Anthony Weiner – another politician corrupted by arrogance, Hollywood and human fragility
Tim Stanley Dr Tim Stanley is a historian of the United States. His biography of Pat Buchanan is out now. His personal website is www.timothystanley.co.uk and you can follow him on Twitter @timothy_stanley.
In the opinion of Andrew Breitbart, Weiner was damaged by his Hollywood lifestyle
From Thursday's Daily Telegraph.
Why do so many politicians throw it all away for a moment of madness? This week Anthony Weiner, a former Democratic Congressman and candidate for mayor of New York, publicly admitted that he’s been sending lewd messages to strange women online. Again. Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after confessing to "sexting" several females via Twitter. He sent a photo of his boxer shorts, beneath which he was visibly aroused, to a 21-year-old female student.
When the conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart got hold of the picture and went public with it, Weiner denied everything – saying that he did not recognise the offending bulge and that he was the victim of a Right-wing conspiracy. Only when yet more photos came out, did he quit the day job. But you can’t keep a bad man down, and in May of this year a "reformed" Weiner declared his candidacy for the New York mayoralty. New Yorkers might have been prepared to give him a second chance, but history repeated itself. On Tuesday, Weiner gave a shamefaced press conference in which he admitted that he had continued to engage in online sex chat after he left Congress. Calling himself Carlos Danger, he’d started a sextual relationship with a 22-year-old woman identifying herself as "Sydney Leathers". Displaying a self-confidence that is heroic bordering on the deluded, Weiner says that he’s staying in the mayoral race.
What compelled the otherwise talented Weiner to sin and go on sinning? Shortly before Breitbart’s tragic death from a heart attack, I had lunch with Weiner’s nemesis and he spun me an interesting theory. The Congressman was close friends with the actor Ben Affleck, and they had a habit of burnishing each other’s egos: Affleck told Weiner he would make a great mayor and Weiner encouraged Affleck to run for office. Breitbart thought that Weiner came to see himself as a star rather than a politician and had adopted Hollywood’s nastier habits of vanity and sexual incontinence.
It’s a neat idea, but it doesn’t explain the antics of those politicians who don’t live in the shadow of Hollywood. In Britain, plenty of less well-connected men have engaged in risky sexual adventures that imperilled otherwise promising careers. Recall Ron Davies, Tony Blair’s first secretary of state for Wales, who resigned after a mysterious "moment of madness" on Clapham Common. Or the formerly uninteresting Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten, who quit his job when a newspaper alleged that he had engaged in a ménage à troiswith rent boys. Neither man had spent much time in Tinseltown.
Perhaps the real answer is that a certain kind of personality is drawn to politics: a business that rewards machismo and risk-taking. Politicians need to force their personalities on others – something that requires egotism – and that quality is reinforced by sycophantic supporters. So it’s not surprising that office-holders come to believe that they are special, that the rules don’t apply to them and that they can get away with almost anything.
But politics can also breed fragility. There’s the politician’s need to be loved, to have their likeability and charisma affirmed by others. They lead strange lives, separated for long periods from their families, in which they exist more as a public figure than as a private person. The search for risky sex can be about reclaiming a private world for themselves, creating a space within which they can either be who they really are or else live out some fantasy that obviously can’t be articulated publicly – they can become "Carlos Danger". Weiner’s very choice of the name "Danger" probably says a lot more than he intended. Some politicians simply get off on the risk involved in extra-marital shenanigans; others are inviting exposure – an excuse to end a career that is quietly driving them mad.
Scandal can be motivated by a very human desire to escape. Speaking of his own moments of madness, Mark Oaten described his visits to the rent boys thus: "When I was there I did not feel guilt or panic, and the guy made me feel as though this was the most normal thing in the world." When your life is as abnormal as a politician’s, a quiet afternoon spent with a person paid to fake love and understanding is a visit to planet normal. Continental voters are far more sympathetic towards this desire to conduct two separate lives; few blushed when the mistress of the former French President François Mitterrand showed up at his funeral.
In the case of Weiner, there is evidence of both an addictive personality and enormous arrogance. But there is also vulnerability. In one message to his "fantasy" woman, he asked her how he looked and added: "I am deeply flawed." As are we all. Sometimes, when we see stressed men under extraordinary pressure doing daft things, we might remember: "There but for the grace of God go I."
July 21, 2013 8:16 pm
US voters hate the sin but love the sinner
Americans make a big distinction between sexual misconduct and financial corruption
You know the US public is in a surreal mood when the frontrunner to be next mayor of New York is a middle-aged man who tweeted pictures of his crotch to young female followers. How could Anthony Weiner get away with such creepiness, we ask. How tawdry can US politics get? The facile answer is that voters get the politicians they deserve. As the great wit of Baltimore, HL Mencken, put it: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”
Since Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, the US voter has generally been tolerant of sexual scandal – as long as the culprit has sought public forgiveness. What is new is the degree to which America’s disdain for politics is assisting the careers of people such as Mr Weiner. Their profit, in turn, feeds into a self-reinforcing loop of cynicism about public life. In an age ruled by the ESPN sports network, name recognition is gold dust – even if your name is mud, so to speak.
