And Here I Just Swore Off the Gennette Cordova Angle… (Update: I Read the Weiner Transcript So You Don’t Have To)
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here. Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]
Update: See the end of the post where I spare you the horror of the Weiner transcript.
As I wrote this I had the nagging feeling that I would have to eat my words:
But having slept on it, I am not sure how much it matters if [Gennette Cordova and Anthony Weiner] were sexting each other and I don’t plan to pursue that further.
And I didn’t plan to, but the hidden caveat was “unless somehow it became relevant to a larger issue.” I mean my feeling was he admitted to sexting six women, some while he was married. Even if that makes her number seven, what is it except just more?
But then dang it if Verum Serum didn’t find something that it add to the larger issue. More on that in a minute.
First let’s back up. Let’s be real, here. I don’t have any firsthand knowledge, obviously. I just see what you and I see and hear and I have my opinions about human nature. But I think it strains credibility to say that they didn’t have an romantic relationship of any kind. I mean is it just a coincidence that she tweeted that Andrew Weiner was her boyfriend…
…and then about a month and a half later he sent that intimate photo?
Oh, and when announcing he was going to be on the Rachel Maddow show he mentioned the time in Seattle. And she lives in Seattle. And she retweeted that reference.
I mean which is more likely? That Rep. Weiner was just sending out that picture to a woman he barely knew, hoping she wouldn’t turn and run to the nearest newspaper with it?
Or that they had developed an online rapport and that exchanging photos like that was just part of what they did?
I suppose the first scenario is possible. One of my favorite sayings is that a man has enough blood for his penis and his brain, but not enough for both at the same time. Which is a humorous way of saying we men are dumber when we are horny. But even accounting for, um… blood drain, and the hubris that comes with higher office, I cannot believe that he would be that reckless (although if he was, then that is a reason to step down immediately).
But the simpler solution is just this. They had some kind of relationship where he felt comfortable sending that pic to her on the belief that she wouldn’t share it with anyone else. And bluntly, that is what I believe happened. That’s just my opinion formed based on those facts, but as far as I am concerned Cordova is one the around six girls he did this with.
And I had drawn that conclusion a couple hours ago, but still decided to let it go, thinking it was irrelevant.
Until I saw this by Verum Serum, where John compares the official statement released by Cordova with the advice that Weiner gave to Ginger Lee, and my-oh-my does it sound similar. Really, go read it. It’s almost impossible excerpt from it so you have to click on the link and read it.
Now TMZ raised the possibility that Ginger Lee received help from his Congressional Office to help with the PR. And it looks very much like Cordova got similar help, whether it was from Weiner’s Congressional Office or not—whoever helped Lee, might have helped Cordova, too. That’s just speculation but… yeah, that’s what it sounds like.
Also does that mean I think he was lying about sending that pic as a joke? Honestly, no, I think what he was doing was a Clintonian half-truth. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent it as a dirty joke as in, “how happy am I to see you? (Click!) This happy!”–something like that.
Update: As promised, I am going to spare you the horror of the Weiner transcript, by telling you everything worth knowing about it. Seriously guys, you owe me for enduring this one. Apparently Radar Online identified its source as a Blackjack dealer in Las Vegas named Lisa Weiss and releasing the entire transcript of their conversations, with the really dirty words censored. Even then it’s, um, wow. Pretty awful stuff, so much so that Red Eye’s Andy Levy wrote “No way Weiner’s marriage survives this[.]” Most of it is mostly cringe-worthy, but there are several things worth noting.
First, it’s very clear that he never met the girl. She wanted to meet him for sex and kept saying things like when are you coming here, I have never wanted a man I never met before so badly, etc. He said he planned to meet with her, but gosh, just couldn’t get away. I interpret him frankly as stringing her along and in any case that supports his official claim that the relationships stayed online.
Second, when I say it is explicit I am not kidding. The worst part was when she describes being, um… stimulated by another man literally live as they were chatting on Facebook. He also describes having wet dreams about her, and very explicitly imagines what they could do to each other. And he sends her pics of his body, x-rated pics.
