So arnold shtups his cleaning lady and she has his kid and there are rumors of others...

[Javaman]

Anthony Weiner twits his johnson in a banana hammock and who gets the fire storm?

Stop allowing the media to lead you around by the nose. We are smarter than that.

[LiberalLoner]

1. THANK YOU!!!! K&R n/t

[Akoto]

2. I agree, but frankly ...

Arnold was not nearly as surprising to me as Anthony. After all, Arnold's already confessed to his past sexual conduct in publications, up to and including group sex. That he would sleep around is not a shocker.

Having said that, I agree that the coverage is tilted to the extreme.

[Newest Reality]

3. What a sad reflection on the

overall maturity of our culture.

Well, I think that is what happens when you let the culture determine who and what you are and how you are supposed to react to something. Of course, Puritanical religion STILL has a big impact about something that comes with being a human being. Odd, ey?

Maybe sexuality is the Final Frontier. If it is a litmus as to how far we have come, then it all makes more sense when it comes to influence, repression and the idea of being involved in an induced division between ourselves and our actual, organic body parts -- as well as those of others.

Not much progress yet, there.

[whathehell]

71. What?....That a powerful politician and employer was shtupping his employee?...You don't think there

might have been some "undo influence" there?...especialy after the "groping" stories?

"Sad" my ass...All this thread is about is the RIGHT..yes I mean the RIGHT of ANY male, to schtup,

dick tweet, or whatever or whoever he wants at anytime!

[Kaleva]

4. One lied to the media, the other didn't. Thus the different outcomes.

"Rep. Anthony Weiner says social networking identity hacking is to blame for the lewd material that a conservative news website reported was sent from his Twitter and yfrog handles to an unidentified woman in Seattle.

The New York Democrat told POLITICO he thought it “obvious” that his account had been taken over, and he tweeted that his Facebook account had been hacked with the abbreviation “FB hacked.”"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55877.html

[EFerrari]

7. Are you kidding me? Arnold not only lied to the media and the electorate,

he promised to investigate HIMSELF when all those groping stories came out just before the election. As my ex says, I hope he used both hands.

[Kaleva]

9. When did he lie to the media about the affair with the cleaning lady?

[HipChick]

11. He lied to the kid...

Never told him he was the father..that's worst than anything

[Kaleva]

16. Not telling a child something is lying to them?

[Liquorice]

19. I hope that's a joke. It's definitely lying when you don't tell a kid you're his dad. nt

[Kaleva]

28. You may want to think this out.

For Arnold to go and tell a young kid that the man who raised and loved him is not his true father but that he, Arnold, is may have a serious impact on the child.

[EFerrari]

35. That's right. It's much better for the child to read about in the paper

or hear it on the street from a stranger.

[whathehell]

62. They really do NOT want to "think this out", imo...the outrage is based on the idea

that anyone would dare place "restrictions" on male sexual expression,

however public or vulgar that expression may be.

To a large subset here, male sexual license is the real issue.

[rhett o rick]

50. Yes, duh! nm

[AtheistCrusader]

59. Called a lie of omission.

[EFerrari]

13. I'm not talking about the cleaning lady although, come to think of it,

it was a lie of omission on his part to pretend to the voters that he was a good family man when he ran for office.

[whathehell]

63. Ding! Ding!...We have a winner!

[rhett o rick]

49. Interesting that you are defending a Repub and the media. Arnold lied by never telling the truth.

It's called lying by omission. He lived a lie.

[sabrina 1]

88. Please don't pretend that Arnold did not lie to the media t

If he had not lied about the 16 women who came forward when he was running for Gov. he would never have been Governor. Not only did HE lie, had sent his wife out to lie for him, to assure the public what a reformed man he was, a true family values Republican. And as he let her make that impassioned speech on his behalf, she was not aware that he was already the father of his house-keeper's approx. three year old child. He knew he was making a fool of his wife and he said nothing.

And btw, is a lie only important if you tell it to the media? He lied to his wife, to his children, to his constituents, and yes, since it's so important, he lied to the media. He's been lying all his life.

But Weiner who had a little cyber sex is the one everyone is grabbing the smelling salts over.

[pnwmom]

18. Arnold ISN'T Governor anymore. This didn't come out while he was in office.

The situations are not comparable.

