Republican in MA takes foul language to kids

also at Lutton Square

Skipping the step of hiring a foul mouthed blogger for his campaign team, MA Republican State Senator Scott Brown took his directly to the kids.  (Of course the kids took it to him first)

So much for 'what will we tell the children?'

[Republican] state senator read profanity-laced criticism posted online about him in a talk to high school students in his district about his opposition to gay marriage.

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, defended his use of foul language during an assembly at King Philip Regional High School on Thursday by saying he was only repeating what had been written about him. The comments were posted on a Facebook.com page dedicated to a pro-gay rights history teacher at the school.
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"He was doing it loudly and pretty angrily," student Rachel William told WHDH-TV about Brown's reading of the Facebook postings. "Some of the teachers tried to stop him, and said things like 'You shouldn't be naming students.' "

Student Stephen Small said: "Some teachers immediately were outraged to hear the language that was used ... some people still feel it was inappropriate to read them word for word."

•  there's little point ridiculing

  Massachusetts Republicans - they do it to themselves - though it is nice to see Republicans acting like themselves even here in the People's Repblic.  Republican state senators here are so far in the minority and have been for so long that most of them don't know what a senator is supposed to do anymore.

  The surprising thing here is that someone took the time to write something bad about the guy.  Why bother?

  by klondike on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 06:53:03 PM PDT

  •  I almost hate pointing this out, my State Senator

    The Republican leader in the State Senate, Richard Tisei, has been very outspoken in support of the marriage decision.

    Its a real shame that he is a Republican.

    But your comment is humourous , as is the good Brown's  "I feel very badly that I'm being victimized here," he said."

    LOL........have a thicker skin....its most likely your constituents who cant stand your positions that are posting this.

    by Osiris on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 06:58:12 PM PDT

    •  It's funny, but I think it's true

      that the pathetic state of the Republican party in Massachusetts is not good for us.  In most seats, the actual election is a game of inside baseball played out among Democratic 'powers' in the primary, or even before that in determining if there will even BE a primary.

      And of course the lack of credible challenges to Kennedy, Kerry and all our reps have given them seats for life, and frozen everyone under them in places that, for lack of a better phrase, don't fulfill their ambitions.

      Don't feel bad - we have our own thuglican just north of here - Bob "stop the train" Hedlund.  He's so inconsequential that he's grown a beard - I kid you not.  I can't remember the last time I saw an American politician grow a beard.  Maybe he's joined the Taliban.

      by klondike on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:42:25 PM PDT

•  Let the freeping begin...

  Here's the douschbag's contact information!

  http://www.mass.gov/...

  by sternsieger on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 06:55:08 PM PDT

  •  ah, that's not cool

    He doesn't deal with the influx of email / calls / etc...his staff does.  And it's likely they already know better than to talk dirty to kids...

    by lutton on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:00:38 PM PDT

    •  And honestly...just how the hell do you think

      people are supposed to communicate their displeasure with politicians? None of them pick up their own phones, you know. The staff handles feedback and whether it's good or not, the pricks do here about it.

      Besides, if you can't handle working for a politician, especially a bigot who feels so maligned for being called out on being a bigot, he has to go vent on a bunch of high school students! Give me a break!

      by sternsieger on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:08:12 PM PDT

      •  freeping it got me going

        In my mind that implies mass contact from people he doesn't represent.

        I certainly hope that his consitiuents and other MA residents repectfully indicate their concern about this incident.

        I won't be contact him directly, but I'll probably mention it to my friends who live up there.  

        If I can show this to a few MA residents and get them to not trust or support this guy, that's better in my mind than my out of state contact...

        I think the big thing that got me was the Freep reference...

        by lutton on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:15:50 PM PDT

        •  The problem is his district...

          ... Wrentham and environs is fairly purple.  There are a few other places in the state (Hello, Boxborough!), but out of 160+ communities, we're still very, very blue.

          The Republican party in MA is nearly moribund; there are 5 GOP state senators (of 40) and 29 state representatives (of 160).  No constitutional office is held by the GOP; in fact, the Green Party had more candidates in 2006 than the GOP.

          Brown is going to have a lot of trouble in his constituency, though I'd be looking for a GOP alderman or selectman or councilor from the area to take him in the '08 primary.

          The gay marriage issue crosses party lines here in a big way.  Two of the recently ousted anti-equality legislators (Goguen and Parente) are Democrats.

          by FlyingToaster on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:11:34 PM PDT

        •  I won't be contact him directly, but I'll probabl

          "I won't be contact him directly, but I'll probably mention it to my friends who live up there"

          Why not? If you object to what he's about, why DON'T YOU say something about it instead of expecting others to? You have the power, use it!

          by sternsieger on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 12:25:44 AM PDT

•  So he hangs out at facebook?

  by Osiris on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 06:59:28 PM PDT

•  what specific language?

  Anyone know the specific words he used?

