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Priebus, Vitter, Weiner, and the "creep" factor
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Contributor | ArmyDem |
Last Edited | ArmyDem Jun 09, 2011 03:11am |
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Category | Blog Entry |
News Date | Wednesday, June 8, 2011 09:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
Description | June 08, 2011 2:05 PM
By Steve Benen
Democratic congressional leaders have called for an ethics investigation into Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), following revelations that he shared lewd content with women he met online and lied about it. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said that’s not good enough and he wants Weiner to resign.
“Do we really need an ethics investigation to determine whether this guy is a creep or not? I mean, really?” Priebus told reporters this morning. “We need to investigate — use taxpayer dollars — to make a determination?”
Now, Priebus is the RNC chairman, so this is pretty much what he’s supposed to say. A Democrat gets caught up in an embarrassing scandal? Call for his resignation. It’s the obvious thing for a party chief to do.
Priebus’ problem, though, is that the more he pushes this, the more he gets asked that other question.
He declined to comment on previous Republican sex scandals, including one involving Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, who remained in office and was re-elected after he acknowledged in 2007 that he committed “a serious sin” in soliciting the services of a prostitute. Mr. Priebus said that he was not the party chairman at the time and had no authority to weigh in on the matter.
“Everyone wants to talk about David Vitter,” Mr. Priebus said. “I’m not going to re-litigate David Vitter. I think it’s wrong, too, but I’m not going to re-litigate David Vitter. We are in the moment now.”
What a clever little phrase. “We are in the moment now.” It has a vaguely metaphysical quality.
But that doesn’t make it persuasive. Priebus wants us to think Weiner is “a creep.” Given the last two weeks, that’s an argument that will likely resonate with a lot of folks. But there are lots of creeps in Congress, and the head of the Republican National Committee isn’t calling on all of them to resign. |
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