Third, there is admittedly a really funny, albeit dirty part when he imagines “making love” (to use a very sanitized phrase) to her as they watch The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Ah, to be a fly on the wall when Jon Stewart reads that one…
And fourth is just about the only part I can quote: when the whole scandal broke. First, at least once she seemed to be passively-aggressively jealous (LW is Lisa Weiss; AW is the Weiner):
LW: hey are you facebook two-timing me?”
AW: yeah. big time
LW: you facebook sl-t
AW: guilty
LW: i bet you have so many chicks after you! you are our liberal stud
And he might have ironically been telling the truth. I would have to check the timelines.
And then two messages from her, after it hit the fan. First, on May 31st:
omg! are u okay? so sorry u got hacked…i know u would never do anything like have fb sex or take pics of your c***…who is the b***** who ratted u out? I am the only fb chick u can trust
Mind you, she was being ironic. They had “facebook sex.” He apparently sent pics of his body to her. And they both knew it. That strikes me as sort of passive aggressive, too, because this means he was definitely cheating on her. I know, shocker, the man who is cheating on his brand new wife over the internet is not faithful to one other woman.
And then the next day:
u owe me big time for keeping this all quiet…i am defending u to the death on every blog and to everyone….telling everyone u would never send dirty messages to women
i know u haven’t been on here since u were hacked but i NEED to talk to u…someone contacted me about u…call me or something.
It speaks for itself.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
He should have resigned.
JD (29e1cd) — 6/7/2011 @ 1:55 pmI cannot believe that he would be that reckless
All evidence to the contrary.
aunursa (a2a019) — 6/7/2011 @ 1:55 pmI’m surprised you guys aren’t running the latest news.
Photos of Weiner’s 19 year old Escort.
This is pretty trashy, literally, so be warned if you’re at work.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 1:56 pmlol@Dustin
That was hilarious.
Hoystory (d0fa8a) — 6/7/2011 @ 2:00 pmI do understand why that’s a funny picture. I mean, that poor girl is just laying there, her back completely uncovered, with an almost useless look to her. I chuckled too.
But I stopped laughing when I noticed that poor girl appears to have been physically abused.
This raises serious questions.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 2:15 pmI don’t believe Weiner sent that pic to GN completely out of the blue. If he did, that’s like sexual harassment territory. He HAD to have had a comfortable enough relationship with her that he thought she would find that funny, or a turn on *gag*.
I don’t believe her. She purposely evaded straight answers about their DM relationship, claiming she never met him or had *inappropriate* exchanges. She admitted as much to Stranahan yesterday, something about not being completely upfront.
If they stick to the story that GN was totally blindsided by the dic-pic, then there should be an investigation into whether he was just tweeting his penis willy nilly to young women or girls.
But, again, I don’t believe her denial.
sarainitaly (daf506) — 6/7/2011 @ 2:49 pmDo you mean a government investigation?
Because I don’t want to pay for that. We are out of money, and have better things to do than be distracted and agitated by salacious crap like this sleezeball tweeting pics to women. However, if you just mean a quick glance at the activity of his government phone, and taking that away if (when) it’s seen he abused it, that’s fine.
The voters will have the final say on Weiner’s behavior. And if journalists want to investigate, of course that’s fine.
But we’re 770 days since the Senate leadership produced a budget. We’re running a deficit on the wrong side of a trillion dollars. Iran will have nuclear weapons before Christmas. Syria is murdering her own, and possesses WMDs. Food is getting too scarce. Corruption in the White House deserves investigation, and far more so than even a congressman sending penis shots to babies.
Perspective. It’s not forgiveness of Weiner to be ticked if our government’s time and money is wasted on this issue.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:03 pmI have theory – GN is sort of truthful when she says they did not have inappropriate DM’s – because they SWITCHED to FACEBOOK! And all the inappropriate stuff were actually FB chats or messages – it gets her off the hook in a sort of “what the meaning of ‘is’ is sort of way…
It seems to me he conducted the hard core stuff on FB
Janetoo (84c5f6) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:04 pmAnd believe me, Obama’s admin WANTS you to be fixated on Anthony Weiner for as long as possible. They’d love it if congress investigated him.
