The Guild 1-6-2004 Carol Collins, sex discrimination victim (not!)

News8Austin ^

[BigWaveBetty]

Jury selection is underway in an age and sex discrimination lawsuit against Williamson County Attorney, Gene Taylor. A former employee of his, attorney Carol Collins is suing Taylor for compensation.

Collins said she's convinced she was fired from her job as assistant county attorney in December 2000 because of her sex, age, and retaliation over an incident involving a newspaper clipping.

She said that's when Taylor became hostile and abusive toward her at one point even yelled at her. Taylor said he had the article removed and had the staff member who put it there apologize to Collins.

In court documents, Taylor said he didn't reappoint Collins because she had poor job performance. For example, in a letter from child protective services, a program director wrote there were numerous incidents where Collins presented a case to a judge and gave inaccurate information about what happened with the parent or child.

A county attorney is accusing another county of attorney of age and sex discrimination.

Collins said she consistently met or exceeded required expectations in performance reviews from 1993 to 2000.

Collins was 54 at the time she was terminated. She said the 10 other assistant county attorney's were in their mid-30s or younger.

Jury selection will resume Tuesday morning. Opening statements are expected to start later that afternoon. The trial is expected to last nearly two weeks.

The clipping was on an office bulletin board and had a headline reading "Blame it on a woman -- or two women." Collins found the article offensive and complained to Taylor.

	The article in question

		The following column is what offended Carol Collins. Blame it on a woman – or two women James Lileks – columnist Stop the presses: Bill Clinton’s mom used to argue with his grandmother, and that’s why he’s powerless around purty wimmen. Hillary Clinton, in an interview published this week in Talk magazine, claims Bill was “scarred by abuse” as a child – specifically, the fiery disputations ‘twixt his mom and grandmother twisted his emotional roots. This news, when reported on the radio Sunday, was so preposterous that is appears to have made Monica Lewinsky drive off the road. What did the women argue about? We may never know – although if asked, Bill Clinton could probably give a detailed transcript or their fights, as well as his role in stopping the battle, bringing them to the bargaining table and dictating the terms of the peace accord, “Until then, no 4-year-old had ever stopped a domestic fight in Arkansas,“ he’d say. Then he’d blame Grandma’s death on the GOP. But the fights no doubt had a lasting effect. Why, during the Nixon years, Pat told a reporter that little Richard had seen his mother remove a dolly from the sofa, revealing a rip: he was traumatized, and became fixated on covering things up. . . . Woodrow Wilson’s wife said her husband, as a tot of 2 years, had gotten stuck on a spiked fence with many points. Fourteen, in fact . . . . George Washington, according to Martha, was a young impressionable spermatozoa when someone shouted “Down with the King!” and this no doubt shaped his revolutionary character. It was later discovered that the shout was directed at the Washingtons’ dog, King, who was taking indecent liberties with a neighbor’s leg. Mrs. Clinton confided that an “expert” said Bill’s hellzapoppin double-dame childhood could lead a man to hapless promiscuity. Ah! An expert! You can imagine some bald man a white coat, fingers steepled against his Van Dyke beard, peering through a pince nez as he pronounces his expert judgment: “Ve haff discovered, through ze tools of zzzychoanalyziz, zat ze male who hass been raised by two vimmen vill often drop his tarrowsahs vhenever ze opportunity presents itself.” Perhaps. But this is also true of men who have been raised by a man and a woman. Or by wolves. Or by lesbians, single parents, cloth dummies or a television set. Many men have jack-in-the-box libidos; the mere presence of a woman turns the handle and starts the song. This is a land besotted with the comforting excuses of the therapist class. Apologists for bad behavior specialize in absolving the patient and blaming the dead. You’d think someone with Mrs. Clinton’s steely smarts would roll her eyes at such Oprah-speak. But no: The interview is full of vaporous navel-gazing sonorities lifted straight from a Lifetime channel movie. “I thought he had conquered it,” she said. “I thought deep enough or work hard enough.” (Cough.) This is drivel. It suggests there’s a magic amount of Deep Work, achieved by frowning and crying, that makes a man shape up. Let’s just put it in Yoda terms: “There is no work! Schwing or schwing not. Learn this you must.” She isn’t letting him off the hook – he was responsible, sure, in a sad, addicted, not-really-responsible sort of way. But let’s keep it all in perspective ”There are sins of weakness,” she said, “and sins of malice, and this was a sin of weakness.” Agreed. But lying to the country, making aides squander their good name by asking them to repeat the lie, smearing the names of women who were party to the president’s “weakness” or an unwilling victim of it – these are sins of malice. They are born not of weakness but indifference to other. Does this disqualify a man from holding office? No. Could it be true? Perhaps. Are we approaching the point where it will be a blessing if we never hear another syllable about these people’s seamy dramas? I’d say yes. But of course, I’m not an expert. Lileks is a Washington, D.C.-based columnist for Newhouse News Service. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.

