Patterico's Pontifications

6/10/2011

Underage #Weinergate: The Silence of The Press II.

Filed under: General — Stranahan @ 8:52 am



[Guest post by Lee Stranahan]

Weinergate is a story about the press as much as it is about A. Weiner.

Patterico has published a trilogy of stories – here, here and here – about the connection between Rep. Anthony Weiner and underage girls. To be sure, Patterico’s pieces broke some new ground but there’s a dirty little open secret – much of what Patterico published has been available to anyone who cared to look for the past two weeks since the story broke but has remained almost completely out of the press.

Patterico is to be commended for stepping into a dark section of #Weinergate where few have been brave enough to tread but of course, it’s not the first time the press has let down the public on #Weinergate.

The MSM was largely silent about Rep. Weiner’s immediately fishy story about being ‘hacked’ when it was first reported on Memorial Day weekend. CNN’s Howard Kurtz famously claimed it seemed ‘fake’ and for the most part, the press dutifully repeated the spin of Rep. Weiner and his cover-up cohorts until such time as Rep. Weiner resorting to calling a CNN producer a jackass. When he couldn’t even bunt the daintiest of softballs from sycophantic non-reporter Rachel Maddow, it started to look really really bad for Weiner…but even then, he maintained the illusion that his problems were caused by a right wing smear machine engineered by Andrew Breitbart. It took the slow release of photos to dislodge a semblance of truth from the Congressman.

Until the moment that Weiner shuffled in front of podium with a confession, crocodile tears and more lies (3 women in the last year? Pshaw!) the evidence against him as ALL ‘circumstantial’. Nothing proved conclusively, beyond a shadow of the doubt, in total certainty that Weiner had accidently tweeted his undies to a college student on the internet until the words came out of his mouth.

Now we know the Rep. Weiner (D – NY) is a liar. We know that he won’t admit things until he literally has no other option. And we know that he had a habit of talking to a number of women who admired him politically and then using that admiration to his own sexual advantage.

So why is the press now ignoring the ‘underage girl’ angle of the #Weinergate story that has had MORE proof behind it then the Tweet Seen ‘Round The World that went to Seattle co-ed Gennete Cordova?

This bears repeating, so I’ll repeat it.

There has been more clear, explicit, inexplicable and publicly available information about an inappropriate online relationship between Rep. Anthony Weiner and the girl Patterico calls “Ethel” then there has been about ANY other person – yet the press hasn’t even asked pertinent questions about. Most of this info was available during the ENTIRE story. Reporters like Tommy Christopher certainly know all about it, but failed to even mention it once in his reporting.

Supposedly, this was done in the name of ‘protecting’ the high school students involved. But how is this protecting them? We know by his admission that Rep. Weiner was a predator who went after liberal political groupies. These girls fit the pattern. More investigation is not only called for but seems mandatory…and this time, the press can’t just accept excuses from the girl’s parents on faith. We simply know too much about Weiner now to do that.

And – again, can’t be said enough – there’s no lack of evidence of something weird about Weiner following these girls. There’s clear evidence that he followed them. There’s clear evidence that these underage girls knew about each other. There’s clear evidence that they knew about other women that Weiner had online relationships with.

Hopefully, the press will get their act together on this story soon but even if they do, it’s only because they have something in common with Anthony Weiner: they don’t act until the blogosphere forces them to act.

– Lee Stranahan

30 Responses to “Underage #Weinergate: The Silence of The Press II.”

  1. The only way this gets any further is if Ethel’s parent’s get involved. They won’t because they will be revealed as BAD parents because of the foul mouth crap Ethel was allowed to spew on Twitter without any obvious supervision. The fact that she still has a Twitter account … albeit private … is all you need to know about her parents…

    Janetoo (84c5f6)

  2. Just keep being hopeful.

    PatAZ (f23d3e)

  3. One of my favorite things has been watching reporters- real reporters who are active on Twitter- pretending that they asked him to follow them! is a reasonable explanation.

    MayBee (081489)

  4. And – again, can’t be said enough – there’s no lack of evidence of something weird about Weiner following these girls. There’s clear evidence that he followed them. There’s clear evidence that these underage girls knew about each other. There’s clear evidence that they knew about other women that Weiner had online relationships with.

    How did the High Schoolers know about the others? What is the relationship between the adult Weiner wetters and the minor victims followers?

    Predator Patrol (1bfb78)

  5. #4, Do you have to accept a request to be followed on Twitter, or can you just follow? What is the excuse, given the timeline, the defenders are saying for A Pedophile Weiner having followed, unfollowed and refollowed one of his minor victims?

    Predator Patrol (1bfb78)

  6. I sincerely wish the Democrats would quit doing all these nasty things and then lying about it! I am now eating so much popcorn with all the fixin’s that the potential weight gain is likely to be awesome. Even worse is that my only drink with popcorn is Classic Coke( which otherwise is most useful for cleaning rifle barrels.)

    BarSinister (bc23cf)

  7. Maybe no one reads Patterico.

    Jenny (61a90f)

  8. Patrick, I dunno what it is like in your (or their) neck of the woods, but around here, there does not have to be a complaintant for the DA and/or police to initiate an investigation, they can do so on their own hook if there is sufficient probable cause. I’m thinking there is PLENTY of probable cause here.

    Rorschach (c5574d)

  9. So which cable news/talk radio host will be the first to garner the coveted Patterico interview?

    Alas, Megan Kelly is still on maternity leave.

    aunursa (a2a019)

  10. It seemed strange that he said to the best of his knowledge the girls were all of legal age. What did he just avoid looking at/asking ages?

