WeinerGate, Week Two

Patterico makes the case that two high school girls that helped instigate Weinergate and now say they were lying at the time are in fact lying now to protect Weiner; further, Weiner may have made a habit of flirting online with young ladies.

Andrew Breitbart says aniother woman has come forward with a treasure trove of Weiner pics, although we presume Weiner won't be able to conclusively identify or disavow them.

And who is the woman?  Maybe it's porn star Ginger Lee, or maybe not.

Meanwhile, Weiner continues to lay low - he skipped an event in Wisconsin and, more ominously, an Israel Day parade in New York City:

With the scandal still swirling and questions unanswered over a lewd photograph of an underwear-clad man sent via his Twitter account, Weiner canceled all his planned public appearances over the weekend, including walking in Sunday’s Celebrate Israel Parade along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a show of solidarity with the Jewish state that he has attended in past years.

UPDATE:  Breitbart is apparently going to trickle this out during the day - here is an innocuous photo of a smiling Anthony Weiner identifying himself to the as-yet-unidentified online woman.

So why the trickle-out approach?  Well, Breitbart is a master of media manipulation so this is presumaby intended to attract attention.  That said, if Breitbart had salacious photos sent by Weiner, well, any fool could get attention with that.  Which kinda sorta suggests that there won't be a smoking gun (OK, or Weiner) released today.  But fingers crossed!

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 12 at Raz today.

[Threadkiller]

--"Weiner canceled all his planned public appearances over the weekend, including walking in Sunday’s Celebrate Israel Parade along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a show of solidarity with the Jewish state "--

Hasn't he shown enough solidarity?

[MarkO]

Betty, Veronica and Jugears, I mean Jughead. It has been like Breitbart to hold back some evidence while the guilty fabricate a story which he can then dismantle. May it be so here.

[Rocco]

Breitbart is the new "Master of Disaster!"

"[Y]ou have to plant a lot of seeds in the spring and the summer so you can capitalize on it. If you have a story that's going to hit in the middle of September, middle of October, what you really want to do is build several things that come off of the story so that it's not just a one-day hit. If the story runs on the front page of a major paper, you also want to set it up so that it hits some of the television morning shows, and from there you want to have surrogates out the next day, so that you get a second hit. On the third day, ideally, you have some additional information you've been holding back that you can feed into it, another round of stories. On the fourth or fifth day you try to hold your candidate back from saying anything, so that eventually, when he does say something about the issue, you get another round of stories. If you do it all effectively, you can basically wipe out a guy's entire week. He'll spend the entire week responding to a story that showed up on a Monday."—Chris Lehane, quoted in Atlantic Monthly, June 2004 - The old Master of Disaster

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

[Appalled]

This is the sort of stuff that kills careers. The demonstration that the politician is the big liar/cheap Lothario we thought he was but could not quite prove, heretofore.

Gotta wonder, though. This guy does have a really gorgeous wife. Why isn't that enough?

[Threadkiller]

--"This guy does have a really gorgeous wife. Why isn't that enough?"--

Don't ask don't tell.

[Danube of Thought]

Insufferable twit Mike Lupica:

Put it another way: If you find yourself in a situation where Wolf Blitzer is asking you on television if you'd know your own underpants, your life has taken a wrong turn.

[Clarice]

He may be a twiy, but I wish I'd written that.

[narciso]

Btw, Ace, is 'going to town' on that Susan
Mulligan piece that was the basis for an earlier thread.

[windansea]

LOL

http://ow.ly/i/cz2i/original

[Danube of Thought]

Woot! Woot! Haven't had this much fun since the hogs et my little sister.

Say what you will about New Yorkers, they don't tend to elect abject laughingstocks as Mayor. Unless you count Bloomberg...

[Jack is Back!]

Some pols are in it for the power, some are in it for service, some are in it for the money and thenyou have a nerdy loudmouth like Anthony who is in it for the babes.

He reminds me of the character in the Elvis Cole novels, the crime scene tech, John Wong, who will take a little corruption so long as it helps him find some babes since on his own it would never work due his dorky looks.

OT: New post by Frederick. LUN

[windansea]

flaming underwear by AceofSpades

http://minx.cc/?post=317190

[Extraneus]

This guy does have a really gorgeous wife. Why isn't that enough?