Nor is Mr Weiner’s the most egregious case. Earlier this year, Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, wiped his slate clean when he won election to the US House of Representatives. As governor, Mr Sanford in 2011 enriched our stock of euphemisms by saying he was “hiking the Appalachian trail” when he was with his mistress in Buenos Aires. Mr Sanford sought absolution from the evangelical voters of South Carolina’s first district and it was granted. Better a famous repentant than a fake saint.
Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York state, who in 2008 resigned after being caught with an expensive prostitute (ironically under a new offence that he had put on the statute books), is likewise frontrunner to be the next city comptroller of New York. Evangelicism plays no role in New York’s political life. But the Big Apple is consistently forgiving. “Whether that forgiveness will extend to me is an open question and I will not know the answer to that until Nov 10,” the former “Client 9” said on CNN last week. Mr Spitzer has probably calculated well. His credentials to run New York’s $140bn pension funds are good. And every wavering voter will recognise his name.
Plenty of examples abound. But in Mr Spitzer’s comeback we can glimpse the distracted soul of today’s US voter. Americans disdain Congress more than any other public institution. And it keeps getting worse. Last month Gallup said Congress’s approval ratings had fallen to 10 per cent – the lowest point since it started asking that question in 1973. Yet the same respondents expressed approval of their own local representative – 46 per cent, against the 41 per cent who disapproved. A recent poll by Public Policy Polling found that the US Congress was only slightly more popular than North Korea, the Ebola virus and the actress Lindsay Lohan. But it still ranked lower than cockroaches, traffic jams and Genghis Khan. Yet of the Gallup respondents who recognised the name of their representative, almost two-thirds approved. In short, Americans hate the sin but love the sinner, which is good news for all kinds of incumbent.
It is worth underlining that US voters make a big distinction between sexual misconduct and financial corruption – as most of us do. I once had an interview with Mr Clinton in which he was more charmed by a female photographer than by his interviewers – quite understandably so in my case. Clinton is still Clinton, I thought. It is fair to say that had the former president been impeached for lying about financial immorality, and had I seen him leafing through $100 bills instead of appreciating the female form, I would have been less indulgent. The same holds true for the average voter. This also explains why Bob McDonnell, the governor of Virginia, who is mired in a donor scandal, has probably wrecked his White House prospects. You can be forgiven for Appalachian hiking but not for getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
Yet what is defensible in miniature only makes things worse in the aggregate. US politics is suffering from the dead hand of incumbency, which is a major contributor to Washington gridlock. Of the past two US midterm elections, both have been “change” elections – 2006, when the Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives, and 2010, when Republicans took it back. Yet in each case fewer than a 10th of incumbents lost their seats. Much of this inertia can be blamed on district gerrymandering, which favours a tiny minority of ideologues over a general public that cares little. But name recognition is a powerful force among fanatic door-knockers and apathetic knockees alike. Notoriety can even help.
Which brings us back to Mr Weiner. There is zero connection between a politician’s sexual peccadilloes and his competence to govern. Mr Clinton had been pretty good at governing Arkansas. Yet in his seven years as a New York councilman and 12 in the US Congress, Mr Weiner has no serious achievements to his name. On Capitol Hill, Mr Weiner came across as a classic self-promoter. If Mr Weiner wins November’s race to succeed Michael Bloomberg, we will know that surreality is indeed on the rise. Forgiving a weirdo is one thing. Electing an underachieving gadfly is pure masochism.
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It could have happened to anyone.
Decide to post a picture of your nice new Liverpool FC tattoo for your social media pals, then moments later realise the worst has happened and you've actually exposed rather more than intended to your legion of followers - and their followers, and their followers...
This wake-up-in-a-cold-sweat scenerio was very real for Swedish politician Lars Ohly after he proudly tweeted an Instagram picture of his tattoo.
"Ha, ha, I accidentally posted a picture on Instagram that showed more than intended. Now corrected," Ohly said on his Twitter account.
Mr Ohly, 56, quickly removed the picture after posting it but couldn't stop the avalanche of comments in social media.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, of the rival Moderate Party joked: "Congratulations - finally, after all these years you have made a genuine public breakthrough."
On his Twitter account the 56-year-old Swede wrote: "Summer's wonderful. The willy picture is today's hot topic. Completely by accident, though. The future will see a more thorough uploading review process."
According to The Local he said the 'best reaction' to the Instagram gaffe was from a fellow politician who texted him to say: "I'd planned to grill sausages tonight but now it's going to be chicken."
Mr Ohly made light of the embarrassment and said he would be more careful when he posts online in future.
