Chaos reigns at resignation conference (NY Times)

It’s hard to avoid all the “Weiner” jokes, double entendres and the ‘what was he thinking?’ questions. As a communicator, I’m not so interested in the fact he clearly wasn’t thinking with his head when he whipped out his er, camera. The thing I’m curious about is at what point did lying about his antics seem like a good idea.

We know that lying never pays off.  The American public is smart enough to sniff out most lies. Ultimately, lies only serve to make the liar look ridiculous.  When the inevitable admission of truth comes, resignation is really the only option. Better to take it on the chin, admit foolishness, shorten the news cycle and maybe get some credit in the future for owning up quickly. This debacle has been going on for three weeks.

The media called Weiner’s four minute resignation press conference chaotic. To boot, a reporter from Howard Stern apparently kept interrupting Weiner’s speech. What a waste of a career and maybe even a marriage.