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Fear Not, Congressional Lechers — Help Is on the Way!
According to this article in the Washington Post, the House is beginning “important steps” to require members and staff to undergo mandatory training to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination. The Senate is expected to follow suit (paradoxically, in an effort to forestall suits, I suppose).
Both Republicans and Democrats are getting behind (can I say behind?) efforts to stop these boobs from embarrassing themselves and their once-respected and hallowed halls and institutions any more than they already have.
Yes, indeed. A training session a few hours long, imposed upon the likes of John Conyers and Al Franken, reminding them that it is not ok to hold meetings with their staffers while wearing only their underwear, or that any sort of photograph where they appear to be about to grab the breasts of a sleeping woman is in spectacularly bad taste, will fix them right up. All the morals, ethics, common sense and wisdom that they either weren’t born with, or that they’ve failed to acquire during their succeeding 88 and 66 years (respectively) on this earth, will suddenly burst into their heads fully-formed, like Minerva in reverse.
Here’s hoping they don’t grab her butt as she flies by.
Published in Humor
Tough NOT to!
This is what happens to an organization that exempts itself from the laws that it passes. They begin to believe that they’re above the law.
I think the best way to prevent this from happening in the future, is to make congress subject to all the laws it passes.
There you go again. Blaming the victim . . . .
Having survived a veritable plethora of every imaginable kind of workplace training over the past thirty-five years, I am amusing myself by inventing role-playing scenarios and multiple choice quizzes for this sort of thing.
The great thing about a training system like this is it can be made into a system of certified, licensed and subsidized lecherism.
Can you say boobs?
In any case, about time they endure what they forced me to endure yea these many years ago.
They can hold the training on the floor of the House when They are all assembled at the same time….. the State of the Union. Apropos, no?
The lecturer is a Lady and when She makes Her way down the aisle toward the lectern everyone is standing, clapping, and cheering (as normal), but a number of Reps are pinching Her rear, “honking” Her chest, whistling….
A coworker bends over a tight skirt in front of you. Do you…?
A) slap her butt in a friendly gesture, as athletes often do
B) yell “Hump Day!” and mention that funny commercial with the camel
C) throw loose change on the floor in front of her
D) assume its just another male employee in a skirt and walk away
E) immediately report yourself to the nearest Temple of Tolerance for having glanced at any part of another human being without written consent signed by a notary and a Public Dibs Inspector
Has there ever been any evidence that these mandatory training sessions actually work to prevent sexual harassment?
Are you shaking your head? Is that a “no”?
I didn’t think so.
But we feel so good about ourselves for mandating it. And then we get to pretend the problem is solved! QED!
Anyone keeping count of the number of Democrats vs. the number of Republicans being caught up in this sudden streak of moralism?
Yeah, that’s wrong of me to make comparisons, but I’m guessing the ratio is something like 80/20?
And the reason: the Republicans are not more virtuous — it’s just that they really do have to fear the MSM going after them for any slight. They know they are being watched for any mistake and the Dems are watched for any virtue (so they can write a puff piece).
Just wanted to “like” this more than once.
The purpose of “mandatory training” is not to prevent something, but to establish as a legal matter, that something is institutionally disapproved, thus relieving the institution of any future stain for the conduct of individual members. It is a “virtuous thing” having value only in its “virtue” and not in its effectiveness. It is the very definition of progressive thought.
Conservative thought is to individually and directly act against a perpetrator. This action reinforces one’s individual dignity. The action is calling the person out and daring them to take an adverse action as a result of your self-defense. This actually prevents and deters.
Mandatory training simply signals that in the future the perpetrator has to be more sly about it.
You are a male. A female teenager is visiting your office to receive an award and take a photo. Please circle your appropriate action:
a) Lean down and smell her hair
b) Pull her uncomfortably close to you for the picture
c) Place your hands oddly near her chest
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
d) is “Biden appropriate”
My experience with the various harassment training is that they tend to cause an increase in charges, suits, claims, etc as minorities discover what little actions can be used to claim harassment and that there is absolutely no ramifications of making false charges and destroying peoples careers.
But I wonder – if the Lady Lecturer is nervous – does she imagine her audience is naked?
I think this is the best comment I have ever read here on Ricochet. I spent 33 years at ExxonMobil going through this garbage, most of it in the latter half of my career.
Drew,
Wasn’t this the first postulate of the Obama Administration? “Pretending is our most important product.”
Regards,
Jim
That is it exactly. “We told him in no uncertain terms that we would not tolerate such behavior.” It is part of an effort to mitigate the employer’s responsibility. If it dissuades a creep in advance, that’s all to the good, but it isn’t the primary purpose.
At Kaiser in California we had a situation.
In the ER stress levels can be sky high. On one occasion we had a bad pediatric resuscitation, and everyone in the department felt it. One of the docs took it particularly hard. One of the nurses rubbed his neck for a few seconds, through his scrubs and lab coat. A completely innocuous, human gesture.
A third party witnessed it, felt “uncomfortable” and reported it as “creating a hostile work environment”.
So because one disturbed individual felt uncomfortable, we all had to endure an HR training session, which by the way ended up in a shouting match between the infuriated ER staff and the poor HR weinie who had to give the talk.
I can’t wait to see any other suggestions for wasting our tax dollars. Let’s remember that they only work three days per week, and they’ll be spending part of that time in training sessions. OMG. Hey, let’s have them go to the training on their own time! ;-)
A cis-gendered male looks at you with a glint in his eye. Do you….?
A) immediately notify your department’s Glints and Penumbras Inspector
B) call a department conference to discuss your feelings
C) smile politely, joke about it, then quietly file charges for rape
D) inform your manager for an instant, no-questions-asked salary bonus
E) request a free burqa from Human Resources and Pre-Crime Development so you do not invite glinting in the future
Aaron, whatever your calling is, I think you’ve missed it!
The world has gone insane.
I thought we were speaking of Congress.
Inadvisable. She is armed and dangerous.
Wonder when the Libs will discover the telecommuting loophole and change laws to require telecommuters to engage in harrassment training. Heh.
It’s true. At that session you had a hostile work environment.