If a Tweet Falls in the Forest …: Hmm. You know those attractive women who want to friend you on Facebook? They may be fictitious “bimbots.” Which raises the question: What if Anthony Weiner had sent photos of his “cape and tights” to women who didn’t … exist? It would still be creepy–pathetic and pathological–but would we care? And if we wouldn’t care in that case, should we care all that much in the case at hand? …
When it comes to resignation-worthy sins, I’m not all that impressed by Weiner’s “crime”–at least what’s come out–or even the coverup, with its unusual volume of lying. But it was a particular kind of coverup, one that sought to protect Weiner with a bogus fight-back blame-Breitbart campaign that relied on the sort of partisan tribalism that’s infected too many voters and politicians (since, take your pick, the 2000 election, the Clinton bimbo coverup, the Bork hearings, the disputed McCloskey recount of 1984, or the Nixon administration). It would be good if this unprincipled and thuggish style of politics came back to bite its practitioners, just as a deterrent. … [via Instapundit and alert reader T]