The world is littered with the ruined lives of sexually incompatible spouses.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

I'm one of those people sufficiently clueless about Twitter (& etc...) to have not formed an opinion as to the possibility/likelihood of Weiner's account having been #Hacked!

However, watching the Congressman self immolate at his press conference told me precisely everything I needed to know. Tag 'im and bag 'im, he's done.

The simple explanation is the explanation. The only alternative explanation I'd consider involves his wife finding the evidence of his e-flirting and publicly posted the picture herself. I suggest that because it's just the kind of thing my wife would do. She'd have to wreck me before she dicorced me--especially, if like Weiner--I couldn't get any play at all without a congressional seat. You just know that, before he became a congressman, money changed hands anytime AW got laid.

[Gman]

Nah, Breitbart likes to let his targets hang themselves. So he plays out the rope a little at a time. Gets them on record saying something that directly contradicts whatever actual evidence he has, and then he dribbles that out. After each release of new info, the targets tend to say dumber and dumber things, until they have nothing left but the truth. And they get to look like a bunch of lying jerks while they get to the truth.

[jimmyk]

This guy does have a really gorgeous wife. Why isn't that enough?

Ask Tiger Woods.

(Personally I don't find Huma all that gorgeous, but presumably Weiner does. And we have some other evidence on his tastes.)

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

I wish I'd written that.

Me three.

[MayBee]

The world is littered with the ruined lives of sexually incompatible spouses.

It's very difficult to sexually satisfy a spouse who gets turned on by exposing himself to strangers.

[narciso]

You can add Gavin Newsom, all his other fum bles, make some kind of sense, when you consider the first mistake, and they promoted
him to Lt. Governor

[Amy (aka "the resident lesbian")]

Dear JOM-ers -

This is offiically my first "post" but I sure do hear a lot about your wonderful little family which I now consider my own.

It is through this group that I received the warning that a tornado was about to hit Sturbridge. With about 30 seconds to spare, me and my two girls (9 and 6) made it to the basement before the "train" blew threw my home. Shortly thereafter, Jane arrives at house with money in hand from this wonderful family (organized by Janet).

Maybe you folks can create a word that encompasses all of the feelings I wish to convey: gratitute, love, overwhelmed, community, closeness, affection and kindness. Mary and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

[Danube of Thought]

Huma doesn't seem all that gorgeous to me. I understand she's brilliant and talented, and seems to be a lovely person, but she's a long way from drop-dead beautiful.

[MayBee]

Amy- I can't take any credit for donating money, but I am so happy you are safe, and I love the idea that Rocco gave you the warning.

I'm glad you and Mary and the whole town are there for your little girls. I can still remember the dreams I had after a tornado hit my town when I was 4. Hugs to all of you.

[Extraneus]

Hi Amy!

[Sue]

Amy!

[MayBee]

Gorgeous or not, she is his wife and he chose her. Just recently, too. There really is no excuse for trolling for attention from strangers. That's obviously just what he likes to do, wife or no.

[Ignatz]

Glad you are all safe Amy and nice to meet you after all the nice things Jane has said about you for so long.

[Extraneus]

Ex-IMF Chief Pleads Not Guilty in Alleged Sex Attack on Hotel Maid

[Danube of Thought]

Welcome aboard, Amy. Stick around.

[Threadkiller]

"...watching the Congressman self immolate..."

I am glad I missed that picture.

[glenda]

Amy !! I live in a hole sometimes, and was unaware of your plight. Is there anything else you & the girls need? jane is definitely the best, for sure..
When we make the east coast swing next summer with the grandson, I'd love to drive through Sturbridge. Sounds like the folks there take care of themselves through thick and thin, like we Texans here on Galveston Bay.

[Clarice]

AMY!!! AMY!! How nice to see you here. Heck, after what Jane's told us, we should roll out the red carpet to all of Sturbridge.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Glenda,

When you come next summer you have to come and stay and go to Sturbridge Village. I have lots of room around here. And I would love to have you.How old is your grandson?

[hit and run]

So glad you and your family are safe,Amy.

Hugs all around.

