Massa’s Ungraceful Dismount

I feel a Village People song coming on…:)

It’s rather obvious that the Obama-Pelosi regime leaked the fact that Massa is gay and sexually harassed someone (and/or manufactured either part of that story) to get rid of him.

Given that they bribed some Congresspeople with hundreds of millions of pork and promised others judicial appointments for family members, and that their every word is a lie, there is no reason not to believe that.

The Democrats have long taken black votes and gay dollars while being ready to throw gay and black politicians under the bus, as they are doing this month with Massa, Patterson etc.

Oh, goodie! Rumors on rumors about other anonymous rumors…
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There’s a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism waiting at the end of all of this, I’m just SURE of it…

Ethics allegations against Massa and he is forced out. Rangel has committed multiple legal transgressions and yet he is still on the taxpayer dime.

It does give one pause that his exit may have to do with more than the ethics allegations.

The Audacity of Massa.

Oh goodie, our friend Bruce is back!

Ring the dinner bell!! Chow time!!

“lascivious anonymous rumors”
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Inquiring minds want to know. We can take it. What makes you uncomfortable might have us rolling on the floor.

“gay dollars”

Money makes me tingle.

What’s a “gay dollar”?
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Is George holding his hands a certain way? One too many ruffles in his shirt?

“Massa’s Ungraceful Dismount”

ROTFLMAO.

Massa’s Ungraceful Dismount
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I GET it now!! Eric was riding “side-saddle” and tripped over the stirrup.

sacredh: see 3.4 above.

If you put them in your front pocket you’re a top. If you put them in your back pocket you’re a bottom.

“B i t c h set me up!”

I beat you by a minute. Are we the same person?

Heck, I’m still at “black vote.” Do I need a tan now??

What does it mean when you swap them from one FRONT pocket to the other? Trying to get a “cheap thrill”?

Ftw.

This is going to be a fun thread. Thanks Jay.

After this weekend, I was wondering…

So he’s ungraceful? How about looking into the truth of what he’s saying? Sure he created his own ethical issues but… they’re pretty trivial. He got drunk at a wedding and a made a pass at a subordinant. I think you’re right, JNS, that he made himself vulnerable. But is he right that the party leadership is taking unccessary advantage of the fact?

afguy: I think the term we’re looking for is “any port in a storm”.

Just, unfortunately, NOT in the way she intended…

A “port” – so THAT’S what they call that these days…

Stay classy, JNS.

I won’t bet on that afguy. The title of the thread is just a little too clever considering the allegations to be coincidental.
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The sound of one hand clapping.

The sound of one hand clapping.
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Well, one hand doing SOMETHING, anyway…

Don’t listen Jay! Welcome to the gutter.

Eric wasn’t riding side-saddle. He was riding bare-back.

He was riding bare-back.
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Broke Back? Uphill?

A gay dollar is what Democrats are dependent on. Like when I gave Al Gore’s campaign $20,000 and got to go to the Democratic nominating convention in Los Angeles in 2000 and have credentials that allowed me to go on the convention floor and sit in the gay (donors) only sky box DNC fundraiser Andrew Tobias hosted and go to cocktail parties all over LA with Ellen Degeneres and Anne Heche etc. A convention run by Donna Brazile, who is, like most gay Democrats, silent about her sexuality when she appears on ABC or MSNBC (along with Hillary Rosen or Richard Socarides), though “out” about town in DC.

But, when the cameras turned on, the Democrats running the convention ran around and made sure every pink triangle and rainbow flag was snatched or under the delegates’ chairs, lest people in fly over country see them.

Democrats constantly hold all gay fundraisers to raise money and have for 15 years. But they don’t deliver on gay issues with any speed. If they did, they’d lose these wedge issues they use to raise money.

“Already this morning there are lascivious anonymous rumors (which I don’t feel comfortable linking to here but aren’t hard to find on google) swirling this morning about Massa’s time in the Navy.”

A good man is hard to find. Did I get that backwards?

…which I don’t feel comfortable linking to here but aren’t hard to find on google…
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Since she didn’t ACTUALLY link to the gossip, does this mean Jay’s hands are “clean”?
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As for the last part, check with Brucie above. He seems to be an expert on “gay dollars” and acquisition thereof in BOTH political parties.

