Weiner brouhaha a detour that irks fellow Dems

WASHINGTON — Publicly silent, fellow Democrats privately seethed Thursday over the distraction and furor surrounding the lewd photo sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account, even as he declared he was finished talking about it.

Weiner's one-day, pun-laden media blitz a day earlier only raised more questions about the embarrassing flap when he conceded he wasn't sure whether the waist-down photo of a man's bulging underpants was of him. His refusal to involve law enforcement because he said as a member of Congress he shouldn't receive special treatment — instead turning the issue over to a private security company — raised rather than answered questions.

Though generally mum in public, Democrats privately fumed at the forced detour in their arguments about Medicare and spending, leaving the generally well-liked seven-term New York congressman largely to fend for himself for a third day in a row. Most Republicans seemed content to let the controversy simmer.

A scene on the House floor Wednesday seemed to highlight the situation. As newly elected New York Rep. Kathy Hochul was sworn in — after a special-election upset that Democrats considered a sign of their ability to communicate their differences with Republicans on the future of Medicare — Weiner and the No. 2 House Democrat, Steny Hoyer, were locked in a nearly 10-minute, animated conversation.

Longtime Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, though, said Weiner was a valuable member of the Democratic caucus, and he called the issue a distraction.

"The public mostly likes entertainment and excitement, and that's what the Weiner issue provides," he said. "That's human nature."

Noting the House was heading into a weeklong break, Conyers said he hoped the issue soon "will not have the entertainment value that it currently enjoys."