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Wat een ophef over niets!

Discussie gestart

B-man

Wat een ophef over niets weer!!!  ny-angry

B-man

Schaefer flap spurs shrugs, indignation, but no apology
Governor remains mum as 'walk again' story spreads nationwide


Around office watercoolers, on college campuses, in State House hallways and all over the airwaves, the subjects of what William Donald Schaefer did and what is being done about it were all anyone was talking about.

Heads shook in disbelief, tongues clucked scoldingly and more than a few snorts of laughter erupted yesterday as news went national about Maryland Comptroller Schaefer's request at a public meeting Wednesday that a young female staffer "walk again" for him.

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"She's a pretty little girl," the 84-year-old former governor and Baltimore mayor told reporters who questioned his remark. She "ought to be damn happy that I observed her going out the door."

Many people assumed that once the notoriously cantankerous Schaefer's temper cooled, he would apologize.

But it didn't. And the comptroller's staff said yesterday that he wouldn't.

Schaefer himself expressed surprise at the flap, telling television reporters yesterday, "I've been looking at young ladies for 84 years of my life, and this is the first time I've gotten such nasty e-mails."

Proclaiming that he did nothing wrong and that it was not the first time he had done such a thing, Schaefer, in coverage aired by WBAL-TV, said, "Nobody ever said anything until the Sun paper made a big deal out of it."

"I'm 84 years old and I thought I'd get a little leeway," Schaefer said.

Some figured yesterday that because the 24-year-old woman worked for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. , he might have something to say. But the governor's press people said there would be no statement and definitely no rebuke from Ehrlich concerning Schaefer's actions.

"The staff member has said she has no interest in pursuing any action and that she looks forward to moving on," Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said.

The national news media and the people in Maryland drinking it all in were less inclined to let the story fade.

CNN aired footage of Schaefer transfixed as the woman walked away from him. News organizations across the country ran versions of the story. And the political Web site Wonkette skewered Schaefer, featuring the incident under the headline "William Donald Schaefer: Out of Comptrol."

A women's studies professor at Goucher College in Towson said the governor is obligated to step up on behalf of his staffer.

"When it reaches this kind of level, when he doesn't say anything, that speaks volumes," said Shira Tarrant. She plans to talk about the situation with her students tomorrow, possibly during her Confronting Inequality class.

"I think if we took 'little girl' out of it and substituted any other group, 'little Mexican' or 'little black boy' and asked them to walk again, there would be no question as to the response," Tarrant said. " 'Little Jew?' Don't you think there'd be no question?"

"Unacceptable" was the consensus at Baltimore's National Organization for Women branch. "It speaks somewhat to [Schaefer's] perspective on the value of women in the workplace," said Christine Brodak, vice president for public relations.

After work in downtown Baltimore, some people said Schaefer made a serious error and should apologize.

Ronnie Waters, 19, waiting for a bus on Lexington Street, said the Board of Public Works meeting was not an appropriate place for that sort of remark.

"If it was in a strip club, I could understand," Waters said. "But this was a professional meeting."

He said the comment is forgivable because Schaefer is "an old man, and old men make mistakes." But he added, "I wouldn't want anybody doing that to my mother or sister."

Schaefer's ogling didn't send everyone into an uproar. On the streets of Baltimore, where the former city councilman, former mayor and former governor has achieved near-heroic status, many chalked the incident up to Schaefer's being Schaefer.

And in the halls of Annapolis, the politicians quietly chuckling over it probably outnumbered those waving indignant fists.

"I tend to ignore his comments because he spouts off all the time," Nicholas Panteleakis, 33, said on Charles Street in downtown Baltimore.

Panteleakis, a lawyer, said the incident will not affect his vote in the fall, when Schaefer will seek re-election.

Baltimore native Dena Nelson, who spent the day on jury duty, said she still considers Schaefer a "decent guy."

"He was a good mayor and a good governor," said Nelson, who declined to give her age. "It doesn't dampen what I think of him at all."
#1 - 17-02-2006, 14:11 uur
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America"

NYC in 4 dagen! : http://www.verenigdestaten.info/new-york-city-in-een-weekend-4-dagen/

B-man

Geweldig verhaal, echt Amerikaans om het zo sappig te maken (en dat bedoel ik wel positief) al vind ik al die drukte overdreven.

