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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow did Anthony Weiner, never a Progressive, get his ill deserved rep as one?
I actually know the answer to this and so do you: He was good at promoting himself all over the media, but the reality sure as hell doesn't match his rhetoric. It's worth actually checking out a politician's record before buying into his or her spin. Weiner should be an object lesson.
<snip>
As a congressman, Anthony Weiner was a spectacularly ineffective buffoon. A recent New York Times review of his tenure in the House paints a devastating portrait: Weiner was megalomaniacal, narcissistic, bad at navigating the political ropes, alienating to potential allies, alarmingly disinterested in making actual change and really, really mean to his staff (one former aide likened him to Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada). In his twelve-plus years in Congress, the Times notes, Weiner “sponsored and wrote only one bill that he steered to enactment: a measure pushed by a family friend who gave his campaigns tens of thousands of dollars in donations.” When Democrats controlled Congress in 2007–08, Weiner introduced fifty bills but didn’t get so much as a cosponsor on thirty-nine of them. According to a former staffer quoted by the Times, “He just never tried…. The point was to be able to say he introduced a bill.” Yes, Weiner squawked loudly about single-payer healthcare, but his interest in it always smacked of grandstanding opportunism. When the ACA finally came up for a vote, Weiner threatened to hold it up in committee unless he could introduce a single-payer amendment—a noble cause, which he bartered away not for any policy concessions but for a primetime speaking slot and a letter of recommendation from Nancy Pelosi.
And that’s just his record on domestic issues. When it comes to foreign policy, Weiner can give Liz Cheney a run for her money. He was one of eighty-two Democrats who voted for the Iraq War, and he continued to support its funding long after its flimsy rationale had evaporated. But it’s on the subject of Israel/Palestine that Weiner truly distinguishes himself. At least twice in public, he has insisted that the West Bank is not occupied, denying a fact that even right-wing former Israeli Prime Minister and settler movement architect Ariel Sharon admitted a decade ago (for a complete account and video of Weiner’s statements, see Ali Gharib’s report for The Daily Beast). He has also claimed that there is no Israeli military presence in the West Bank, which would be news to the IDF soldiers stationed there. As Stephen Zunes points out, Weiner’s denial fits squarely in a disturbing pattern of squelching criticism of the Israeli state and of making patently untrue statements to do so, including claiming that the United States recognizes the PLO as a “terrorist organization” twenty years after it ceased using that designation. These statements reveal Weiner to be a knowing liar or a willfully ignorant ideologue, either of which should disqualify him from holding public office.
Read more: In Defense of Carlos Danger | The Nation http://www.thenation.com/blog/175418/defense-carlos-danger#ixzz2aKvvNKG8
When President Obama needed every Democrat in Congress to back his health care plan in 2009, Representative Anthony D. Weiner threatened behind the scenes to torpedo the package in favor of a more sweeping measure. He backed off after he was promised a bigger share of the spotlight during the highly watched debate.
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To his admirers, Anthony Weiner was a tireless spokesman for an endlessly changing array of issues in the House. But offstage, those who worked alongside him say, Mr. Weiner was a lawmaker with little patience for making laws and a single-minded focus on generating attention so he could run for mayor of New York.
<snip>
Yet the more lasting impression left by Mr. Weiner, according to more than three dozen people interviewed, was of a go-it-alone politician whose legislative record was thin and whose restlessness could spill into recklessness. He smartly selected issues on which to weigh in but left the difficult legislating to others, they said.
“It was like he had a megaphone surgically attached to his mouth,” said former Representative Zachary T. Space, Democrat of Ohio. “His unwillingness to be a team player did compromise his ability to be an effective congressman. I don’t care if you’re a congressman, or president, or mayor or a city councilman — you can’t do it yourself.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/nyregion/weiners-record-in-house-intensity-publicity-and-limited-results.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
The NYT article, which is quite exhaustive, was written in early June of this year, before the newest sexting shit.
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madaboutharry
(40,231 posts)That is what they do. He would go around his district and put on the "I'm a nice Jewish boy from New York" routine and voters would believe it. Most voters rarely actually follow how their congressperson votes, people are not that engaged.
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)and worthy of praise. He is not to be mocked.
But the point is clear and I just don't know what to think. On the one hand the guy appears to be a classic shyster. On the other hand he seems likes a semi-perverted entitled guy in a nice suit.
But then again, that damned D.
And then on the other other hand,
Catsimatidis, whose net worth has been estimated at $3 billion, also owns the Hellenic Times, a Greek-American newspaper based in Manhattan.
He faces former Metropolitan Transit Authority chief Joseph Lhota and Doe Fund founder George McDonald in a Sept. 10 primary.
...
Catsimatidis, 64, a Greek-born billionaire businessman, is one of three Republican hopefuls in the race. He reportedly grew up in a Harlem walkup apartment building and now lives in a full-floor Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking Central Park.
...
Catsimatidis notes that he is just as troubled by former New York Gov. Elliott Spitzer's run for city comptroller. Spitzer stepped down in 2008 after admitting to having sex with prostitutes.
Catsimatidis to Newsmax: Weiner Should Quit NYC Mayoral Race
(fair warning, Newsmax link)
It's all getting to be one big stinking pile.
