing, which is to engage and interact before and after his marriage with women, whom he said he mostly met via Facebook. “Deep weakness” is how he characterized his actions, that he said goes back “3 years.”
“I am not resigning.” – Rep. Anthony Weiner
“I was embarrassed. I was humiliated. …”
Emotional, overwrought and disgraced, Rep. Anthony said he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions.
Weiner accepts full responsibility, saying he did not engage in physical activity.
I didn’t think Rep. Chris Lee’s CraigsList photo rose to the height of resignation, so I don’t believe Weiner’s ridiculously embarrassing actions do either.
The person he owes the most to is his wife and that remains the case.
Rep. Weiner will have to fight his way back to respectability and whether his constituents forgive him or not we’ll have to see.
“… I apologize to Andrew Breitbart. I apologize to the many other members of the media who I misled. I apologize first and foremost to my wife…” – Anthony Weiner
Next to facing his wife, apologizing to Andrew Breitbart must have been the bitterest pill of all, with Rep. Weiner not the only one who owes the man who just passed Matt Drudge as the most powerful man in new media, a heartfelt mea culpa.
Taylor Marsh is a Washington based political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics, foreign policy, and women in power. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.
8 Responses to “Weiner’s Apology to Andrew Breitbart a Bitter Pill to Swallow”
For just this instance, Breitbart does deserve an apology. As long as his enconters are virtual, he’s just really stupid, If he crossed the physical line …
[...] to my surprise, Rep. Anthony Wiener actually apologized to Andrew Breitbart yesterday. It was the right thing to do; Weiner’s team and their liberal [...]
Hey Rudi, I’m waiting for a Blue Dog Dem and/or a strong Democratic Obama backer to come out against him.
Question to Rudi and Taylor: why is it considered so morally ok as to require an apology that Breitbart basically coerced a confession out of Weiner by threatening to make public pictures of him naked? What if he were a woman? Is it ok to use naked pictures of women to coerse those women into doing things/saying things/paying money/favors/whatever? I really think it’s not, and I think the same goes for men.
I’m not basing my need for an apology on any or more pictures. If the only pic was the “lewd” one in Weiner in boxers, no big deal – the BIG problem is Breitbart ACTUALLY was truthful, and Weiner lied from the start. If the Kossacks outed Congressman Lee, and Lee lied from the start, even the Kossacks would deserve an apology.
I’ve been mostly ignoring this scandal. Other than an example of the partisan spin and hypocrisy of both sides, it is a pretty minor scandal. Except this was interesting….
I would say that if the existence of pictures of someone naked are relevant to some real issue (did the person lie to voters, etc. etc.), then the fact that they exist is a relevant fact (regardless of gender).
I think there is probably a line between what you have to do to make public the point (they politician lied or whatever) and salacious publication. For example, it would probably only be justified to show enough to prove it is the person and they were naked (blurring, cropping, etc. the rest). However, if one adheres to that line, then I’m not that sympathetic to a politician who finds the scandal he/she is caught up in to be embarrassing.
Hey Rudy — Just want to make sure we’re all talking about the same thing here. The reason Weiner finally came clean is because Breitbart got a hold of the other pictures of Weiner — the full Monty, so to speak — and threatened to publish them if Weiner didn’t confess. I agree that he lied, of course, just disagree that there is anything “truthful” or at all honorable about sexual coersion.
Defense of Weiner’s behavior (by those who are envious, or worse, by those who wish truly to defend it and other bad behavior?) is sick. No surprise (“defining deviancy down” from long ago, so it’s common and not objectionable to many(!)), but sick.
Resignation by him, or expulsion or censure of him by the House: it could well be eventually it happens for a violation of House rules, but it’s fair in theory to ask, Just what for? and is it relevant to his job or to the House?
It could well be. And don’t forget PC was at work with Sen. Hatfield. The inverse here, Weiner felled by decency and respect for rules, obviously has more merit. The non-amoral or -immoral also expect shame. (I suspect Weiner’s tears were for his career.)
I await a likely augmentation of this scandal with him, as well as continuing to wonder how many others in the House or Senate may also be implicated. (though we never got to see the DC Madam’s client book, did we?)