Luisa Zissman says we live in a small minded society, that sex parties and orgies are a 'non-issue' - EXCLUSIVE
Luisa Zissman reckons that the whole furor surrounding the news that she has enjoyedorgies and sex parties shows what a ‘small minded society’ we live in, insisting that it is, in fact, a ‘non issue’.
Luisa Zissman says her revelations were a 'non-issue'. Copyright [Twitter]
We exclusively caught up with The Apprentice runner-up yesterday and knew we had to address THAT interview that she gave to a Sunday newspaper over the weekend.
In the tell-all interview, Luisa said how she has enjoyed orgies and used to be a regular at London sex parties. However, Luisa insists we were wrong to be shocked.
[Guess what Kate Middleton binged on after the birth of her boy?]
[Still no #RoyalBaby name - this star has her say on what he should be called]
Speaking exclusively to omg! she said: “There is nothing wrong with enjoying sex, to me it’s a non issue – I’m more shocked by the people who thought it was an issue.”
“I don’t think anything I have done is wrong, nothing is morally wrong – we live in society of small minded people and the reaction was a prime example.”
“Reading people saying I’m ‘red faced’ or ‘cringing’ is hilarious to me – I really do not care!”
“I’m liberated, free, up front and people can’t handle that – and if they can’t it’s their issue – I’m not changing for anyone – I don’t care.”
Luisa Zissman has had a wild past, with photos emerging of her half-naked, topless AND snogging another girl.
And as for the inevitable comments section below any story written about her? Luisa says: “I’m too busy to read what idiots have to say about me.”
We tried to enquire about Luisa’s supposed ‘fling’ with fellow contestant Jordan Poulton however, she insisted so little went on it wasn’t even worth discussing.
Apprentice's Jordan Poulton was apparently dating Luisa Zissman.
According to Luisa there was no mixing business and pleasure on the show and it was all blown out of proportion.
Similarly when we tried to pry as to exactly which celebs and politicians were at the parties Luisa was careful to keep schtum.
She says: “It’s a real mix of people – people in positions of power – they have sex like everyone else and they want to indulge and that’s fine. It wouldn’t be fair to name them just because they are famous.”
And since filming wrapped Luisa’s business venture Baker’s Toolkit was picked up by Angels Den who helped her secure 16 investors and as Luisa says:
“Without winning, I’ve got my business investment and without anyone taking 50%!”
A sly dig at Lord Sugar do we sniff?
[ Luisa Zissman gets topless and naked in exclusive snaps taken BEFORE The Apprentice ]
[ Luisa Zissman is the real winner of The Apprentice says Harry Maxwell ]
Luisa Zissman says her revelations were a 'non-issue'. Copyright [Twitter]We exclusively caught up with The Apprentice runner-up yesterday and knew we had to address THAT interview that she gave to a Sunday newspaper over the weekend.
In the tell-all interview, Luisa said how she has enjoyed orgies and used to be a regular at London sex parties. However, Luisa insists we were wrong to be shocked.
[Guess what Kate Middleton binged on after the birth of her boy?]
[Still no #RoyalBaby name - this star has her say on what he should be called]
Speaking exclusively to omg! she said: “There is nothing wrong with enjoying sex, to me it’s a non issue – I’m more shocked by the people who thought it was an issue.”
“I don’t think anything I have done is wrong, nothing is morally wrong – we live in society of small minded people and the reaction was a prime example.”
“Reading people saying I’m ‘red faced’ or ‘cringing’ is hilarious to me – I really do not care!”
“I’m liberated, free, up front and people can’t handle that – and if they can’t it’s their issue – I’m not changing for anyone – I don’t care.”
Luisa Zissman has had a wild past, with photos emerging of her half-naked, topless AND snogging another girl.And as for the inevitable comments section below any story written about her? Luisa says: “I’m too busy to read what idiots have to say about me.”
We tried to enquire about Luisa’s supposed ‘fling’ with fellow contestant Jordan Poulton however, she insisted so little went on it wasn’t even worth discussing.
Apprentice's Jordan Poulton was apparently dating Luisa Zissman.According to Luisa there was no mixing business and pleasure on the show and it was all blown out of proportion.
Similarly when we tried to pry as to exactly which celebs and politicians were at the parties Luisa was careful to keep schtum.
She says: “It’s a real mix of people – people in positions of power – they have sex like everyone else and they want to indulge and that’s fine. It wouldn’t be fair to name them just because they are famous.”
And since filming wrapped Luisa’s business venture Baker’s Toolkit was picked up by Angels Den who helped her secure 16 investors and as Luisa says:
“Without winning, I’ve got my business investment and without anyone taking 50%!”
A sly dig at Lord Sugar do we sniff?
[ Luisa Zissman gets topless and naked in exclusive snaps taken BEFORE The Apprentice ]
[ Luisa Zissman is the real winner of The Apprentice says Harry Maxwell ]
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