What started last month with an anonymous woman's Craigslist dating search for men who don't "look like toads" ended Wednesday with the resignation of two-term Rep. Christopher Lee, R-N.Y., a married father who passed himself off as a divorced lobbyist when he sent her a topless muscle photo of himself.
Gawker.com broke the story about the lying lawmaker under the headline "Married GOP Congressman Sent Sexy Pictures to Craigslist Babe."
Within hours, he had quit his $174,000-a-year job and issued this statement:
"I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness. The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately."
Answering a Washington-area "Women for Men" ad last month, Lee described himself as 39, divorced, a lobbyist and a "fit, fun classy guy." And to prove it, he e-mailed the shirtless photo to the unnamed government worker from Maryland.
Once she figured out the man she thought might have been a JC Penney model was actually a 46-year-old congressman, she went to Gawker with copies of their bantering e-mails about bad Craigslist dates.
Lee wouldn't discuss the incident Wednesday afternoon when intercerpted by Fox News enroute to his car, saying, "I have to work this out with my wife."
He resigned later in the afternoon. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to set a date for a special election to fill Lee's seat.
For a while it seemed he might try to tough it out. A Lee spokesman earlier told Gawker that Lee believed his e-mail account had been hacked around Jan. 21, although the date on the e-mails containing the topless Blackberry portrait was dated Jan. 14.
In the warp-speed world of online news, the Gawker story was added to Lee's Wikipedia profile by mid-afternoon, though it should be noted that in the case of the fit, fun philanderer, he was answering, not placing, an ad.
"In February of 2011 Representative Chris Lee was found to have been posting personal ads on Craigslist looking for women and lying about his age and marriage after e-mails and risque photos he sent to a woman were uncovered." ************************* It's obviously gonna take a few more elections to clean up our leadership. If ever.
Guess I'm gonna have to remove that Craig's list ad. It seems you just can't trust those Craig's List folks. ------------------ Ron
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-09-2011).]
So from the time a person becomes a politician, how many minutes passes before they lose touch with reality?
Ha! You're assuming anyone who serves is ever sane. I'd say that they are all dellusional, self-important control freaks. And that just is what gets them started.
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11:22 PM
blackrams Member
Posts: 31843 From: Hattiesburg, MS, USA Registered: Feb 2003
So from the time a person becomes a politician, how many minutes pass before they lose touch with reality?
Depends on the state. NY... Reality was optional, most lost sight of it right before they even thought about being a politician. The rest in NY lost it as soon as they were sworn in.
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11:25 PM
blackrams Member
Posts: 31843 From: Hattiesburg, MS, USA Registered: Feb 2003
Depends on the state. NY... Reality was optional, most lost sight of it right before they even thought about being a politician. The rest in NY lost it as soon as they were sworn in.
Hey, it's cold in NY this time of year. You've heard of Three Dog Night haven't ya?
The pictur isn't what made him quit, it was the fact he was getting dates on Craigslist. That was dumb - not just dumb, stupid. At least he had the decency to say 'I don't deserve the privilege of representing the people who elected me' and remove himself from office.
I'll just repost my opinion here from the other thread.. Makes me feel better about the current economic issues the Ways and Means committee are currently weighing.. I mean, with judgement like this, our country can't lose. (/sarcasm)
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11:40 PM
Gridlock Member
Posts: 2874 From: New Westminster, BC Canada Registered: Apr 2002
I'm kind of surprised how little traffic this thread has generated. What about Charlie Rangel/Bill Clinton/Barney Frank/Liberals/The Left/"Mobama"/etc.....It appears the usual political suspects on here have opted to take a pass.
Pity that.
I was rather looking forward to being re-educated on the subjects of family values and the moral imperative.
What Representative Lee did was wrong, dishonest, selfish, and immoral. At least he did the right thing by resigning, unlike Gerry Studds. Not the first time, of course, that a man thought with his crotch, and won't be the last.
The other side of this, though, is that it makes him exactly like the rest of us. None of us is perfect, and while we may not fall in the area of sexual sin, we all have weaknesses, and, ultimately, we all need forgiveness. It is up to his wife to determine the next step.
