People like Dann and this crew forget that what they’re doing is supposed to be about PUBLIC service, not service to “friends,” as you point out.

I find the Dann incident to be sadly typical. Of course Anthony Gutierrez is his ‘friend’ and so are many other people both in and out of government. In fact, one might say that ANY government structure, Republican or Democrat, is a network of ‘friends’ who share one common goal-propagation of their power and influence. People outside of their circle of ‘friends’ (which can and often do cross political party boundaries) are truly outsiders even though they are stakeholders in the system.

This is why I don’t think Redfern will say anything. And it was the same in the GOP under Taft. It’s a systemic problem with the political culture.

And with Barrett it has turned from farce to tragedy. He should resign. He’s a scumbag for blaming his son. I would rather die than accuse my son(s) of doing anything I was responsible for.

Thanks for writing about this. The lack of professionalism on the part of the AG and the staff who are involved in this mess is astounding. If Dann stays in office, there’s no chance that the Dems will hold onto that seat, and he may well hurt the Democratic Presidential nominee’s chances this fall. We need a competent Democrat in that office.

Pfft re: victim status of women. The opposite is what I want: declaration that women will lead, shall lead and are supported on their way to leading.

Redfern isn’t doing that and if he is, it’s not loud enough and if it’s been loud, his message isn’t getting through because people like Dann and Barrett are behaving the way they allegedly are behaving and that is with great disrespect to women.

Damn straight companies should condemn such acts – when there was plagiarism by the White House director of public liaison a couple of months ago, it was a farce that no one denounced it more.

This administration (Bush) has made it seem ok to say nothing. That is wrong.

Blogs are about speaking up – if we don’t speak up – how does anyone know? Behavior is one thing – but I don’t see what’s being done to show that women can, will and shall be respected by the ODP in the face of this other crap.

Do you?

I still don’t see why Redfern has to make the statement. This scandal has nothing to do with him, the party, or with politics. It just happened to occur in a government office. If it occurred at say, Pfizer, would we ask the head of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assoc to make a statement? If it was a bank would we ask the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to make a statement?

Redfern is not responsible for the behavior of state officials or other Democrats for that matter. All he can do is what any other organizational leader can do: eliminate those who violate rules and laws.

Now if you’re asking for that, that would be one thing. But to demand a statement that basically says “We think these bad things are bad” seems pointless. If the behavior is to be denounced it should be denounced by the public, not a party official who has nothing to do with the office where it occurred.

It’s also worth considering why sexual harassment occurs. It’s not because it hasn’t been denounced. Racism doesn’t occur because it hasn’t been denounced. Discrimination doesn’t occur because it hasn’t been denounced. Murder doesn’t occur because it isn’t denounced. There will always be smart people who do stupid things. All we can do is try to prevent it and ensure consequences when it happens.

If the system works, sexual harassers would lose their credibility and job status and face legal consequences. That’s a lot more than a statement can do.

I have a hunch that what you’re really after is not an end to discrimination but rather an official acknowledgment of the victim status of women. Is there any of that in your feelings about this issue?

(pardon the length)

Yeah – I’d been holding off on Dann – wanting to write about that use of “friend” for a while -just no time til now.