January 19, 2016

The Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner reality show of a movie, "Weiner," that's about to premiere at Sundance.

The NYT has already seen it, and...
Huma Abedin and Anthony D. Weiner allowed filmmakers full access to his mayoral campaign with the hopes that the end result would document a spectacular political comeback, with Mr. Weiner being sworn in as mayor of New York having emerged from a scandal centered on explicit texting that forced him to resign from Congress.

Things did not go quite according to plan.... The film overflows with juicy moments about Mr. Weiner....
How bad is all this for Hillary?
In recent weeks former President Bill Clinton’s behavior has been raised in the Republican presidential primary by Mr. Trump, who questioned Mr. Clinton’s “terrible record of women abuse,” and also during the Democratic debate on Sunday, when Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Mrs. Clinton’s chief rival for the nomination, called the former president’s behavior “deplorable,” in response to a question about Mr. Clinton’s scandals.

Mrs. Clinton does not appear in the film (aside from in news footage), but her presence is frequently felt as Ms. Abedin — with facial expressions ranging from hurt to hostile — copes with the second sex scandal to engulf her husband’s career and crush her hopes of becoming a powerful political wife.

Ms. Abedin is portrayed from the film’s opening minutes as the linchpin to Mr. Weiner’s attempted comeback after his resignation from Congress. “Did Huma want you to go back into politics?” one of the filmmakers asks Mr. Weiner. He does not hesitate. “She did,” he says. “She was very eager to get her life back that I had taken from her.”

Even in scenes in which Ms. Abedin is not shown, the focus is almost always on her: How was she able to forgive Mr. Weiner the first time, the film repeatedly asks, and would she ever be able to forgive a second transgression?
So... extrapolate.  What has life behind the scenes been like for Hillary Clinton? Why does she need to be President? She was very eager to get her life back that I had taken from her....
Mr. Weiner says in the film, at the very end: “I don’t regret letting you follow me around. I wanted to be viewed as the full person I was.”
A man who swallows his own wife is indeed full.

50 comments:

Michael K said...

Bill is a beard for Hillary and Weiner is a beard for Huma.

rehajm said...

Just ew.

Laslo Spatula said...

"So... extrapolate. What has life behind the scenes been like for Hillary Clinton?"

Oh, there has been extrapolation.


Most of it here first, of course.

I am Laslo.

MikeR said...

“She was very eager to get her life back that I had taken from her.” Does he have any idea how pathetic this is, and how condescending? This was their ticket to power: being married to a powerful politician.

khesanh0802 said...

I am surprised the Clintons haven't quashed this. Sundance is not a hot bed of conservatism after all.

traditionalguy said...

That was very witty, Professor.

Maybe Huma can run for Senate from New York as her reparations. Those things are easy for Mrs. Clinton to fix. But alas, Mrs Clinton never stoops to help the hired help. (See, Travel Office scandal.)

AllenS said...

Final score:
Men 2, Women 0

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Does he have any idea how pathetic this is, and how condescending?

Exactly. She could just divorce is ass (who would object?) and continue to pursue her political career on her own. Absent the divorce, she already is.

tim maguire said...

Hillary and Huma are both in politically arranged marriages, they both held up their end of the deal, and both are sunk by their husbands' boorish (or worse) behavior. I feel sorry for both, sort of, but not really.

David said...

Huma is a very strange person. Maybe Hilary keeps Huma around because Huma makes Hilary seem normal.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I wanted to be viewed as the full person I was.

Isn't that what got him into trouble in the first place?

John Henry said...

Ann, I think you are just trolling for Lazlo now. He is strangely quiet here, even in the one post he made.

Me, I would like to know about Huma's ladyparts. Her husband is a Jew so we can assume that he was cut.

What about Huma? Born in the US but raised since age 2 in Saudi Arabia by a very fundamentalist Muslim mother. Was she circumcised? Infibulated?

If her ladyparts have been mutilated it might explain a lot about Weiner's behavior. Seems like a fair question for someone to ask her.

John Henry

bgates said...

She was very eager to get her life back that I had taken from her.

"And that life is not at all an endless succession of glamorous parties and travel and fame and riches; I meant her life as a devoted servant to the neediest of our fellow New Yorkers. That's the part we're eager to get back to."

Sebastian said...

@tm: "both are sunk" Being Dem front runner with a good chance of becoming Prez, and being top aide to that front runner, means they are "sunk"?

Of course, when ambitious women try to ride their "husbands'" coattails to greater power, what we need to worry about is whether we are being unfair in expecting them to smile more or less.

John Henry said...

I'd also like to know where Huma's money came from. She was making $40,000/yr but could afford to buy, cash, a Georgetown townhouse for about $450,000. Where di she get it?

She was on the cover of fashion magazines in expensive clothes. Who paid for them?

This was in the late 90s early 00s when she was just a flunkie for Firts Lady then Senator Clinton.

How in the Hell did she ever get a security clearance with her mother working, in Saudi Arabia, for the Saudi govt?

