The Spectacle Blog
The Internet was abuzz Saturday after it was reported that Rep. Anthony Weiner had apparently sent a lewd photo to a Seattle-area college student.
The New York Democrat quickly asserted that his online accounts had been “hacked” after Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com reported that Weiner’s Twitter account was used to send the photo, which shows the pelvic area of a man in gray undershorts with his tumescent penis bulging.
Late Friday night, a public message from Weiner’s Twitter account (@RepWeiner) included a link to the penis photo, posted on the YFrog.com photo-sharing network. That message was directed to a Twitter account identified as belonging to 21-year-old Gennette Nicole Cordova, a student at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington.
Caches of Cordova’s Twitter messages appeared to show that on April 9 she sent a message: “I wonder what my boyfriend @RepWeiner is up to right now.” One of her friends on Twitter remarked the next day that Cordova’s “crush” on the congressman was “cute.” In one of his Twitter messages Friday announcing an appearance on the MSNBC cable network, Weiner made a joking reference to what time the show could be seen in Seattle.
Cordova’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were deleted Saturday — “Very odd,” New York reporter Liz Benjamin remarked — and the YFrog account that included the penis photo was also deleted. Media critic Lee Stranahan speculates on the motives for those deletions. While Weiner has made flippant references on Twitter to what was quickly dubbed “WeinerGate,” he has made no explanation of how the “hacking” took place. Attempts to reach the congressman’s press office were unsuccessful, blogger/talk-radio personality Peter Ingemi reported Saturday evening.
Weiner is married to former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Jonathan Allen and Ben Smith of Politico reported late Saturday: “Weiner’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether he has contacted federal authorities to report the alleged cyber-attack, which could fall under laws prohibiting cyberhacking and impersonating federal officials.”
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James| 5.29.11 @ 2:08AM
Weiner is at the center of Penis Gate. Don't worry though--there's not much there to write home about.
USSAlabama| 5.30.11 @ 6:45PM
Anthony Weiner has a penis for a brain.
No Sheeples Here | 5.29.11 @ 2:15AM
Want to see a hilarious photoshop of Congressman Weiner? Go here: http://nosheepleshere.blogspot.....einer.html
victor| 5.29.11 @ 3:18AM
This is either,
a tempest in a tea pot or
much ado over nothing.
kelly| 5.29.11 @ 6:08AM
does weiner even have a weiner?
Timothy L. Pennell| 5.29.11 @ 7:07AM
I wasn't aware that these p*ssies HAD Penises. They carry on like a buncha crying women, all the time. They don't want to live in a world where they can't get an abortion. They demand Gay Marriage be legalized. Gay Adoption. And Gay Scout Leaders.
Maybe they've got their penises "tucked under"? You know, like Barry.
martin j smith| 5.29.11 @ 7:50AM
To solve this problem as Weiner.
Of course there is more .
Now let me use this as a media related object lesson.
Lets say some Socialist Propaganda Org decides they have to really destroy the opposition Republicans. And by the way they wish that. Second they decide to "create" a false picture of something lets say that is very and extremely compromising. --Again keep in mind that there is not even a grain of truth the "fake picture". And political person in question is very high up perhaps even the Presidential Candidate. And I might add that there is plausibility that such an even--hypothetical as it is in this case could be.
How much fun will the MSM have running with this? Much ado about nothing ? James and Victor ?
Mr ED| 5.29.11 @ 8:05AM
The world of hysterical Democratic Weiners is really quite large, so to speak. They just seem to be popping up everywhere. I'm sure the MSM will give this the proper amount of attention Democratic Weiners deserve and not try to magnify things out of proportion.
Simply hysterical.
solidground| 5.29.11 @ 10:26AM
Weiner sent a picture of his weener? Quite appropriate in one sense. However, sending a picture of his posterior would have been more in line with depicting his character in general.
Dick| 5.29.11 @ 11:33AM
If he sent anything, it was probably a picture of Mr. Weiner. But, after the press gets through with it, Weiner turns to wiener - then tally wag - then ... and is finally translated to penis. All to make the story more interesting... :-)
USSAlabama| 5.30.11 @ 6:47PM
Hey! I think you have something there. Could have just been a case of mis-translation.
