NONE DARE CALL IT WEINERGATE – AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  Personally, I find the Anthony Weiner story pretty depressing.  I cannot understand how a man, especially a public figure, can be so stupid as to send out compromising photos on the internet.  Did Weiner believe that he was immune to exposure?

People can wonder why so much attention is being given to this one congressman.  The reason is that he was, and is no longer, a rising star in the Democratic Party.  Weiner was the odds-on favorite to be the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City in 2013.  New York is a pretty liberal place, but I doubt if he can still run in that race.  A Democrat has not been elected mayor of New York since 1989, and the Dems will not be in the mood to take chances.  Note that former Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York, who had to resign in a prostitution scandal, has not been welcomed back into politics. 

Weiner says he will not resign from the House.  He may not have to.  He can run again in his heavily Democratic district, and will probably win.  But his career in the House, as anything but a backbencher, is probably over.  And, indeed, he may be forced to resign if he's censured as a result of an ethics probe into his conduct, or if more revelations and photos come out.  Charlie Rangel remains in the House, despite a probe that turned up misbehavior on the part of this chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.  He had to give up his chairmanship, with his powers snipped.

Anthony Weiner has been married for about a year.  I could understand it if his wife now thinks she made a poor choice.

June 7, 2011