“Massa’s Ungrateful Discount”
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Fixed the title!

Hey, that works for me too.

So you are a wealthy gay man who is a Tea Party devotee?
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That’s a crazier “biography” than The Physician’s.

By the way, about these lascivious rumors from the freaking 1980s… none of them have anything to do with any sort of illegality, even an alleged one, so what’s the issue?

Bruce, the democrats may be slow in bringing about change and acceptance, but we are working on it. The subject is so controversial that handing the conservatives a ready-made rallying cry about going “too far, too fast” would only delay true equality even longer.
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“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is heading for the trash can where it belongs. We should all be grateful to ANYONE that loves their country enough to put their lives on the line for it. Sexual orientation shouldn’t even be an issue. When you look at which party has the better track record regarding gay rights, it’s the democrats.

How about “Massa’s Messy Dismount”?

destor: the operating principle of the new media.
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If you can’t find an issue, MAKE one. Why let legality concerns (or lack thereof) get in the way of what MIGHT be a good story?

A male staffer files a sexual harassment complaint against Massa, his boss, and that’s Obama’s fault? I can see the Democratic leadership wanting to see this situation disappear quickly but alleging that they’re actually behind the situation? That’s pretty out there, even by conservative wing-nut standards.

Sniff..sniff. I love the smell of a “Thread Rename Contest” in the morning…
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Smells like… victory!!

Maybe there is hope for the democratic party. I doubt they are tough or smart enough to pull something like that off but if they could than maybe they can stop being so spineless.

Hey, I’d definitely settle for a “spine” WITHOUT all of the perpetual political calculation/triangulation…

The Democrats have long taken black votes and gay dollars while being ready to throw gay and black politicians under the bus, as they are doing this month with Massa, Patterson etc…
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..when they engage in actions that are ethically dubious. You left that part out, Brucie.
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Of course, the reason why Repubs don’t get ‘gay and black dollars’ is because – instead of being willing to cut the ethically-challenged within its own ranks loose like the Dems – they push policies that throw gays back into the closet and throw black folks into the back of the bus.

Just for fun, let’s remember the reason he originally gave for resigning was health reasons – assumed a recurrance of his cancer. So he was resigning anyway and when the rumors came out Hoyer said they needed to be reported to the ethics committee. Then, Drama Queen…

Well, when I was young I wanted either a pony or a sex slave. I didn’t get either.

Well, we are STILL looking for the pony, aren’t we?
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But, IIRC, we’ll ALL get one as soon as all of the proposed tax cuts are enacted.
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And it’ll be of the “magical” kind.

Maybe Hoyer wanted to get some free “PR effects” off of an event that was already going to happen?

FTR – I really don’t trust Hoyer any more than I trust Rahm.

Ivy — Let’s not introduce facts that undercut the assertions into the discussion.
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If Massa really wanted to serve out his term, he could. No one has forced him out and the ethics investigation would likely not either.

Is this thread petering out already?

What…?

If I can be serious for a minute….
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How can Massa be so uppity to think that his vote is the deciding vote? ‘Specially when nothing’s been decided yet??

Democrats are widely seen as the pro-gay political party, at least of the two dominant parties, because they have more gay office holders, receive over two thirds of the gay vote, talk about gay issues, and publicly seek gay dollars and endorsements.

At the same time, it is President Bill Clinton who enacted the Defense of Marriage Act and the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policies.

And it is the Democratic congress that has done untold public relations damage to gay Americans by protecting and promoting both the late Congressman Gerry Studs, who transported an intern across state lines while having an affair with him, and surviving Congressman Barney Frank, whose lovers have included a male prostitute who ran an escort service out of Barney’s home and another who was a program director at Fannie Mae, while Barney’s congressional committee oversaw and defended that agency, while it was doing its part in creating the mortgage and financial crisis.

And it is the Obama regime that has appointed several incompetent and or immoral gay Czars, including the Education Department’s Kevin Jennings, whose professional resume as an educrat includes an episode of protecting and enabling a pedophile. Why is appointing the trashiest, thuggiest, stupidest or least moral members of the gay community to government positions, just because they were Obama campaigners, a good thing for the gay community?

