Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
For The Last Time Congressman Weiner Please Resign Sir!
It Doesn't Matter What Your Wife Huma (If She's Advising Him) Or Some Loyal 9th District (NYC) Constituents Are Telling You.
It Doesn't Matter Because You Did LIE & Communicated Via Tweeter With A 17-Year-Old Girl!
We Know That You Are Truly Apologetic & Sincerely Remorseful But Sir For The Good Of Voters (Democrats & Independents) Badly In Need Of JOBS & Voters Participating In The 2012 Elections, You Need To Step Down Like Yesterday.
Please Listen To Party Leaders, NOT Your Friends & Family!
Its NOT About YOU Anymore Sir!
Its About Hurting Voters!
Its About Healing This Country!
So Please Stop Dithering!
Step Down Before This Unnecessary Media Blitz Totally Screws Up Democrats' Plans To Help Create Infrastructure Jobs & To STOP The GOP's Discriminatory Fake Deficit Reduction Agenda Of Destroying Successful Programs Which Have Always Helped Senior Citizens (Medicare), Veterans, College Students, Middle Class & Low Income Citizens.
Congressman Weiner If You RESIGN Now & Seek Treatment, Its Highly Possible You WILL Be Able To Come Back And Continue A Career In Politics.
Despite This Embarrassing Incident, Its Quite Obvious You Have A Brilliant Political Mind.
However If You Ignore The Advice Of Party Leadership, Your Political Career May Be Doomed FOREVER!
You Remain In Our Prayers.
God Bless & Thank You For Making The RIGHT Decision.
VOTE OBAMA IN 2012!!!!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Weiner Agrees to Get Treatment as Calls for Resignation Intensify
Defying forceful demands for his resignation, Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York said on Saturday that he was entering a psychological treatment center and seeking a leave of absence from the House to deal with a pattern of reckless online behavior with women.
The announcement came as three top Democratic leaders declared that Mr. Weiner, 46, once a rising star in the party, needed counseling and should step down from Congress.
Pressure on Mr. Weiner to leave the House, and spare the Democratic Party from an increasingly embarrassing scandal, had been building all week, but intensified on Friday, after it was revealed that Mr. Weiner had traded private messages with a 17-year-old girl in Delaware.
Mr. Weiner, who friends say has become distraught and fragile in recent days, will use the leave to think about his future and whether to leave Congress, a possibility he has not entirely ruled out, a person close to him said.
But Mr. Weiner’s plan did not satisfy exasperated Democratic leaders, who have been trying to persuade him that he is damaging himself, his family and his party by remaining a member of the House.
The House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, spoke to Mr. Weiner on the phone Saturday morning and, notably, released her statement calling for his resignation after he told her of his plan to
get treatment and to take the leave. Mr. Weiner received a similar phone call from Representative Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, urging him to resign.
Mr. Weiner has been talking with a therapist in New York City over the past couple of days, as fallout from his online scandal worsened and he absorbed the message from his colleagues and advisers that his conduct reflected not just bad judgment but perhaps a deeper psychological problem.
“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” said his spokeswoman, Risa Heller. “In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.”
Ms. Heller would not identify the facility or the precise kind of counseling Mr. Weiner, who has admitted having explicit communications with six women he met online, would receive. She stressed that he was carefully considering the calls from his fellow lawmakers urging him to give up his seat.
Mr. Weiner has been resistant in telephone calls over the past week with Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Israel, who have been warning him that if he does not quit, they will make their case publicly.
They were especially frustrated, according to one high-ranking Democratic official, when Mr. Weiner repeatedly told them he could not resign now because his wife, Huma Abedin, was traveling abroad with her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — an assertion they viewed as an unpersuasive pretext.
Ms. Pelosi had hoped that the congressman would reach the decision on his own to go. In addition to her concerns about the political distraction Mr. Weiner had become, Ms. Pelosi concluded that his behavior required medical intervention.
“When you are this self-destructive, there is obviously something deeper going on with you,” said a Pelosi adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being seen as betraying her confidence.
Asked how Mr. Weiner reacted to his phone call Saturday morning, Mr. Israel said, “He absorbed it, but he obviously had more pressing matters to deal with.”
The pressure from colleagues had been building throughout the week, but the report on Friday that Mr. Weiner corresponded on Twitter with the 17-year-old girl further inflamed the situation. A Democratic National Committee official told members of Mr. Weiner’s staff that the congressman’s assertion that his exchanges with the girl, a high school junior, were “neither explicit nor indecent” did not really matter at this point.
The concerns of Democratic leaders were echoed by those closely advising Mr. Weiner throughout the week, who said they watched him become more anguished as sensational news media coverage continued about his graphic interactions with the women on social media.
One friend said it had become abundantly clear that Mr. Weiner was no longer in a position to make clear-headed decisions about his career and health.
“He was falling apart,” said a longtime friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the relationship.
Mr. Weiner, who prides himself on his dapper appearance and physical fitness, was losing weight, seemed run down and drawn and increasingly found it difficult to make it through telephone calls without losing his composure.
He began meeting with the therapist not only to discuss his online behavior, but also to cope with the fallout from the scandal. On Friday, with calls for his resignation multiplying, he agreed that traditional therapy was not enough. He told family and friends that he would enter an out-of-town clinic and made travel plans for Saturday afternoon. He will be evaluated before it is determined exactly what kind of treatment he will receive.
Several friends who have talked to Mr. Weiner this week expressed concern about how he was handling the scandal. On Saturday he appeared briefly in his Queens neighborhood, visiting a dry cleaner and an A.T.M., while some neighbors called out their support to him.
Mr. Weiner, a Brooklyn-born former city councilman who many believed until a few days ago would be the next mayor of New York City, has always been a figure of frenetic pace and in-your-face manner.
Taking a leave is uncharacteristic for Mr. Weiner, who likes the limelight and is not given to self-reflection — or rest. He must submit his request for the leave in writing. Approval is fairly routine: the letter will be presented on the House floor and recorded, without a vote. Mr. Weiner would continue to collect his salary and benefits during his leave.
Others have taken similar steps, including Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, who sought help for addiction to prescription drugs in 2006.
Even as they emphasized that Mr. Weiner’s desire to get help was sincere, two people close to him acknowledged that it could, at least temporarily, relieve some of the political pressure and media chaos surrounding him. As recently as Monday, the congressman said he would not seek treatment, blaming a personal mistake for what he had done.
Ms. Pelosi and other Democratic leaders were deeply worried about Mr. Weiner’s scheduled return to Washington this week, after a Congressional recess, fearing he would bring a circuslike spectacle with him.
His scandal erupted at a particularly bad time for the party, as Democrats had briefly regained momentum after a surprise victory in an upstate New York election, and put Republicans on the defensive over a proposal to revamp Medicare.
“I am heartbroken,” Senator Charles E. Schumer said in a statement, adding, “It’s clear he needs professional help and I am glad he is seeking it.”
As the party has tried to react, the voices of female Democratic leaders seem to have carried special weight.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, issued a statement saying, “The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner’s continued service in Congress is untenable.”
View Larger Map
Sources: CNN, Fox News, Huffington Post, Meet The Press, MSNBC, NY Daily News, NY Times, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment