D2R Bad for Larsen?

[BigSkyBob]

http://www.rollcall.com/news/hohs_one_minute_recess_larsen_sacks_slacker_tweeters-210912-1.html?pos=hln

Well, the staffers were out to achieve a December to Remember, and I'm sure they will remember being fired vividly for the rest of their lives.

How much electoral consequences will Larsen have to face for hiring them, and, seemingly not noticing their behavior?

[BigSkyBob]

Why would you blame Larsen for this? It's not his fault when his 20-year old staffers turn into massive douches overnight.

The office allowance Larsen has is not his money. It is the people's money. He has some fiduciary responsibility to the American people that it is not wasted.

That I wouild have to explain this simple fact to you just goes to show out of touch the political class is.

[BigSkyBob]

If Republicans would like to spend time and money attacking Larsen over this incident then by all means go ahead.

First, the matter should be submitted to the Ethics Committee.

[BigSkyBob]

If Republicans would like to spend time and money attacking Larsen over this incident then by all means go ahead.

First, the matter should be submitted to the Ethics Committee.

LOL good one

Just goes to show how out of touch the political class is. Taxpayer's money, seemingly, was grossly wasted. There has to be accountability.

[BigSkyBob]

If Republicans would like to spend time and money attacking Larsen over this incident then by all means go ahead.

First, the matter should be submitted to the Ethics Committee.

LOL good one

Just goes to show how out of touch the political class is. Taxpayer's money, seemingly, was grossly wasted. There has to be accountability.

Yeah, there was accountability - all the staffers got fired.

Larsen's own account for their firing is that they were terminated for politically embarassing him. That isn't firing them for destroying taxpayer property, or wasting taxpayer funds. Larsen stated those questions were secondary.

The point is that Larsen ought to be accountable for using his office allotment in a proper fashion. He didn't. He should be subject for an ethics investigation. After all, one of staffers tweeted about purposely destroying government property for kicks.

[BigSkyBob]

If Republicans would like to spend time and money attacking Larsen over this incident then by all means go ahead.

First, the matter should be submitted to the Ethics Committee.

LOL good one

Just goes to show how out of touch the political class is. Taxpayer's money, seemingly, was grossly wasted. There has to be accountability.

Yeah, there was accountability - all the staffers got fired.

Larsen's own account for their firing is that they were terminated for politically embarrassing him. That isn't firing them for destroying taxpayer property, or wasting taxpayer funds. Larsen stated those questions were secondary.

You wouldn't happen to have a cite for your claim that Larsen indicated he considered those questions secondary, would you?  Unless you do, please STFU about this. Your hyper-partisan unsubstantiated spin is making Politco's unceasing posts about how Gingrich will be a disaster and Romney is the Republican's only hope to defeat the Obama Empire look like an example of erudition and scholarship in comparison.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

And we all know that no one ever lies or exaggerates on the Internet.  Bad office management does not equal an ethical lapse tho it may be something the voters choose to consider at the next election.

Here is the article I read:


Drunken Idiot Congressman Fires Disloyal Staffers
 
Representative Rick Larsen (D-Wash) dismissed three legislative aides after learning that they had “tweeted” tales of his on-the-job drunkenness, goofing off, and idiocy.
 
“It’s a simple question of loyalty,” Larsen explained. “Anybody on my payroll is paid to make me look good, to help me be reelected, to serve my needs. If they can’t do that I don’t want them.”
 
Larsen declined to address whether there was any truth to the tweets. “As Pontius Pilate once asked, ‘what is truth?’” Larsen recalled. “The perspectives of these ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ novices cannot be taken seriously. I’ve been in Congress for over a decade. My constituents obviously have confidence that I’m not a drunk, a goof-off, or an idiot. Until they say otherwise, let’s assume that I’m not.”


As you can see, he was lampooned rather mercilessly.

[BigSkyBob]

Why was this bumped?

The thread was not "bumped" in any way. 

I was asked a question, and, I provided the answer, if somewhat belatedly.

Questions have yet to be answered.

One of the tweets claimed that one of the staffers boasted about deliberately destroyed the Blackberry assigned to him. Did Larsen demand each staffer produce his Blackberry to ascertain whether, or not, public property had been willfully destroyed? I know that if I purposely smashed a government Blackberry I'd be charged with crime. If a staffer did commit that crime, and, Larsen chose to cover up that crime, then Larsen should be investigated.

There has been an underlying assumption by people here that Larsen's staffers were just acting like fraternity members, and, their actions ought to be judged by fraternity standards. They were public servants, using public property, and drawing a public salary.

[BigSkyBob]

FWIW, Larsen is in a safe Dem-pack district now, so no, this definitely won't hurt him.

Unless, D2R harms him in the Democratic primary.

[BigSkyBob]

FWIW, Larsen is in a safe Dem-pack district now, so no, this definitely won't hurt him.

^^^ This. 



I motion to lock the thread. 

A public official had an employee whom, apperently, deliberately destroyed government property, and that public official may have covered up that fact. Are you seriously advocating censorship of dissemination of that fact?

On what basis?