Anthony Weiner Sexting Underage Girl?

Well, the exact content of the tweets is unknown, but authorities are investigating, "Delaware Police Looking Into Weiner Tweets to a Minor." It's pretty outrageous, but we won't hear a word from Democrats and progressives. See, "Feckless feminists wimp out on Weinergate; Plus: Weiner’s lingering underage girl problem; Updated: 17-year-old gets cop visit; Pelosi doesn’t seem to care."

Also, at Big Government, "Police Investigating Alleged Online Communications Between Weiner and Underage Girl." (At Memeorandum.)

Added: Weiner confirms the reports: "Anthony Weiner admits contact with girl, 17."

Progressive Hypocrisy: Rachel Maddow on Anthony Weiner X-Rated Scandal

The headline at Breitbart: "FEMINISM OFFICIALLY DEAD: MADDOW CHARACTERIZES WEINER’S BEHAVIOR AS ‘BAD MANNERS’."

Maddow's comment about Congressman Weiner's "bad manners of Facebook" comes at the end of the discussion, but it's not the most egregious statement she made. Maddow, like other progressives down the line, standing up against calls for Weiner's resignation, argues that sending pictures of erect male organs around the web is just a matter of "more gossip than news":

This is not a matter of political hypocrisy. He never ran for office by saying, 'I Anthony Weiner have great sexual morality and other people have bad sexual morality and I'll legislate against them ...

She then goes off on making absurd comparisons to Republican David Vitter, and claims "no one in the Republican Party has called for him to resign ..." Actually, Republicans were the first to report the news of David Vitter's relationship with a prostitute, and conservatives denounced him. Indeed, in the Weiner case, Andrew Breitbart has repeatedly stated that this kind of behavior is unconscionable by Democrats and Republicans alike.

What we have here is a longstanding progressive double-standard. See Zombie, "Why the Hypocrisy Defense is political suicide for liberalism."

Read it all.

Moral relativism. Situational ethics. By any name, a bankruptcy of decency on the left.

RELATED: "Progressive Bloggers Are Anthony Weiner’s Biggest Defenders."

Progressive Bloggers Are Anthony Weiner’s Biggest Defenders

At Politico, "Anthony Weiner’s defenders: Bloggers on the left":

Defenders of embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner are increasingly hard to find, but one place where he still has vocal allies is the liberal blogosphere.

On the web, some left-leaning writers are strenuously arguing that the Democrat should ride out the scandal and live to fight another day as a key liberal attack dog on the national scene ...

More at the link, but check out some of the examples:

Matt Yglesias, a blogger for Think Progress, wrote Tuesday that the Weiner scandal hasn’t changed his view of the positive congressman who, he noted, has been in politics for nearly three decades, since starting out as an intern in the office of then-Rep. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“The idea that we should regard this extensive record in the career to which Weiner has dedicated his entire adult life as somehow fake, and his after hours twittering as revealing his ‘real’ character just doesn’t make a ton of sense,” Yglesias said in a post that discussed Weiner’s admissions but not the fact that he lied about being hacked for more than a week.

Meanwhile, Andrew Sullivan, whose views can be tough to characterize as left or right, wrote soon after the press conference ended that he saw “little reason” for Weiner to resign. Maintaining online relationships with women who knew Weiner’s identity was “unwise, inappropriate, stupid,” Sullivan said. But, “[f]or a human being, it remains well within the bounds of, well, human.”

But with Weiner admitting his lies, Sullivan said, “[i]t would take a particularly pitiless person to pile on some more.”

Feminist writer Amanda Marcotte said Wednesday on one of The Nation’s blogs that while Weiner’s behavior might be relevant if she were considering whether to date him, it doesn’t impact his ability to serve in Congress. Stories about Weiner, she wrote, “should be relegated to the realm of ‘gossip,’ covered perhaps by the Gawker, and not ‘news’ and certainly not ‘scandal worth resigning over.’”

And he’s needed in Congress, Marcotte said.

“Weiner’s role right now is to be a bulldog for the left, to holler things that our overly cautious president is afraid to whisper. You need bulldogs, but some of the traits that come along with being a bulldog — carelessness and narcissism come to mind — work against you in a marriage,” she wrote. “I’m not ready to sacrifice people playing necessary roles just to make sure everyone’s as nice a husband as Barack Obama appears to be. And it’s definitely not our job to decide for Huma Abedin what kind of consequences her husband should face for betraying her.”

Marcotte isn’t alone in her view that Weiner should ride out the storm.