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[BigWaveBetty]

Carol Collins
Must be a life long democrat.

[BigWaveBetty]

Good Morning!

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[Iowa Granny]

Good Grief! -8 degrees here this morning with wind. I don't know what the windchill factor is and I don't want to know. BBL

[BigWaveBetty]

Time to watch the dems dive into the abyss!

FARGO -- Ed Schultz is unfazed when his nose begins dripping blood a few minutes before the Monday debut of his national radio talk show. He called it the "perfect prop" to open the program.

"I'm so mean, there's blood on my sheets of paper," a smiling Schultz tells his listeners, kicking off a project that members of the Democratic Party and other supporters have billed as an alternative to conservative talk radio. [He's so mean there's blood on his sheets of paper? Oh please, please regale us with more wit.]

In the opening monologue, Schultz, who is an avid hunter and fisherman, told listeners: "I'm a gun-totin', red meat-eatin' liberal."

" I don't have to apologize to anybody for being here," he says. "I mean, there's no magic to this stuff. (Rush) Limbaugh has proven you don't need a Ph.D. to do this. Come on. It's radio. It's people, it's places, it's happenings, it's events."

After the opening segment, the executive director of the show, Paul Woodhull, took a swing with an imaginary baseball bat and said: "Home run."

"I expect a grand slam every day," Woodhull said during a break. "It's not about the politics, it's about the passion. He's a competitor with a passion for winning." [What a shame Ed is such a loser.]

Woodhull is president of Media Syndication Services of Washington, D.C., a distributor of radio programs.

Schultz, 49, was recruited by Democrats after spending a dozen years as host of "News and Views," a talk show on Fargo's KFGO Radio. A new studio has been built in the Fargo building that houses KFGO and other Fargo stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. of San Antonio.

Schultz is continuing his KFGO show in its usual morning slot, 9 to 11:30 a.m. KFGO is not broadcasting Schultz's national show, which will be broadcast from 2 to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

About a dozen stations are carrying the show, mostly in smaller markets, said Amy Bolton, vice president and general manager of Jones Radio Network, a radio programming company based in Englewood, Colo. She hopes to get the program on 40 stations by year's end. [Wow, forty stations! That'll get that dim message out!]

Bolton said the program also will be available on XM Satellite Radio, although the network did not list Schultz on its Monday roster of 64 talk hosts. XM has 101 channels, including sports, talk and a variety of music. "There's a preconceived notion that he's not conservative and therefore won't work," Bolton said. "But a lot of stations flat out tell us, 'You sign up a few more stations, and we'll sign up.' They want something different."

Jason Stverak, director of the North Dakota Republican Party, said Schultz is good at "whipping up" people's passions. But he said Schultz's views are contrary to the opinions of most people in the state.

"I wish him the best of luck," Stverak said. "Obviously there are a lot of things that we don't see eye to eye on."

Democratic lawmakers have pledged to raise money for the show, which is being marketed by Jones Radio and Democracy Radio. Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., were among Schultz's first guests. More yawns

[BigWaveBetty]

Brrrrrrr! Stay inside!