  What's needed is to publicize it far & wide, under the header  "this is how the people who hate gays talk to children."

  by G2geek on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:03:30 PM PDT

  •  yes and no

    he quoted the kids who wrote nasty things about him

    I don't think you can pin the nastiness thing on him for that, although the logic of quoting it to a whole audience of teens is suspect.

    by lutton on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:06:30 PM PDT

•  oh and interview the teacher

  who tried to stop him.

  Ask her exactly what the language was.  Ask her how she felt about him talking filth to children.  Ask her about how the kids were reacting.  Get a decent interview and run it.  

  And then, try to find the kids and interview them.  

  by G2geek on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:05:43 PM PDT

•  Perfect illustration of fake wingnut "outrage"

  This fits well with the pearl clutching over Edwards' bloggers.  Language and rhetoric so shocking, so indecent, that it should never be spoken.  You won't believe what these horrible people said.  Listen to what they said, soak in every word . . .

  These disgusting sentiments are so vile, they have to broadcast them widely so that people who would never have heard them anyway can hear them and be appalled by these words that should never be used.

  What makes this pure comedy is he said these words in front of a bunch of kids -- some of whom wrote them -- to make the point that kids should never hear these words, so you kids should hear these words you should never hear so that you know not to hear these words.

  Or something.

  by Aplomb on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:06:10 PM PDT

•  His daughter is Ayla Brown

  She was a Top 12 finalist on American Idol last season and is currently a freshman basketball player at Boston College.

  Strange but true. His wife is TV anchor Gail Huff.

  by Scoonie on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:10:49 PM PDT

  •  Wow...so not even the wife wanted to

    take this a-hole's last name? Telling in and of itself.

    by sternsieger on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:15:01 PM PDT

    •  Not really.

      A lot of us like the name we're born with. I kept mine to the everlasting chagrin of a clerk at NAS Pensacola who did everything except threaten to have me court martialed (I am a civilian) to force me to do so.  It was a second marriage, and I kept my name the first time too.

      My husband left kiteboard bewildered by telling her, "Why should she? We have different fathers. Besides, I married her. I didn't adopt her."

      Clutching my new I.D. card, we left as the woman's head exploded.

      I know you meant this as a joke, and it WAS funny, but there are some solid reasons why a professional woman wouldn't change her name other then her husband being an asshole (which should be grounds for divorce in every state).

      by irishwitch on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:16:46 PM PDT

      •  "Kitebaord"

        (what anodd change for spellcheck to make) should be "the broad".

        by irishwitch on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:17:21 PM PDT

      •  Most right wingers...

        especially of the anti-gay marriage ilk, expect their wives to be subservient, so they would expect their wives to take their name. If not, where is the "sanctity of marriage"?

        by sternsieger on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 12:17:25 AM PDT

  •  that is in the article

    but I didn't think it germane to the discussion.

    I saw that some of the facebook posts reference her, and that's not cool.  Unless they were critiquing her singing...

    by lutton on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:21:18 PM PDT

•  We have Repubs here?

  I didn't even think there were any left. Hmm.

  by MacheteJames on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:19:51 PM PDT

  •  Bill Weld was the last decent one

    I thought Romney would end them permanetly. I suspect all remaining MA Rethugs are confined to Hingham.

    by McGirk on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:37:26 PM PDT

    •  Wenham or Dover i think....

      by Osiris on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 07:55:34 PM PDT

      •  Boxborough. Definitely Boxborough.

        by FlyingToaster on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:12:42 PM PDT

•  Bottom line:

  He's an adult and a politician. He has the responsibility to act like an adult and an elected official. They are kids. Kids do stupid things and are frequently politically incorrect.  End of story.  

  by irishwitch on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:13:39 PM PDT

•  Heckuva job, Brownie (n/t)

  by Nowhere Man on Fri Feb 09, 2007 at 08:30:08 PM PDT

•  More on Brown

  His candidacy for state senate was pushed by Romney back in 2004. He replaced Cheryl Jacques, who left to be head of Human Rights Campaign, and in 2001 he had publicly cast aspersions on Jacques's decision to have a child with her lesbian partner (he was a state rep within her senate district at the time). He took office as senator just before the first MA vote on gay marriage in summer '04, and his replacing Jacques was obviously a lost vote for same-sex marriage proponents.

  Brown was considered a possible GOP lieutenant governor candidate last year, though he didn't end up the running mate of landslide loser Kerry Healey. Now he's being talked about as a possible 2008 Senate challenger to John Kerry--Curt Schilling was also a name recently discussed in that regard.

  Finally, I think Brown's modeling career is rather interesting. The links are dead on this page, but the implication is that lewd photos of the man are out there. Considering his proclivity for dumb comments to high school kids, though, he may never get to the point where such oppo research is necessary. To answer the question on what he said, the Globe says he dropped two f-bombs yesterday in front of about 80 high school sophomores.

  by Dimmy Karras on Sat Feb 10, 2007 at 01:22:28 PM PDT