So now a Congressman is akin to a Lindsey Lohan I suppose:
Representative Anthony D. Weiner planned to check himself into a treatment center on Saturday after House Democratic leaders, including Nancy Pelosi, called on him to resign and suggested he needed psychiatric counseling.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Weiner said he would request a leave of absence from the House and seek treatment, but provided no further details.
“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” said the spokeswoman, Risa Heller. “In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.
“Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents.”
Whats the view of his colleagues?
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the chairmen of the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called for Weiner to step down in separate statements earlier Saturday.
To their credit they are asking him to resign. Good for them.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Israel called Mr. Weiner, a New York Democrat, to let him know that Mr. Weiner’s situation had become politically untenable and that he would be calling on him publicly to step down. On Friday, Mr. Weiner acknowledged he had exchanged at least five private messages on Twitter with a 17-year-old Delaware girl, but indicated that the messages were “neither explicit nor indecent.”
…Ms. Wasserman Schultz called Mr. Weiner’s online exchanges a “sordid affair” that had become an “unacceptable distraction” for the congressman, his constituents and the House.
“The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Rep. Weiner’s continued service in Congress is untenable,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said.
…“Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents, and the recognition that he needs help,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. “I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a member of Congress.”
Not so good is the man is refusing to leave.
Allah points out that this story might get even more sordid:
Delaware police are looking for the direct messages sent back and forth between Weiner and the 17-year-old high school girl…
Police sources told FoxNews.com the girl brought her laptop and phone to the police station Friday evening.
The girl’s mother said her daughter told her that none of the messages she received from Weiner were inappropriate.
Sources said much of the conversations between Weiner and the high schooler had been deleted from the girl’s computer.
If the police have the computer those messages are not gone. Having sat with computer forensic specialists as they have gone through computers I’ve put into evidence, I can tell you that it won’t take them long to get all those deleted messages back. IF they are trying to get them back. From the statement they put out today it sure doesn’t look like it.
The bigger question is why the teenage girl felt the need to delete those messages if they were indeed innocuous.
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