[Pippin]

GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!

[speedy]

Hi Betty -- thanks for the invite. Yeah, Schultz sounds like a real threat -- "about a dozen stations" -- you don't usually have to be approximate at those numbers. Hah!! And yes, that woman is a Dem -- you CAN tell just by looking. Unfortunately, I have to leave for work now, but see you around.

[Timeout]

"But a lot of stations flat out tell us, 'You sign up a few more stations, and we'll sign up.' They want something different."

Different. Yeah, that's what businesses always want when they've got a hot, profitable commodity like conservative talk shows...."something different".

So typical of dims to think all they have to do is throw money at it and it will work. I hope they throw ALL their money down this particular spider hole!

[BigWaveBetty]

Hey speedy, glad you stopped by.

Everyone say hello to speedy!

Schultz can't be too bright if he thinks starting off the story of his debut "liberal show" talking about his bleeding nose is funny or interesting. I was grateful I hadn't had any breakfast yet when I read that!

And poor Carol, how sad does one have to be to sue an employer over an article that's tacked up on a bulletin board? Good thing she's never worked for engineers, nothing gets by without a comment, quip or sexual innuendo (not even something tacked up on the bullentin board).

If she loses the suit the judge should make her work at an engineering firm just to toughen her up. :-)

[mountaineer]

Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., were among Schultz's first guests.

Oh good, nothing will energize a radio audience like two droning, flat, monotonous voices. I have to laugh at the Dems. They think that putting a lib on the air will get their "message" (whatever that is) out, but that works only if they break everyone's fingers to prevent them from changing stations. The reason conservatives like Rush, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Jim Quinn, etc., have the big audiences is because people want to listen to what they have to say. A simple notion like that - supply and demand, giving the customer what he wants - escapes the left.

John Dean? Yes, I'm sure he's really "in the loop":

A NOT very nice book by Nixon's White House counsel John W. Dean will drop on us. "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush" says Bush's team has an obsession with secrecy and their willingness to deceive make them even more dangerous than Nixon's men." The book calls it "weapons of mass deception." Dean writes about Bush's "emphasis on image over substance . . . angry mistrustful personality . . . excessive fear of leaks . . . imperial governing combined with deeply flawed decision making . . . serious abuses of national security secrecy . . . the administration's refusal to explain the precarious health of the powerful vice president . . . the imprecedented secrecy in the name of fighting terrorism." Little, Brown publishes it in April, the heat of primary season. (Cindy Adams)

Cindy also reports on Weasley's latest effort:

EVERYONE'S peeing upon the adminis tration. Next September, Public Af fairs publishes Gen. Wesley Clark's "Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire." Our retired Supreme Allied Commander bleats about "the shortfalls" of America's methods and "consequences" and "sobering implications." He offers "informed alternatives." The general says things like, "strong convictions carry a high price." And that we've never before been "so isolated." And that we "mortgaged" ourselves to knocking off Saddam. [Presumably, he would have said the same thing in 1945 about another genocidal dictator] And with diplomacy not creating unity, he asks, "Is this victory?" He says, "Now the bills must be paid." He also says, "The war isn't over."

Gossip alert:

SO WHO was that world famous enter tainer who overdosed over the holidays on prescription medication to which he has long been addicted . . . SO WHO is the male half of a married acting couple who had to hire security men to keep his heavy drinking wife from leaving her trailer and wandering off with whatever attractive crewmember caught her eye? (LizSmith)

I'm guessing Melanie Griffith for the latter.

[mountaineer]

Relating to a topic on the previous thread:

NBC News essentially fired veteran correspondent Maria Shriver last month because of its extreme discomfort with her activist role as First Lady of California. But yesterday, after Lowdown's inquiries to NBC, the network agreed to continue discussions with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife, who joined NBC News in 1986.

According to sources familiar with discussions between NBC News president Neal Shapiro and Shriver, she was asked before Christmas to resign from her job as a contributing anchor and correspondent for "Dateline NBC."

