Weiner or Loser?

I've listened to various viewpoints over the past few days concerning Representative Anthony Weiner's situation. I watched the coverage of his press conference from the Midtown Sheraton. And I have taken into consideration the past controversies involving other elected officials. Yet even though I have consumed all of this "information", I cannot say that I have settled on an opinion.
I like Anthony Weiner. I'm sure if I were to sit down with him, we'd be in agreement on 99 percent of the issues. I've often found his remarks to be enlightened, engaging, and empowering. But his comments on the floor and in interviews of late (before all this became public) have troubled me. He seemed to go a bit too far with his rhetoric, appeared to me at least to be overly provocative. I wondered to myself if he was having a meltdown. Maybe one has to do with the other, I can only guess. I just know that I hate to see a "voice for progressive policy" go off-key.
Now there's the Twitter photographs and the phone relationships. Those don't particularly matter to me. They are simply not my concern. I put that in the same category as President Clinton's affairs. Or Gary Hart's. And I have to stretch my imagination to even compare non-physical exploits to physical ones. None of this stuff should matter to any of us who are not in a relationship of any kind with any of these folks.
Here's my question: Why did Representative Christopher Lee resign? Over a shirtless photograph? I still don't get that one. Sure, I know Boener told him to, but I don't understand why he went along with him. And if that's my view of Rep. Lee then it must also be my view of Rep. Weiner.
Where I part ways with "Tony Bologna" is the lying. He shouldn't have made up the story of being hacked. He can do whatever he chooses in his private life, but when he lies to the press, his constituents, and the greater public, we all lose...trust. I mentioned Bill Clinton earlier. What about his lie? I think what he said under oath was parsing, as I know many who hold the view that some types of contact are not necessarily viewed in the same light as s-x. Is that revisionist or naive of me? You decide. I would probably have answered the question the same way.
Other presidents have conducted themselves in a similar fashion while in office. President Kennedy and F.D.R. come to mind. So does President Nixon, but not for the same reason.
It's like I tell my kids. I'm never going to go berserk over the transgression, but the cover-up is another matter entirely. Nixon wasn't forced to resign the office over the Watergate break-in, but because of the cover-up.
It's always the lie that gets you in trouble. My kids know that, and Anthony Weiner should know it as well.