Huma's got some 'splainin to do. It might be a way to go after Hilary. Hilary might be one of those folks she mentioned Sunday who is too big to go to jail. Huma isn't. Might she roll over on Hilary and Bill given sufficient incentive? Like a plea bargain.

John Henry

William said...

I don't think this movie will feature the Full Monty as it were. The filmmaker was an ex employee of Weiner, and the couple had absolute trust in him. He'll probably put the best face on things, but, given the circumstances, that's no such an easy thing to do. This definitely sounds like a movie worth seeing. Even if it's filled with lies and evasions, the lies and evasions will be entertaining and probably just as revelatory of character as the truth.......I once read the autobiography of Milton Berle. The interesting thing about Milton Berle is that he went through life as a transvestite without ever realizing that he was a transvestite. The movie might reveal the glaring truth that the couple are unaware of their glaring truths.

Michael K said...

John Henry, the Muslim Brotherhood will take care of Huma, if necessary,

Irene said...

"How bad is all this for Hillary?"

It's good for Hillary. Focusing on Weiner deflects attention from Bill Clinton's dalliances.

Skeptical Voter said...

Lazlo is going to be doing the full "take it out, shake it out" routine here. I'm not filled with the spirit of Christian charity when I consider such as Bill, Hill, Tony & Huma. Karma is a bear, and all of those four will ultimately get what's coming to them.

traditionalguy said...

Sweet Old Bill and Carlos Dangar together at last. Politics makes stranger bedfellows every day.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"The Liberal Project" consists of putting sociopaths in charge of society.

Jupiter said...

On a side note;

"But none of those controversies are as deeply personal or as potentially distracting to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign as the visceral film."

That's two "visceral"s from the NYT in the last few days. Do you think anyone at the times actually knows what viscera are?

BarrySanders20 said...

AA relishes the story about the "juicy" and "overflowing" Weiner.

AA is on a roll.

Make that Weiner. Weiner is on a roll.

AllenS said...

Weiners don't need a roll, they need a bun.

walter said...

"her hopes of becoming a powerful political wife."
Grrrl Power!
I wonder if the selective-reality film can top the animated version.

walter said...

John Henry said...I'd also like to know where Huma's money came from
she was just a flunkie for Firts Lady then Senator Clinton.
--
$450k? That's maybe 3 speeches for Hil. But yeah...follow the Saudi brick road.

Anonymous said...

"A man who swallows his own wife is indeed full."
So, a woman who crawls down her husband's throat, would be what?

cubanbob said...

When it comes to the Clintons no matter how many layers one goes through the next one is still dirty.

Bay Area Guy said...

I relish this thread about Huma...

tim maguire said...

Sebastian said...@tm: "both are sunk" Being Dem front runner with a good chance of becoming Prez, and being top aide to that front runner, means they are "sunk"?

Hillary's front runner status is gifted to her temporarily and it's meaningless--her goose is cooked, she will not be the next president. But if Bill had kept his pants on, then she would be a shoo-in. She likely would have won in 2008 if Bill had been less sexually adventurous. Meanwhile, Huma lives in Hillary's shadow, relevant only at Hillary's pleasure, when she would have been half of a power couple independent of the Clintons if her husband had kept his pants on.

Both their exit tickets are punched, even if some people pretend otherwise for a little while longer.

JAORE said...

Weiner's failure at the bid to be the mayor of NYC showed a BIT of rational thought be voters. Aided, of course, by his repeat exposure exposure.

Let us pray the same rational thought occurs to voters next fall.

damikesc said...

If not for men, these two "powerful" women would be, literally, nothing in the world.

FEMINISM, BABY!!

@tm: "both are sunk" Being Dem front runner with a good chance of becoming Prez, and being top aide to that front runner, means they are "sunk"?

I'd argue her odds are exceedingly poor.

She is crashing and burning over a laughable candidate. A candidate who is as old as dirt, can not make any claim to ANYTHING besides being on the far Left, a man who looks either angry or creepy at all times.

The Democrats want ANYBODY but her but everybody is scared of her.

...except voters. They don't seem to mind not liking her.

But if Bill had kept his pants on, then she would be a shoo-in.

I don't agree. If not her being a "victim", she wouldn't have even been a Senator.

Clinton getting sucked off by an unattractive intern gave her a Senate seat.

He should've tried anal with a movie star to get her the White House.

...and Huma is married to a man who lost power over an ATTEMPT to cheat. I don't think any evidence exists that he actually DID anything. All of the damage, none of the benefit.

Anonymous said...

A man who swallows his own wife is indeed full.

A man who swallows his own wife and assaulted victims verges on obese.

Anonymous said...

damikesc,

Another angle?

These men were victims of their spouses, needed to go outside for their pleasure while their spouses were so chummy with each other. To paraphrase Seinfeld: there is nothing wrong about it.

cubanbob said...

JAORE said...
Weiner's failure at the bid to be the mayor of NYC showed a BIT of rational thought be voters. Aided, of course, by his repeat exposure exposure.