For years the Democrats have needed gay issues to be unsolved so they could use gay issues as wedge issues and milk the gay community out of campaign contributions. Gay Democratic leaders like Clinton appointee Richard Socarides, Gore campaign chair Donna Brazile, or Business Forward lobbyist Hillary Rosen are formally out in their communities, but never identified as gay when they appear every week on ABC or MSNBC, lest it turn off the viewer. Yet they are happy to see Republican closeted gays outed and accept the notion that being less than out implies that homosexuality is shameful and leads to teen suicide. When Brazile is on ABC’s “This Week” and says she thinks Governor Perry is hot, as she did this week (reminiscent of Rosie O’Donnell’s leaden running joke about her crush on Tom Cruise on her variety show), is she responsible for the next teen lesbian suicide in Texas?

Ms. Brazile also ran the 2000 Democratic nominating convention, which I attended as a gay donor. We were feted with special all gay sky boxes, credentials to go on the floor with the delegates, nightly cocktail parties with people like Ellen and Betty Degeneres and Anne Heche. But when the cameras were on, Democratic Party apparatchiks made sure any rainbow flag or pink triangle was put away, lest a voter in fly over country see it.

And now we have the spectacle of the outing of a gay or bisexual Congressman before any ethics charges against him have been heard, because he was not a solid vote in favor of Obamacare. It’s rather obvious that the Obama-Pelosi regime leaked the fact that Massa is not straight and sexually harassed someone (and/or manufactured either part of that story) to get rid of him.

Given that they bribed some Congresspeople with hundreds of millions of pork and promised others judicial appointments for family members, and that their every word is a lie, there is no reason not to believe that.

The Democrats have long taken black votes and gay dollars while being ready to throw gay and black politicians under the bus, and pursue policies harmful to gays and blacks, as they are doing this month with Massa, Patterson etc.

…when nothing’s been decided yet…
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Isn’t that the theme of the entire last year regarding “health care reform”?
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Anyone sure WHAT’s been decided at this point?

can we have A Re:
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Or even a Re; Re; on this topic

I wanted either a pony or a sex slave. I didn’t get either.
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Well, if you are like the aptly-named anti-abortion crusader Neal Horsley, you could have both!

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/05/06/bizarre_sex_habits_of_the_extreme_rightwing.php#more

Too many more Re:’s and we’re into Aretha Franklin territory. Just a little bit.

I think you’re doing a major disservice to gays by claiming that they’re being used and are not getting any benefits (or their money’s worth) in return. People tend to back the party that represents their views gives them a voice. Donna Brazile may be simply not interested in making her sexual preferences an issue. I’m straight but I don’t feel the need to bring it up or make an issue out it. Being hetero is only a part of who and what I am. Donna may very well feel the same.
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The democrats didn’t “out” Massa. His actions and the allegations made by his aide did. The democratic leadership was only doing what the republican leadership is incapable of doing, being upfront in dealing with a potential scandal. They didn’t try to hide the facts. The coverup is usually what brings a person or party down. Massa wasn’t thrown under the bus. He’s not the target of a vendetta for voting “no” on healthcare reform. He’s just p!ssed off and lashing out. He could have stayed and fought it out until the end of his term, but he choose not to. It was his decision.

Good grief! We’re all on roll this morning. I must not have been the only one to have downed a half of a bottle of wine last night.

Yeah, grape_crush. I hearby bestow upon you the title of “Honorary Smarta$$ – 1st Class”.
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Take your place on the podium and await your award…

sacredh:

The democrats didn’t “out” Massa. His actions and the allegations made by his aide did. The democratic leadership was only doing what the republican leadership is incapable of doing, being upfront in dealing with a potential scandal. They didn’t try to hide the facts. The coverup is usually what brings a person or party down.

This is b.s.

Based on what we know, Massa was already retiring for health reasons when the leadership leaked the existence of an ethics probe.

It is certainly possible that Massa is being less than honest about all this. And I expect that we will know more in the future. But, as it stands, it does appear that the leadership unnecessarily put a hit on the guy.

To be clear, nobody is suggesting that the Dems should cover up allegations of impropriety. But there is a big difference between a cover-up and the leak of an ongoing investigation to the press.

Furthermore, the whole scenario looks like an effort to legitimize an otherwise sleazy effort to out Massa by cloaking it as an ethics issue.