[EFerrari]

21. Arnold lived a lie every day he was in office.

And of course the situations are comparable. We're talking about two "sex" scandals.

[pnwmom]

25. One involves someone sitting in office. One doesn't.

Arnold can't resign because he's out of office. How can this be comparable?

[EFerrari]

26. I don't how how to be more plain.

Arnold's scandal began BEFORE he was elected. It was SUPPRESSED by the media and the cleaning lady is just the last chapter. That is the OP's point. The media fans selective outrage. They've given Arnold a pass for years so of course there was never any question of him resigning.

[pnwmom]

27. It wasn't suppressed by the media. Arnold used his money to keep her quiet.

If this had come out before the election, he would have been toast.

[EFerrari]

33. No. A number of women, not one woman, came out before the election

with groping and harassment stories. The media played it down. He was not toast. That is the point of the OP, unequal handling of sex scandals.

[pnwmom]

38. I was there and the media didn't play it down. Unfortunately,

the voters were enthralled enough to vote for him anyway.

There were, of course, no public naked pictures.

[EFerrari]

39. CNN did not spend a week on the groping story, sorry.

And there probably were naked pictures somewhere but we didn't see them.

[pnwmom]

42. The pictures were what has been fueling this story. They're key.

The Arnold scandal was heavily covered by the CA media, especially the Los Angeles times, which broke the story. CNN had plenty of coverage, too -- even though it lacked the juicy photos. Maria's Shriver's strong response, and the lack of substantiating proof, was significant in making the story go away.

[EFerrari]

43. Yes, Maria was complicit every step of the way. n/t

[pnwmom]

44. I bet she's had a lot of time to regret that. n/t

[kenfrequed]

46. OK what gives?!

Did you watch Maddow's thing on this the other night or not?

I mean we are letting the republicans demand Weiner's resignation for having 'not-sex' with a consenting adult by way of just sending a few naughty pics.

Are you one of those self hating Democrats or do you just hate the fact that Weiner has been loud and vocal?

I see your name on this subject CONSTANTLY! Almost every single Weiner post, there you are pointing out how terrible it was and how he should resign. Who do you work for?

[rhett o rick]

53. I find it very telling that you are defending a Republican and attacking a Democrat.

I am not surprised. Why are you even here?

[bluesmail]

82. He would have won no matter what, remembering back to the PG&E etc

scandals of Enron. Kenny Boy Lay Where are you?

[rhett o rick]

51. Bingo. Well said. nm

[rhett o rick]

52. For once I agree. Arnold kept his secret for years and lived a lie, much more serious. nm

[joeybee12]

32. BS...It was about sex from the beginning, they were on it before he lied..

.Nice try, but the timeline of events doesn't adhere to your storyline.

[rhett o rick]

48. Are you kidding me? Lying to the media isnt a fukn crime. You dare defend the media? Good grief. nm

[slampoet]

56. One word "Gropenfuerer" I win, you loose.

[spanone]

5. k&r...

[rustydog]

6. Why is it wrong for Aahnold but ok for Anthony?

Hypocrisy gets you nowhere.

We cannot have differing moral standards because your hero erred. Hold him to the same moral outrage you hold for any other pol. It is consistency and it does count.

[EFerrari]

8. Anthony Weiner has not sexually harrassed anyone and that

was the Grope's trademark. Arnold's affair and kid are his business but the piece of his career where sixteen women came out with on the job harassment stories is not.

/typo

[Kaleva]

10. Which would be a different subject then what the OP was asking.

The OP asked why the firestorm over Rep. Weiner's conduct and the seeming disinterest concerning Arnold's affair with the cleaning lady.

[EFerrari]

14. No, it's the same subject. The media BURIED Arnold's groping story.

And it didn't spend days talking up and speculating about Arnold and this affair, which in turn should have opened up the old groping story. It's exactly the point the OP is making.

[tnlefty]

12. I'm curious about your equating the two...

to the best of my knowledge, Rep. Weiner was digitally 'doing stuff'. Arnold was obviously physically 'doing stuff' and there is a child to prove it. The only child that I'm aware of is the one his wife (Rep. Weiner's) is pregnant with while I type this.

Not even remotely the same thing in my book, nor is what Weiner did the same thing that John Edwards did...

