Weiner should have resigned. So should have Clinton.

A Few Counter-Intuitive Observations on the Scandal d' jour

Everybody knows the rules of what is acceptable in Washington, DC.

Start a war on a pack of lies like Bush-Cheney? Acceptable, you're keeping America "safe."

Kill the middle class and drive up the national debt by giving tax breaks to the rich like Republicans since Reagan? Acceptable, you're "creating jobs."

Refuse to report your wife's lobbying for special interests like Clarence Thomas? Acceptable, you're showing how much you hate pesky government regulations.

In short, DC politicians can do literally ANYTHING and be forgiven or even praised for it, so long as they don't commit that one cardinal sin: thou shalt NOT do sexy things with anyone other than one's spouse.

That is the one moral failing which is unforgivable in American politics. Condemning millions to live in abject poverty by privatizing Social Security is fine as long as you don't text a photo of yourself to Craigslist bragging about your little member of Congress.

This is the rule which every politician knows. Monkey business Gary Hart, Gary Condit and his dead girlfriend, toe-tapping Larry Craig, look-at-my-chest-hair John Ensign, prostitute-fancier Elliot Spitzer all found out the hard way the consequences of breaking the one rule that cannot be broken.

Bill Clinton barely escaped an impeachment conviction, and his administration was so stained by scandal that Al Gore was more easily robbed of the presidency in 2000 than he should have been.

But let's not kid ourselves, folks. These people are grown ups . . . they know how the game is played.

Anthony Wiener chose to eat of the forbidden fruit and he was expelled forever from the garden. I have little doubt that Rep. Wiener knows of other more embarrassing photos floating around that the right-wing probably doesn't have yet but would soon get if he hadn't resigned.

One can finesse away allowing banks to foreclose on a million homes . . . that's just business. It's pretty hard to dismiss photographic proof of one's turgid boner, taken by oneself, sexted by oneself, and lied about by oneself.

He was a good liberal who did a lot of good for our cause. But he did a dumb thing--I suspect quite a number of dumb things--and in puerile American politics and its prurient media, you can do just about anything but you're not allowed to do that.

It's not right, it's not fair, but it's the way things are.

He knew the rules. He had seen what happens to others who break the ONE Commandment of American politics, and still he willingly transgressed.

He had no choice but to step down when he was caught.

If that is how it is played, it is not acceptable, is it? Lies about war, okay, lies about sex not okay?

So now we know, what are we going to do about it?

I thought we voted for 'change'. I thought we voted for someone who was not a DC insider.

What happened?

Despite whatever slogan he or she throws out in an election.

Bullshit. Clinton was easily acquitted.

It takes 67 senators to convict. Of the two articles adopted by the full House, neither attained even a simple majority in the Senate. Only 45 senators voted for the perjury charge and only 50 voted for the obstruction charge. Please get your facts straight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton

to a conviction.

And the simple fact is that Clinton lied his ass off. "I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky."

Actually, Bill, you did, and you knew you did when you lied about it.

If you'd have been a man and resigned, Al Gore would have been president for two and one-half terms . . . instead of George Worstpresidentever Bush.

Of course, you misquote Clinton to make him out to be a liar. What he actually said was, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Ms. Lewinsky.".

While all sexual relations would be sex, not all sex is sexual relations.

Beyond that, it's really silly to claim that falling short by 17 votes on one article and 22 votes short on the other is "barely escaping conviction".

A blow job that leads to an orgasm is sexual relations by any reasonable person's definition.

If it weren't, then the vice squad wouldn't arrest prostitutes for doing it.

I'm embarrassed that anyone who purports to respect the true has to be reminded of that.

As for "narrowly escaping an impeachment conviction," we can quibble over the definition of "narrow" but the larger point that Clinton's presidency was irreparably harmed and he was nearly toppled I think is a given.

Depositions and trials use stipulated definitions of terms. In Clinton's case, opposing counsel offered a defintion that excluded receiving oral sex. Opposing counsel cannot offer a flawed definition, then claim the defendant committed perjury by relying upon it.

Legally, Clinton may be in the clear . . . I'll leave that to you hair-splitters and Clinton himself who USED TO BE a lawyer before he was disbarred, heigh ho.

But for real people living real lives, oral sex is sex.

And saying it's not is a lie.

the definition of "lie", dude.

You also might want to educate yourself about Bronston v US.

it means an exact quote. If you put something else in there, you're a liar.

Why are you a liar?

Why are you being mean spirited?

A BJ is sex and sexual relations to just about anyone and Bill Clinton lied about having sexual relations (or "sex") Lewinsky.

