At a hearing on Tuesday, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) interrupted Brigadier General Michael Walsh to ask him to call her "Senator" instead of "Ma'am."
Watch the clip:
Senator Boxer was unacceptably disrespectful to a member of our armed forces. Brigadier General Walsh was addressing her in the respectful manner in which he has been trained to address female superiors. Ms. Boxer knows this. Further, Brigadier General Walsh, and any member of our armed forces, is as deserving of respect as any elected official.
Ms. Boxer owes the Brigadier General an apology for her grandstanding rudeness.
How do you see it? Vote to the left and comment below. Vote Closed. Was Senator Boxer rude to the General? Final tally: 580 yes (97%); 16 no (2%).
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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Chris Matthews said this on his June 18 program: "I guess the question is this: Had he said "sir" to a male senator, would that senator be correct in correcting the general? There is a history, however, and let us not forget, of male-female condescension in the U.S. Senate. Just recall the Anita Hill testimony of not too long ago. That just might encourage a woman senator to insist on the title, senator. That being said, an Army spokesman later today says "sir, ma'am, or senator" are all deemed appropriate under the protocol when addressing a U.S. Senator. That's their story.”
So the General is clearly guilty of male-female condescension, Mr. Matthews? Maybe you should do what I did and actually research the story before commenting. I checked out more of the hearing at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Choose&Hearing_id=c7026be1-802a-23ad-4fa3-4c8ed0b6d074. Was the General treating her Highness differently and more deferentially than the other senators? I randomly started at about 46.00 and ended around 1.09.00. In that time period Gen. Walsh addressed Sen. Vitter as "sir" 14 times and as "Senator" twice; he addressed Sen. Landrieu as "ma'am" 6 times and as "Senator" twice (and once as "sir" which he quickly corrected to "ma'am"). Neither Sens. Vitter nor Landrieu apparently had a problem with the polite and respectful way they were addressed – even though they had ‘earned’ the same title as her Royal Senatorness.
The only thing Boxer and her blind lackey Matthews have earned is my sincere contempt. What a disgrace.
The best thing Boxer could do for this country, is to go back where she came from. We do not need her type. Mama is the correct word for the military to use in addressing a female. Time to clean out congress and from what I have been hearing and reading, it is going to happen.
how disgusting Boxer was to our Brig Gen. Hes had more time in the military than she has in Congress. Hes served our country to give the idiot Boxer the right to be rude and disrespectful to such an honorable man. good grief Boxer get over yourself.
She was right to correct him. He was giving ittle to her gender when he should have been giving title to her position, as it was her position, not her gender, that he was addressing.
I am in courts a lot. Male judges get called "your honor" regularly. Female judges get called "ma'am" regularly.
Why does a man automatically get the respect of his position and women have to fight for theirs?
I'll answer that, S E X I S M
I just e-mailed her office to let her know what an absolute arrogrant woman she showed herself to be in her exchange with Brig. Gen. Walsh. I'm ashamed to say that I live in California, but you can rest assured that I wouldn't vote for her for dogcatcherin 2010.How self-serving and condescending can one be?
"Ma'am" is short for "madam," from Old French "ma dame" (my lady), an honorific afforded nobles, aristocrats, and bosses. It is not sexist, it is the ultimate expression of respect. (The Queen of England is addressed as "Ma'am"). There is no male equivalent ("Sir" doesn't come close). Ms. Boxer is a vain, pretentious, and seemingly incredibly stupid woman, who could do with a brush-up on military customs. Officers typically address superiors as "Ma'am" or "Sir" after an initial recognition of rank, but inferiors by continuous reference to their (subordinate) titles.
Ms. Boxer has done nothing to earn anyone's respect or admiration, and certainly nothing to "earn" her silly title. It wasn't bestowed on her by a higher authority, it was gained by winning a popularity contest.
As a form of respect, the term Madam has never had the same status as the term Sir. But that's irrelevant to the issue, which is that a person in a business, government or military situation should be addressed with her or his official title.
Moreover, regardless of whether you are male or female, in the miliary or in the elected house of representatives, one should be addressed by their formal title unless and until they indicate that they prefer something else.
Keep in mind, this interaction did not occur at Fort Hood or on a military base, it occurred in a formal senate hearing at a meeting chaired by Boxer herself. Her meeting, her context/
And, the General REPORTS TO HER. He was in this situation reporting to her on the FAILURE of the group he manages to meet their construction deadlines.
Her authority as a senator and as the Committee Chair is higher than his, in this relative situation and also absolutely, which gives her even more of a reason to ass him to correct his mode of address.
Finally, you'll note that Walsh had no problem with her request.
CV said . . .
"Finally, you'll note that Walsh had no problem with her request."
No, because he had more class than she. As for the rest of your rant, I gather you flaunt some sort of pompous title yourself. Do you insist that magazines be delivered to ------- So and So?
The whole issue of titles is absurd in the extreme. I don't care what you call me or don't call me, and I don't care what you want to be called or don't want to be called. If you're such a important person wannabe, perhaps you can dub yourself God(dess) and cut right to the chase.
She needs to apologize BIG time to our respected General...she should no longer be a senator...such arrogance...really got into her head...she is only public servant...
I'd like to see more context of the their whole interaction before passing judgement. From my time in the military, I believe the proper protocol is to address a superior by formal title the first time in a day, i.e. 'Good Morning Senator', and then with either Sir or Ma'am for the rest of the same interaction, i.e. "Yes, Ma'am," or "No, Ma'am," to answer questions.
From this clip, Sen. Boxer seems like a total pompous Senator, but if this was the first time the General spoke to the Senator that day, that would be somewhat informal, yet still appropriately respectful.
You egotistical, self-aggrandizing, self-serving witch. That General did a whole lot more to EARN his title than you ever did! I'm thankful that you don't represent me or the great State of Nevada!
The issue is cut and dry, she is a disrespectful liberal who disdains the military, just like Bill Clinton et al.
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