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Hot Topics- how do you feel about Weiner & higher tolls?
I feel like I am the only person who is not totally outraged by this whole Weiner-gate. I feel like there are SO many public figures (politicians, etc.) who have done SO much worse. Not to discount sexting, and inappropriate FB messages, etc. but this guy seems like he was all talk and no action. It's not like he was f$%cking hookers, fathering bastards, etc. I am not saying what he did was right or that it's what I would want my DH/elected official doing, and yes, it is extremely stupid, but on the morality scale I just don't think it's that big of a deal and I think that it's being completely overblown as far as sex scandals go.
More local- it looks like tolls across the state are going to go up.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/commuting/bs-md-toll-public-hearing-20110613,0,2489335.story?page=2
Re: Hot Topics- how do you feel about Weiner & higher tolls?
I think Weiner is gross but more than that, I think he was stupid. Twitter, really? Stupid. And claiming your account was hacked or whatever? Stupid stupid. And doing it while it was pretty clear the Dems would turn their backs on you in favor of your wife? Stupid stupid stupid
all that said - I think the cries for his resignation etc are eyeroll worthy. Last polls I saw, his district still approved of him overall so why should someone else tell him to resign? He was stupid but so far it appears he didnt do anything illegal. I get the argument that this scandal is a distraction right now when we (Dems) dont really need it - but it's becoming such a big distraction because of the cries for his resignation and so on and so forth. On the scale of political scandals, this really isn't that big a deal imo. It's not like he was paying for sex or hooking up with an intern or whatever.
I did see the Bill Maher/Jane Lynch dramatic reading of the FB transcript and just about died.
I am totally with you. I know what he does was wrong, but in the big picture it really is NBD. I think it just another way for them to make him a scape goat.
The tolls raise buggs me WAY more then wiener-gate (lol) as you called it.
With gas alreading being 3.50-4.00 a gallon. and then they want to tak on higher tolls. People will just stop going places they have to take a toll road to. It is redickulous.
When has someone not initially lied about such impropriety though?
Isn't it the nature of our society to almost always initially deny any sort of wrong-doing?
Weiner is a douchey, lying piece of sh!t who got caught. Before he admitted it, when he was talking to reporters not directly answering questions just saying ridiculous crap like "This was a prank! would you react the same way to someone who threw a pie in your face?" or whatever my eyes about rolled out of my head. Honestly I hope he is found to be guilty of some infraction that would boot him out of office, if not, I hope the voters would be intelligent enough not to vote someone like that back in. But the public keeps electing d-bags like this into office, so nothing really surprises me. {I have a serious contempt for most politicians regardless of their party, if its not glaringly obvious}.
I have several people on FB who keep posting things supporting him and saying he should not resign, which I find hilarious because I know if he were a republican they would be screaming off with his head.
Re: tolls....yeah, that sucks. I hate tolls, especially the expensive ones.
So. .. because other people are d-bags and lie about stuff we excuse it here? I'm not prepared to accept that everyone's a liar and so we all agree to simply accept that as a fact of life and not punish people for it.
ITA . I don't buy the argument that just because sooooo many politicians are d-bags that makes it ok and we should overlook it.
edited for lack of coffee
I am not making excuses for him- I just have the expectation that when a public figure gets busted for doing something sorrid and or stupid there is going to be an attempt to cover it up, even though the cover-up and is what can ultimately get them into more trouble...
I'm pretty sure he's being punished. His name has become the biggest punchline of the season. When Boehner is making fun of your name, then you have issues. People will always associate this with him. And he may well lose his seat over it. So let's move away from the whole "he needs to be punished!" He may lose his job, he's the laughing stock of a country, and he's pretty reviled right now. His wife is humilated and the Democratic party is ticked as hell at him and even if he runs for re-election it's not unlikely that they will try to mount a strong candidate in the primary against him. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve any of that, but let's not act like he's being excused.
I can't articulate how I feel about Weiner-I sort of don't really care, and wish they would just move past it and focus on the real issues.
As far as toll increases, that really sucks. The smarter thing would've been to increase them slowly instead of keeping them the same for 20 years and suddenly jacking up the price. I hardly ever take toll roads so it won't affect me too much, but it definitely sucks. I also found it interesting that EZ-Pass will be slightly cheaper than paying cash.
Why do you find this interesting?
EZ-Pass users don't require the work of a toll taker and the state earns money on the $25 every EZ-Pass users keeps in escrow and you pay $1.50 a month for the service as well. My dad thinks EZ-Pass is a scam.
I don't care too much about all of the Weiner drama either. As far as I'm concerned, the issue is between him and his wife, and his constituents. I understand why people are upset about the lying, and if his constituents don't want him as their representative, they don't have to vote for his re-election, but it really doesn't affect me one way or the other.
I also think that the toll hikes are too much at once- I think that they should've been phased in over time.
I'm not surprised about Weiner, it's that same narcissistic personality that most politicians have, it's what I think drives alot of them to run for public office in the first place. Not because they actually want to make a change or serve the public, but because it makes them feel importatn. I just don't understand why they put this stuff in digital media, once you take a picture/write an email/tweet/FB it's up, there's a record of it, how stupid can you be?! This is more of a scandal and moral issue, he cheated, he lied, he sucks. You really can't compare it to the Edwards scandal because he's actually being accused of breaking the law, and I can' t really see any laws that Weiner broke, he's just a douche. Personally I would resign if something like this came out, I mean how effective can you be in office, NO other congressmen are going to work with you on any issues/laws after this, no one will attach their name to yours.
The tolls suck, esp. now since DH's company moved from Largo to White Marsh and he takes the tunnel every day.
I guess b/c it's a change in policy. I mean, it does make sense, since EZ Pass doesn't require toll takers and it's quicker, and it seems that everything is moving towards that. But it kind of sucks to have to remember how much it is in cash vs. EZ Pass, if you don't have one.
I kind of agree with your dad. When I commuted through the tunnel a few years ago, it obviously made sense to have one and it was much cheaper. But now I have one that's linked to my dad's, and I rarely use it. I think the last time was book club at Emily's! So it's annoying that he's paying for it every month even though I don't even use it that often.
EZpass in Maryland is a scam. You don't pay a fee in PA, but you do need to keep that $25 in your account.
Weiner. Did he SERIOUSLY think he would not get caught?
Who cares if EZPass is a scam--I love it. It A) gets me through quicker and
Doesn't have me pulling over to look in the car cushions and the bottom of my purse for change because I forgot I was going somewhere that required a toll. The hikes sucks and I feel really bad for anyone who uses those routes every day for work.
Weiner is an idiot. A straight up idiot. Did he really think he wouldn't get caught? Did he really think Twitter was private? Did he really think everyone would listen to him say it was a prank or a hack and just shrug and say "ok, if you say so" and go about their day? I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE CAN'T KEEP IT IN THEIR PANTS AND OFF THE INTERNET. It really pisses me off in a more general your-d!ck-is-for-your-wife-and-not-some-tweeting-20-year-old way.
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Weiner is an idiot...really, I can't articulate my thoughts well. He really is a joke and I feel bad for his wife.
Now the tolls...ughh! We both commute from Bel Air to the city, so this is going to suck. Paying $0.40 one way now is not too bad...but I think they are increasing it to $1.80 or $1.90 one way for the commuter plan. This will have a phase in period of two years I think. That's such a dramatic increase in a short amount of time. I feel like people are going to start taking other roads to avoid the tolls. They also need to change more lanes to E-ZPass lanes. I wonder how much the express toll lanes are going to cost?
Yes the Hatem Bridge toll increase is absolutely ridiculous. They are doing away with the decal system and increasing the cost to over 250% over the course of like 2 or 3 years..insanity! It's not like we can use THAT many non-toll roads to get over the river....and the Conowingo Dam/Rt 1 really can't support that much new traffic as it is (it's a crumbling one lane in each direction passage over a dam!). Heck, they'll probably put a toll on that soon too anyway!
As far as Weiner goes...he's an idiot and he deserves every bit of grief he's getting. With that said, I'm tire of hearing about it.
Toll increases suck majorly! It's such a major hike for a very short time period. I take the Harbor Tunnel or the Ft. McHenry tunnels for work every day. Sure, EZ Pass saves me money...but the increase still blows. Gas is expensive enough...now the tolls too :-/
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