Keep reading. Joan Walsh is also mentioned. And recall that Walsh, in her recent essay, said that was she'd had enough (and wouldn't take about it if things changed) after some progressives suggested that if Huma was cool with it, then Weiner should stay in Congress.

Image Credit: American Glob, "Daily KOS: Weiner’s Press Conference Was FAKE!!"

Andrew Breitbart in the O.C.!

I watched Nickleodeon with my son while working on this report, so I didn't catch local news coverage of Andrew Breibart's visit tonight to the Newport Beach Golf Course. I'll look for a video later, but Breitbart spoke with a local media crew for 10 or 15 minutes before coming inside the clubhouse:

With my friend Megan Barth, one of the best conservative activists in the country:

I don't have a big write up. Breitbart was on Cloud 9 after this week's sensational developments in the Anthony Weiner scandal. Breitbart's already a hilarious public speaker, but this was literally once in a lifetime material, and he made the most of it. The jokes practically told themselves, and the crowd was enamored --- and completely honored to be in his presence. He basically gave a recap of his entire week, starting with the anecdote of his talk to a policy group on Monday before the Weiner press conference. It was a room full of wonks apparently, and he mentioned that he lives right across from the West Los Angeles Veterans Cemetery, and while some neighbors had designed their backyard fencing, etc., to block the view, Breitbart had his home remodeled so that one could see nothing but the cemetery from his windows. He said he's trying to fight the battle at home with as much commitment as our troops in the field. He sees parents not much older than himself visiting the grave sites and he's thankful for the freedoms for which these families have sacrificed. Afterwards, he was approached by an individual in attendance, who thanked Breitbart for all that he does, and said that Breitbart "should never feel unappreciated." Breitbart quipped about how this made his day, and he had yet to hold a press conference in place of Congressman Weiner!

The crowd was roaring. Anyway, it was Breitbart at his best.

Check Left Coast Rebel as well: "This Photo Was Worth It!"

Hillary Clinton Furious at Anthony Weiner's Betrayal of Wife Huma

Nice photo of Secretary Clinton and Ms. Abedin. At London's Daily Mail, "Hillary's fury over 'stupid' Weiner's cover-up and betrayal of Huma."

Gingrich Presidential Campaign Disintegrates

I'm not surprised at all.

From Chris Cillizza, "Gingrich presidential campaign implodes" (via Memeorandum):

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign imploded Thursday afternoon with his entire senior staff resigning en masse, according to multiple sources familiar with the moves.

“When the campaign and the candidate disagree on the path, they’ve got to part ways,” said Rick Tyler, a longtime Gingrich spokesman who was among those who left the campaign.

Tyler as well as Rob Johnson, Gingrich’s campaign manager, Dave Carney and Katon Dawson, senior strategists to the effort, media consultant Sam Dawson, Iowa strategist Craig Schoenfeld, South Carolina operative Walter Whetsell and Georgia-based adviser Scott Rials have all stepped aside. Much of Gingrich’s early state operation was also headed for the exits, according to a one senior campaign source.

Follow the link at top. Gingrich made the announcement on Facebook.

Andrew Breitbart Meetup

LCR has the details: "Andrew Breitbart at Mike Munzing's Conservative Happy Hour at the Newport Beach Golf Course."

If there was ever a good day for Breitbart meetup, well, this is perfect.

I'll have pictures and perhaps a some video later.

Meanwhile, see RadarOnline, "Rep. Anthony Weiner's Cyber Mistress Tipped Off Rachel Maddow To Sexting Scandal." I thought about a separate post just for this, but couldn't decide on a headline: "Rachel Maddow Sits on Weiner Lead." Nah, that just didn't sound quite right.

Anyway, more tonight.

Dave Alvin at L.A. Times Magazine

See "Troubadour of Troubled Times":

Over the course of roughly three decades, Alvin has compiled one of the great, if underappreciated, California songbooks, cataloging the people and places most overlook or choose to ignore.

His is not the confectionary California of endless summers and Hollywood glitter or the kooky capital of New Age seekers and sunbaked hedonists. Alvin sings of life on the margins and between the cracks, of farm workers and illegal immigrants, of meth heads and lost souls and places like Bellflower, Fontana, the High Sierra and the 605 Freeway.

He sings in a throaty rumble of love and loss and ghosts of things past. California natives, Alvin believes, suffer an odd kind of nostalgia that comes when talk of old times refers not to generations ago but a period only a few years back. “By the time you’re 20, you’re 40 in the sense of waking up in the morning and thinking, Let’s go see the orange groves. But they’re not there anymore,” he says. “They’re just gone.”

lvin, a fourth-generation Californian, born and raised in Downey, wrote one of his best songs, “Dry River,” about the cement channel running through his hometown. He recalls the time he bicycled to an orange grove near his home, only to find a field of stumps. The trees had been chopped down overnight to make way for apartments and commercial development.

