Connecticut State Rep. Ernest Hewett, a five-term Democrat from New London, is desperately trying to explain a comment made to a high school girl during a hearing on the funding of youth programs. The girl had explained that one of the youth programs had cured her of her fear of snakes. Hewett then suggested that he had a snake under the desk for her to test herself on. Hewett insisted that the comment was entirely innocent and not sexual but he has been stripped of his leadership title. On his legislative site (which is still announcing his promotion to the leadership), Hewitt posts the defining quote of his career: “Never get so high that no one can touch you, never get so low that no one will want to touch you.” It appears that no one is touching Hewitt, or his snake, this week.
After the girl was told that she was a great spokesperson for the center in question, Hewett added: “If you’re bashful I got a snake sitting under my desk here.” There was audible laughter in the room after the shocking comment.
Hewett later insisted that “What I meant to say was, if you are shy then I have an acre of land in the Everglades.” That was equally bizarre.
The president of the science center, Matt Fleury, said Friday he had passed an apology from Hewett on to the girl and she had accepted it.
Hewett said that he never had problems with female in the office, but that “I purposely will not have female interns.” Just for the record, most men are able to hire female assistants without unexplained fears or concerns. Then there is the little problem of discrimination in hiring that Hewett appears to have publicly embraced as a defense.
By the way, the last we discussed New London was when the politicians and citizens of that city used eminent domain to take the homes of their neighbors against their wishes and give them to a pharmaceutical company promising to build a facility on the site. It was a shocking act of abuse that the Court inexplicably upheld in Kelo v. The City of New London. For many, the decision of the company to then abandon its plans, after the city betrayed its own citizens and carried the cost of years of litigation, was poetic justice.
Here is an audiotape of the hearing.
Source: ABC
You folks are all racists. This gent was just “keepin’ it real” and “talking street trash.” How about some racial sensitivity. Maybe his conduct doesn’t comport w/ your sexual mores, but we need more inclusiveness in our culture.
nice asp, Elaine
AY,
I can’t see any way that it was an innocent comment. It only makes sense with the sexual connotation.
aghhhhh, she can’t take a choke, I mean a joke.
Sad that while his inappropriate comment was certainly crude, he is removed from his leadership position while so many worse insults to justice and ethics by politicians are often ignored.
Elaine,
the above was in response to your asp joke
Elaine,
no fang-letters for him
P Smith,
You can post links in a comment–but not more than two or it will go into moderation.
bettykath – The only post of mine that was deleted was one using a synonym for swine, in regard to law enforcement, never the George Carlin Seven Words. In this thread I included links to screenshots of Fox Nuisance.
One can’t include links, yet if one doesn’t some chump will say “Cite a source”. How (asking rhetorically, not of you) are people supposed to back up their arguments if they’re not allowed to include links?
P.Smith & bettykath:
On the moderation front, the decision to approve comments rests with JT and, in the event of a guest blogger’s article, with JT and the guest blogger. On any of my articles, you can always post a comment requesting approval and I will take a look at it and let you know. It’s usually best to make the request sometime during the weekend it is written.
~Mark Esposito
PSmith, I edited out the important part: edit your post and resubmit. If too many links, make it more than one post.
PSmith, no one monitors the moderated emails. I have a couple in the to-be-moderated land myself.
You probably have more than 2 links or you used one of the offending words (that’s easily gotten around by creative misspellings). If I tell you the words, this will go into moderation, but I don’t remember the words.
Why do our legislators seem to have no sense of time and place?!
I hope someone there stood-up for the child and yelled-out that that was disgusting and inappropriate.
the ‘gentleman’ should be escorted from the premises and provided with a size 12 brogan send off. There is no excuse for what he did, none.
For anyone who believes in the myth of a “liberal media”, prove it: Find a single instance of the corporate media labelling Hewitt as being a “republican”.
Fox Nuisance repeatedly labelled republiclowns as being “democrats” after they were caught with their pants down, figuratively and/or literally:
– Mark “hiker” Sanford
– Larry “t-room” Craig
– Ted “bribe me” Stephens
– Mark “short eyes” Foley
You can find pictures of all three incidents easily. Fox Nuisance has also done that to republicans who didn’t toe the teabagger line (John McCain, Arlen Specter when he was still a republican).
That sort of crap doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen in the other direction. I doubt anyone will be able to find a single instance of mislabelled democrats, and certainly not Hewitt.
I tried to post links to images, but Turley’s site put the post in “moderation”. Has anyone’s post ever been approved after being held?
From the article:
“Hewett also told the paper he went several years without an intern because he only wanted male interns, and couldn’t control who was assigned to him.
“They may give me a female, but I don’t want a female intern,” he told Courant staff . “That may sound sexist, but I really don’t. That way that keeps me good, and that keeps everybody else good.”
********************
Memo to Hewett: If it takes someone else to keep you “good,” you’re probably not “good.”
We get the government we deserve.
Methinks Rep. Hewett made an asp of himself.
Raff,
Like so many… Could it be an innocent comment….
This guy is an abuser in sheep’s clothing.
It would be justice if the all that money came from the crooks who did it. As it is, the taxpapers get hosed again. Please tell me someone investigated the bank accounts of the the people who made the deal.