Typically we wouldn't note such tabloid gutter trash as the pilot episode to the upcoming reality show "In The Carlos Danger Zone with the Weiners", but since what is going on in the farce that is NYC's mayoral race is just another analogy for America's broken market, broken politics, broken morals and, ultimately, broken society, this deserves at least a few words, so here they are. Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress after being exposed for having a "sexting problem." As it turns out the Democratic mayoral candidate's sexting problem never went away, and continued well after said resignation with at least one young female, with whom he used the alias "Carlos Danger" and likely more. We learn all this because despite simple logic, Weiner decided to not only run for mayor but following today's revelations, will continue his run for mayor as he announced at a just concluded press conference. And the most inexplicable twist in all this: his wife was there beside him, supporting him and urging him on in the mayoral race.
From The Hill:
New York City mayoral candidate and former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday admitted to exchanging additional sexually explicit messages with a younger woman over the Internet — well after an initial "sexting" scandal led him to resign in disgrace. In a dramatic press conference, Weiner's wife Huma Abedin stood by his side as he acknowledged his sexting problem was something the couple dealt with well after his summer 2011 resignation from Congress.
"Some of these things happened before my resignation, some of these things happened after," said Weiner, who added he was surprised more hadn't come out sooner.
Abedin, making her first comments to the press during Weiner's campaign, offered her full-fledged support and acknowledged his sexting continued after his resignation. "It took a lot of work and a whole lot of therapy to get to a place where I could forgive Anthony," she said in a halting voice while reading a written statement. "It was not an easy choice in any way but I made the decision that it was wroth staying in this marriage. That was a decision I made for me, for our son, and for our family," she said.
"Anthony's made some horrible mistakes both before he resigned from Congress and after but I do believe that is between us and our marriage," she said. "We discussed all of this before Anthony decided he would run for mayor. So really what I want to say is I love him, I have forgiven him, I believe in him and as we have said from the beginning, we are moving forward," she concluded.
Abedin has worked for Clinton as far back as 1996 when she was a White House intern. Clinton once said if she had a second daughter, it would be Abedin.
...
When he answered questions on Tuesday, Weiner repeatedly insisted the sexting was behind him even as he was vague about when the behavior had stopped.
"I am prepared not to dispute anything that is out there but suffice it to say that people are out there saying things that are not true," he said.
"But that's not the point, I accept the responsibility for having these conversations with these people who I never met, with exchanging inappropriate things in the context of our marriage and that was a mistake and I bear responsibility for that," he continued. "
"That is behind me and we're trying to move forward and we recognize it's not going to be easy. We knew at the moment we got into this race it wasn't going to be easy, but I believe I believe this is an important thing to be doing," he said.
But didn't he say just that two years ago when he quit for the same scandal? Oh wait, like the economy, "this time it's different." At least he didn't blame his pathological addiction to showing off his assorted body parts on the weather.
As for Weiner, it is difficult to handicap if today's revelations have hurt of helped his mayoral chances. Since America got the president it deserves, one can only extrapolate that New York City will get the mayor it too, rightfully, deserves.
A full timeline of Weiner's actions can be found here.
