Rep says send men home!
Jan-26-2010

Did you hear? Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter thinks all the fussing about health care would end "if men were 'sent home.'"

Wait, you heard something else? Maybe that the Rochester Democrat said it was "Republican women" who thought showing men the door was a good idea?

Maybe the differences comes down to which headlines caught your eye, but this much is clear: Shea-Porter's comments during a Manchester town hall meeting Saturday made national headlines Monday, prompting rebukes from state Republicans and forcing the two-term lawmaker's office to issue a statement.

Here's what she said, according to Foster's review of 55 seconds of video that made its way around the Web:

"We go the ladies room, the Republican women and the Democratic women, and we just roll our eyes at what's being put out there. And the Republican woman said when we were fighting over the health care bill, if we sent the men home we can get this done this weekend ..."

Her audience then broke in applause and hearty laughter.

"And you know why? You know why?" she continued. "I'm not trying to diss the men, but I can tell you that every single woman there has been responsible for taking care of her mother, her husband's mother, her children, her sister's children, her brother's children - and so we think we can find the common ground there. You see it in Maine. There are two women senators there, they work very well because there are issues we believe in being collaborative on."

The conservative Drudge Report linked to the video embedded in a report at TheHill.com, headlined "Dem lawmaker: Congress could pass health reform if men were 'sent home.'"

Over at BlueHampshire.com, a virtual town common for Granite State progressives, founder Dean Barker brought together the clip on YouTube and varying headlines to illustrate the "Anatomy of a Hit Job."

By Monday night, more than 18,000 people had viewed the clip on YouTube.

Newmarket resident Bob Bestani, a Republican running to challenge Shea-Porter in November, also issued a statement that said "Carol Shea-Porter was taped saying that 'if only we could send the men (in the U.S. Congress) home, we could pass the health care package.' She also went on to suggest that men do not care for their elderly parents or other family members."

He said "For her to make such statements is both sexist and highly arrogant. One can only imagine the field day that she would have if one of her male colleagues or challengers made such a remark. Such statements are beneath a member of Congress, but are sadly typical of Carol Shea-Porter's record in office."

The state GOP also jumped on what it called "bizarre" comments and provided a statement from state Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, who said she found Shea-Porter's remarks "divisive, uninformed and utterly embarrassing. The Congresswoman's ridiculous attempt to blame her male colleagues of both parties for the failures of her big government health care agenda shows that she is completely detached from reality."

Shea-Porter wasn't available for an interview Monday, spokeswoman Jamie Radice said.

"When Congresswoman Shea-Porter mentioned what the Republican Congresswoman had said, both men and women at the Town Hall laughed, because they knew the women were speaking lightly and with humor," Radice said.

Posted by jc at 4:59 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print