    MikeB (cb21a7)

  11. OT – about Politico’s invented Palin quote: the “original” article wording they cite in the retraction is not the original!!

    They claim it said “Palin’s bus tour had some of the hallmarks of a primal scream: “I built this constituency, not Bachmann, not anyone else.” Looking at it through her eyes, she has a point.

    But it actually read “Palin’s bus tour had some of the hallmarks of a primal scream: “I built this constituency, not Bachmann, not anyone else.” she said. Looking at it through her eyes, she has a point.

    They are pretending they used a hypothetical quote as a device to portray what pail might feel, but accidently left out context that made it clear it was not a real quote.

    But those words “she said”, and their unacknowledged disappearance, blow that defense out of the water. These slimeballs at Politico are even lying in their retraction!

    sherlock (75417a)

  12. Where’s Breitbart on Patterico’s posts? His websites are silent too.

    Afan (0bbbb5)

  13. When you’ve been playing on the same team for a while you don’t start slammin’ the coach just because he’s a Weener.

    f1guyus (2a84e9)

  14. Not sure if #14’s comment was directed at me but if it was my question was not intended t be a slam just an honest question given his coverage of the story from the beginning. This aspect seems newsworthy.

    Afan (0bbbb5)

  15. It’s not the press I’m disappointed in… it may not be smart fot them to fan this(though they should be taking notice)…

    Quite honestly, it’s the GOP leadership I’m pissed at… forget the calls for resignation, I want someone to at least indicate that Weiner’s interactions with high school girls will be looked at.

    soren (303eda)

  16. Not going to happen. They have all figured out that she was a minor, and think the best hope she has of being protected is that they be silent (in that they’re probably correct.) As soon as one of them does the story, the others will have their spiked stories on the wire. Maybe someone will publish it by accident.

    htom (412a17)

  17. When it has been mentioned by anyone, members of the press snarlingly frame it as an attack on the girls – which is completely perplexing to me.

    Obviously the man taking advantage is the one who requires scorn, and considering he used the public trust to take that advantage, ought not to be trusted with that advantage any longer.

    SarahW (af7312)

  18. One of my favorite things has been watching reporters- real reporters who are active on Twitter- pretending that they asked him to follow them! is a reasonable explanation.

    Comment by MayBee — 6/10/2011 @ 9:05 am

    Asking for it! It’s like they are hauling out a “you can’t fool an honest man” defense – that they were angling for some benefit illegitimately, and expect to use their embarrasment at being suckered to silence them.

    Well, if that’s the case, I give up on humanity.

    He may well be a confidence man, dangling, among other things, a chance for a young girl to feel like she is flexing her powers, enjoying the “flattery” ,or making a useful contact, or paving the way for some later advantage. He starts out expressing a false interest in them, then goes in for his payoff. But he’s taking advantage of the foolish and the weak. He’s still running a con, and it’s the con-man who should be made to pay.

    SarahW (af7312)

  19. He happens to follow, just by some odd statistical blip, young girls just dying to adore him. Ok.

    SarahW (af7312)

  20. Since Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has already referred Weiner’s case to the House Ethics Committee, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor has stated publicly Anthony Weiner should resign, it’s important for Speaker Boehner to instruct the Chairman of the Ethics Committee to expedite the committee’s investigation and to complete their work sufficiently prior to the beginning of the upcoming campaign season to allow Democrats to select another candidate if necessary.

    ropelight (5a3652)

  21. I can’t help but wonder what the reaction might be if instead of Rep. Weiner it was Fr. Weiner. A male adult hitting on post-pubescent minors. Hmmm. Is there a double standard at work here or am I missing something?

    JohnG (ae98d1)

  22. Stenographers are not paid to think.

    AMartel (88c646)

  23. The MSM is and has been in the tank for liberal America since at least the early 60s. As a kid I remember reading about Sander Vanocher of NBC news staying weekends at Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s Virginia mansion. Sandy played touch football with the clan.

    Bobby and Jack were reaching out to the media to cover politics their way…and probably lay off reporting about the women each was bedding.

    The difference between then and now is the massive information the net provides leaves these “reporters” no where to hide.

    VoteOutIncumbents (bd5def)

  24. Supposedly, this was done in the name of ‘protecting’ the high school students involved.

    Note to horny politicians: If you want the press to ignore your infidelities, make sure to f**k teenagers.

    Great.

    Makewi (0864f9)

  25. This story just got real for AW, methinks: http://tinyurl.com/69y3tqk

    Jazz (0ca4b2)

  26. For goodness sakes people, get a grip. All these journalists are busy sifting through Palin’s email. Give ’em a break. They can’t be everywhere. Their important work can be shown by quoting just one of the profound comments found in her email today: “Sheesh”. You really want them to stop these important discoveries for the tripe you’re peddling?

    vech (2c6272)

  27. Lee Stranahan = Modern Journalism Hero.

    Thanks!

    JDubya (7011a0)

  28. “Then” — “After that.”
    “Than” — “Used, as after comparative adjectives and adverbs, to introduce the second member of an unequal comparison.”

    Colin (247dab)

  29. The LSM are too busy scouring through Palin’s emails to bother with Weiner!

    Cherry Walker (1a324c)

  30. Can there be a greater contrast, but Wiener is the smart one,(sarc)

    ian cormac (72470d)


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