Weiner Resigns: Will Media Lament His Departure?

June 16th, 2011 10:48 AM

Update: 14:30: Weiner made it official moments ago with these words:

"I had hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district elected me to do, to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it. Unfortunately, the distraction that I have created has made that impossible."

Video and earlier post follows...

Now that his wife has returned to the country, embattled Democratic representative Anthony Weiner is expected to resign his position as a member of the House of Representatives, despite his earlier refusal to do so:

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign from his seat in Congress, heeding calls from President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of other congressional Democrats, sources confirm to POLITICO. The resignation ends nearly three weeks of tumultuous political controversy since the New York congressman sent a lewd picture of himself over Twitter which he claimed at first was a result of a hack, and later admitted he had sent himself.

According to two sources, Weiner made up his mind to resign Wednesday night, and shortly after began making calls to inform them of his decision. Weiner called DCCC chair Steve Israel — who had also called for his resignation — on Wednesday night at the White House picnic to inform him and Pelosi that he had decided to resign on Thursday.

Exit questions: How much media moaning about alleged "puritanism" with respect to Weiner's obscene online activities will we hear from the left-of-center media? And how many weeks will CNN wait to pair him up with his fellow disgraced New Yorker Eliot Spitzer? After all, he seems to be in need of a co-host.