Sorry sacred you’re just regurgitating spin.

As to Massa, all kinds of things are not leaked when they are just unproven charges. Edwards almost got elected President after all. This stuff was leaked to torpedo Massa.

And your double standard that liberals and Demwits can have their sexuality or their adulteries hidden, when elderly Republicans like McCain who couldn’t even commit adultery have affairs fabricated by the NYTimes and publicized when they didn’t happen is just crap.

All the heterosexuals on ABC’s “This Week” discuss and ask each other about their kids, their spouses, their weddings, their anniversaries etc EVERY DAMN WEEK. But except for Rachel Madcow, the leftover gays who are on MSNBC, ABC etc all the time are never asked about their private lives.

And this Sunday Brazile even started discussing how Perry was a good looking man she liked to look at. The other female panelist had to point out that if a male panelist went off on how “heh heh I like looking at that Palin” etc it would be considered sexist.

Go sell Demwit flak spin somewhere else. If you can find any buyers this year before the whole herd is sent to the guillotines.

You wanted a pony for a sex slave, sacred? o.O

Tell me – which reference did it? Aretha or Neal Horsley?

Thanks for the link. It was pretty funny, but I said I wanted either a pony or a sex slave, NOT a pony as a sex slave. I believe in the sancity of sex in marriage. You need to tie the knot before you use and degrade your mate. It’s a good thing I never take my own advice. I take into account the source.

Back on topic:

I only wish the party leadership had the gumption (that’s a nice way to put it, isn’t it?) to get rid of any of these self-indulgent hacks who put their re-election ahead of the nation’s needs.

And yes, i know… carried to the limit, that would result in massive vacancies in both chambers. Just don’t claim party affiliation, then try to scuttle the keystone of the party platform. (OK, somebody stop me before I mix any more metaphors.)

Aretha, FTW.

Respect for that comment, grape

repzak, if it wasn’t for pigs and dogs, I’d have been a virgin until I was thirteen.
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I apologize to my less than beautiful early female conquests. Actually, I think they used me. Now I feel cheap. Maybe frugal. OK, I loved it.

“when elderly Republicans like McCain who couldn’t even commit adultery”

Is that why he more or less offered his wife up to all those bikers during the campaign?

From here, now you go to:
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Apprentice Smarta$$,
Certified (or Certifiable) Smarta$$ and, lastly,
Master Smarta$$
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Sort of like fishermen have Apprentice Baiters and Master Baiters
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Always keep your sights on being the best at whatever you do in life!

sorry i meant Wee, Wee, I have trouble with my W’s

I disagree. If the leadership had just sat on the information and it later became public, they would have been accused of covering it up. The political atmosphere in DC is poison. The republicans would have had a field day if they could have “uncovered” the allegations and made them public.

Also:

Not often there’s a non-objectionable opportunity to cite the Stephen Foster song title “Massa’s in de Cold Ground.”

Thanks for being such a good sport, sacredh.

FlownOver,
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Too good! That one should go into the “Hall of Fame”.

In Jay’s first of three posts on the first term congressman I never heard of before, she linked to this CNN story, which notes that the DC Agenda setter had printed –

The online journal Politico reported earlier Wednesday that Massa was stepping down “amid allegations he sexually harassed a male staffer,” and a senior Democratic aide later told CNN that the allegations involved a male staffer who was made to feel uncomfortable.

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The CNN story, one of the earliest, also notes the report to the ethics committee. sacred is right, everyone was all over Hastert for covering up what he knew about Foley. And, wasn’t there another report recently about something being investigated by the ethics committee?

FTW

As in “this sh!t’s coming out anyway; let’s see if we can get a layer of OUR color of lipstick on this pig before everything goes public.”
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One thing I’m pretty sure of – the “good of the country” was probably low down on the rationalization process for all of this.

grape_crush, if there is one thing that I don’t take seriously, it’s me. Not too long ago I accidentally caught my hair on fire and when i went upstairs to tell my wife about it I said “You’re not going to believe what I just did” and she said “Yes, I would”. I gotta love her, she accepts me for who I am. Plus, I make her laugh even without taking off my clothes.