Luke 6:41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
DO you job, I don't care about what the hell you do in your private life, just do your freakin' job! Tired of this sexual misconduct BS!
I know, these sorts of situations can be dangerous because the person can try to blackmail the official..., but all I know is that time and time again, these politicians do crap like this, and its US that end up getting F**ed!
tired of this BS
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09:40 AM
jimbolaya Member
Posts: 10652 From: Virginia Beach, Virginia Registered: Feb 2007
Not much to say, the guy screwed up and is resigning. Too bad the dems don't resign when they are caught in similar situations.
As for resigning, I think it is a little extreme, but maybe this is for the best, as he will not be able to concentrate on his elected duties.
quote
Originally posted by Doni Hagan:
I'm kind of surprised how little traffic this thread has generated. What about Charlie Rangel/Bill Clinton/Barney Frank/Liberals/The Left/"Mobama"/etc.....It appears the usual political suspects on here have opted to take a pass.
Pity that.
I was rather looking forward to being re-educated on the subjects of family values and the moral imperative.
One of the commonest attacks on conservatives is “hypocrisy”. However, the charge is hypocritical in itself, ignoring the gross hypocrisy on the Left, as well as missing the real problem of hypocrisy, and another problem unique to Leftist hypocrisy.
Why has the charge been so effective?
It seems that the Left realise that many conservatives are Christians, so what better to disconcert them than with one of the severest charges that Jesus applied to His enemies? And what better way to win over naïve Christians than by persuading them into thinking that the Left is somehow more Christian? But right away there is a serious blind spot in the Leftmedia. Some years ago, Rod Dreher wrote an article Are the Democrats Anti-Religion?: How the media’s reporting on the Religious Right keeps it from seeing the story of the Secular Left.
But what is the real problem?
When we see what Jesus actually said about hypocrites, it’s very clear that the Left has totally missed His point:
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practise and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.” [Matthew 23:1–3]
That is, Leftist use the “hypocrisy” charge to attack conservatism in general. But Jesus’ rebuked his enemies not because they advocated wrong behavior, but because they failed to live up to it. The hypocrisy was so abhorrent precisely because something good has been abandoned. For example, we are naturally repulsed by a “family values” politician who cheats on his wife, precisely because family values and fidelity are good, so such a betrayal is especially painful. And conservatives are generally disgusted—see for example the conservative firebrand Ann Coulter saying she’s “fed up” with “horny hicks” in the Republican Party. In fact, it has been said, ‘Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue.’ The fact that hypocrisy charges are made against conservatives is an unintentional confirmation of the rightness of conservatism.
The hypocritical left
It has long been obvious that the Leftmedia has been totally hypocritical in its charge against conservatives, in that they fail to play up examples of infidelity and vitriol (see the recent column Blame Righty) on the left. But once again that is an inadvertent compliment to conservatives—and an inadvertent admission that leftism is not really so good to live up to.