There’s a nice fat backlog of things that actually need investigation, and they need it to stay that way.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:05 pmRight ,we al ready know what he did, in broad strokes, just force him out, and get on with it.
ian cormac (72470d) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:08 pmHe should have resigned.
Comment by JD — 6/7/2011 @ 1:55 pm
Yup. The girls are starting to really enjoy their 15 minutes and TMZ and the NY tabloids are on the case like white on rice.
I predict it’s a matter of hours, now–not days.
elissa (72ed21) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:12 pmSInce “nothing inappropriate” is the phrase Weiner’s people suggested to Ginger Lee, we can safely assume it has no real meaning when it comes to this scandal.
MayBee (081489) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:14 pmAaron – he did it all and worse, and has lied and counseled the women to lie after being caught and denying it.
SiliconDoc (7ba52b) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:15 pmNo use wondering to what extent he did it anymore. No use wondering the depths – he lied, and lot a LOT – and is still covering up the teary crybaby embarrassment that can peel the paint off that escort from far, far away.
The rabbit hole goes down MILES.
It’s worse than even you can imagine – count on it.
Giving him ANY benefit of the doubt is absolute IDIOCY.
I guess you lawyers are so used to spinning 10,000 giant spider webs from one thread, then postulating over the extenuating circumstances, and being creative arguers for or against, it’s just second nature. (or maybe it’s to make a post article with a bit of depth – sorry – just imagine the dirtiest filth you can come up with then go further, and arrive with some help from the late night bars raunchiest – then you’re getting close to the truth)
—
Time for L I A R to R E S I G N.
You know how Rush Limbaugh often says, “Don’t doubt me!”? Well, ditto to that when you’re talking about me.
Exhibit A: I read Gennette’s first public statement to the NY Daily News at Breitbart’s Big Government. This was my reaction, posted May 29:
Exhibit B: Later in the same thread in response to comments on my comment, I wrote this:
Excuse me, I’m off to Vegas to tell the Amazing Kreskin he’s got competition.
L.N. Smithee (122792) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:21 pmSure you’re not heading out there to visit the blackjack tables, Smithee? Hmmmm?
Dagwood (9ad0d1) — 6/7/2011 @ 3:59 pmHeh.
MayBee (081489) — 6/7/2011 @ 4:01 pmAnd then she went to RadarOnline.
How much do you suppose she was paid? Or does she think she will get a book deal? What made her turn that OVER? She comes off pretty icky as well.
Janetoo (84c5f6) — 6/7/2011 @ 4:24 pmI suspect that when a person in one’s orbit starts to be seen almost universally as a pariah and possibly a criminal one’s own self preservation instinct kicks in no matter who you are. Ginger, Ms Weiss, Meagan, and others have clearly decided it’s better to be on the other side of the Weiner story since they were going to be outed eventually anyway. Can you really blame them?
elissa (72ed21) — 6/7/2011 @ 4:45 pmMaybee’s quote in 16 says it all. She’s a liar who wants to proactively cover up scandals for democrats.
And then she goes on about ethics for journalists. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes a prominent journalist, since she’s proven herself loyal.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 4:59 pmmalevolent toad
ColonelHaiku (8fa4f9) — 6/7/2011 @ 5:21 pmthe lying little weasel
Hot Fun Summertime
Da Psycho Weiner
ColonelHaiku (8fa4f9) — 6/7/2011 @ 5:27 pmQu’est-ce que c’est bettah run run
run run run away
That’s an interesting position: Congress spends like crazy, and then claims we can’t afford to investigate its members for wrong-doing.
A little like murdering your parents and then throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you’re an orphan.
Chuck Bartowski (e84e27) — 6/7/2011 @ 5:31 pmunlike schwanzstucker
ColonelHaiku (8fa4f9) — 6/7/2011 @ 5:34 pminternet live forever
burnt weenie samich
Made it through the Weiss/Weiner Facebook transcript. It would be interesting if someone could put together a video timeline of the moments Weiss saw Weiner on TV and later chatted with him about how much it turned her on (in her drunken state) to see him lashing out at Republicans. Interesting is the fact that neither party ever mentions he is married. At least Bill Clinton told Monica Lewinsky that he and Hillary were putting on a show, and that when Monica was older and he was elderly and frail, they might somehow end up together.
