[EL] Congressman Weiner

[John Tanner]

I surmise that Lee resigned under strong pressure from the House leadership
and in the knowledge that continuing in office would result in prolonged
embarassment and elimination of any chance at political resurrection down
the line.  He took the wise course of an immediate exit, and may live to run
another day.  Vitter decide to tough it out and benefited from the two faces
of Louisiana - the one that loves a rogue and the one that forgives the
repentant.

Weiner has compounded his difficulties by the far greater sin of
greedily devouring every opportnity to tell bald-faced lies on camera.
His lies can and will be replayed as nauseum if he runs for office in the
future.

What on earth would one seek in blackmail from Weiner?  He has no
credibility.  His schtick, righteous indignation, is gone.  At this stage,
criticism from could be spun as a badge of honor.
On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 7:42 PM, RuthAlice Anderson <
ruthalice.anderson at comcast.net> wrote:

> I still don't understand what political or professional explanation there
> is for Chris Lee's resignation. If that is what his wife wanted - then sure,
> it makes sense. But there was no other reason to resign. And what about the
> David Vitter standard? He actually committed a crime and he was re-elected.
> I think it might just be tougher for NY politicians because they are close.
> Perhaps it's distance from major media markets that determines who must and
> who need not resign.
>
> RuthAlice
>
>
>
> On Jun 7, 2011, at 9:38 AM, Paul Gronke wrote:
>
> > Maybe if he used a government Blackberry or web access, though I'm not
> sure how they'd track the latter.
> >
> > It's unfortunate, I think, to see a pundit mention the "Chris Lee"
> standard in the NY Times:
> >
> > David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs in New
> York City, said it would be hard for Mr. Weiner to argue that his conduct
> was any less damning. “By the Chris Lee standard, these are offenses that
> merit resignation,” he said.
> >
> > No comment at all about whether such a standard is a reasonable one?
> >
> > ---
> > Paul Gronke   Ph:   503-517-7393
> >                        Fax: 503-661-0601
> >
> > Professor, Reed College
> > Director, Early Voting Information Center
> > 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd
> > Portland OR 97202
> >
> > EVIC: http://earlyvoting.net
> >
> > <Paul Gronke.vcf>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Jun 7, 2011, at 5:29 AM, Doug Hess wrote:
> >
> >> All joking aside, what is the reasoning or grounds behind starting an
> >> investigation of the congressman (or the same with the NY GOP
> >> congressman that had the shirtless pic on craigslist but I guess left
> >> before it was investigated)?  That he sullied the image of congress?
> >> It seems odd to go looking for bigger violations if there is not yet
> >> any evidence of it (i.e., inappropriate romantic entanglements with
> >> somebody that does business with congress, etc.).
> >>
> >> Doug
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