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Opinion: Anthony Weiner seeks treatment, refuses to resign

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Anthony Weiner, the embattled New York congressman mired in a seemingly neverending sext scandal, is asking for “a short leave of absence” so he may seek treatment.

Weiner has been asked to resign by several top Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi but continues to refuse to quit.

“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” a spokeswoman for Weiner said Saturday.

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“In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well. Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents,” the spokeswoman said.

Weiner got support by actress Janeane Garofalo Friday on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” who said that because everyone lies about sex, the congressman shouldn’t be vilified, instead his path should be cleared so he could run the largest city in the United States.

“Anthony Weiner deserves to be supported and hopefully he will be mayor of New York one day. I’m serious,” Garofalo said on the political show. “He is a Democrat [who] actually fights for the things liberals and progressive and rational people care about.”

“I don’t know why he’s being thrown under the bus. He hasn’t done any -- he hasn’t broke any laws,” she added.

Weiner seemed on the fence Monday in regards to professional help. “I have not -- you know, I’m going to try to handle this, and I haven’t ruled out perhaps seeing someone,” Weiner said about the scandal involving at least six women online, the most recent being a 17-year-old girl in Delaware.

“But I’m not blaming anyone. This is not something that can be treated away; this is my own personal mistake. This is not something -- this is a weakness, a deep weakness, that I have demonstrated, and for that I apologize,” he said.

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When the congressman emerged from his Forrest Hills, New York, home on Saturday he was met with cheers, according to the New York Daily News. “Two people yelled ‘Don’t go Weiner!’ while another shouted, ‘we support you,’” the newspaper wrote.

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--Tony Pierce
twitter.com/busblog

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