Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) must have misplaced his "Scandal Management Handbook," says E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post: When caught, "fess up immediately" then "go into treatment and disappear for a while." Weiner eventually took the latter piece of advice — though he waited more than two weeks after his sexting scandal broke — checking into a psychiatric facility for undisclosed treatment on Saturday. But that didn't stop a swarm of top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, from urging Weiner to resign. Will the rehab "'Hail Mary' pass" allow Weiner to hold onto his job?
Weiner can hang on if he wants to: Weiner apparently "thinks he can ride this out," says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. And he's probably right. Seeking help for "sex addiction" will buy him some time, and it might just win him public sympathy, too. Even if it doesn't, the bottom line is that "Weiner is a congressman until he resigns, retires, or loses an election."
"Report: Weiner checking himself in for 'treatment'"
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Rehab can't cure his political problems: It would be excruciatingly uncomfortable for Weiner to return to the House now that Pelosi and other top Democrats have told him to scram, says David Weigel at Slate. The final straw was the (since-dropped) police inquiry into private messages Weiner exchanged with a Delaware 17-year-old. Even if the contacts were "not indecent," as both sides say, that looks "totally unsurvivable."
"Weiner gets 'professional treatment' as Democrats squeeze him out"
Give Weiner a break: Oh, for crying out loud, says Peter Beinart at The Daily Beast. Weiner should resign because "he's hurting the Democratic Party"? Nonsense. As far as we know, he didn't break any laws or harass anybody, and this "public flogging" for his "crude, dorky, and easily traceable" sins seems only about kicking a man when he's down. It has to stop. I hope rehab helps Weiner figure out "his private life; but even more, I hope he survives in public life."