Sex, Lies and Twitter
This news item is a bit difficult to discuss while adhering to our Code of Conduct, but if the New York Times can report on it (somewhat inaccurately), we can dive in. Here's the deal: Rep. Anthony Weiner, the outspoken -- some might say mean-spirited -- Democratic representative of the 9th district of New York, is an active user of social media, particularly Twitter.
On Friday, there were a couple of curious messages sent from Weiner's Twitter account. One mentioned he was going to be on Rachel Maddow's show that night, and it mentioned what time that would be for Seattle. A few hours later, a picture of the Congressional Member's, err, member was sent to someone else from his account.
The recipient of the picture was a lovely young co-ed in ... Seattle. She "followed" Weiner on Twitter, meaning she would easily see all of his updates. That isn't so surprising. He has tens of thousands of followers. What is curious is that this college student was one of the relatively few people Weiner followed at the time. (If you want a quick primer on how this all works, you may be interested in reading this.)
This certainly doesn't look good for Weiner but for his part he says the second tweet was the result of a hacking. While he hasn't reported it to authorities yet, if someone is attempting to destroy his career and marriage (he recently married the lovely Huma Abedin -- Hillary Clinton's longtime assistant), they should be held accountable.
I suspect Weiner is hoping that the media will accept his version of events, which at this point seems to be the way they're going. But assuming such a hack happened, it would be very easy for a media outlet -- much less federal authorities -- to confirm it.
It's interesting to note the different way GOP colleagues handled their own embarrassing social media situation earlier this year with Rep. Chris Lee. It's interesting to note the way the media is handling this one. And it's also worth considering how this will affect politicians' use of social media in the years to come.
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Nov '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
And where was Austin Powers through all of this?
May '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
This was... er... touched on in the Member Feed last night and for the most part it just made me musical.
(Sing along, you know the tune.)
I wish I were a hacked and tweeted Weiner
That is what I truly want to be
'Cause if I were a hacked and tweeted Weiner
New York would really be in love,
Oh, Breitbart would really love
Seattle would be in love with me!
Aug '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
An almost identical incident just happened to a candidate for Ontario's provincial legislature:
http://www.examiner.com/canada-headlines-in-canada/progressive-conservative-candidate-george-lepp-tweets-picture-of-his-penis
It could easily just be a coincidence that nearly identical incidents happened within such a short period of time. Or, it could be a trend.
Jan '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
A modest prediction:
It won't affect them at all. They can't learn. They don't understand that anything they send out in email is liable to come back and bite them, or that nothing on the Internet really goes away forever, they don't understand that their IMs can be retrieved. Do you really think they're going to "get" just how deeply they can step in it with social media?
Facebook/Twitter + Politicians = years of entertainment coming up.
Jan '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Pffft. This will not ruin a Progressive Democrat's career in politics; it might even enhance it. It probably would ruin the career of a socially conservative Democrat, though. The big difference why [and to explain away why this treatment doesn't seem fair, yet is]: Progressive Democrats do not typically make campaign issues about family values and morality. Conservative Republicans are always making these an issue and seek to make legislation on them.
Jun '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
I predict that his wife will be very forgiving. I think she has bigger secrets than he does.
May '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Let's hope he does not have any bastard children by the domestic staff, or else he will get real coverage on this issue.
The real question is does the Congressman Weiner own a Dachshund, and what is its name? (yes I know it is a play on inverted German spelling of his name, but I had to ...)
Apr '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
First, let me say that I have the same last name as this idiot, but I pronounce it correctly (long "I" sound). Nevertheless, no relation, in any way shape or form.
Second, am I the only one who is thinking: "Why the hell are elected representatives, presumably servants of the public, even spending their time twiddling (twittling?) their thumbs on their smart phones telling a supposedly adoring public where they are going every 5 minutes?" Perhaps if they spent more time, you know, thinking. Thinking about the consequences of the laws they are trying to pass. . . thinking about how to create jobs. . . thinking about. . . oh, nevermind.
Jan '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Do the explanations coming from various sites invoke visions of Rose Mary Woods for anybody else?
Mar '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
It seems like a small affair to me - clearly he seeks Power as some form of compensation - dunno what all the fuss is about.
Mar '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
And today is just more confirmation that God exists: only a Divine Sense of Irony could possibly have crafted a scandal in which a man with a last name like that sent lewd photos of a particular body part also informally referred to by that very word...
I hope that was PG enough for the Censors....you get the idea.
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Well, if it's true that a member of Congress' communications were taken over in an attempt to destroy his career/marriage, that's a big deal. And if he was tweeting pictures of his bidness to a college student, that's just bad for his marriage, obviously, and bad PR for the Dems. When a similar situation happened for the GOP this year, that Representative resigned within hours. People just aren't in the mood for such shenanigans, I don't think.
Sep '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Amen Joshua!
May '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Mark Levin is going to have fun with this!
Anyway, what is it about NY Congressmen?
Aug '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Over at the Daily Caller, Jim Treacher has the perfect response to this story:
"I don’t agree much with Rep. Weiner politically, but he’s a congressman and this is a serious crime he’s alleging. Not to mention that identity theft can happen to any of us at any time. Therefore, Rep. Weiner must call for an official investigation. He owes it to himself, to all other victims of cybercrime, and to his fellow members of Congress who might also be at risk. Defrauding someone’s online accounts in order to embarrass and defame them is unconscionable. The culprit must be brought to justice.
And if Rep. Weiner doesn’t want an investigation, somebody should ask him why not."
http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/29/i-demand-an-official-investigation-into-the-hacker-who-broke-into-rep-anthony-weiners-twitter-account/#ixzz1Nrrrhw3a
I cannot agree more with Jim. It is completely plausible that somebody else used the Twitter account without permission. I have no problem with his story, AS LONG AS he pushes hard for a police investigation into this alleged felony.
Jul '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Fair enough. But if that's the main reason, then one would assume that since Progressive Democrats make campaign issues about standing up against the "wealthy and powerful", that they would be hurt more than Republicans by scandals involving money.
As we have seen, with Rangel, Rezko, and others, this is not the case.
Jan '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Wylee Coyote
Fair enough. But if that's the main reason, then one would assume that since Progressive Democrats make campaign issues about standing up against the "wealthy and powerful", that they would be hurt more than Republicans by scandals involving money.
Good point. This is what the pundits and the media that lean rightward need to be busting them on. Whenever possible people like us (the people with established voices like ours, more specifically) should be pointing out the contradictions between the Democrat's class warfare rhetoric (and their re-distribution sympathies) and the way they really live and operate.
Edited on May 30, 2011 at 3:49pmMar '11
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
I've subjected the tweeted photo to extensive forensic analysis, and it's my conclusion that the parental Weiners better stay the hell out of San Francisco in the future.
Dec '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
"It's interesting to note the way the media is handling this one." Mollie, you may find it interesting. But typical is the word that comes to my mind. Weiner has a "D" behind his name.
Oct '10
Re: Sex, Lies and Twitter
Mickey Kaus making fun of Howard Kurtz: Insights into the Mind of the Hack
IIRC, the liberal MSM collectively covered up for John Edwards. Guys like Kurtz are really shameless and think their readers are stupid.