Never Trust a Politician's Outrage and Sincerity
I didn't blog the whole Weiner thing during the events because I really couldn't have cared less about the whole deal. I see a nearly 1:1 correlation between the ego-gratification politicians get from the job and the eco-gratification Weiner was getting from young girls, so none of it surprised me in the least. And on the other hand, I would not have been surprised if it had been a hacker. If it was not a hacker this time, it will be some other time.
But I thought this video of Weiner's denials last week and how he comported himself under questioning about his alleged (at the time) behavior is now absolutely fascinating in light of his press conference yesterday admitting everything. Watch this guy - he absolutely looks like a man sincerely angry at being wronged by bogus and, as he says over and over, "outrageous" accusations. You just have to believe the guy. Yet now we know he was lying his ass off. Important lesson to remember as you watch politicians, on any topic, in the future.
DHL:
You may have to believe him, but we in the NY metro area have seen him rant and rave for years. We all know that he doesn't have an honest bone in his body.
You are lucky to live in AZ; you missed his antics for all of these years.
June 7, 2011, 3:45 pmIgnoramus:
Weiner is Shmuck Schumer's mini-me, literally. He started out in Schumer's office.
Weiner was making a career out of being the disengenuous deliverer of the bullshit meme of the day, per White House directive. He had a talent for it.
He thought he could take those same skills, his love of being on camera, and his lifetime fixation with dick jokes, to skam his way out of this one. It didn't work.
June 7, 2011, 5:19 pmme:
You'd figure with a name like that, he'd know better.
You do raise an interesting political question, though: with 200 years of evidence that most politicians are excellent liars, what's an informed public to do? Can a representative democracy function under these circumstances (and by function I mean accomplish something akin to the will of the populace instead of successfully contribute to politicians pockets)
June 7, 2011, 11:37 pmtehag:
Yes. It has been my experience that people are very poor at judging other people.
June 8, 2011, 4:12 amDMac:
http://cheaptalk.org/2011/06/07/losing-control-of-your-weiner/
In their daily lives, politicians tell truths, half truths, do not tell the whole truth or just outright lie. Elections, media questioning, the cut and thrust of policy debate force them into situations where they confront these choices. If they take the easy route and veer from the truth, they either get away with it or are caught out. If they get away with it, they learn that they can tell half truths and survive. So, they will do it again. Perhaps, they will go even further and outright lie....
June 8, 2011, 4:40 ammarco73:
Shakespeare had this guy pegged 400 years ago. Queen Gertrude in Hamlet: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
June 8, 2011, 6:01 amSubstitute "Weiner" for "lady", and there you have it.
caseyboy:
Somehow this guy got elected to office and went from homely, pencil necked geek to influential member of congress. Not only is he homely on the outside, he is ugly on the inside, abrasive, egotistical and condescending. He didn't manage his new found popularity very well did he. Couldn't happen to a better person.
June 8, 2011, 7:58 amIgnoramus:
Let's recap:
Weiner mistakenly hit "reply all" so that all his followers were sent the crotch shot.
Breitbart saw a story in this because Weiner had immediately gone public with a false claim that he had been hacked.
Weiner thought he could work the media enough to his advantage that he'd scam through this. In effect, he doubled, redoubled, redoubled again ... and lost.
Formerly a "rising star" within its ranks, the Left wants Weiner to disappear. He's too big an embarrassment.
But Weiner won't go easily. So Weinergate will be in and out of the news for weeks.
Some observations:
We count on the press to call politicians on their bullshit. They've become awful at it. That includes their coverage of the run-up to the Iraq War. But in the last three years we're in a world of Orwell meets Lewis Carroll.
Salon just ran a story about how Weiner won his first office many years ago -- New York City Council -- by using dirty tricks. In a heavily Jewish district -- following the Crown Heights riot where blacks beat on Jews -- Weiner sent anonymous fliers falsely accusing the leader in the polls of being in league with the black rioters. Weiner won by 150 votes. But my question is why is Salon running this story now?