I am sorry I have to say I believe Messa over all the left wing Mass Media.. The proof is in what has been going on with the Democrats.. As I have pointed out I was as full fledged Democrat for 30 years.. and one thing I can tell you I took what the Democrats have been saying and what the Republicans have been saying.. and guess what all you full fledged lefty’s your being lied to.. I am from IL I know how corrupt the politics are here.. and guess where the so called leaders came from? I find it about time SOMEONE had the nerve to stand up and tell the people what is REALLY going on.. I hope both he and Patterson stand up and stick it out, the people voted him in he serves NOT at the pleasure of the President.. I KNOW this man is being railroaded, at this particular time for the healthcare bill..Obama: ‘If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun’ and they are doing just that if he had voted with them this would be under the rug..

Click on the link Jay gave above to Massa’s statement. Always best to get information from the source.

Can you roundabout describe what “ftw” means? I suppose it’s not flattering.

nfl: It means “for the win”.

This must be one of the funniest non “1000 Words” threads I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading here in the Swamp.

I’m not sure I agree. Rangel fought ethics allegations, and was insistent that he stay in office. Ultimately, he just stepped down as Ways and Means committee chairman. Massa decided to resign – I guess he had not fight in him until he had already left his post.

Since you believe Messa [sic] perhaps you should read what he said on his web page Friday.

Two days ago as I sat reading my new annual CAT scan, having been told that the anomalies in the films may or may not be scar tissue, I decided to finally take the advice that my doctors have repeatedly given me, and that is to take care of my family and myself before my profession. After I decided not to run again I was told, for the first time, that a member of my staff believed I had made statements that made him feel “uncomfortable.” I was told that a report had been filed with the Congressional Ethics Committee. At no point prior to this had any member of the Ethics Committee communicated with me directly – if fact I first read it on the internet.

I own this reality. There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable. In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart. Some would say that this is what happens when you stand apart from political parties, which I have done. Others will say that this is what happens to a non politician when they go to Washington DC. I want to make something perfectly clear. My difficulties are of my own making. Period. I am also aware that blogs and radio will have a field day with this in today’s destructive and unforgiving political environment. In that investigators would be free to ask anything about me going back to my birth, I simply cannot rise to that level of perfection. God knows that I am a deeply flawed and imperfect person.

Pretty biased reporting here.

grape_crush/brucemajors:

Leveling the charge that Massa is gay is a pretty bold assertion. He is married with two kids…

According the Massa:

One of his staffers made, at a cocktail party, a comment that he (being Massa) should take home one of the bridesmaids, apparently as a joke. In return Massa grabbed the guy, ruffed up his hair and and suggested that maybe he would take the staffer home instead. This sounds like my friends and I in college, if the staffer was uncomfortable about it he should have told Massa about this and asked him not to do it again, not claimed he was sexually harassed.

That’s Massas’ side of the story of what really happened to lead to this ethics investigation, I have no proof of its validity, but that’s his side of the argument.

At this point it sounds to me like people might have had a few too many drinks and some jokes that caused people to feel uncomfortable were made. I see no “sexual harassment” in this instance if what Massa says is the truth.

I still say we shouldn’t crucify him in the pubic, until all the facts are known.

Also, I have no idea if the leadership are trying to shove him out as he claims, but given the climate in Washington I wouldn’t be surprised.

That as the fact that we are talking about politicians here… the most untrustworthy group of people ever.

Thanks for the post sasquatch08. I hadn’t heard any of this before.

Rangel may have stepped down as chairman but he is still a congressman on taxpayer funds

Or as Reported by MSNBC;
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The New York lawmaker said that after dancing with a bridesmaid, a staff member colorfully implied that Massa “should be chasing after” the woman.

“I grabbed the staff member sitting next to me and said, ‘Well, what I really ought to be doing is fracking you.’” Massa said. “And then [I] tossled the guy’s hair and left, went to my room, because I knew the party was getting to a point where it wasn’t right for me to be there. Now was that inappropriate of me? Absolutely. Am I guilty? Yes.”

SacredH:

Your welcome.

While my interpretation of things might differ greatly from others here, but we do need to stick to facts when we can.

