By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) OCT 1 | Yesterday, Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss called Joe Jervis, the editor and publisher of the widely popular LGBT political website Joe.My.God, to apologise for a homophobic slur left in the comments section by one of the Senator's aides.
Reporting from New York:
By Joe Jervis (New York, New York) SEPT 30 | I just got off the phone with Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who said he was calling to personally apologize for the "All faggots must die" comment left here on JMG last Tuesday. I'll paraphrase what Chambliss said to me, but reporters, pleasedon't excerpt any of this as his exact words.
CHAMBLISS: "Joe, I don't know if you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, but none of that should matter. Because what was said on your blog by someone from my office is just not acceptable, no matter who is saying it and who it's being said to. I just want to offer my sincerest apologies. There has been some talk about how long it's taking to find the person behind this, but we just wanted to be very careful and handed this off to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, because this is going to seriously impact somebody's life and we wanted to make sure we got this right. So again, I just wanted to call you and personally apologize."
JMG: "Thank you, Senator. I do appreciate the call and I do accept your apology on the condition that your office issues a public statement repeating what you've just said to me. I'd also like the disposition of your staffer's job status to be made public."
CHAMBLISS: (Speaking to someone in his office: "Has that gone out yet?) "Joe, I believe our statement is ready and will be going out this afternoon."
I'll post the official statement from Sen. Chambliss' office as soon as I get it.
UPDATE: Here it is.
CHAMBLISS: "Joe, I don't know if you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, but none of that should matter. Because what was said on your blog by someone from my office is just not acceptable, no matter who is saying it and who it's being said to. I just want to offer my sincerest apologies. There has been some talk about how long it's taking to find the person behind this, but we just wanted to be very careful and handed this off to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, because this is going to seriously impact somebody's life and we wanted to make sure we got this right. So again, I just wanted to call you and personally apologize."
JMG: "Thank you, Senator. I do appreciate the call and I do accept your apology on the condition that your office issues a public statement repeating what you've just said to me. I'd also like the disposition of your staffer's job status to be made public."
CHAMBLISS: (Speaking to someone in his office: "Has that gone out yet?) "Joe, I believe our statement is ready and will be going out this afternoon."
I'll post the official statement from Sen. Chambliss' office as soon as I get it.
UPDATE: Here it is.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss issued the following statement this afternoon:Last Night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC:
"The office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms has concluded its investigation, and I responded to that report immediately with the removal of a member of my staff. I commend the Sergeant at Arms, Terrance Gainer, and his staff for their very thorough and professional work.
"I have called Mr. Jervis, the blog’s author, and apologized to him personally, and I am sorry for the hurt this incident has caused. Regardless of one’s position on issues and policies, such comments are simply unacceptable, are not befitting those who work in the U.S. Senate, and I will not tolerate them from my staff."
Posts
1 comments:
Notably absent from the apology is an expression that the sentiment behind the original statement is abhorrent too. It reminds me of the term "faint praise" for some reason.
Post a Comment