The stuff was icky to read, but in the name of being fully informed, I felt I had to do it. OTOH, I could NOT make it through the logs of the online chats between a whistle-blowing dominatrix and former leftist San Francisco radio talkhost Bernie Ward (now serving a child porn sentence in an Oklahoma prison), which included vivid talk of incest between his wife, his children, and his children’s friends. That was too much. I felt like I might be permanently scarred by continuing to read that.
L.N. Smithee (122792) — 6/7/2011 @ 6:17 pmI fail to see how this is a contradiction.
Yes, I think congress has spent so much money we cannot afford frivolous and stupid investigations of sex scandals. We get it. Weiner used his phone and office to send sexual messages, and he lied and lied and lied about it.
No investigation needed. If there’s evidence of a real crime (such as something with a minor), I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen decent speculation, but probably cause? Nope. At any rate, let the local police department handle that. A crazy congressional investigation?
By all means, put it on the list of all investigations congress should focus on. If it’s in the top 10,000 things, in your book, you and I disagree about priorities.
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 8:10 pmI interpreted the tweet about Rachel Maddow and Seattle as a pick up line–what gets liberal women’s panties wetter than their man-crush appearing on Rachel Maddow’s show?
He was signalling to her that she was special to him (with the Seattle reference) with makes sense either (1) because they had been having sexy conversations for a while; or (2) because he wanted to initiate sexy conversations with her.
Either way is plausible. The claim that this was a “joke” is not.
Daryl Herbert (80ac9d) — 6/7/2011 @ 8:31 pmKnock Knock
Who’s there?
It’s 10:33 in Chicago, and 8:33 in Seattle!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Dustin (c16eca) — 6/7/2011 @ 8:34 pmSure you’re not heading out there to visit the blackjack tables, Smithee? Hmmmm?
Comment by Dagwood — 6/7/2011 @ 3:59 pm
I’m sure I’m not. I can’t be with someone who is intellectually dishonest, no matter how hot. More on that here from 2008.
L.N. Smithee (e2f136) — 6/8/2011 @ 2:04 amA wider point about Wiener:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/26/white-powder-package-sent_0_n_513621.html
ian cormac (72470d) — 6/8/2011 @ 5:15 amEveryone keeps talking about the effect this is going to have on his marriage, but I don’t think it will have much of an effect.
Really. Other than Huma getting pissed because it’s embarrassing…did you notice what he said during the press conference about his wife knowing about the chats? He said “My wife has known about these online relationships since before we were married and we spoke frankly about them because…. well we spoke frankly about them.” (that’s at about 10 minutes into the presser if you’re watching the vid)
I suspect that these chats were something his wife fully expected and accepted in their marriage.
Jewels (c7b6c5) — 6/8/2011 @ 9:18 amjewels
btw, the ny post has a transcript that looks pretty accurate. i linked to it in the new post.
fyi…
and i took that to mean he knew about past relationships, and probably thought they were over.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 6/8/2011 @ 9:20 amAnother reminder that women marry men hoping to change them, and men marry women hoping that they never change.
carlitos (25ee92) — 6/8/2011 @ 10:28 amI think you’re maybe missing an angle explaining the Cordova pic. When he said in the press conference that it was a joke, I think that really made sense (in his perverted mind). If the context of their DMs was indeed this purported harassment of his young female fans on twitter, then in his twisted mind, that was his “in” to put a dic pic in her face and call it a joke as sort of a cover, like here…this is what I WOULD be doing if this harassment claim was warranted. But I’m not, but heh heh I still got off sending you a dic pic anyway to see if you take the bait. In his wacky mind, it was both a joke and a way to escalate their ‘relationship.’ In her mind, she didn’t get the joke because female non-pervs don’t think that way. So she told NYT she’s still not getting the joke. I think she’s telling the truth.
Lisa (294cc8) — 6/11/2011 @ 9:51 pm