From the report Massa didn’t make the comment to the same staffer but to a staffer sitting next to him. It was a bit more than a suggestion

We don’t know if that was the first incident – I had read the MSNBC version. Massa didn’t mention it on his web page on Friday. The staff member has a right to report something to the ethics committee. I think it is not uncommon for things reported to be part of the public record. I’m sure we recently had a discussion about this being unfair.

If Massa just wanted all this to die down, why didn’t he let it go. This is what is meant by “he said, she said” in this context. Now he is only encouraging the staffer to come forward and say more, or for something like Politico to go after him to get more. Sorry, sorry business.

Jay Newton-Small:

Gone is the contrite politician who said in an open letter Friday on his website, “I own this reality… My difficulties are of my own making. Period.”
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Apparently, Massa now believes his difficulties are of the making of the Democratic leadership.

Why can’t Massa be both? Why does he have to be either contrite or angry, but not both, according to you?
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Why can’t he be truly angry with himself for getting into this situation, and also be angry with leadership for cynically exploiting it? Isn’t that also probable?
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Why are you taking Steny Hoyer’s side because of rumors you won’t even lend the credibility of a link?
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Why is it clear to you that leadership had no hand in Massa’s problems?
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Do you know something we don’t, Jay Newton-Small?

allthingsinana:

Guilty of what though? As I pointed out (I was trying to avoid is “salty” language for the virgin eyes here on Swampland) I don’t think that constitutes sexual harassment. Was it inappropriate? Sure. Inartful? Sure. Should he apologize? Yes. College barroom humor? Yes. Worthy of resignation? No.

Its a joke. You may not like the taste, but I read that as a joke. Just because it contains a four letter word that starts with F is no reason for this to be such a huge story dragging the guy through the mud, potentially involving his family with paparazzi. It’s a tempest in a teapot.

If the staffers feelings were hurt maybe he should have told Massa that privately and asked for an apology. Or maybe, just maybe if you’re that soft you shouldn’t be in a hardball game like politics?

If this is truly all there is to this story then the staffer should have been fired until he grew a pair. It’s not like he would have been totally blindsided. The guy was in the Navy 25 years and apparently has a reputation for jokes of this nature. “If you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen…”

“Why can’t he be truly angry with himself for getting into this situation, and also be angry with leadership for cynically exploiting it? Isn’t that also probable?”

Very valid point. Like I said “politicians the most untrustworthy group of people ever”

Personally, I’m gonna take Massa’s word on this until such time as it is proven he is lying.

“The Good Ol Boy” defense. What nonsense! IF this same comment had been made to a female satffer, you would not be defending it, telling her to grow a pair.
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Blame the victim. Rich.

Excuse me? What is the Obama Pelosi regime?

Thanks for the post sasquatch08. I hadn’t heard any of this before.
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Well, don’t let your ignorance of the facts keep you from leaping wildly to conclusions.

I really don’t know why I got lumped in with Bruce, but whatever.

After reading JNS’ update, i’m thinkin’ Massa is just milking 15 minutes of fame. I don’t want to hear any more about him.

Songs earlier? You’re So Vain coming to my mind.

Thx Sacred.

freeinpa:
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1- Seniority- Rangel has 35+ years of experience in the House, and
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2- His scandal is financial related, and Massa’s has to do with sex. IMO financial corruption is usually worse than a sex scandal but the media and the public don’t see it that way.
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Whenever there is a scandal and sex is involved, that part of it always gets pushed to the top and everything else gets shoved to the side. Most Americans probably think that Bill Clinton was impeached because he cheated on his wife/had sex in the Oval Office. The media referred to the incident with the like of “Monica-gate” and “zipper-gate”, instead of something like “perjury and obstruction of justice-gate”, which would’ve been more accurate…but not as sexy!

Blame the victim. Rich.
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First of all, we are not even sure if there was a victim. It’s all innuendo at this point.
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Secondly, even if the worst version of events turn out to be true, what was the crime? Harassment, vis-a-vis one potentially inappropriate comment? No. That is not harassment, I am sorry. I have many people, both men and women, many of whom were colleagues/co-workers, who have made raunchy remarks to me, who have come on to me in a less than subtle, overly uncomfortable manner. It’s part of life. So long as you make it clear that you are either not interested (if you think they are more than joking) or not amused (if you think they ar ejoking) then there shouldn’t be any problems. Unless of course, they continue with their behavior, which Massa did not. It’s a one time thing, it’s not harassment, there is no crime, there is no victim. Period.

If I didn’t have this pristinely beautiful, clean mind, I’d think that you were trying to get something started with that comment, sacredh…

Massa is just milking 15 minutes of fame.
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Not sure what’s being “milked” here… Have a number of possibilities…

sasquatch: I agree we shouldn’t make assumptions about Massa before all the facts are in. We also shouldn’t be making assumptions about the Dem leadership until all the facts are in.

That takes 15 minutes? …never mind.
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Would the song “Stand By Your Man” come to mind, so to speak? Even if that’s NOT what Tammy Wynette had intended (or is that “Stand Behind Your Man”? but I digress).

Think of the thrill Massa will have in spending 1 hour with Glen Beck to tell his side of the story. It is sure to be an unbiased piece of journalism.
I am posting this again today because I think it is such a clear indictment of the cozy, Village, relationship with their political friends. Please read it.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/03/coddled-by-the-msm.html#more

Gotta agree with grape. You always make me laugh too, sacred – in the good way

Also you gotta admit a pony sex-slave would be quite a step up from the pigs and dogs? Although I guess you bypassed that step completely when you found Ms. sacred?

I knew I was letting that line out for you, but decided to do it anyway!
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However since Adam has done yet another one, I quote the famous Roberto Duran –
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No Mas!!

square1: I thanked sasquatch for the post. Insasquatch’s post he said “That’s Massas’ side of the story of what really happened to lead to this ethics investigation, I have no proof of its validity, but that’s his side of the argument.” That’s exactly how I took it also. It wasn’t proof. Sasquatch never claimed that it was. It was merely a possible version. Something that could be either verified or refuted.
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“Well, don’t let your ignorance of the facts keep you from leaping wildly to conclusions.”
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Do you mean like you did?

15 minutes. Tsk. Tsk. Premature capitulation.

repzak: I bypassed all kinds of steps when I hooked up with the 2nd mrs sacredh. Of course I respect her, but she also scares the sh!t out of me. What can you say about a woman that punched a cop hard enough to knock him off his stool and then went out and turned a garden hose loose in his cruiser? My little flower princess is not to be messed with.

Ooops. 33 should have been 15.11.

Surely, you jest.

grape_crush:

Before I read any further, I must apologize to you. I did not mean to “lump you in” with with the other poster. I was replying to your comment in response to his as well as his. My bad for not properly explaining that. I honestly had no problems with you what you said.

Again my bad for not stating that explicitly, I was sorta in a hurry, but that’s no excuse.

apr2563:

If we shouldn’t leap to conclusions why do it about Beck either? I’ve only seen the show a couple times but I’m pretty sure it’s billed as an “opinion” show not “news” and therefore journalism doesn’t really seem to apply.

allthingsinana…:

Well if by “”The Good Ol Boy” defense.” you mean I presume him innocent until proven guilty, then yes, I do subscribe to whatever you choose to call it.

And yes, I would tell her to grow a pair. You know why? Because they way many sexual harassment cases go these days it seems to be in the eye of the beholder as in: if you believe it you were harassed it must be so.

If you don’t have the stomach for raunchy jokes and such then don’t get into the big boys (and girls if that makes you happy and me not a sexist) games, because they’re not playing with kid gloves at that level. When you jump in the water with sharks you can’t complain if you get bitten. Don’t argue this feminist tripe, either women are equal (as in can take equal abuse goodheartedly, fight in wars etc) or they aren’t. You can’t have it both ways.

Massa claims that Rahm Emanuel confronted him in the showers while both were naked and starting poking his finger in Massa’s chest. I’m not saying this is true because it’s unsubstantiated, however if it is true isn’t that worse than what Massa did? Personally I’d have broken that finger regardless of who poked me with it.

If someone makes a comment like Massa claims to have done at a drunken party and you take serious offense to it the only reason I can see is that you’re not secure with your own sexuality. Even if that isn’t the case you grow a pair, tell the person you don’t appreciate it and that you won’t tolerate it a second time. You don’t run off and tell someone to launch an ethics investigation, that’s like the kids in grade school running to the teacher and saying “Teacher that guy over there called me X” it’s weak and has no place in a hardball sport like national politics. If they do it again, then you complain.

