Kashmir Hill: The Perfect Media Storm That Is 'Weinergate'

She writes the "Private Parts" column at Forbes. And she's good:

Unless you unplugged during Memorial Day weekend, and never managed to plug back in, you’ve heard of ‘Weinergate.’ Back story for those that have been in the hospital with firework injuries: a conservative blog reported over the weekend that New York representative Anthony Weiner tweeted a photo of the Congressional member’s member at a young woman in Washington. No actual nudity was involved, though an outline of the littlest member of Congress is visible in the photo of gray boxer briefs and a man’s thighs.

The story has been the perfect storm for news coverage, involving social media, political scandal, and fun word play given Rep. Weiner’s last name.

Weiner has called it a prank, saying initially that his Twitter account must have been hacked. Lots of media are reporting on the story but with little evidence to go on. The photo was taken down right away from Rep. Weiner’s Yfrog account, saved and noticed only by a Twitter user with a conservative bias with the handle PatriotUSA76. Topsy.com indicates the original tweet was retweeted just 16 times, which seems odd since Weiner has tens of thousands of followers on Twitter.

Weiner himself originally joked about the incident, but now, Day 5 into Weinergate, is making clear that he’s sick of answering questions about it. The scandal would have stamina regardless, but unfortunately for Weiner, this happened at a terrible time — during a holiday weekend, when there’s little other news. Weiner’s attempts to move on seem to just be making it worse.

You can say that again.

More at the link.

Also at U.S. News, "PR Pros Say Weiner Is Bungling the Twitter Sex Scandal."

Fox News is reporting that Congressman Weiner will speak to the media shortly. I asked previously if Weiner would resign? I don't think so, but he may come clean and let the chips fall where they may. We'll see.