[Thomas Collins]

Amy, is that you? What have you been doing over the last week, lounging around? Seriously, I am so relieved that you and Mary and the kids are OK (although I'm sure dealing with the property damage is no easy matter). Thank God Rocco was on the ball with the warning.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

DOT,

Don't encourage Amy to stick around. Someone here has to get some work done.

[Threadkiller]

Amy, I am glad you made it out OK. My daughters are 6 and 8 and I can only imagine what your thoughts were as the event unfolded.

If I were to sum up JoM with one word it would have been “support”.

Since Weiner’s picture of his support, I am not sure anymore.

[Rocco]

Hi Amy...welcome to JOM. No thanks are necessary, I just got lucky. I was watching Fox News when the tornado warning interrupted the program so I switched to the Weather Channel. There were two weathermen reporting that the tornado had just touched down in Springfield and were headed for Sturbridge with an estimated time of arrival of 5:17. All I did was post that info hoping Jane would see it. We have a lot in common, we all love Jane!

[Captain Hate]

Hey Amy, welcome aboard.

[Rocco]

*was headed*

[Melinda Romanoff]

Hi Amy! Glad you all are safe.

[Thomas Collins]

Rocco is a typical salt of the earth guy who minimizes his own contributions to others. But I'm not letting you get away with it, Rocco!

[centralcal]

Greetings, Amy! So nice to meet you, although I feel we already have met since Jane talks about you and your girls all the time. lol.

[Sue]

Wow, Weiner is really not an attractive man. And the picture of him with the cats, he has a paunch. For a skinny little man, that is really not a pretty sight.

[Extraneus]

Brietbart must be getting a ton of hits from Weiner's IP address today.

[Sue]

I wonder how many women thought they were the only one? This could get really interesting.

[Comanche Voter]

Breitbart with yet another one of his rope a dope efforts. It's like watching a cat play with a mouse---or in Little Tony's case, a very small, very nasty rat.

[narciso]

Hitchens is on a roll, today,

http://www.slate.com/id/2296295/pagenum/all/#p2

[Thomas Collins]

This would have been bad enough for Weiner if he had fessed up right away that he was a Tweeter flirter. But it is going to be far worse for him with his continuing attempts at a coverup. Hell, if he'd fessed up right away, perhaps he could have convinced Oprah to do a special on the online flirting syndrome, with the requisite number of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, academics who study the online world, and other therapy state "experts" to present their views on the matter.

[Dave (in MA)]

|

[Ignatz]

Worrying story from AsiaTimes on energy maneuvers in central Asia, especially regarding Chinese and Russian attempts to co-opt India and Pakistan.

[Scott]

Comanche Voter nails it. Cops do it all the time - the first thing you do is get the killer to admit he knew the victim.

[sbw]

Amy! Glad to hear from you. My sister is a neighbor of yours, formerly from Wales, now Worcester.

[bgates]

Lovely piece by Hitchens; my favorite phrase was Edwards and his fellow-attorney and counsel Greg Craig.

Obama's first White House Counsel Greg Craig? Oh, my.

[rse]

amy- so glad you are OK.

mel-

Just emailed you. Let me know if you want me to get more info.

[glenda]

jane...you are my favorite :)
Colin will be 10 in August, so he'll be almost 11 when we head east. I don't know whether it's because of his autism, or ?,but; he hardly ever asks for anything.So when he does, I turn "heaven and earth" to get it for him..and he wants to go to Broadway, NYC and Boston. He has decided they have the best museums and parks.

[Porchlight]

Hello, Amy! So nice to finally "meet" you, and I'm thrilled you and your family are safe. Rocco is a prince!

[Extraneus]

Who's up against Rush at this time of day? I can't take his substitute, Mark Belling, for some reason.

[Danube of Thought]

Herewith a little plug for our little town.

[Porchlight]

Wrt Huma, I think her statement (via surrogate) and its weasel wording says a lot:

"She's not worried about infidelity," said her friend. "She's confident and comfortable in her marriage."

"Not worried about infidelity" could mean she doesn't believe he cheats on her, or it could mean she knows all about the cheating and it doesn't bother her.

I suspect Huma and Anthony did not marry for love, and therefore, if both parties are amenable, the marriage can survive and Huma can remain "confident and comfortable" in it. (They have Bill and Hill to look to as models, after all.)

My guess is that if Huma cares about anything, it's that Weiner got caught, and that the scandal might damage his political prospects beyond repair.

[narciso]

Henry, thinks him too excitable, but he was one of our ears on Wisconsin, I try not to drive while listening to him.

[pagar]

Amy, Glad to hear from you. Seems like you've been a part of the JOM family forever. May things get better and better for you all.

[Danube of Thought]

Caption?

[Extraneus]

To my ear, he's pretty whiney, in a monotone sort of whiney way. It's at once irritating and sleep-inducing. So no, I definitely wouldn't recommend driving while listening.

[MayBee]

My guess is that if Huma cares about anything, it's that Weiner got caught, and that the scandal might damage his political prospects beyond repair.

If she married him for the reasons many suspect, leaving Weiner and becoming single again will put her back in the Huma + Hillary rumor mill.

[glenda]

DoT...the cliffs of Coronado..beautiful..
:) you lucky guy!

[Porchlight]

True, MayBee. Was trying to hint at that too. Hillary provides the model of how to keep the arrangement together. Even if the world now knows about Weiner's indiscretions, there can still be the "I'm in therapy and we're working it out" angle, or they can just basically ignore bimbo eruptions from now on, like the Clintons did, and hope the press will do the same.

The thing is, the Gennifer Flowers scandal didn't keep Bill from becoming President. But this might well keep Weiner from higher office, and lifelong attachment to a discredited (and possibly former) member of Congress might not be satisfactory for Huma.

[MarkO]

Caption? Some sheep are real liars.

[Threadkiller]

Meeting his fans from Twitter

He unzipped his pants at the mixer

The sheep looked in

And started to grin

“You looked bigger in your picture!”

[MayBee]

Even if the world now knows about Weiner's indiscretions, there can still be the "I'm in therapy and we're working it out" angle, or they can just basically ignore bimbo eruptions from now on, like the Clintons did, and hope the press will do the same.

I found it really interesting how the press pretty much ignored the Clinton bimbo eruptions for years-- until Hillary was running against Obama. Then DeedDee Myers' husband unleashed all the innuendo he found fit to print in Vanity Fair.

It never goes away. Polite people ignore the scandals, but political journalists are like snakes in the grass.

[narciso]

It's a real Admiral Ackbar moment, 'all is well'

http://twitter.com/#!/rickklein/status/77772062709645312

[Porchlight]

Then DeedDee Myers' husband unleashed all the innuendo he found fit to print in Vanity Fair.

MayBee,

I wonder if Hillary expected a pass in the primaries or if she was prepared for it. After so many years she must have been really used to getting the pass.

[Thomas Collins]

Well, I'm glad there is a Coronado visual in this thread. Beats any Weiner visual any day.

[Caro]

Dot

"I hope this tie is long enough to cover!"

[MayBee]

I wonder if Hillary expected a pass in the primaries or if she was prepared for it. After so many years she must have been really used to getting the pass.

I think she expected a pass. I honestly don't think McCain's people would have gone down that road with her, so in different circumstances she might have gotten that pass.
And I think the Clintons really held back on Obama, thinking he was above that. I remember members of the black caucus threatening her if she went after his drug use.

But that VF article had to sting. And Obama, who made everybody denounce anything slung his way, said nothing to criticize that article.

The Hillary + Huma gossip was really starting to take hold when suddenly Huma was dating ultra Clinton supporter Weiner. So she might not have expected a total pass on that. That's a pretty drastic step.

[MarkO]

For me, it's always prudent to believe the worst.

[Extraneus]

New Weiner pic up at BigGov.

[Porchlight]

And I think the Clintons really held back on Obama, thinking he was above that.

What fools they were. Explains too why they were soooo steaming mad.

Then again, intraparty muckraking and whisper campaigns are tricky, especially for Dems, as the journos always have access to both camps and it's pretty tough to avoid fingerprints. She could have known she wasn't going to get away with issuing too much dirt on Obama.

[MarkO]

Dirt? Obama? What? It's not like he was a coke snorting druggie. Just how did that not become part of the campaign? Wow.

[Porchlight]

New Weiner pic up at BigGov.

Wow, look at the framed photos in the background. Classy. I do believe that is Huma and Anthony in the one on the far left, and is that Bill Clinton in the pic on the right, just underneath the AC control knobs?

