{"id":4592,"date":"2011-06-06T16:41:18","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T23:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4592"},"modified":"2011-06-06T16:41:18","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T23:41:18","slug":"weiner-apologizes-when-will-andrew-breitbart-apologize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4592","title":{"rendered":"Weiner Apologizes. When Will Andrew Breitbart Apologize?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today Congressman Anthony Weiner held a press conference where he apologized for his “shameful”<\/em> personal behavior. He said he was taking full responsibility for what he called “dumb”<\/em> mistakes that included inappropriate communications on Facebook and Twitter and for lying about it when confronted.<\/p>\n

There is no question that Weiner should and will suffer consequences for these serious lapses in judgment. But Weiner isn’t the only character in this morality play. The media must be held accountable for presenting the issue fairly. They must ask themselves whether this story is as critical to the American people as the debate over the debt ceiling, foreign wars and terrorism, and other pending matters of public concern. Of course it is going to be covered, but to what extent, for how long, and what issues will be displaced as a result?<\/p>\n

The press must also seek to position it in context to prior similar events. If they raise questions as to whether Weiner, who broke no laws, ought to resign, they should also press GOP Congressman Ken Calvert and Senator David Vitter, both of whom illegally patronized prostitutes.<\/p>\n

Another character in this melodrama is Andrew Breitbart who engaged in a bizarre hijacking of the Weiner press conference. He showed up at the hotel and commandeered the podium for nearly twenty minutes. He spent most of that time in a display of self-aggrandizement and bemoaning his victimhood. But if justice is to be served, Breitbart should be required to apologize for his part in disseminating purposefully deceitful videos smearing the reputations of ACORN and former USDA employee, Shirley Sherrod.<\/p>\n

Just because Breitbart lucked into being correct (like a broken clock) doesn’t mean that his pattern of deception should be dismissed. Charles Manson can honestly testify that he had nothing to do with the death of Marilyn Monroe, but that doesn’t absolve him from his participation in other atrocities. Breitbart deserves no accolades over this, and he still owes the people he deliberately harmed an apology. Weiner, at least, was man enough to own up to his mistakes, eventually. If Breitbart exploits this matter for his own gain, I predict it will backfire on Republicans, simply because Breitbart is such a repulsive figure that he will produce more disgust than support.<\/p>\n

The tabloid circus surrounding this is going to heat up for a few days. Smarmy, holier-than-thou martinets of virtue will speak out while hypocritically suppressing information that reflects poorly on themselves. Glenn Beck, not surprisingly, has leaped to the front of that line, spending the opening minutes of his program railing against Weiner. And equally unsurprising, Beck failed to note that he previously was engaged in a public feud with Weiner over investigations into the corrupt practices of his sponsor, Goldline. Again, Weiner’s misbehavior does not absolve Beck or Goldline of their own malfeasance.<\/p>\n

Let’s see if we can get through the next week without ignoring some of the serious matters that face our nation. We have to address the budget and the Republican threat to Medicare. We have to deal with unemployment, energy, the environment, and funding for programs like education and infrastructure. Our country has a lot on its plate that is more important than the overactive libido of a New York congressman. Will we rise to that challenge?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today Congressman Anthony Weiner held a press conference where he apologized for his “shameful” personal behavior. He said he was taking full responsibility for what he called “dumb” mistakes that included inappropriate communications on Facebook and Twitter and for lying about it when confronted. There is no question that Weiner should and will suffer consequences […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,13],"tags":[597,767],"class_list":["post-4592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-scandalous","tag-andrew-breitbart","tag-anthony-weiner"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-1c4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4612,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4612","url_meta":{"origin":4592,"position":0},"title":"Andrew Breitbart Is Offended (And Offensive)","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/8\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times interviewed Andrew Breitbart about the Anthony Weiner affair on Saturday. He attempted to strike a non-partisan tone saying that... \"I am as offended when John Ensign acts like an idiot, when Chris Lee acts like an idiot.\" However, the Times failed to note that Breitbart's BigGovernment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4555,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4555","url_meta":{"origin":4592,"position":1},"title":"Lies And Porn: Andrew Breitbart’s Brand Of Journalism","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/31\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Committed news junkies this morning are following a ludicrous story about New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. I'm not getting into it now because at this point there is nothing substantive to report. There are only salacious accusations with no proof whatsoever. What I will get into is the fact that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4631,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4631","url_meta":{"origin":4592,"position":2},"title":"Was Andrew Breitbart’s X-Rated Photo Release Really “Accidental”? [Updated]","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/9\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Just when you thought that Andrew Breitbart could not become any sleazier, he is now accusing Anthony Weiner and his wife of releasing the news of her pregnancy as a PR stunt. That's a stretch even for a scumbag like Breitbart. As usual, he has no evidence, not even an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4567,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4567","url_meta":{"origin":4592,"position":3},"title":"Fox News And Andrew Breitbart Have Weiner Envy","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/2\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There has not been a more obvious case of penile obsession than that exhibited by Andrew Breitbart and the pervs at Fox Nation. Since the non-story about Anthony Weiner's alleged Twitter escapade, these alleged \"news\" sources have maintained a frenzied focus on it. Despite the utter lack of verifiable evidence,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4599,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4599","url_meta":{"origin":4592,"position":4},"title":"Don’t Forget Andrew Breitbart’s Legacy Of Sleaze","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/9\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"With calls mounting for Anthony Weiner to resign, it would be prudent to take a look back at the public record of his accuser. It is Andrew Breitbart whose behavior is most repulsive and destructive. He is a liar and a hypocrite and causes far more harm than a horny\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4659,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4659","url_meta":{"origin":4592,"position":5},"title":"A Smart GOP Would Cancel All MSM Debates and Stage Their Own","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/14\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As I did a week ago with an article by Hugh Hewitt, my headline for this article is taken verbatim from one by John Nolte, editor-in-chief of Andrew Breitbart's BigHollywood. This article appeared on BigGovernment and it is great news. The rightist meme that Republican candidates should not participate in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4592"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4594,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4592\/revisions\/4594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}