B-man

Schaefer admits he upset woman
Letter acknowledges embarrassment, fails to concede impropriety


Seeking to put an end to an episode that made national news, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer acknowledged yesterday that he had embarrassed a young state employee whom he ogled during a crowded Board of Public Works meeting this week.

Schaefer did not concede, however, that he had done anything improper in a barely legible, handwritten note he scrawled on official stationery and had delivered to Elizabeth Krum, 24, an executive assistant to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

"Embarrass you intentionally - never," Schaefer wrote in the note, which had to be deciphered for reporters by his communications director. "You have handled the 'affair' as a trooper. Sorry you were put thru this ordeal."

He signed the letter, "Don Schaefer."

Earlier in the day, Schaefer, 84, told television reporters that he did not have to apologize to Krum, who had just brought him tea, for telling her Wednesday to "walk again" as he appeared to admire her backside.

He also chastised the news media for making a fuss over the incident.

"She's been embarrassed to death over this," he said. "I'm used to it. The press likes to make something out of it, but it's too bad that she's been subjected to this."

Pamela Krum, the woman's mother, said in a phone conversation from her Towson home last night that her daughter is satisfied with the comptroller's note.

"We hope this just goes away," she said, adding that she and her husband, Allen, didn't feel it necessary to respond to Schaefer's comments.

"We don't feel that it's worth getting into a kind of a silly argument with someone not worth getting into an argument with," she said.

On Wednesday, Allen Krum, a science teacher, said he was dismayed by what had happened and considered it "sexual harassment on the job."

Talking to television reporters yesterday, Schaefer criticized him for speaking up, charging, "What he's trying to do is get his name in the press."

Schaefer, a Democrat, has made other remarks that caused uproars. He has criticized non-English speakers and said people with AIDS should be recorded on a registry. He is known for his brash, no-holds-barred relationship with reporters, many of whom he calls "little girls."

But critics said Schaefer crossed a line Wednesday, saying that the incident would have prompted, at the very least, a reprimand to a manager in any other workplace.

Also, many said that they felt Schaefer's note was not sufficient.

Del. Sharon Grosfeld, a Montgomery County Democrat, said the comptroller's letter and his public statements show that he's not sorry for what he did. She called on the governor to make it clear that the type of behavior practiced by Schaefer should not be tolerated in any work environment, let alone the State House.

"He's belittling everybody but himself," Grosfeld said of Schaefer. "He is scrutinizing and scapegoating everybody for his harassing and sexist behavior. ...

"I don't think that the comptroller is actually capable of truly grasping the depth of the seriousness of his inappropriate behavior, and I think as a result the governor needs to stand up and make a public statement in terms of letting the public know how inappropriate the comptroller's behavior was, and that no state employee or anyone else should ever be treated that way."

Ehrlich has not publicly rebuked Schaefer, a frequent political ally though they belong to opposing parties.

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., a Democrat, said he would not have tolerated such an incident in his office.
#2 - 18-02-2006, 13:35 uur
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America"

NYC in 4 dagen! : http://www.verenigdestaten.info/new-york-city-in-een-weekend-4-dagen/

PetraVS

Citaat
Some figured yesterday that because the 24-year-old woman worked for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. , he might have something to say. But the governor's press people said there would be no statement and definitely no rebuke from Ehrlich concerning Schaefer's actions.

"The staff member has said she has no interest in pursuing any action and that she looks forward to moving on," Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said.

The national news media and the people in Maryland drinking it all in were less inclined to let the story fade.