Alvin, 55, has never been an overtly political singer, in the sense of writing protest songs or lending his name to a cause. But he is an acute observer of politics—especially California politics—and with the Golden State in seemingly perpetual crisis, with high unemployment, meat-cleaver budget cuts and a government paralyzed by partisanship, he suggests the state, as we know it, may be headed the way of those orange groves. Listen closely, and you might hear it in a song.

RTWT.

I grew up in the City of Orange, and walked to school through orange groves. You miss them when they're gone. There's still a few left, actually, but few and far between. This is Orange County, for crying out loud.

BONUS: Check Dave Alvin's website.

Gabrielle Giffords Struggling to Communicate

It's a miracle she's alive, but still, this is sad news for those who hoped and prayed for her return to public life. At LAT:

Gabrielle Giffords is nowhere close to returning to Congress. And there remains real doubt about whether she ever will.

That appears to be the bottom line of an article Thursday in the Arizona Republic that provides the most complete assessment yet of the wounded congresswoman’s current condition. Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman in Tucson in January. Now, six months later, she still struggles mightily to communicate, although her staff believes her comprehension skills are strong. And it remains unclear just how much damage her brain has suffered.

Asked for a blunt description of Giffords’ condition, her chief of staff, Pia Carusone, replied: "She's living. She's alive. But if she were to plateau today, and this was as far as she gets, it would not be nearly the quality of life she had before."

As to whether she resembles herself before the shooting, Carusone said, “There's no comparison. All that we can hope for is that she won't plateau today and that she'll keep going, and that when she does plateau, it will be at a place far away from here."

The news may be sobering, but it's not necessarily a surprise. The state of Giffords' health has been closely guarded information as early, hopeful accounts of her rapid physical and motor recovery yielded to more cautious -- and less frequent -- reports. She remains at a Houston rehabilitation facility while her staff manages her day-to-day congressional business.

Although her two trips to Florida to witness the launch of her husband’s space shuttle mission were hailed as significant milestones, she was kept from the public. No photo of her after the shooting has yet been released, but Carusone said that day is coming.

Kirsten Powers: 'I Did Believe Him'

It's an interesting angle to the story, and I like Kirsten Powers:

Previously: "Kirsten Powers Calls for Anthony Weiner's Resignation."

Sarah Palin: 'America is the Exceptional Nation'

A new SarahPAC video, via Theo Spark:

Recall that when I was a CPAC in February, I made it a point to walk the National Mall to commemorate Abraham Lincoln's birthday. I love this country's history. And I love that Sarah Palin celebrates it with such passion.

Joan Walsh: 'I Look Kind of Stupid'

Well yeah.

The video's at RCP.

And see also, The Blog Prof, "It's come to this: Liberal hack Ed Schultz lectures MSM on being in denial over Weinergate."

And Walsh has a revealing piece up at Salon, "A pregnancy changes everything." She calls for Weiner's resignation, but changes her mind if Huma stands by her man after all. You know, it's all about principles with progressives. Or, not actually.

Andrew Breitbart on 'In The Arena' with Eliot Spitzer

At LAT, "Eliot Spitzer says he sympathizes with Anthony Weiner."

And Breitbart speaks after 5 minutes, and it's riveting:

Admirers Became Weiner's Online Pursuits

At New York Times, "In Reckless Fashion, Rapid Online Pursuits of Political Admirers":

Gennette Cordova said she did not even think the photo was real.

It was nearly 9 p.m. on a Friday when Ms. Cordova, who was preparing to head out for the night with a friend, logged onto Twitter and discovered that Representative Anthony D. Weiner had sent her a suggestive photo of himself in gray boxer briefs.

“It didn’t make any sense,” Ms. Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in northwestern Washington State, said in her first extensive interview since Mr. Weiner confessed in a news conference Monday to sending her the photo. “I figured it must have been a fake.”

Ms. Cordova’s experience with Mr. Weiner appears to fit a pattern: in rapid and reckless fashion, he sought to transform informal online conversations about politics and partisanship into sexually charged exchanges, at times laced with racy language and explicit images.

Ms. Cordova, who had traded messages with Mr. Weiner, a New York Democrat, about their shared concern over his conservative critics, said she had never sent him anything provocative. Asked if she was taken aback by his decision to send the photo, she responded, “Oh gosh, yes.”

