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Today the Times tells us about an unexpectedly close relationship between two people: actor Ben Affleck and New York congressman Anthony Weiner. The pair met up while Affleck was researching his role in the recent movie State of Play. They immediately began to bicker when Affleck said he was considering running for the Massachusetts congressional seat of Michael E. Capuano, who turns out to be Weiner's D.C. roommate. “That’s a terrible idea,” Weiner “thundered.” “Don’t do that. Who told you to do that? You’ll get killed.” But somehow, from there, blossomed a friendship.

Times reporter Michael Barbaro interviewed both men about one another, and their giggly mutual self-impressedness reveals — we think — something more than just professional admiration. Let's strip down their quotes to the key parts:

Affleck: “There is something beautiful about a politician who is a real fighter.”
Weiner: “He was a very partisan Obama guy, and I was a very partisan Hillary guy. We really got into it.”
Affleck: “Anthony is a guy who hits so hard and so clean.”
Weiner: “We just spent too much time talking at each other.”
Affleck: “I have tried to sensitize him to things.”
Weiner: “Sometimes he just baits me on something related to Israel.”
Affleck: “Anthony is a bit more Likud, and I am a bit more Labor.”

Emphasis ours. Sweaty, heaving love between two heterosexual man-boys? All theirs.

The Curious Friendship of Weiner and Affleck [NYT]