SAN DIEGO, June 7, 2011 —On June 2, former CBS News anchor Katie Couric tweeted, “I'm curious if anybody thinks this Anthony Weiner Twitter scandal is a legit news story or just fodder for late-night comedians...thoughts?” (News Busters, June 3, 20011 regarding a June 2 tweet). Perhaps she thinks it is news and was merely asking a question. Or maybe Couric has helped solve the mystery of why her status as an anchor is “former.”
Evidently, not everyone in the mainstream media agreed that Katie’s question was open and legitimate. Just one night before, current anchors for CBS Evening News and ABC’s World News each gave significant attention to Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner’s ever-increasing denials about a personal, sexual photo sent from his own Twitter account. After all, Weiner’s mixed and contradictory denials were starting to sound like the musical notes of a Jack in the Box signaling very little time before his confession would pop out and change the face of this bizarre news story.
After days of denials, a choked-up New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed Monday that he tweeted a bulging-underpants photo of himself to a young woman and admitted to "inappropriate" exchanges with six women before and after getting married. (Photo: Associated Press)
On the other hand, that same evening, current NBC Nightly News anchor, Brian Williams seemed to demonstrate sentiment similar to Couric by virtually ignoring the story and instead concentrating on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s decision to use a state police helicopter as transportation to a high school baseball game where his son was playing.
A couple of days later, Williams spent considerable time on another story that was evidently more newsworthy in his mind, Sarah Palin’s questionable recollection of Paul Revere’s ride:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: And this piece of video from a woman prominent in the news this week already has tongues wagging. It’s from her tour of historic sites -- listen to the following and you shall hear, Sarah Palin’s version of the midnight ride of Paul Revere:
SARAH PALIN: He who warned the British that they weren’t be taking away our arms, by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free
WILLIAMS: As she said, that already has — as we said, rather — that already has people talking. Sarah Palin touring the Freedom Trail in Boston. Of course, the real life version involves lanterns (NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams, June 3, 2011).
It is fair to ask if Williams cherry picks his political stories, choosing to concentrate on news less flattering to Republicans. Still, while the ranking of importance might raise an eyebrow or two, conservatives should admit that Christie and Palin were also fair game. Private usage of government equipment is a legitimate discussion. So is history knowledge of a potential presidential candidate. Even though some are offering Palin vindication by claiming Paul Revere did in fact warn his British adversaries of what they were up against, the detail of him doing this as a captive of the British ought to make us concede that Sarah’s statement was, at the very least, a confusing one.
Then again, do these incidents pale in comparison with Weiner-gate? It is tempting on one level to conclude that the personal sex habits of a congressman are nobody else’s business. Unfortunately, other issues have now come into play, so much so that even Brian Williams was finally compelled to pay more attention, saying of Weiner that, “the age of over sharing has claimed another victim” (NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams 6-6-11).
It’s a little more complicated than that, Brian and you know this since the morphing of Weiner's story seems to be your reason for taking a longer look. Obviously, Weiner is now shown to be something far more than a victim. He is also a liar, a U.S. Congressman who by his own admission offered boldfaced fiction to the very nation he swore an oath to serve.
It’s always refreshing to hear a politician come clean and speak the truth, but we must keep in mind that Weiner did so only after insisting for days on end that his Twitter account had been hacked. Yesterday’s press conference offered a whole new version:
“To be clear, the picture was of me, and I sent it. I am deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife Huma and our family and my constituents, my friends, supporters and staff. In addition, over the past few years………. I haven't told the truth, and I've done things that I deeply regret. I brought pain to people I care about the most and the people who believed in me. And for that I'm deeply sorry. I apologize to my wife and our family, as well as to our friends and supporters. I'm deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment and actions…. I came here to accept the full responsibility for what I've done” ( New York Post, June 6,2011).
Exactly what the words “full responsibility” mean are anybody’s guess, inasmuch as Weiner refuses to step down from congress and didn’t seem to mind lying until this confession was squeezed out of him by Andrew Breitbart, who claimed possession of additional pictures. Weiner resembles a 5 year old finally admitting that he did indeed steal cookies out of the jar, despite an earlier draft which never made it past Mom and Dad when they looked at his fudge smeared face and crumb filled hands.
Make no mistake: It is not Weiner’s sex life, but rather his cover up, which deems the scandal important and, yes, a confession is bigger news than last week’s “explanations.” But what thinking journalist wouldn’t have felt a need to probe further after witnessing Weiner’s dodge ball evasion of questions such as those posed by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, asking if the underwear photo was in fact his:
“It certainly doesn't look familiar to me, but I don't want to say with certitude to you something that I don't know to be the certain truth” (The Situation Room, June 1, 2011).
Anyone who didn’t smell a rat after such an “answer” had his nose deliberately turned off. The excuse that this was only a story about sex doesn’t float today any more than when Democrats accused Republicans of being interested in the private life of President Bill Clinton. What concerned them was not sexuality, but rather, a president lying under oath.
Weiner’s lie was not under oath, but neither was it a small lie. He claimed that a hacker had broken into the Twitter account of a United States Representative! That’s no small claim. Neither were the accusations in left-wing blogs that Andrew Breitbart himself might have tweeted the photo. No, Weiner didn’t write those accusations, but he made zero effort to quell them prior to yesterday’s confession, which finally included a very brief apology to Breitbart.
Finally, there is another concern, the most important of all: When a public official feels the need to cover up a personal scandal, is he susceptible to blackmail? Can even national secrets be compromised under such a scenario?
Yes, these deeper questions are obscured by disgusting sexual details which tabloid journalists will run with until the poor Oscar Mayer company abandons that other unfortunate word it uses in favor of “hot dog," and no, this news is not as important as our economy or the volatile Middle East. But a lying congressman who makes himself a national security risk, and who stands on the sidelines while his enthusiastic partisans smear an innocent name, might just be more important than a helicopter at a baseball game or the ride of Paul Revere. The fact that Weiner came across as a liar even before yesterday’s confession is also significant. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Williams? And yes, Katie, the story is newsworthy.
Bob Siegel is a weekend radio talk show host on KCBQ and columnist. Details of his show can be found at www.bobsiegel.net. Comments to posts are discussed by Bob over the air where anyone is free to call in and respond/debate. Call in toll free number: 1-888-344-1170. Read more Forbidden Table Talk in The Washington Times Communities.
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