[midnight]

15. So all politicians that lie need to resign.... Ok I'm alright with that...

But let's start with those telling us that were broke and have to get rid of medicare first....

[pnwmom]

17. Arnold is a private citizen now. He wouldn't have been elected Governor

if this had come out before then.

[dorkulon]

24. +1

[Raine]

20. Arnie is out of office, plus he is being investigated

to see if he used any state money to take care of his girlfriend and kid.

[EFerrari]

22. The media has given him a free pass before, during and after

his tenure as governor. If all those women came out and said they'd been groped and harassed by a Democrat, he would have been hounded mercilessly.

[customerserviceguy]

61. I don't believe the media gave him a free pass

But a star-struck California electorate did. Twice.

And they might even have done it if the story had come out. Random surveyed voters in Weiner's district probably would, if polls are to be believed.

[Violet_Crumble]

23. I don't give a shit about either of them...US foreign policy is more important...

It's sad that many Americans appear to think that who's bonking who is far more important than what their military is doing overseas in their name...

[whathehell]

85. That's nice.....but you don't live or vote here do you?... and what is "sad" is the bs

you're hawking here, as I'm sure there's no salacious news bits

coming out of Oz or Mother England, right?:eyes:

[Violet_Crumble]

91. What does that matter? I've seen some American DUers express similar views...

So what does it matter where someone lives? Does the ultrasaturated media coverage of whatever bit of political soap opera has happened lately appear differently if you live or vote in the US? Can't speak for the UK, but I can't recall this sort of fascination being given to the sex lives of Australian politicians. Footballers and cricketers are a whole different story, but not politicians.

Also, where's the bs in pointing out that there does appear to be more interest in the sex lives of politicians than there is in what some of those politicians support in the way of foreign policy. Weiner, for example, has some extremely hawkish and RW views when it comes to the Middle East, but I've rarely seen a whisper about that from anyone. The second he does something of a sexual nature, the media are all over him like a rash. So what I take away from that is that there's a strange moral compass at work in the US, as I don't understand how anyone who doesn't notice or particularly care that the US is responsible for so much death and destruction elsewhere in the world can build up a bunch of moral outrage that some guy is acting sleazy. Politics shouldn't be a soap opera...

[Name removed]

92. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Violet_Crumble]

93. self-deleted n/t

[Name removed]

87. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JoePhilly]

29. It is the left who lied. We said we didn't care about politicians sex lives ...

but we do ... A LOT.

If we didn't care about their sex lives, we wouldn't care of they lied about their sex lives.

But apparently, we've set up a variation on DADT in which we will pretend to not care about their sex lives until we learn something about their sex lives and the media starts asking them questions about it. Then, we care.

[whathehell]

67. Bullshit....That goes for PRIVATE sex lives...Not digital dick waving in public spaces.

[sweetloukillbot]

78. Thank you!

I'm sick of reading about this being a private issue. If you post it on Twitter it is no longer private. In fact it wouldn't be an issue at all if it wasn't PUBLICLY posted on a social network. Frankly I don't care what Weiner does in private, but if he's stupid enough to post a picture of his schlong on Twitter then that says a lot to me - and then to lie about it to the press with the skills of a five year old...

[whathehell]

83. You are very welcome, sweetloukillbot...I'm also sick of the bs of this being a "privacy" issue..n/t

[lynne]

30. I think the response to Arnold would have been different -

- had he still been in office when it came to light. He was out of the governor's mansion when the media got wind of it. While it still made for an interesting story, his political career had already ended. It remains to be seen if it will impact his acting career.

[LisaL]

31. Exactly.

[EFerrari]

34. Arnold got INTO office because of the unequal handling of sex stories.

[NeedleCast]

36. Are We Still Playing The Arnold, Vitter, Et. Al. Thing?

As people have said 1000s of times in these threads already, we really don't care that much about the pictures. I think it makes him sort of a dirtbag to do that to his pregnant wife, but that's beside the point. The point is, that Weiner showed horrible judgement and lied his ass off to the public instead of taking his lumps.

I'm not being led around by the media, I'm pissed off that another politician, one that represents my views on practically every issue, is a bald faced liar.

[lynne]

37. Oh, please. No comparison at all. Arnold was a private citizen when the news broke -

- out of office and his political career behind him. Had he been in office, it would have been a different situation and the media would have treated it differently. He got media attention appropriate for an actor as that's all he was when it was discovered.

