It’s hard to hear about Congressman Anthony Weiner’s boxer shorts without thinking of the Honorable Judge John B. Gibson.
The San Bernardino County Superior Court jurist was publicly rebuked for inappropriate behavior with female subordinates, which he dismissed as just joking. His signature gag was to wiggle his fingers through the folds of his judicial robe near his crotch and tease: “Say hello to Mr. Bobo.”
At least none of his female subordinates told him he was “hot.”
That’s how Megan Broussard, one of the women to whom Weiner sent photos, introduced herself to the congressman.
“On April 20, I clicked on his Facebook page that I ‘liked’ a video of Rep. Weiner addressing a gathering of construction workers in Washington, DC. I commented that it was ‘hot.’ That’s the only way I came into contact with him at first,” she wrote on the conservative Web site BigGovernment.com.
Actually, she said the video was “hottttt,” which must be hotter than hot. The congressman was so in need of being convinced of his own hotness, he forgot that Rielle Hunter first snagged John Edwards by telling him that he was “hot.”
It’s unlikely that the Megan Broussards and Rielle Hunters of America would tell a bus driver or janitor that he was hot.
“Men in power get advances from women all the time. It is how they respond to those advances that defines their character,” someone from Fort Worth, Texas posted on the New York Times Web site.
The more mundane cases are like that of former Marion County Superior Court Judge Lynn Ashcroft, who almost escaped notice. He resigned last year after the state Department of Justice questioned him about his personal relationship with a woman who appeared before him on drug charges. As detailed by Steve Duin of The Oregonian, Ashcroft had personal contact with Heather Lynn Parks while her case was pending, then requested the case be assigned to him and later dismissed the charges. Parks rewarded the judge by e-mailing him a topless photo of herself. Eventually there were hundreds of text messages, some that investigators described as sexting.
The story came to light only this past March when Ashcroft, seeking to coattail on recent accusations that Justice Department investigators bully people, contacted reporters. His attempt to portray himself as the victim of bullying backfired when it was revealed that as judge he liked to ingratiate himself with selected women litigants.
Considering how ubiquitous these stories are, it’s surprising that they are ever surprising. So many cultures on this planet accommodate the male ego and the male sex drive. Most institutions everywhere are run by men. Would a majority of women change things, even if they could? Clearly there are some females happy to settle for the sexual power of youth, not realizing until they are older what a hollow achievement that is.
Judge Gibson’s Mr. Bobo rebuke was 10 years ago, but his three-day judicial hearing, which catalogued every bra snap and leering compliment (“Isn’t that the best-looking pair of legs and ass you’ve ever seen?”) didn’t hurt his career. This past December, Gibson received another rebuke for more inappropriate conduct from the state Commission on Judicial Performance.
He’s still a judge.
– Pamela Fitzsimmons
Couldn’t help but think of this blog earlier today. I read that the Washington Post in combination with the New York Times has got hold of 24,000 emails of the Palin governorship. They are asking readers for help in digging through them. For what…?
Unlike Hillary, she is a woman who came to power on her own hook by challenging the legitimacy of the established power within her own party. After routing the entrenched interests she was elected to executive position as an authentic reformer.
Hillary rose to power on the cynical abuse of her own cynical husband’s abuse of power. And she then gouged her way with the her husband’s aid up into the position of world elite. Her daughter’s recent wedding recalled nothing so much as a European royal wedding. She is now of the same class as the recent head of the International Monetary Fund with whom she and Bill are (were) doubtless friends and intimates.
My point is that Palin has been subjected to the sort of ugly and relentless scrutiny that Hillary is nearly a stranger to (although when attempts have got close to her, the phalanx of loyalists and the obliged close tight in around her).Imagine Couric or any media or high profile woman chasing her in a pack and then being lauded for doing so.
People excuse Hilary’s opacity in matters financial and political but delight in the rape of Palin as a public figure.
Go ahead and dig deep into Palin, after all she’s a public figure, but why not Hilary and Obama?
It was cause of my break with my liberal friends here in Portland when they felt obliged to begin sentences with, “That f—ing c-nt Palin.” While I would not vote for her for president, I do admire her achievements in life and her as a person.
The sort of brutality that has been directed at Palin surely stems in part from her being a woman and especially the wrong kind of woman. And, evidently sometimes it is alright for our betters to finger and to fondle and to degrade a woman publicly.
That is what the evidence of the last few years of Palin hate testifies to. Fortunately, most women in media and academia don’t mind.
I am no fan of Palin’s politics, but you are right: She is “the wrong kind of woman.” So is Condoleezza Rice, another woman the media love to gang up on; she is the wrong kind of black woman. She does not play to stereotype.
The first time I ever heard of Palin was when I worked at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash. She was running for governor, and since she had gone to college in the Idaho panhandle — part of our circulation area — one of our reporters interviewed her. I don’t remember anything remarkable that she said in that interview. What I do remember is that when I saw the mug shot we were going to run, I noticed she was very attractive. Her looks shouldn’t matter, but the truth is: If she looked like Laura Bush, the media would have never been as intrigued with her.
Now these e-mails have sent the media into overdrive. I don’t get it. She is no longer a public official, and she hasn’t formally announced for president. And so what if she does? Several other candidates already have. Are we going to do an e-mail dump on them? This could backfire on the media. Even people like me, who don’t like Palin’s politics, feel like she is being singled out. The media have helped sustain her national profile. It’s a strange love/hate relationship they have with her.
Regarding your reference to Chelsea Clinton: At one point (before Hillary announced for president) I remember reading that Chelsea was working for a hedge fund. After the presidential campaign got under way, and the financial markets were imploding, I never heard another word about Chelsea’s former job. Hillary wanted her daughter on the campaign but off-limits, and that’s what she got.
Yes, it was North Idaho College that caught my attention as I attended that school when leaving the woods and mills.
Lot of the women I knew in my working life were very good people and similar to Palin in character. Many could farm, hunt, skin, fish, and one I knew could drop big timber on a dime and give you nine cents change. They paid their bills, looked after their families, and they didn’t look to the government for much. They weren’t especially noble they just lived the best lives they could make for themselves.
Oh, perhaps there is something noble in the non-ideologic character driven life.
I’ve never heard Palin say anything hateful.
The media never get too far mano a mano with Rice she is articulate, expert, and self-confident.
Is this guy Gibson out of Barstow?? He got in trouble for a bunch of embarassing stuff. Same guy right?? We moved and Inever heard anything else about him. Hard to believe he got in trouble again. Don’t you think that being stuck in Barstow is punishment? Sounds like he never got a promotion if he’s still there. Hate the Oregon rain but at least it’s not Barstow.
Yes, Gibson is assigned to the court in Barstow. A lot of Superior Court judges stay in one spot. He may not have wanted to go elsewhere.
As for Barstow, I try not to trash other people’s towns because that’s home to them. For most of my adult life I’ve lived where my work took me, and rarely was that some place that I wanted to live. That said, all I remember about Barstow is that it was good place to stop for a bathroom break on the way to Vegas. Also, it’s not a suburb of anything. It has its own distinct character.
Welcome to Oregon. May the sun shine on you.
Pamela