BUSINESS INSIDER
No, Really, Anthony Weiner Has To Go
AP
Ari Melber writes in the Daily News that calls for Weiner to exit the New York mayor race after new sexting revelations are "wrong, anti-democratic and strangely puritanical."
Andrew Sullivan, Dan Savage and Amanda Hess have all been noting that sexting with strangers is increasingly common behavior with the rise of smartphones, and sooner or later we'll have to make peace with electing leaders whose sexts we have read.
In the abstract, they're right. Let's be frank. In the age of Grindr, I'm far from the only gay man under 35 with a personal stake in changing this norm.
But while we will eventually need a standard bearer for the "sexters can be leaders, too" message, Weiner can't be it. That's because the specific circumstances of his sexting provide further evidence that he lacks the temperament to be a good mayor.
Let's look back at Exhibit A on Why Anthony Weiner Would Be A Terrible Mayor: June's New York Times piece on his record in Congress.
The Cliffs Notes version: Weiner had no record of legislative accomplishment to speak of, save for one pet bill pushed by a major donor. His main goal seemed to be to get on television as much as possible and raise his profile for a run for mayor.
He positioned himself as a progressive champion but was not useful in getting the left's goals into law. He threatened to interfere with passage of Obamacare but relented when Nancy Pelosi put him in a position to take more credit for it. He went on a self-aggrandizing rant against Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) at the same time other New York Democrats were working constructively with King to secure passage of a bill to compensate 9/11 first responders. He refused to participate in a pro-immigration event because its organizers wouldn't make it into a platform for showcasing Anthony Weiner.
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BUSINESS INSIDER
Two More Reasons To Think Anthony Weiner Is A Sociopath
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
One is a story the New York Daily News had over the weekend: In 2011, before his abject apology to his wife and the public for sexting and then lying about sexting, Weiner spent $45,000 from his campaign fund to hire a private investigator to find out who had "hacked" his Twitter account and sent a photo of a crotch. (Of course, Weiner sent the photo himself.)
The other goes back to Weiner's first political campaign, his successful 1991 run for city council. In the week before the Democratic primary, Weiner's campaign sent out an anonymous mailer accusing an opponent, Adele Cohen, of supporting the "Dinkins/Jackson agenda."
The mailer went out shortly after the Crown Heights riots, which arose from tensions between blacks and Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn. The reference to the Rev. Jesse Jackson and then-Mayor David Dinkins was an obvious race-based appeal to Jewish voters.
Weiner ended up winning the election by 130 votes, and he was widely criticized for race-baiting. But what's really damning is Weiner's sorry/not-sorry approach to talking about the mailer after he sent it.
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BUSINESS INSIDER
Anthony Weiner Gives A Strange 'Non-Denial Denial' When Asked If He's Still Sexting
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
That was the question posed to him by New York Daily News columnist Denis Hamill in an interview published Tuesday. And Weiner responded with a classic "non-denial denial," tiptoeing around a firm answer.
"You can quibble about beginnings, middles and ends but what we're talking about is over a year ago," Weiner said.
Hamill didn't follow up on that non-denial denial. What we've been talking about, of course, is the latest round of revelations about Weiner's online sexual relationships that has spilled out over the past week.
Weiner admitted last week to online sexual relationships with at least three women after resigning from Congress in 2011. In total, he estimated that he had online relationships with between six and 10 women both during his time in Congress and otherwise.
Weiner announced on Sunday that amid the scandal, his campaign manager, Danny Kadem, had quit.
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