Michael L. Hauschild| 5.29.11 @ 12:34PM
I have not seen the photo (nor will I) but wouldn't it be somehow ironic if he carried himself on the right.
richard mcenroe | 5.29.11 @ 1:28PM
Trust me, he leans left.
irish19| 5.29.11 @ 7:53PM
I really don't think we want to know how you know that.
Uli Kunkel| 5.29.11 @ 2:36PM
What would be the wailing of the MSM if this were a republican? Demands for an investigation and immediate resignation would be non-stop, and the republican would resign, like the guy in NY-26!!!
Just like Frank, Dodd, Rangel, and Waters caught with their metaphorical "gen-a-tail-ya" hanging out, the MSM is nowhere to be seen or heard, while democrats have the ultimate "Get Out Of Jail" card, provided by the corrupt media, which goes to accentuate that most republicans have at least a semblance of self-imposed ethics...
Oldefarte| 5.29.11 @ 4:33PM
He's a Weiner alright!!!!!!!!!!
Oldefarte| 5.29.11 @ 4:35PM
Betcha Barney's Frank was excited at the site of Anthony's Weiner!!!!!!
J.C.Eaton| 5.29.11 @ 5:09PM
Weiner's the one who should be prosecuted for impersonating a public official.
Kingofthenet| 5.29.11 @ 5:30PM
ANYTHING involving Andrew Breitbart is a setup
NoBama| 5.29.11 @ 5:56PM
It's not Breitbart's fault the Weiner can't keep his pants on. Horndog weenie Weiner Democrat. LOL!!
tonypal| 5.31.11 @ 10:38AM
More importantly, anything capitalized must be the truth.
howard lohmuller| 5.29.11 @ 6:00PM
If any of our Congresspeople are sending pornographic material over the internet, they should quit or be removed from Congress. The district or state they represent should demand their resignation as their conduct has sullied their constituents.
Deborah D | 5.29.11 @ 7:11PM
It just goes to show that you don't have to have a lick of sense to be a congressman...Weiner is evidence. Idiot!
Parky Pundit | 5.29.11 @ 7:32PM
Using Breitbart's own standards of journalistic proof, we have just published blockbuster evidence of a scandal involving Andrew Breitbart. Go to my website, http://billschmalfeldt.com, for the startling "proof."
Clifford Wiesner| 5.29.11 @ 8:14PM
Maybe all that was sent was a picture of a wiener.
rightasrain| 5.29.11 @ 9:14PM
Hot diggity dog! Bring on the special election.
albert constantine jr.| 5.30.11 @ 9:05AM
or as my family in East Asia might say, the special erection...
rightasrain| 5.30.11 @ 10:03AM
I'd be hard-pressed to find a funnier comment than that.
Tami Bell| 5.30.11 @ 1:54AM
Will Mark Zuckerman through a Dem under the bus or will he protect his milti-million dollar company from allegations that Facebook can be hacked so easily, even a member of Congress isn't safe.....
Inquiring minds want to know.....
Pete| 5.31.11 @ 9:45AM
You had me at "tumescent."
Tevi| 5.31.11 @ 6:51PM
"Late Friday night, a public message from Weiner's Twitter account (@RepWeiner) included a link to the penis photo"
If you try to verify this, you find the photo is missing said link and has a big gap where that and other things should be.
So basically, that's where this story grinds to a halt. The part where it's based on someone claiming a tweet picture that looks like no other legitimate tweet picture is real.
RatherGate was going pretty well until the whole "the type in this memo looks like no other type" part.
Pete Petretich| 6.2.11 @ 12:48AM
Young people often look over news stories, sometimes VERY young people, for instance, as a school assignment. At my own public elementary school they used to call it “Current Events” and I thought it was fun.
Letting a story like this dangle out there like this (no pun intended) is HIGHLY irresponsible for any serious adult, especially for anyone who thinks they have a political future.
The story did not deserve one headline, now it can’t be stopped. There are many, many ethics and PR issues in the House of Representatives which NEVER have a public airing and are resolved substantially, but without publicity.
betty gilmore| 6.4.11 @ 6:26AM
The scandal is that Breitbart ìs given any credibility at all and how infantile the press and the public are regarding a picture that's absolutely innocuous in comparison with most things you see in movies, tv shows, etc. But the strategy of distraction seems to work very well for the right wing guys and girls!