Then there is this guy: Bill de Blasio
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)
Cronus Protagonist
(15,574 posts)Can't take the man seriously after that. Neither will the electorate when they watch him choking the monkey (behind him or otherwise).
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)That he could send all the dick pics he wanted, since he made a certain speech. And then they linked to a firebrand speech of his.
And that should answer your question: if you play a progressive on TV sometimes, that should be enough.
cali
(114,904 posts)
Bonhomme Richard
(9,000 posts)House of cards. The PA rep that died
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Rated 100% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record.
Rated 87% by the ACLU, indicating a pro-civil rights voting record.
Rated 100% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance.
Rated 94% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance.
Rated 83% by the NEA, indicating pro-public education votes.
Rated 95% by the LCV, indicating pro-environment votes.
Rated +2 by AAI, indicating pro-Arab pro-Palestine voting record.
Rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record.
Rated 100% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record.
Rated 89% by SANE, indicating a pro-peace voting record.
Rated 0% by FAIR, indicating a voting record loosening immigration.
Rated 0% by CEI, indicating a pro-worker rights voting record.
Rated 100% by the CTJ, indicating support of progressive taxation.
cali
(114,904 posts)Top Ten Things Anthony Weiner has Said that are Worse than Sexting
4. Alleged that the Palestine Liberation Organization is still listed by the US as a terrorist organization. It was dropped from the list over 2 decades ago.
5. Tried to bar the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations from New York.
6. Alleged that Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestine Authority, is not the head of the PLO. He is.
7. Refused to condemn the use by Israel of cluster bombs on the civilian farms of south Lebanon in 2006.
8. Alleged that the Israeli army does not occupy the West Bank and that there is no Israeli Army presence in the West Bank.
<snip>
http://www.juancole.com/2011/06/top-things-anthony-weiner-has-said-that-are-worse-than-sexting.html
Many dems have equally liberal voting records. Believe it or not, that's not all there is to being a Congresscritter.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)It seems to be his bread-and-butter so to speak.
In any case, the +2 from the Arab American Institute indicates an overall positive ranking with respect to Palestinian/Arab issues generally. It is also only based on actual Congressional votes, not comments and allegations.
Broadly speaking, however, Anthony Weiner had a liberal/progressive voting record during his time in Congress. That, coupled with his vociferous statements with regard to health care are probably what might lead to getting a reputation as being a progressive.
chimpymustgo
(12,774 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Just trying to present some reasons why he might have gained a reputation as being progressive. I would say it is the combination of his consistently progressive voting record and his strong support of health care reform.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)His wife could have had a brilliant political career.
Could....have.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)
TomClash
(11,344 posts)And he's honest and humble to boot.
midnight
(26,624 posts)I remember at this time, he was outed for this sexting crime... I still find the timing on this outing of his behavior suspicious....
tomp
(9,512 posts)that is what makes his behavior so freaking stupid. the man is not in control of his own behavior, which is dangerous, for many reasons, in anyone. he needs long-term psychotherapy, at least, and needs to be away from important decision-making.
canoeist52
(2,282 posts)With NSA spying and a hacking issue? Maybe it IS possible.
Mass
(27,315 posts)Last edited Sun Jul 28, 2013, 09:55 AM - Edit history (1)
progressives who are thoughtful but do not engage in hyperbole.
This has been the case again and again and it will be the case again: loud mouth moderates which people think are progressive.
RedstDem
(1,239 posts)he ends up looking the progressive.
NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)anybody with a (D) after their name is a liberal.
Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)Talk about a narcissist and in effectual.
Has Quinn done anything to her credit other then city council?
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Nothing has changed.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)I know people tend to fall head over heels over any politician who speaks out against/for something on television or who "introduces" a bill that usually has little chance of making it out of committee, and much less to ever be enacted into law by Congress.
I've always been wary of this type, and tend to view them as unserious (and even lazy). Serious legislators want to actually get something DONE, and to do that they work at the very long, hard, tedious, and--yes--compromising job of getting together a bill that has a chance of garnering enough support so that an issue can move forward ... even if it is not the ideal they hold. Incremental improvement is far better than no improvement at all--which is always the result of pie-in-the-sky, attention-getting base-pleasing legislation.
The serious kinds of legislators, the Jack Reeds and the Dick Durbins get little attention, or negative attention when they concede on one point in order to advance a larger one.
We need to be wary of the Anthony Weiner types: always calling attention to themselves but doing very little work to accomplish anything. This line made me most nervous: "a go-it-alone politician whose legislative record was thin and whose restlessness could spill into recklessness."
Why do such figures always command such idolization here? To me, it was always transparent. Sure, we need our rebels and symbolic naysayers to counterbalance the inherent plodding nature of the system. But we also have to recognize them for what they are and what they are not. What they are NOT are people who can ever have to ability to legislate or govern.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)Yes, you read that right. Because of Weiner, our bullshit idiotic MSM is asking this question and substantiating it with ridiculous arguments, without even mentioning the 'men' of the GOP (Vitter, et al).
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)At least he did once or twice...
oberliner
(58,724 posts)A lot of people seem to forget all the good he's done.