This last was the topic of a fine book called Do as I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy by Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweitzer. He notes a number of examples of liberals who fail to live up to their own preaching about social security, affirmative action, equality, education, environment, and human life issues. There are many more that could have been listed, but then Schweitzer wanted to show some mercy to the trees. For example:
• Peter Singer, “bioethicist” from Princeton, a supporter of abortion, infanticide, and even bestiality, as well as a campaigner for euthanasia for the disabled and terminally ill. But he spent a fortune to keep his own mother alive with Alzheimer’s—proving himself a better son than he is a philosopher. • Al Gore, preaching at us to cut down on carbon emissions—while his own home guzzles 20 times as much energy as the average American home, and he flies on CO2-spewing private jets everywhere. Similarly, the producer of his error-filled documentary Inconvenient Truth, Laurie David, abuses SUV drivers but takes regular holidays on her own private jet that spews out more CO2 in one trip than driving an SUV for a year. But at least she “feels horribly guilty about it”—with the left, having the right feelings is what matters. So it’s sacrifices for thee, not for me. • Mike Moore pretends to be the working class everyman and rants against the stockmarket—but he’s a multimillionaire with huge investments in it, including Halliburton. • Noam Chomsky rails against the Pentagon, private property, and tax evasion—yet he has made millions from Pentagon contracts, owns two mansions, and has a trust to protect his own wealth from IRS clutches. • The late Teddy Kennedy was a supporter of the Death Tax, affirmative action, and “green power”—but was hugely wealthy from inherence protected from the IRS, used his political connections to get around racial quotas for his own business, and blocked the Cape Wind project because it would be too close to his own favorite sailing area. • Barbra Streisand wants higher minimum wages and is another environmental preacher—but hires workers from Canada because they are cheaper, and spends $22,000 on water for her lawns every year. • Obama opposes school vouchers, even though they save the government money and enable better education, so he can support his teachers union allies. But of course he sends his own children to a costly private school. Indeed, it’s far too common for the Left to protect the government schools and teachers unions that are failing our kids, while they send their own kids to the best schools money can buy. In fact, even many public school teachers do that! • Feminazi Gloria Steinem preached against marriage—but eventually got married herself. Similarly, the Leftist intelligentsia often denigrates the institution of marriage—except between homosexuals. And they claim that gender differences are the result of conditioning by society—but homosexuals are born that way.
Conclusion
Schweitzer summarizes the difference:
But liberal hypocrisy and conservative hypocrisy are quite different on two accounts. First, you hear about conservative hypocrisy all the time. A pro-family congressman caught in an extramarital affair, a minister caught in the same. This stuff is exposed by the media all the time. The leaders of the liberal-Left get a complete pass on their hypocrisy. Second, and this is even more important, the consequences of liberal hypocrisy are different than for the conservative variety. When conservatives abandon their principles and become hypocrites, they end up hurting themselves and their families. Conservative principles are like guard rails on a winding road. They are irritating but fundamentally good for you. Liberal hypocrisy is the opposite. When the liberal-left abandon their principles and become hypocrites, they actually improve their lives. Their kids end up in better schools, they have more money, and their families are more content. Their ideas are truly that bad.
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09:54 AM
Formula88 Member
Posts: 53788 From: Raleigh NC Registered: Jan 2001
I'm kind of surprised how little traffic this thread has generated. What about Charlie Rangel/Bill Clinton/Barney Frank/Liberals/The Left/"Mobama"/etc.....It appears the usual political suspects on here have opted to take a pass.
Pity that.
I was rather looking forward to being re-educated on the subjects of family values and the moral imperative.
Don't forget the re-education on the subject of accepting responsibility for one's actions. He admits wrongdoing and resigned. It wasn't a criminal issue, so there is no legal issue to deal with.
Now if he was a Democrat, found with say $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer, he would deny everything and vow to stay in office and fight. He was later convicted, but not before winning re-election in 2006 while the case progressed.
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07:16 PM
blackrams Member
Posts: 31843 From: Hattiesburg, MS, USA Registered: Feb 2003
I'm kind of surprised how little traffic this thread has generated. What about Charlie Rangel/Bill Clinton/Barney Frank/Liberals/The Left/"Mobama"/etc.....It appears the usual political suspects on here have opted to take a pass.
Pity that.
We'll see how long it takes. I just can't see some letting an opportunity like this to pass.
------------------ Ron
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07:30 PM
madcurl Member
Posts: 21401 From: In a Van down by the Kern River Registered: Jul 2003
Politician caught cheating/texting on spouse. Come on-that's they're MO. As for the woman who spilled the beans-what's up with her? How bad must it be to looking for dates on Craiglist.
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07:55 PM
blackrams Member
Posts: 31843 From: Hattiesburg, MS, USA Registered: Feb 2003
His wife doesn't call him, "2 minute Ron", for nothing.
Jim
I was hoping that wouldn't get out. Some men already feel inadequate and I don't like making anyone feel bad about themselves. For the record, I don't believe your wife really meant days.
It's obviously gonna take a few more elections to clean up our leadership. If ever.
It seems you just can't trust those Craig's List folks.
