These Are the Folks We Charge With Vetting Our Presidential Candidates?
Don't think Iowa politics is all about butter sculptures and nice ladies with hot dishes hosting caucuses on snowy evenings every four years. Oh, no, sir. There's more going on in the Hawkeye State than that. From The Des Moines Register:
The depositions, taken under oath by about two-dozen lawmakers and legislative staffers, comprise more than 1,000 pages of documents previously unreleased to the public. They were part of a landmark sexual harassment case that resulted in the state of Iowa paying a $1.75 million settlement last year.
Multiple staff members watched pornography at work, including male staffers who gathered to view a video of topless women jumping on a trampoline to the tune of “Jingle Bells.” Staff members and lawmakers described female co-workers and lobbyists in lewd or sexually derogatory ways. For example, male legislative staffers would “go out in like a little pack,” assessing the physical attributes of female lobbyists. One male legislative employee called women "c----", a vulgar term referring to female genitalia. A senator gossiped with a colleague that a female senator was sexually promiscuous, while another senator asked a staff member on the Senate floor about the size of her nipples. The latter senator's drinking problems prompted a Senate leader to bring a breathalyzer to test his colleague before he spoke on the Senate floor.
I don't think the whole breathalyzer thing is a bad idea generally for most legislative bodies and, perhaps one day, for oral arguments in the Supreme Court, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. But the rest of this is grotesque, and I don't know how in the hell Iowa got out from under this for less than $2 million.
The misconduct detailed in the documents stretches back more than a decade. One current staffer, for example, testified that one of her co-workers was fired about 20 years ago for being pregnant. In retrospect, some senators now say the problems have been compounded by silence and inaction: When staffers came forward to complain about harassing behavior, little or nothing was done...
Anderson - who in a court deposition described feelings of shame and defeat because of the sexual harassment she experienced - said in a Register interview that her termination is evidence that the fear of retaliation is real. She describes the Legislature as “a culture of secrets.”
“Putting more sunshine on these issues is good, and I think it would have quashed my situation pretty fast,” Anderson said. “I think there needs to be more accountability. It’s disappointing that there hasn’t been, and there still isn’t.” The Capitol fosters an atmosphere that protects people who act badly, Anderson said. As an example, she pointed to the accusations in her lawsuit - documented by emails and multiple people’s testimony - detailing a December 2012 GOP staffer’s comment that a job applicant "likes rhythm." When a co-worker asked what he meant, the staffer - Jim Friedrich, a former GOP candidate for state representative - said in front of at least six people: "She likes the black d---," referencing male genitalia.
Keep in mind that, in about a year and a half, these people, and the people who elected them, will perform the first vetting of the candidates running for the office of President of the United States. I'm beginning to wonder if we should leave the whole thing to the Butter Cow.
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