Putting one's penis in another's mouth and ejaculating on their dress is sex.

If your daughter did that with the CEO of her job on the job, would you call the act sex?

IMO Clinton lied about a question that never should have been asked in a waste of money and time investigation to weaken the Democratic Party and his Presidency.

law school, dude.

For some strange reason, our legal system hinges on precision.

of "is."

you've got it backwards. Opposing counsel tried to claim that "is' meant "was".

I trust I don't need to explain the difference between past and present tense to you.

I have testified or been deposed as an Expert Witness in State and Federal courts and have also testified before Congressional committees 3X (as a consultant to the State of California).

But I was so much younger then (1980s and 1990s) and am wiser than that now.

Lawyers are a pretty easy profession to bash because they are trained weasels.

I chose a brand name MBA over a brand name law school after quitting the Feds (1969-1986).

Now I am a hippy dropout that hasn't put on a suit and tie since 1999 and don't intend to ever again.

Our legal system is broken regardeless of precission.

Your attiDude smells.

leavings on an intern's blue dress, lie first; if that doesn't work, fess up, cry, seek Devine redemption, then all is okay. Weiner is teaching our kids that if you get caught sending tweets of your dick to too many friends, lie first; if that doesn't work, fess up, cry, seek redemption (don't know yet if his is Devine), then all is okay.

Yeah, and there are plenty more examples of lots more politicians. What good teachers for the young we have.

impeach him all over again.

Fuck you! None of your goddamn business!

Eisenhower cheated on Mimi. FDR on Eleanor. Kennedy on Jackie. and on and on and on.

I do not give a flying fuck who schtupps whom, virtually or literally. The corporate driven media aka Right Wing Spin City can go to Hell. Fuck them for playing with our lives. If someone breaks the law (Hey Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al.! That means you!) Then by all means, go after'em and make'em leave, serve time, be investigated and whatever else may apply (yeah, YOU Vitter...you broke the law), but what happened with Clinton, what happened with Weiner...it's between them and their partners. It's nobody else's business but their own.

Ted Kennedy, did they? And your worried about a blow job and a naked dick on the internet? They should have resigned? Really? Maybe Ted Kennedy should have not only have resigned, but gone to jail. I never saw Obama shy away from Ted, did you? They were best buddies. So explain that to me, please. In the meantime one of few Democrats who wasn't afraid to open his mouth about a lot of things we cared about, is exiled. New Rules? Screw them and this party. By the way some of the people you mention didn't resign either. Craig didn't. And not only didnt Vitter resign, he was re-elected. And they paid? How? Now it's game? I am so sick of this lay down and take it attitude of Dems. These "rules" you quote don't seem to apply to republicans.

She had a name. You could google it.

a misogynist in three, two, one . . .

Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Unrec.

He knew more was forthcoming.

:eyes:

More language cops from the PC "I'm more liberal than you" crowd.

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The pearl-clutchers make me sick. Doing dumb things is a DUMB reason for resigning.

Grow up.

...both Weiner and Clinton should stand strong. This is none of anyone's business; especially the juvenille corporate media.

But if you think this is about Lying, Weiner deserved to go. Had he come forward at the outset rather than trying to cover up and lying that shows a major character flaw. For those who wanted Clinton impeached it wasn't the sex it was the lying.

In either case it's all about your team losing...many feel the sting about this not because of Weiner as much as it was Breitbart and his slimeballs that led the charge to bring him down not unlike the perjury trap Clinton was led into by lawyers who knew they had the goods on him and let him lie his way into what led to the inquisition.

someone elses actions as a defense of why its ok for them as an out for doing something?
This whole mess isnt about the actions of someone like Clinton, Vitter or anyone else but Wiener and only Wiener.

Aren't we Dems supposed to have higher standards?

He is a good man and I hate to see him go. But he engaged in political risky business and has really no one but himself to blame.

He's a right-thinking man.

...that qualifies you for a "freebie."

It's not "the way things are" except for media and those who want to be nasty. Stepping down because msm was giving your transgressions too much coverage is asinine.

Same old, same old tripe.

The tapes that Starr had obtained thanks to Linda Tripp (may she rot in hell when the time comes) were illegal since Monica did not authorize Tripp to record their conversations. Starr and the Repugs were desperate because after 5 years of persecuting the Clintons and their staffers they hadn't found anything of substance to charge them with. Starr latched on to the Tripp tapes to save his career and justify the expenditure of over $50M of taxpayers' money. The whole thing reeked.

I'm glad that Clinton didn't give them the satisfaction of resigning. Screw them!!!! He left office a popular president. He still is very popular (to the chagrin of the right AND the left).

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