An NBC News spokeswoman yesterday vehemently denied that Shriver had been fired, saying: "I can tell you that she is still on the job at 'Dateline.' " full story

[BigWaveBetty]

I hope they throw ALL their money down this particular spider hole!

Amen.

Hilly's been busy signing books in AZ, get a bucket ready:

Author, U.S. senator and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton came to Tempe on Monday to sign 900 copies of her new book, which left Lillian Shanks and 899 others thrilled but at least 1,000 of her fans terribly disappointed.

Clinton, who was chosen most admired woman of 2003 in a national poll, said she is astounded by the outpouring of admiration she has received on her book tour, which has taken her to more than three dozen cities and ends today in Albuquerque. [Did the tour go to any cities without a union?]

Clinton recognizes she has many detractors, but said, "many have come to me in the past several years, including colleagues in the Senate, and expressed regret that they had stereotyped me."

"I also recognize that there is a concerted core of people who for ideological and partisan political - and frankly commercial - reasons have a stake in generating negative reaction to me." [Since everything is always about money for hill, surely the rest of us must be that way. We couldn't possibly dislike her because of who she is.]

"The hardest thing from our end wasn't really the security, it was dealing with the disappointment of the public, the people who didn't get books," Dach said. "People were crying, really crying, when they heard they couldn't get a book and couldn't see her. Presidents of fan clubs, people who named their daughter after her. People just adore her." [Gak!]

Dach said that after the store announced on Dec. 23 that Clinton would be there to sign her new book, "it took only 3½ days to sell the whole 900. People say she'll be the first woman president, and they want to see her."

People like Robin Trick, 48, of Tempe.

"I really admire Hillary Clinton," said Trick, who was about the 10th person in line. "She's strong; she's very, very bright. And she's beautiful." [A sure sign it's time to check your glasses.]

Clinton even drew the younger crowd.

Mayer Mulvaney, 13, of Ahwatukee Foothills, brought her fiddle and while she waited in line she fiddled for Clinton.

Clinton grinned, Mayer played, and then she got her book signed. Link

[lodwick]

A chilly good morning to one and all here...

I'll be headed north to check on my father: back tomorrow, with luck.

Cheers, guys.

[mountaineer]

Mayer Mulvaney, 13, of Ahwatukee Foothills, brought her fiddle and while she waited in line she fiddled for Clinton. Clinton grinned, Mayer played, and then she got her book signed

That sounds about right. After all, Hitlery's ersatz husband fiddled with Monica while (fill in the blank: Rwanda, Iraq, Al Qaeda, the Balkans, etc.) burned.

[Iowa Granny]

Welcome to the Guild. Inspectors will arrive at your door within a few days to assure us you possess the necessary egg dish and pearls required for membership here. :~)

[Iowa Granny]

Safe travels, JL.

[BigWaveBetty]

A simple notion like that - supply and demand, giving the customer what he wants - escapes the left.

It's hard for dems to grasp that notion when their entire life is "the government will provide."

Dean writes about Bush's "emphasis on image over substance . . . angry mistrustful personality . . . excessive fear of leaks . . . imperial governing combined with deeply flawed decision making . . . serious abuses of national security secrecy . . . the administration's refusal to explain the precarious health of the powerful vice president . . . the imprecedented secrecy in the name of fighting terrorism."

How the heck would John Dean know ANY of this?! He must be related to Howie. John Dean is the crazy uncle that Howard Dean's family keeps in the basement.

Does alcohol numb plastic surgery pain?

...

[BigWaveBetty]

Welcome to the Guild. Inspectors will arrive at your door within a few days to assure us you possess the necessary egg dish and pearls required for membership here. :~)

Whoops! I didn't tell speedy about the deviled egg dish and the pearls because he's a man (He IS a man baby!).

Don't worry speedy, I'll lend you a deviled egg dish and HLL can supply a boat load of pearls.

[BigWaveBetty]

Becareful out there, prayers continue for your dad's recovery.