Not to mention that - even in all his stupidity - Arnold had the common sense to NOT tweet his pecker all over the world.

[EFerrari]

41. Try reading the thread.

[NYC Liberal]

40. Neither situation is the business anyone but the people

involved.

[whathehell]

58. That would include the people they represent and who pay their salaries.

Sorry.

[NYC Liberal]

68. Yep, it would include them,

the private lives of every government employee -- whose salaries are also paid for by our taxes -- are fair game too. (They aren't.)

[whathehell]

72. The operative word is "private".....and, I'm sorry, but the internet is NOT private.

[customerserviceguy]

64. And once we know about it, we're involved.

Especially if we're being actively lied to. The Sperminator didn't get into the position of actually doing that, due to what I believe is sheer luck, and Maria Shriver's doing the Kennedy wife thing that she seems to have been well trained in.

[NYC Liberal]

69. Nope. Just because the media runs with a story

doesn't mean the story is a legitimate one.

[customerserviceguy]

73. True

But in the Weiner case, it seems to be absolutely legit, unfortunately.

What I expect politicians to do when caught is lie by omission, I only expect Rethuglican politicians to lie actively. I guess my problem with Weiner is that he lived down to what I expect a Repuke to do.

[valerief]

45. Our Pravda is soooo transparent. nt

[JazzQuipster]

47. Both got the media firestorm...

...that's why everyone who has heard the Weiner story is aware of the Arnold story.

[EFerrari]

89. Read the thread. People aren't aware of the Arnold story.

They think it only started with the kid instead of before he was even elected.

[davidwparker]

54. Truly. n/t

[dwilso40641]

55. Truer words

were never spoken!

[whathehell]

57. Yeah...and who cares who powerful public men "shtup", right?,,...Now,

who women "shtup"?...That a "whore" other story!

The "male sexual license crusade" continues.:eyes:

[customerserviceguy]

The difference here

is that Arnold was either lucky or clever enough to keep this hidden, and I regard that as purely by chance. I guess when you shtup one person, and pay them an adequate sum to keep quiet about it, you have a slightly greater chance of success than you do if you fire off pictures of your 'junk' to random strangers on the Internet.

It's the stupidity factor here that's the real story for me. After enough exposure to this sort of thing for the last dozen years or so, I expect that powerful men will do stupid things with their penises, but to compound the stupidity by both lying and doing it in a completely reckless way is too much for me to deal with, when I'm trying to pretend that Democratic men are probably better about this than sexually repressed religious Rethug nutcases.

[frylock]

60. the only people being led by the nose are those twisting to make AW's lying..

and coverup acceptable.

[whathehell]

65. Exactly...n/t

[whathehell]

66. Yeah, who cares about cleaning ladies, anyway?...or wives

Fuck 'em all...Only men and their "weiners" matter.:eyes:

[slackmaster]

70. Arnold is not only out of office, he's term-limited out and has nowhere to go

He can't run for President until the 63rd Amendment is passed.

[WinkyDink]

74. Mrs. S. left him. He is no longer in politics. There are no salacious pix or Tweets. Next?

[Blasphemer]

75. If it came out when Arnold was running for Gov., he would have been toast

He engineered it to ensure it would stay a secret until he was out of office. Perhaps Weiner should have found discreet female friends to engage in sexting with as opposed to complete strangers.

[EFerrari]

79. Arnold's zipper problem did come out before the election

the media didn't run with it as they did with this non-issue and he was not toast, proving the OP's point.

[whistler162]

76. and yet you are the one being lead around by the nose!

he lied he didn't just admit it when the photos came to light!

Alot of people seem to want Democrats to embrace republican values all of a sudden! Wonder why?

[grahamhgreen]

77. Exactly!

[Taverner]

80. Exactly. I stand behind Weiner (yes, I realize the possible misunderstanding of this message)

But seriously - this has nothing to do with his job as fighter for the working people

Anything else is an abstraction

[tavalon]

81. Yes, we are!

Thank you.

[cottonseed]

84. Jesus. This weiner brought out the stupid in this site.

[Warrior Dash]

86. But Arnold is gone...

[Cleita]

90. IOKIYAR and Arnold is a Republican. n/t