It has been said many times with many scandals; it's not the scandal that ultimately brings tragedy to the individual, but the cover-up. Anthony Weiner is the latest politician to lean this lesson the hard way.

Before I continue, I would direct any other politician, because you know it will happen again, to former Congressman from NY Chris Lee. You may remember him as the buff man who took a photo of himself and sent it to women over the Internet. The story broke and literally less than three hours later he turned in his resignation. Pundits at the time speculated there was more to the story, but the interest stayed local to Washington and to his district for about a week, then it dropped off the radar. Other than being mentioned in the recent special election for his district, it has been a nothing of a story. In writing this article I was reminded by watching CBS News that Democrat Eric Massa resigned a few days after a scandal broke with him a little over a year earlier.

And that brings us to Anthony Weiner. Democrats expected to take a victory lap over the win in the heavily Republican district of former Congressman Lee, but when word broke out about Anthony Weiner, questions came up. It only makes sense. His story of a possible computer hack of his system and the crotch shot sent out did, on repeated reports by him, did seem like nothing more than a prank. The embarrassing spectacle of reporters asking if the photo was of him seemed improper for public discussion, but his response of saying he didn't know it was him seemed odd.

Listening to liberal commentators was interesting this past week. You could hear the struggle in their voices because Weiner was a friend to them. He had been on their shows, which was always an entertaining venture. He was part of that hip, snappy New York style that was good for ratings. I remember clearly Weiner appearing on Rachel Maddow's show and before he came on she explained how her staff was able to fabricate the same situation Weiner claimed had happened to him. Other commentators were skeptical of Weiner's non-answer about if the picture was of him. Conservative commentators, obviously, were feeling aggressive. Weiner had skewered a lot of them. They meted out revenge on a hot plate, steaming with bile and anger. This only made some liberals even more sure this was some sort of set up; some prank to embarrass the Congressman.

Like the staff on The Rachel Maddow Show I tried thinking of ways how this wasn't as bad as it seemed. I know the Internet so it was possible a photo could be faked. It didn't show a face. I even speculated that it could be of him, but a picture taken when he was still single, the Congressman was married last year, so it could have been an old girlfriend out for revenge. If it was indeed of him, surely it was something with a plausible explanation which would deem this to be private, like it had happened before his marriage.

Well that was all thrown out the window when the Congressman went to the podium late today and announced the photos were of him, and some were taken after his marriage and he did send them out to women. OK, wait a minute. 'They' 'photos'. Well it turned out the confession wasn't because he felt great remorse over lying to the press and anyone who would listen to him, it was because a website run by that favorite political muckraker Andrew Breitbart had released more photos, some with his face in the photos. Now, the new batch weren't as racy as the crotch shot but since they received the photos from women the argument saying he was hacked looked a bit shaky.

I can't say if he were honest at first and told what really happened if this story would have gone away. My guess would be no, but maybe the story would have lasted a few days rather than two weeks. It might have saved a lot of people trying to defend the Congressman. Right now he looks like a fool and opportunist, willing to lie in the face of reporters and the people and unwilling to stop stupid behavior when he got married.


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The Cover Up Sin - June 06, 2011
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