Let us pray the same rational thought occurs to voters next fall.

1/19/16, 12:08 PM

de Blasio is a rational choice? You're scaring me. That kind of 'rational' choice can lead to a President Sanders.

damikesc said...

These men were victims of their spouses, needed to go outside for their pleasure while their spouses were so chummy with each other. To paraphrase Seinfeld: there is nothing wrong about it.

I've contemplated that as well. I assume Hillary is fairly asexual at this point, though.

Also, as an aside, where did the whole "Huma is SO beautiful" thing come from? We had that thrown down our throats for a while. She's average on a good day. She's "politics pretty", but she isn't going to be turning heads.

walter said...

damikesc,
When you consider Wasserman-Schultz was strangely promoted in a few different instances as "cute", understand the bar is pretty low.

Brando said...

"I'd argue her odds are exceedingly poor.

She is crashing and burning over a laughable candidate. A candidate who is as old as dirt, can not make any claim to ANYTHING besides being on the far Left, a man who looks either angry or creepy at all times.

The Democrats want ANYBODY but her but everybody is scared of her.

...except voters. They don't seem to mind not liking her."

Much like near the end of a horror movie, never assume the monster is dead until it's been fully destroyed. Hillary is looking weak right now, but if she beats expectations in the early primaries and Sanders starts to collapse as he gets more attention (which is bound to happen) Hillary will romp through the states where the black vote and older vote will work to her advantage. She blew it in 2008, but I don't count on lightning striking twice (though it would be something if it happened). And the GOP has a great track record of squandering presidential elections. I'd still put Hillary winning it all this year at around or slightly above 50%. A recession or new scandal could break her.

Brando said...

"When you consider Wasserman-Schultz was strangely promoted in a few different instances as "cute", understand the bar is pretty low."

Yes, but in her case it was "how cute that she thinks she can handle this interview" and "how cute that she thinks no one will notice she's gaming the primaries for Hillary."

Anonymous said...

damikesc,

"Huma is SO beautiful" As beautiful as Hillary, as beautiful as Chelsea.

Beauty is in the eyes of beholders, out the mouths of ass-kissers.

walter said...

Nope..believe it or not, there were compliments on her looks, her "dazzling smile", "cute" etc.

Brando said...

""Huma is SO beautiful" As beautiful as Hillary, as beautiful as Chelsea."

Ok, but Hillary isn't bad looking for someone of her age (especially considering Bill's usual choice of "targets") and Huma is at least "Washington attractive"--particularly considering her husband's looks.

But anyone complimenting Chelsea's looks is so obviously full of it that they're just being cruel.

damikesc said...

Hillary is the rare woman who looks better now than when she was young.

In her defense, she was butt-ass ugly when she was young. She's just matronly now. The sex appeal of Barbara Bush.

I'm thinking there aren't any unattractive Democratic women in the eyes of the media. I've had enough of how gorgeous Michelle Obama is. Hell, she was rated as hotter than Carla Bruni back in 2009, which any heterosexual male or lesbian could say was insane.

walter said...

But hey..Hil looked relatively stylin' compared to the mystery puch top she had on last debate.

Michael K said...

"she was rated as hotter than Carla Bruni back in 2009"

There is a subset of males that like big butts. I'm not a member.

"Being Dem front runner with a good chance of becoming Prez, and being top aide to that front runner, means they are "sunk"?

No, just that they are not the shoo-in they were held up to be.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Brando said...

She is crashing and burning over a laughable candidate. A candidate who is as old as dirt

He's younger than Dukakis, younger than Mondale, younger than Gary Hart, younger than Jimmy Carter, and was born later than anyone who ran for president 40 years ago.

Sammy Finkelman said...

I'm sorry - that was damikesc, it appears.

Sammy Finkelman said...

damikesc said...

Hillary is the rare woman who looks better now than when she was young.

That's actually been the case since 1993. During the 1992 campaign she still wore headbands. The Bill Clinton must have convinced her she had to do it.


Kirk Parker said...

Walter, damikesc:

"Politics is Hollywood for ugly people." I forget who said that.

damikesc said...

He's younger than Dukakis, younger than Mondale, younger than Gary Hart, younger than Jimmy Carter, and was born later than anyone who ran for president 40 years ago.

Thing is...

He LOOKS so damned old. Hillary and Trump aren't far apart in age either, but Trump comes across as quite a bit younger.

He looks like a troll. He is an angry, bitter man who looks like he's older than McCain. SUBSTANTIALLY older than McCain, whose age was a huge problem in his campaign (that and that he seems to really not like the 1st Amendment or conservatism much).

His actual age is irrelevant. He looks like he could drop dead any moment.

And he is a laughable candidate. Dukakis seems like a cogent guy next to Bern.

That's actually been the case since 1993. During the 1992 campaign she still wore headbands. The Bill Clinton must have convinced her she had to do it.

I always got the impression she wore the pants in that marriage. Clinton just fucked around in a passive-aggressive manner.