Anthony Weiner's King Kong-sized scandal captured by John Cuneo, former Denver artist

For political pundits and satirists, Anthony Weiner is the gift that keeps on giving. Even as he was resigning from the House in disgrace, it turns out that "Carlos Danger" kept living dangerously, sexting other women around the country. How did he find the time to run for mayor of...

By Patricia Calhoun

August 1, 2013

Audio By Carbonatix

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For political pundits and satirists, Anthony Weiner is the gift that keeps on giving. Even as he was resigning from the House in disgrace, it turns out that "Carlos Danger" kept living dangerously, sexting other women around the country. How did he find the time to run for mayor of New York? The latest revelations of his penile proclivities make the cover of the New Yorker this week, and who got the King Kong-sized job of illustrating this mess? Artist John Cuneo, who did many pieces for Westword when he lived in Denver decades ago.

But Colorado's scandals never rose to the Weiner level...

Well, there was that Monkey Business that sank Gary Hart's presidential aspirations. Cuneo drew Hart for us, too. But Weiner was the 800-pound gorilla.

"With a topic like Anthony Weiner, how can you find anything broad or funny that he hasn't already personally breached?" Cuneo tells the New Yorker. "Free association made me think of the Empire State Building, and then King Kong, the iconic image of him straddling it. And then Weiner sexting, his head tilted and looking a certain way -- I just stumbled upon the image as I was sketching. But all I could think about while working on this piece was, 'Will Weiner still be in the race by the time it runs?'"

So far, so very good. Here's Cuneo's cover:

More from the Calhoun Wake-Up Call archives: " Pot jokes: Colorado Supreme Court declines to hear mine."

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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