Is this appropriate or desirable behavior for a vice president?

[Eeyore1954]

Originally posted by SOBDOSNV
Go get'em Cheney! Just a good ole boy talking in the fashion that got Leahy's attention. Along with a lot of other people.
Cry me a river. If that's the worst he's ever been told, then he doesn't go out in "our" public much. As far as being in the Senate, it wasn't in session.

So much for decorum and civility. *SIGH*

It doesn't matter whether the Senate was in session or not. Cheney said this on the Senate floor. That alone makes it wrong.

Some places, like the Senate floor, deserve a sense of respect because of their history, their purpose and their use. It'd be like dropping the F-bomb in a cathedral, or in the Queen of England's throne room or in a library. There are places where such behavior is purely and simply wrong.

However, watching the decline of manners in America today, it's hardly shocking that this happened. Indeed, I'm surprised we made it to 2004 BEFORE it happened.

 

[jennyanydots]

If I said that to a co worker at our place of employment, I am certain that our human resources department would call me in for a little meeting about appropriate behavior in the workplace.

 

[MHopkins2]

Couldn't care less, just as I felt about Senator Kerry's similar foibles.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by jennyanydots
If I said that to a co worker at our place of employment, I am certain that our human resources department would call me in for a little meeting about appropriate behavior in the workplace.

Yep, and I'm sure that if your coworker was standing up in front of the world attacking your integrity, he would be spoken to about appropriate behavior in the workplace as well.

 

[jennyanydots]

Possibly. It depends on whether my co worker's job is to "police" our work force. I work for a large corporation, where we have to sign a code of conduct. If I violate that code, it's my fellow employee's obligation to report me to our legal department. And our legal department has the obligation to pursue the matter.

There is a scandal going on near where I live right now. A school district employee embezzled several million dollars over a peirod of time. the school board discovered the thefts and failed to bring the matter to the attention of the district residents. the feeling is that the board had the legal obligation to speak out and to question the employee's integrity, so that the matter could be handled by the prosecutor's office. Instead it was kept secret, and when it did come to light, people learned the fraud was far more extensive than the school board believed.

 

[AirForceRocks]

But we both know that the situation you describe isn't anything like what was going on in the Senate, so the comparison really isn't valid.

 

[jennyanydots]

Well, since we haven't heard from the Vice President...but no, this was not an official discussion of any sort, and yes, it may have been out of line for the Senator to comment during what was essentially a "fluff' meeting to take photos. But I do think Cheney could have expressed his outrage in far less vulgar terms.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by jennyanydots
Well, since we haven't heard from the Vice President...but no, this was not an official discussion of any sort, and yes, it may have been out of line for the Senator to comment during what was essentially a "fluff' meeting to take photos. But I do think Cheney could have expressed his outrage in far less vulgar terms.

Yes, he could have, and since he was on the Senate floor, he should have...but the words themselves don't bother me.

 

[jennyanydots]

I think it's a matter of time and place. What's appropriate in one situation may not be appropriate in another.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

There's a time and a place for everything. The floor of the US Senate, whether or not the Senate was in session, is definitely not the time nor the place for language like that.

Of course, Kerry's use of profanity in a Rolling Stone magazine interview isn't much better. Yeah, I know it's nothing new, and I've used language like that myself, but if I'm running for President, I want to make a good impression to everyone, not try to jockey for the youth vote by trying to "look cool".

Besides, it's a good thing the Cheney-Leahy exchange didn't end up like this.

 

[jennyanydots]

Let's hope we never see anything like that, Obi-Wan.

I do think there's a difference between using foul language in a magazine article and using it on the floor of the Senate. Probably not Kerry's best moment, but still...

 

[N.Bailey]

Originally posted by Obi-Wan Pinobi
There's a time and a place for everything. The floor of the US Senate, whether or not the Senate was in session, is definitely not the time nor the place for language like that.

Of course, Kerry's use of profanity in a Rolling Stone magazine interview isn't much better. Yeah, I know it's nothing new, and I've used language like that myself, but if I'm running for President, I want to make a good impression to everyone, not try to jockey for the youth vote by trying to "look cool".

Besides, it's a good thing the Cheney-Leahy exchange didn't end up like this.

 

[tonyswife]

Originally posted by Eeyore1954
I'm surprised we made it to 2004 BEFORE it happened.

I doubt it was the first or last time the F word has been used on the senate floor, by either party.

OT, my vote, big whoop.

 

[jennyanydots]

The Nixon White House made "expletive deleted" a household phrase 30 years ago.

 

[tonyswife]

Originally posted by jennyanydots
The Nixon White House made "expletive deleted" a household phrase 30 years ago.

snort, yeah.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by tonyswife
I doubt it was the first or last time the F word has been used on the senate floor, by either party.

OT, my vote, big whoop.

They do it to the American people every day from the Senate floor...so maybe saying it isn't so bad after all...

 

[N.Bailey]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
They do it to the American people every day from the Senate floor...so maybe saying it isn't so bad after all...

 

[tiggersmom2]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
They do it to the American people every day from the Senate floor...so maybe saying it isn't so bad after all...

ROTFLMAO!!!! Yep, I feel like I am taking a big one plenty of times.

 

[tonyswife]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
They do it to the American people every day from the Senate floor...so maybe saying it isn't so bad after all...

ROFL!! Yeah, exactly. You don't have to actually use the F word to effectively say it now do you?

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by N.Bailey
I really could care less that he said it. I'm sure he's not the 1st politician who's used that word and I'm certain he won't be the last. I have used it myself! Using it myself, I would be a hypocrite to blast him for using it too. Whoopee, I think you're all making too big a deal out of it.

Ditto.