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Trust is the Holy Grail in politics, and Congressman Weiner treats trust like dirty laundry. When you lie to cover up misdeeds, it sends a message you don't care about anyone but yourself. The secret is to be genuine, and to let people know you are serious about rectifying the situation.
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Now that everyone has the juvenile twitter out of their systems regarding the Weiner saga, it's time to take a look at the issue from a perspective outside the "Mommy, my teacher said Dick in school today."

Yes, the Weiner wiener play on words was humorous, and I'm also guilty of having fun with it, but the reality is that a man's political career and possibly his family have been ruined.

Some of you shout, GOOD! He deserves it, but many also believe the incident was blown way out of proportion.

You know what... you're both right because how the incident resonates with you is dependent on your morals and personal comfort zone.

I've heard people argue that maybe Weiner's wife Huma Abedin, is fine with the randy Congressman tweeting a portion of his anatomy into the social media playground. Abedin, who wields considerable clout in the Democratic Party, was seen recently wearing her wedding ring. If she wanted to telegraph her hurt or disdain it would have been simple to take it off. We'd get the message.

Instead, amidst all the saucy turmoil she jetted off with her boss to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for business as usual with a confident smile on her face and her wedding ring on her finger.

Many other people rail angrily against the congressman and accuse him of being a moral derelict and sex addict. Others believe sexual relationships with anyone outside of their marriage is a sin.

To each her own.

Let's get past the emotion and intellectually consider the core issue. Congressman Anthony Weiner lied, and he did it in such an amateurish way he deserves to be pilloried.

Weiner can't even follow the rules of his chosen profession.

Trust is the Holy Grail in politics, and Weiner treats trust like dirty laundry.

If nothing else, Weiner is a fool for stacking lie upon lie and expecting to squirm out from under the deluge of deception he created. His audacity and arrogance are mindboggling.

The more Weiner lied the higher the vitriol against him rose.

Even if you have no problem with his sexual escapades you cannot ignore his lying.

I'm a media trainer and can tell you that it's critical people in the news always tell the truth.

I also show people the right and wrong way to do it.

If you screw up, you have to man up. Admit your mistake, tell people you are truly sorry for your actions and that you realize you let them down. They have to understand that you know how much your actions hurt others.

You also have to tell them how you will fix the problem. The secret is to be genuine, and to let people know you are serious about rectifying the situation. When you lie to cover up misdeeds, it sends a message you don't care about anyone but yourself.

Lie, and your career will take a hit from which it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible to recover. If you play with fire you should know how to use a fire extinguisher.

Jeff Ansell is the author of www.WhenTheHeadlineIsYOU.com. You can read his Blog at www.jeffansell.com/wordpress/ and Follow Jeff on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeffansell.

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