Dit zegt volgens mij toch al alles, het is weer eens iets uit zijn proporties geblazen door de media.  Aan de andere kant is het ook zo, dat Mr. Schaefer natuurlijk niet omdat hij 84 is boven de wet staat.  En de wetten op "sexual harrassment on the job" hier in de VS zijn streng.  En dat is maar goed ook.  Wat voor veel mannen (en soms vrouwen ook)  maar niets lijkt, kan voor een vrouw ontzettend vervelend en vernederend zijn.  Ik heb het zelf jaren meegemaakt en anderen zien alleen dat ene klopje op het achterwerk, die zogenaamd vriendschappelijke arm om de schouder, die onschuldige opmerking, maar ik kan je vertellen, dat het je in een heel nare, ondergeschikte positie plaatst als vrouw en als de rollen omgekeerd waren geweest, was ik allang ontslagen. 
#3 - 18-02-2006, 15:38 uur

B-man

Citaat
Some figured yesterday that because the 24-year-old woman worked for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. , he might have something to say. But the governor's press people said there would be no statement and definitely no rebuke from Ehrlich concerning Schaefer's actions.

"The staff member has said she has no interest in pursuing any action and that she looks forward to moving on," Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said.

The national news media and the people in Maryland drinking it all in were less inclined to let the story fade.

Dit zegt volgens mij toch al alles, het is weer eens iets uit zijn proporties geblazen door de media.  Aan de andere kant is het ook zo, dat Mr. Schaefer natuurlijk niet omdat hij 84 is boven de wet staat.  En de wetten op "sexual harrassment on the job" hier in de VS zijn streng.  En dat is maar goed ook.  Wat voor veel mannen (en soms vrouwen ook)  maar niets lijkt, kan voor een vrouw ontzettend vervelend en vernederend zijn.  Ik heb het zelf jaren meegemaakt en anderen zien alleen dat ene klopje op het achterwerk, die zogenaamd vriendschappelijke arm om de schouder, die onschuldige opmerking, maar ik kan je vertellen, dat het je in een heel nare, ondergeschikte positie plaatst als vrouw en als de rollen omgekeerd waren geweest, was ik allang ontslagen. 


Niemand staat boven de wet natuurlijk (al ga je soms wel eens twijfelen) en dat iemand er misschien door beledigd kan zijn door zo'n opmerking daar kan ik ook nog wel inkomen. Maar dat de man e-mails ontvangt waarin staat dat ze hem liever dood zien gaat ook weer erg ver. Schaefer is nu eenmaal zo en dan moet je zo'n opmerking niet zo ver opblazen dat het landelijk nieuws wordt. Harstikke aardige vent verder dus ik weet zeker dat hij dat meisje niet heeft willen beledigen.

B-man
#4 - 18-02-2006, 16:14 uur
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America"

NYC in 4 dagen! : http://www.verenigdestaten.info/new-york-city-in-een-weekend-4-dagen/

MiamiHeat

Vraag maar eens aan R. Lubbers hoe zoiets af kan lopen...................
#5 - 18-02-2006, 16:17 uur

B-man

Vraag maar eens aan R. Lubbers hoe zoiets af kan lopen...................

Idd maar die vrouw was uit op aandacht en kwam er zelf mee naar buiten. Dit meisje doet dat niet, de pers doet het hier eigenlijk voor haar terwijl ze het zelf helemaal niet wil. Heeft natuurlijk alles met politiek te maken.

B-man
#6 - 18-02-2006, 16:20 uur
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America"

NYC in 4 dagen! : http://www.verenigdestaten.info/new-york-city-in-een-weekend-4-dagen/

PetraVS

Niemand staat boven de wet natuurlijk (al ga je soms wel eens twijfelen) en dat iemand er misschien door beledigd kan zijn door zo'n opmerking daar kan ik ook nog wel inkomen. Maar dat de man e-mails ontvangt waarin staat dat ze hem liever dood zien gaat ook weer erg ver. Schaefer is nu eenmaal zo en dan moet je zo'n opmerking niet zo ver opblazen dat het landelijk nieuws wordt. Harstikke aardige vent verder dus ik weet zeker dat hij dat meisje niet heeft willen beledigen.

B-man

Ben ik helemaal met je eens, maar ja, mensen sturen ook een jogger, die een hondje van zich af schopt zulke idiote emails, zonder de ware toedracht van het verhaal te kennen.  Er zijn nu eenmaal van die "holier than thou" figuren. 
#7 - 18-02-2006, 17:05 uur

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