Ms. Cordova spoke to The New York Times as Mr. Weiner faced intensifying calls for his resignation because of his acknowledged online sexual communications with at least six women over the last three years. On Wednesday, House leaders began a concerted effort to persuade Mr. Weiner to step down, worried that the sensational coverage of his online sexual liaisons had created political chaos and was subjecting the Democratic Party to ridicule.

More at that link at top.

I thought he was going to resign on Monday, and the Wall Street Journal reported last night that Weiner was still trying to hang on. I just don't see how he can.

Carl Salonen Loves Anthony's Wiener!

Oops.

I mean Carl Salonen loves Anthony Weiner. See: Why I Don't Hate On Weiner.

I'm going to have more on Carl Salonen in upcoming posts, so check back. And I'm talkin' don't f**king miss it! ASFL story of the summer!! No, I take that back. It's the ASFL series of the summer. I'm rolling out serial blockbuster posts for all the ASFLs at LGM, Sadly No!, and more. This is Breitbart territory!

A Short History of Political Suicide

From John Steele Gordon, at Wall Street Journal:

Woodrow Wilson's most famous piece of political advice was "Never murder a man who's committing suicide." Rep. Anthony Weiner's critics might keep that in mind. The Twitter disaster has undoubtedly ended his hopes of being New York City's next mayor and may well cost him his seat in Congress.

But as a scandal it pales before Eliot Spitzer's descent into political infamy when he was identified as being "Client No. 9" in an upscale prostitution ring. Within a week there were T-shirts for sale proclaiming "I'm Client No. 8!" and he was forced to resign as governor of New York. As he drove to make his resignation announcement, his car was tracked by helicopters through the streets of Manhattan like O.J. Simpson's famous ride in a white SUV through Los Angeles.

Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten Island (is there something in New York's water?) was arrested for drunk driving in Alexandria, Va., in 2008 and among the revelations that flowed from it was the fact that he had a 3-year-old daughter with a mistress. He declined to run for re-election. Then there's former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards's love child, the cover-up of which has now gotten him indicted. Whatever the outcome of the case, his hopes of being president are a distant memory.

Well, you get the picture ...

RTWT.

(And there is something different about this one: Breitbart, and the epic comeuppance he's delivered to radical progressives, for starters.)

Ann Coulter on 'Piers Morgan Tonight'

More talk about her book. Are you reading it? Her same very dry wit fills the pages. I laughed out loud a couple of times: Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America.

There's a Part 2 and Part 3 as well.

Democrats Push Weiner to Resign

At WSJ, "Weiner Faces More Calls to Resign":

Prominent Democrats began calling for Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign as a new, more graphic image surfaced Wednesday to propel the sexting scandal engulfing the New York Democrat.

Separately, Huma Abedin, Mr. Weiner's wife, is in the early stages of a pregnancy, according to a New York Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity. Ms. Abedin is a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and left with her Wednesday on a trip to north Africa. A State Department spokesman had no comment.

A person close to Mr. Weiner said he still is determined to hold onto the seat he first won in 1998. But Democratic aides said that if he continues to resist calls to resign, the situation could reach a boiling point Monday when House members return to Washington.

The controversy has become a national embarrassment for Democratic leaders, who have come under fire from Republicans for not moving more aggressively to demand Mr. Weiner's departure. Senior Democratic leadership aides expect more colleagues to come forward in the next few days to call on Mr. Weiner to resign.

I should be surprised that Weiner still refuses to resign (I'm not), but read the whole thing. The congressman's office issued a statement whereby "tacitly" admitting that the picture is Weiner's. At some point I suspect I'll feel bad for the guy, but not yet. Right now I feel bad for his wife. I have all along. She looks absolutely beautiful. How could Anthony Weiner treat her so horribly?And now the baby on the way? Almost Greek tragedy territory. Although I hope not, for that would mean someone's going to die.

RELATED: A huge roundup at The Other McCain, "Weiner’s Secret Desire ... UPDATED: ‘X-Rated’ Photo Emerges; Weiner’s Wife Is Pregnant; More Democrats Now Calling for Resignation."

Kirsten Powers Calls for Anthony Weiner's Resignation

At Daily Beast (via Memorandum):

As more information trickles out about his online behavior with women, it has also become clear that he does not have the character to be in a position of leadership because of his misogynist view of women and predatory behavior.

More at the link. It's a very personal essay. Weiner is hurting a lot of people.

Ann Coulter Looks Fabulous!

On the back cover of her new book, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America.

Started reading last night. It's great!