Breitbart doesn't lose these fights.
June 8, 2011, 8:07 amTed Rado:
This whole episode brings new meaning to the old joke: "Do you know how to tell if a politician is lying? If you see his mouth moving".
Our biggest political problem is that elections are a popularity contest, not a determination as to who is the best qualified person for the job. Additionally, subsequent political appointments to heads of agencies are political payoffs, with totally unqualified people getting the plums. I couldn't imagine a better system for screwing up the country. Imagine a brilliant person, perfectly qualified for a public job but who has a zilch persona running against a smiling gladhand incompetent. Guess who would win? Yuk. There must be a better way to select our leaders.
June 8, 2011, 11:30 amMichael Duff:
Oh, I think he has ONE honest bone in his body...
June 8, 2011, 12:10 pmTomD:
Isn't everything, ultimately, about getting laid? At least for males?
I'm not sure why anyone would expect politicians or "our leaders" to be any different. Indeed, the very nature of their chosen existence -- the pursuit of power -- reveals them to be the DEFINITION of "males seeking sexual clout." You might as well pin peacock feathers on these guys, or draw them as chimpanzees stomping the ground to assert alpha status. Most of them are just a little more... elegant about it than this guy.
To be clear, I'm not defending Weiner here; he's a worm when he's not a weasel. It's just an offhanded observation (warning?) about power and its motivations.
June 8, 2011, 4:23 pmel coronado:
the word you're looking for is "sociopath". it's said ted bundy was just about the most charming, delightful fellow who ever lived. could sell ice to eskimos, all that. remember also the famous clip of another political sociopath, bill clinton? at the funeral of ron brown - what are the ODDS the poor guy would get shot in the back of the head during a plane crash?? - he was filmed walking along laughing & joking with a subordinate - until he noticed the camera. he went from "smiley-face ha ha" to "weepy-face mister sad" in the span of less than one second.
politicians, serial killers.....strange they have so much in common, is it not?
mary jo kopechne was unavailable for comment.
June 9, 2011, 7:16 amDan:
Ron Brown was shot?
June 9, 2011, 11:18 amIgnoramus:
Bill Clinton meets Pee Wee Herman?
June 9, 2011, 11:36 amGlennman:
Even before the truth came out and I could have believed he was a victim of a hack, I thought to myself that he was the epitome of why people hate politicians. The way he would not answer the direct question of "is this a picture of you" by avoiding the question and redirecting the questioner. When will politicians learn that lying directly to people's faces is why the public hates them the most.
June 9, 2011, 12:39 pmtehag:
"When will politicians learn that lying directly to people’s faces is why the public hates them the most."
Never. Politicians must lie directly to their enemies faces. It's required by the job. Weiner regards the Amerucan people as his enemies, as do so many of his fellows.
June 9, 2011, 11:33 pmIgotBupkis, President, United Anarchist Society:
>>> Yet now we know he was lying his ass off. Important lesson to remember as you watch politicians, on any topic, in the future.
Ah.... Is this a new concept to anyone...?
Q: How do you know a politician is lying to you?
A: His lips are moving.
Really?
June 10, 2011, 12:06 amSmock Puppet:
>> Yes. It has been my experience that people are very poor at judging other people.
That's your judgment of things, huh?
June 10, 2011, 12:08 amtomw:
Just read that Weiner has no 'real job' qualifications outside of government, so will hang onto his job as representative as long as he can.
I figure he'd go great selling cars...
or
Securities and retirement planning, or insurance, or maybe get a job at one of the Wall Street financial houses. He'd fit right in with Bernie Madoff, no?
tom
June 10, 2011, 1:21 pmel coronado:
i would pay big bucks to watch weiner in action selling used cars. "I'm freakin' tellin' youse, this litle creampuff's got a ride like a **16-year-old cheerleader!** What?? WHAT?!? yo, c'mon back! t'day o'ny, i can get youse toity p'cent off!"
June 11, 2011, 3:09 pm