Everyone's favorite "disgraced" ex-congressperson Anthony Weiner was caught swapping sexts again. The New York Post has the goods. For the last year and a half Weiner was flirting and swapping sexts with a woman in California—a woman who's a Trump supporter, as it turns out. She shared the lurid screen grabs with the Murdoch-owned, rightwing tabloid, and they went big with it:

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Lemme say this first: Weiner clearly has a reckless, self-destructive compulsion, and I feel bad for his wife, Huma Abedin, and for his kid. Now back to the New York Post:

While his wife, Huma Abedin, travels the country campaigning for Hillary Clinton, the disgraced ex-congressman has been sexting with a busty brunette out West—and even sent her a lurid crotch shot with his toddler son in the picture, The Post has learned. The stay-at-home cad shot the revealing photo while discussing massage parlors “near my old apartment” shortly after 3 a.m. on July 31, 2015, a screenshot of the exchange shows. Weiner was clearly aroused by his conversation with the 40-something divorcee when he abruptly changed the subject.

“Someone just climbed into my bed,” Weiner wrote.

“Really?” she responded.

Weiner then hit “Send” on the cringe-inducing image, which shows a bulge in his white, Jockey-brand boxer briefs and his son cuddled up to his left, wrapped in a light-green blanket.

I'm cringing. Responsible parents—even extremely horny ones—don't include images of their children when sexting with strangers on the Internet. Or with anyone, anywhere. Ick, ugh, gross. That said...

Making private sext messages public? Do it to anyone else, you're the asshole. Do it to Anthony Weiner, he's the asshole.

Why the double standard?

Posting dirty pictures or videos that were shared with you privately—or made with you privately—without the consent of the person in those pictures or videos is called revenge porn and it's a crime in many states. It happens to be a crime in the state where Weiner's latest untrustworthy sext buddy resides:

...a person who intentionally distributes an image, as described, of the intimate body part or parts, as defined, of another identifiable person, or an image of the person depicted engaging in specified sexual acts, under circumstances in which the persons agree or understand that the image remain private, the person distributing the image knows or should know that distribution of the image will cause serious emotional distress, and the person depicted suffers that distress, is guilty of disorderly conduct.

Once again: sending out crotch shots with your small child in them? Deeply fucked up. Ick, ugh, gross, blech, wrong, get help. But if it's wrong—if it's in fact criminal—for someone to distribute private sext messages by putting them on the Internet, sending private sext messages to the New York Post so that they can put them on the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for you is just as wrong and just as criminal.

Yes, yes, YES: Weiner should've learned his lesson by now. But if you think Weiner had it coming—because he should've known better, because he had to know he was a target, because he had to know his pictures would be widely shared if they got out (again)—then you must think the victims of the "Fappening" had it coming too. Every celeb whose nude photos have ever been leaked or stolen and widely shared had to know trolls and tabs and paps were after them too, that they were targets, and that their pics would be widely shared if they ever got out. If what was done to the lovely and talented Jennifer Lawrence was wrong (and it was), if what was done to lovely and hilarious Leslie Jones was wrong (and it was), then what has been done to the skeezy and compulsive Anthony Weiner is just as wrong.





UPDATE: Looks like Huma has taken Margo's advice:

STATEMENT FROM HUMA ABEDIN

“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband. Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy.”

Last word goes to Ana Marie Cox: