NEW YORK, NY April 10 (DPI) — The New York Times today posted an 8,000-word magazine-style profile of ex-congressman Anthony Weiner, a fawning promotion of the disgraced liberal Democrat who’s looking to return to politics. But readers — especially those whose posts were recommended by other readers — would have none of it.
The profile — a snapshot of life with Weiner and his wife, lardered with political speculation — suggests both are plotting his return to politics. It reports that Weiner has a $4.3 million war chest for a mayoral run, and he recently paid a pollster $100,000 to gauge his popularity.
Weiner, of course, resigned from congress in 2010 after revelations of sexually suggestive tweets to various women, while his wife was pregnant, and then lying about it.
By 5pm Wednesday, The Times site posted more than 580 submitted comments. While there was the predictable range of reactions, reader-recommended posts reflected a universal sentiment: Readers wanted no more of Weiner in politics. Many, too, saw The Times shilling for Weiner. And a couple of posts suggested that Weiner’s wife is more worthy of public office.
The top ten recommended comments as of 5pm Wednesday:
1) The troubling point that I take away from this piece is the following. Weiner identified “one fateful Tweet” as the source of his problems. That might indicate that he is focused on how he got caught and not on what he did. As we know, there were many tweets, emails and Facebook and other communications with at least six women. He only got CAUGHT on one. I’m no psychologist, but it seems to me that he needs to recognize that it is all of those communications and the sum total of his behavior and not “one fateful Tweet” that are critical- to his recovery and to his marriage much more than to any political viability. (431 recommendation as of 6pm)
2) I came up with a more accurate headline for this article: “A well connected couple calls in a favor from a friend/buddy at the NYT” (395 recommendations)
3) Ms Abedin (Weiner’s wife) seems authentically interested in public service and I hope she is allowed to use her talents. Mr. Weiner seems authentically and dangerously enamored with himself. His interest in public service seems to be about his ego. He is off the public stage and should stay away. (339 recommendations)
4) It would be better if Huma would run for mayor. (267 recommendations)
5) Reading Margaret Thatcher’s obituary, one thing that stood out was how she treated her staff, especially its junior members. She might excoriate civil service bureaucrats, call cabinet ministers “vegetables” and “wets” to their faces but towards those who toiled for her behind the scenes she behaved with great circumspection and self-restraint, and often kindness. This, although she was Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of England. Was it because she never ceased to be a grocer’s daughter who grew up above his store?
I mention this seemingly unrelated story in her obituary because I remember reading about how Rep. Weiner treated his staff in a Wall Street Journal article: abominably. Berated them in public. Threw things at them, even telephones. Tantrums. Firings. Why? Because they’d displeased him in some way. Or they hadn’t measured up to his “standards”. Of course, since then we’ve discovered what Rep. Weiner’s standards really were; and then some. I haven’t forgotten the public relations disaster after his sexting messages surfaced. His empty protestations of innocence. Absurd conspiracy theories. All lies.
Lies. Damned lies. Blatant, unrepentant lies.
I also remember how he humiliated his lovely wife.
Why pursue public office? What’s the point? Bloomberg, I think I understand. Restless, relentless and vastly wealthy already (why money never factored into it), he needed an outlet, something big to do. And he sought validation.
What motivates Weiner? (243 recommendations)
6) Don’t we have enough entitled narcissists in politics? Do we really need Anthony Weiner in office again? (223 recommendations)
7) I’m stunned at what appears to be the lowering of standards by my fellow NYers. I am a democrat, but think for a minute about what this guy was doing “while he was in office” the last time around. He was supposed to be focused, at the very least during office hours, on his duty. Wasn’t the case. (197 recommendations)
8) I’d find it hard to trust the judgement of anyone who ordered escargots with a cheeseburger. (168 recommendations)
9) Oh please. This guy needs to find a new career, one unrelated to politics. (154 recommendations)
10) You have got to be utterly mad, drunk or seriously kidding.
Anthony Weiner has the emotional maturity of a teenager and I would worry if he was put in charge of my local 7-11 (and that’s unfair to 7-11 and people running them)…
This idea you can maneuver around reality and ignore reality for your own purposes is a deeply troubling malady that seems to pervade the ranks of economic and political elites.
These people like Weiner just don’t know how much they truly don’t know or get. (151 recommendations)