Ha ha. The WeinerDefenders are going to have a tough time with the "It's a Breitbart hoax!" storyline...

[narciso]

One thing we've learned about this bunch, Mellman, Begala, Carville, they really aren't
this smart.

[Dave (in MA)]

New Weiner pic up at BigGov.

Thank goodness for landscape mode.

[jimmyk]

In the LUNed feature on Huma, she is described as conservative Muslim who spent her formative years in Saudi Arabia. (Also extremely private and laconic.) It seems a bit odd for a conservative Muslim to marry an abrasive liberal Jew. Clearly her family is more "modern" (i.e. not the stoning type), but it doesn't quite all add up.

[MarkO]

Am I a bad person because I love watching this? Don't answer. I'm afraid.

[Extraneus]

Later that same day, apparently after receiving several images from the young woman, Rep. Weiner allegedly sent another photograph to her from the same Yahoo! email address.

That photograph (attached to the email as “ready.JPG”) is extremely graphic, and leaves nothing to the imagination.

Haha. Come on, Breitbart, don't forget what they did to you for editing Shirly Sherrod.

[Dave (in MA)]

Isn't Breitbart's usual M.O. to allow the subject of his exposé the opportunity to dig himself in deeper before he releases more goodies? Did A.Weiner have any more comments?

[Extraneus]

That's just what he has to say, too.

"I once posted a segment of video, in order to make a particular point, much as all major media organizations routinely do. The left excoriated me for not posting the entire speech from which the excerpt was taken, claiming incorrectly that the excerpt was unfair without the overall context, even though I wrote about the overall context in the original piece. So, in good faith, I'm sure that those who criticized me during that earlier episode, including Congressman Weiner himself, will appreciate that I have learned my lesson and will be releasing all of the Weiner photos that are in my possession."

[narciso]

As Cpl. Hudson, would say; 'game over, man'

[Porchlight]

Dave (in MA), I think Breitbart let Weiner get out there and lie to the good people last week, and now he's letting out some more rope.

[dk70]

OMG, uncloth pic up now! He's gone for sure.

LUN NSFW

[jimmyk]

Breitbart shouldn't rule out releasing it, as that prospect is the most likely thing to get Weiner to fess up. Or could Breitbart be charged with blackmail for doing something like that?

Anyway, my guess is he will pull a Tiger Woods: make a great confession of "sex addiction," and announce his plan to go into "rehab."

[Jack is Back!]

As an interesting balance to lewd, salacious pictures of groins, scrotums and pecs - I give you this photo my wife took as we were driving around yesterday here in upstate New York.

Try explaining to a 7 year old boy with an Nintendo 3DS andiPod Nano that there are people who reject modern technology:)

[Dave (in MA)]

dk70, DIAF :-)

[Extraneus]

Wouldn't that be "sext addiction" at this point?

[Janet]

Amy, Glad to hear from you. Seems like you've been a part of the JOM family forever.

Amy, I agree with pagar! I loved Jane's description of putting flowers out on the stoop again. A bit of a 'We will not be beaten' attitude...and 'this is still home'. Love it.

[centralcal]

Oh ye, of little faith. The MFM is rushing in to counsel and insulate WEE'-ner. Via Ben at Politico:

Politically speaking, what has already emerged may well have doomed Weiner's hopes of being mayor of New York, and could well produce calls for him to resign. The main lesson of recent scandals, from Spitzer to Vitter, is that he doesn't have to: No matter how gross the private conduct, these scandals tend to burn hot and fast.

Hey, bud, just ride out this storm!

[Porchlight]

lol dk70, you got me!

One wonders exactly how much time Weiner was able to devote to his actual job. Time consuming, taking and sending all these pics.

[Porchlight]

Hey, bud, just ride out this storm!

Yep. They're saying just hold on a little longer and we promise we'll move on...

Kind of like the Obama administration's signals to the Taliban, if you think about it.

[dk70]

LOL, that shit never gets old!

Will the press drum him out after getting lied to or will they let Weiner ignore them until the scandal dies out?

[Jack is Back!]

Well back to the drawing board. That was supposed to be an Amish carriage drawn by a horse.

Can't seem to fit it in even downsized. Sorry about that.

Will post on Frederick's blog.