In Face of Ethics Complaint, Rep. Eric Massa To Resign, Effective Monday
This is kind of strange, isn't it? I mean, he says he's resigning over his language? I know lots of people who work on the Hill and believe me, there are a lot of congress members who are verbally abusive to their staff. We have lots of Republicans guilty of far worse (*cough Mitch McConnell cough*), yet all they have to do is clutch Jesus to their bosoms, smile into the TV cameras and deny, deny, deny. It's a puzzle.
I'll give Massa credit for this: at least he admitted he was guilty. (Unlike almost every Republican Congress member accused of, well, anything.) On the other hand, this means the progressive Eric Massa's "no" vote on the healthcare bill (he was holding out for the public option) not only goes away, it means Nancy Pelosi needs one less vote to pass the admittedly half-assed Senate bill:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa, facing a harassment complaint by a male staffer, said Friday that he is stepping down from his seat with "a profound sense of failure."
"I am guilty," Massa said in an interview with a Corning, N.Y., newspaper columnist.
Later in the day, Massa released a statement saying that after discovering he had a recurrence of cancer, he learned he was the subject of an ethics complaint by a male staffer who felt "uncomfortable" during an exchange with Massa. The exchange reportedly had sexual overtones.
"I will resign my position," Massa said in the statement.
"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," Massa added. "In fact, there is no doubt that this ethics issue is my fault and mine alone."
Earlier Friday, a visibly upset Massa said he didn't want to put his family through an ethics committee investigation.
"It would tear us apart," Massa said, according to Joe Dunning, a columnist for The Leader newspaper. "It's not that I can fight or beat these allegations, I'm guilty."
Don't beat me massa...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
you won't hit me no more.
political future is sleeping in de cold, cold ground ...
all very hush hush.
unspecified verbal harassment, every paper is spinning it as dems under attack. what the hell? a lot of people who have done great things, were later on found to have feet of clay.
sometimes maybe the pc thing is taken too far?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what "taking personal responsibility" really means -- unequivocally holding oneself accountable for one's own mistakes and bravely accepting the consequences thereof without trying to pass the buck.
Republicans love to pontificate on how important it is for people to take personal responsibility for their own choices and behavior -- yet all too often, when the excrement hits the spinning blades and their own backsides are the ones on the hotseat, most Republicans are just as quick as anyone else to point fingers and look for someone else to blame in the attempt to avoid accountability. To his credit, Massa hasn't done that -- which suggests that ironically, he may have far more integrity than most of his Congressional colleagues regardless of party.
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
diaper dave is still in congress i believe.
doesn't help when you can't come to terms with who you are.
some repub in texas or somewhere was caught coming out of a gay club and driving drunk, the driving drunk is not good; the other, well he should have the nadz to say "what of it?"
We don't have gay clubs in Texas. [/snark]
It was a Republican State Senator, drunk driving a state-owned Tahoe, with a (probably) gay man he'd just picked up from the club; most shocking was that he was a fierce opponent of gay rights i.e. marriage and a strong "Family Values" man.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
WTF the man did or said? Did he come on to a male staffer? Did he call a gay staffer a corksoaker? Hell, I'm "uncomfortable" with everything all rethugs say, shouldn't they all resign?
freshman democrat according to nyt
I'm saying that if I am "uncomfortable" with all things a Rethug says, much less a Dem, why shouldn't they resign, too?
just went over to the times to check the story
This guy is repenting a little prematurely. Shouldn't he be doing this after dieing?
I don't think we need to ask because he won't tell. All those years in the Navy hmmmmmmmmmmm. Inquiring minds want to know.
That tells me he was dropping "c*cksucker" and "f*ggot" into every other sentence, creating a hostile work environment.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
fitley may be correct. Nobody has enough info to know.
Politico says (horrid source, I know):
So who knows?
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
to drop a Truth Lasso around Congress.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
That or there's something else he doesn't want getting out? I've never known anyone to resign over their language.
It's too bad, I kind of liked Rep. Massa.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
Unlike Republican Closet Queens, Massa's record of LGBT rights is absolutely first-rate.
either ther is a lot more to this, or the party leadership is making it known that they will make this guys life a living hell because of his position of HCR and drive him out anyway. Using salty language is not a reason to leave or be kicked out.
until the Senate/Obama bill is defeated. I don't care if he is dying, he owes his electorate (if not the rest of us) his best efforts to defeat this unconstitutional bill.
until the Senate/Obama bill is defeated. I don't care if he is dying, he owes his electorate (if not the rest of us) his best efforts to defeat this unconstitutional bill.
Will you please pass a worthwhile health care bill before self destructing?
self-destruction already happened
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