Stephanopoulos was dumbfounded. “[Clinton] lied,” the campaign aide later recounted thinking. “How come he let me hang out there? Never a word … while I swore to reporters her story was false.” But Clinton kept denying everything. And so did the loyal Stephanopoulos, claiming the tape was fake, or doctored or something. A mostly sympathetic press accepted the story, and Clinton survived.

Even if Anthony Weiner could lie as well as Bill Clinton, which he can’t, and even if he had an aide who could lie as well as George Stephanpoulos, which he doesn’t — even if all that were the case, Volume I of the Clinton playbook would still not be an option for Weiner. The proof of his sexting escapades is just too overwhelming…

None of that applies to an undistinguished former member of the House who tried too soon to redeem himself from a sex scandal by running for mayor of New York, only to re-kindle the sex scandal during the campaign. There’s no power structure to defend Anthony Weiner, no powerful people willing to put their reputations on the line to save him. Weiner has no one except Abedin. And for all the reasons above, Abedin cannot play the role of Hillary Clinton in either Volume I or Volume II of that famous playbook.