Most sexual harassment claims in court require a “pattern of behavior” not just one time where you didn’t say anything and then ran to a lawyer.

Yea right. BS. For all your manly talk is a joke and disgusting. Don’t talk to me about being manly, sharks and tigers and bull crap. This man is crude period and you sound just like him to me.
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Weak pathetic excuse for a man.
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By the way it sounds like he grew a pair and complained about it, now you call him weak. Trouble is you type allways have some macho BS to throw around.
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I can’t believe you would print such trash!
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“If you don’t have the stomach for raunchy jokes and such then don’t get into the big boys (and girls if that makes you happy and me not a sexist) games”

You said it boys game. It sure isn’t a mans.
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Grow up

sas: If you don’t know Beck’s agenda then you don’t exist in reality. It is no secret.
Also, harrassment is related not only to what is said but the relative power ratio of the participants. I have supervised people and knew the limitations of what was appropriate to say to the people that reported to me. Granted I was never in the military. But, I would think Massa’s military background should have given him more discipline.
Being a jerk is not a manly trait.

First off, thank you much for the insults. You do me far more credit that you do yourself.

And just because I don’t believe your ultra-liberal-everyone-deserves-a-trophy-just-for-showing-up crap in no way makes me weak.

Being crude and derisive isn’t a crime, or I’d have you charged this very minute ,certainly under the derisive clause.

I grew up years ago you’re the one that needs to let go the the idea you apparently hold that it’s somehow a “right” to “not be offended”.

You’re the one that needs to grow up. It’s called the First Amendment, and if you don’t like it move to Europe where it doesn’t exist.

Any tears you may pretend to shed for this “staffer” are almost certainly crocodile tears, if indeed any exist at all.

Like some other people on here you seem to live to live in some bizarre area of the universe where whatever you say is correct and everyone else deserves to be downtrodden. This is why only 20% of people in the U.S. self-identify as “liberal” because, while they may agree with somethings liberals say, they know that in many cases it’s a codeword for something I won’t bother to post here.

Try using some substance rather than insults. It will get you farther in life. Don’t like my opinion? Fine.

sas: Over react much?
In an early statement you said Massa was married with children, ergo not gay. I don’t know if he is and could care less. But for clarification, you can be gay, be married and have children.
In CA, we just had a Repulican state legislator arrested for a DUI after leaving a gay bar in Sacramento. Now he has been one of the most vociferous ant-gay legislators serving. He now admits he is gay. He is married and has children.
And, before making blanket statements about all of Europe not having freedom of speech, you need to look at individual countries and their history.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0208/p01s01-woeu.html/(page)/2
Generalizations about any person or group is never good.

One twisted post you produced there. When an employer can ruffle someones hair and say I should be Fracking you, and you defend it as some Macho move on the employers part says a lot about you.
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The staffer could have done your manly thing and smashed the Congressman’s face in, and risked his health on some blood born disease and assault charges, but I think he did the more effective thing in reporting him.
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Sexual harassment is not a first amendment right.
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Apparently you believe it is a right to offend.
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Substance? What have you said that had substance? You have done nothing but attack the staffer for reporting the conduct of his employer, which is his right to do.
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The employer admitted his guilt, admitted it was wrong, that is it , end of story. there is nothing to defend.
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Talk about crocodile tears, tell me your tears are true for the poor misaligned Congressman. Hell if he didn’t say that the Dem Party was out to get him, you would be all over him as some sick liberal.
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Slightly OT, but related. I’m a federal employee too and we have Prevention of Sexual Harrassment training every year. I wonder if the people that make the laws have to go through the same training that the lower levels do? There aren’t any women where I work and after we take our test it usually degenerates into a “Would it be sexual harrassment if I said…” sleaze fest. The guys say things to each other that we’d never even consider saying to a woman.

allthings: It is a different story when the boss is acting that inappropriately. They set the tone for the workplace environment and Massa should have known better. We have a relatively small crew at my installation, we’re all male, all friends, all married and even when it’s apparent that we’re just torturing each other for fun, he’ll tell us “Enough” and that’s it. End of story. My boss is a great guy and he leads by example.