Sunday, May 13, 2012

There is no republican war on women

Why would you go to war, with someone you had absolutely no respect for?

From today's Wisconsin State Journal, recalled republican senator Scott Fitzgerald, had this to say about his challenger Lori Compas:

 
For the record, Fitzgerald said he doesn't buy Compas' Pollyanna image. He knows some people are painting the race as a David-vs.-Goliath contest. But Fitzgerald said he thinks her husband is one of the main forces behind her campaign, as well as unions and protest groups.

"I don't for one minute believe she is the organizing force behind this whole thing," he said.
When told of Fitzgerald's statement, Compas was audibly stunned.

"That is pretty insulting, but it does seem in keeping with his general views on women," she said. "He doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for them. That's OK; he can keep underestimating me."

Compas said that if Fitzgerald really doubts she is a serious candidate, he should accept her invitation to debate. "I have challenged him to five debates," she said. "If he thinks I can't handle myself, he should come out and face me.

Obviously Scott Fitzgerald has zero respect for women and their ability to function without completely being subservient to men in this world.  Now you see where this kind of stuff comes from.  

I wonder if he has such little respect for the women in his life?  Is he just trying to diminish all that Lori Compas has accomplished, or does he truly think a woman can not make it without a man?    That is something that the voters of his district need to call him out on!!!!

A couple more things from the article;

1.  Lori Compas wants to debate, I will be surprised if Fitz the Elder agrees, since he was already put in his place by her once:



2.  Thanks to Fitz's blatant sexism, this part of the article will go unnoticed, but I wanted to address it:

It was, by any measure, an ugly session, filled with rancor and turmoil. The Capitol became home to a monthlong continuous protest, which many Republicans came to view as a gantlet of anger and hate. "They were everywhere," Fitzgerald said. "And it could get scary."

The mood of the crowds was not helped by the Republican approach during the session, led by Fitzgerald himself, who bucked compromise and bent parliamentary rules to push Walker's collective bargaining law through a conference committee before it had passed the Senate.

It was so scary for a democratic staffer or Mark Miller's at the Capitol  that she had to call the police because of the person who was yelling at, intimidating her and bullying her.  She did not feel safe to walk the hall of the Capitol.  To her it was very scary, and the person she was scared of?  Scott Fitzgerald!

 Recently the Capitol Times ran a story by Steven Elbow on bad behavior at the capitol. While most of it was run of the mill stuff, a couple different stories stuck out to Elbow(and me). Unfortunately Steven Elbow did not do much follow through on these stories so I thought I would dig a little deeper.
1. One involved state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, the Republican Senate majority leader who spent much of February trying to corral 14 Democratic senators who high-tailed it out of the state to avoid voting on the collective bargaining rights bill, a move that deprived Republicans of a quorum to vote on the measure.
On Feb. 17, the day the Democrats vanished, Sen. Mark Miller’s chief of staff, Jamie Kuhn, contacted police to complain that Fitzgerald went off on her.
“Fitzgerald told Kuhn that she was stupid and Miller was stupid, amongst other mean and hurtful things,” the state Capitol Police report says. “Kuhn was intimidated by Fitzgerald’s aggressive and angry nature during the conversation.”
Kuhn went to Fitzgerald’s office to tell the senator that she couldn’t get hold of Miller after Fitzgerald staffer John Hogan visited Miller’s office to say that “if her boss didn’t get the Democrats back into the state (Fitzgerald) was going to fire all of Miller’s staff,” according to the report.
Kuhn asked the officer to stay near Miller’s office until she left the building to avoid any further disturbances. She also told the officer that “she didn’t want to make a big deal out of this or have Fitzgerald or his staff involved in the report.”
There was no indication that the officer contacted Fitzgerald’s office about the matter, but he obviously felt it was worth mentioning.
Fitzgerald, who told me he doesn’t even remember the incident, says that he was reaching a boiling point at the time because Miller had completely “checked out.”
“At that time, even his staff was saying, ‘We can’t get him. He will not return our phone calls,’” Fitzgerald says. “It was a difficult period of time because I was making decisions about my staff, other legislators’ staffs, Democrats’ staffs, the whole thing.”
Fitzgerald, who days later unsuccessfully tried to have Miller detained by police and brought by force to the Capitol, says: “There certainly were some heated exchanges. I don’t remember the one you’re referring to, but it was a difficult time, there’s no doubt about it.”
I called Senator Fitzgerald’s office to see if this was everyday behavior for the Senate Minority Leader. Since Fitzgerald can’t remember yelling at a female staffer of another Senator so harshly it caused her to call the police, I wondered if this is such everyday behavior that it did not stand out. So I asked the person who answered the phone that question and not wanting to tell on his boss, he immediately passed me on to Andrew – “communications director”:


JS: Does Senator Fitzgerald make it a habit of yelling at other Senators staffers so badly that they feel the need to call the police? Andrew: “that’s a loaded question buddy.”
JS: Well its in a police report and Senator Fitzgerald said he did not remember the incident, usually you do not remember something when its a common occurrence.
Andrew: Have you not ever had tensions boil a little bit at your work place?
JS: Not enough that the police had to be called.
Andrew: I will answer your question when you have a fair one.
JS: Has he ever yelled at you like that?
Andrew: (pause) I am not going to answer that.
JS: Thanks that tells me what I needed to know. Have a great weekend.
Andrew: Good Luck with that.

So it appears(though not surprisingly) that Scott Fitzgerald our Senate majority leader is not only a bully but an unprofessional hot head who will yell at anyone when he does not get his way. He obviously has his staff and everyone else’s staff scared to be around him and he has proven himself not fit to lead! Let’s hope he is the minority leader by August. Also, if you want to call his office and let the Senate Majority leader know that you expect more out of someone so prominent in Wisconsin than to yell and berate women staffers, his phone number is (608)266-5660.



Madison Office

Room 211 South
State Capitol
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707-7882

Voting Address

N4692 Maple Road
Juneau, WI 53039

Telephone

(608) 266-5660

District Telephone

(920) 386-2218

Fax

(608) 267-6795


Email

Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov

5 comments:

  1. Lovely Mother's Day reading, thank-you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Don't thank us. Call and thank Senator Fitzgerald.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OK, I don't know what that was all about, but thanks for stopping in.

    ReplyDelete