Saxby Chambliss apologizes for staffer’s threatening slur
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss on Thursday apologized to the author of a gay-oriented blog for a threatening slur posted from his office, declaring, “All [gays] must die.”
In a prepared statement, Chambliss also spoke of the immediate “removal” of a staff member – who was not identified.
The wording is important. We’re picking up that the staffer was a military liaison assigned by the Pentagon — a fact that Chambliss’ office would not confirm.
A staffer under Chambliss’ direct employ would have been fired. A staffer under another entity’s supervision would be reassigned. Or removed. (My AJC colleague Bob Keefe pinned down the fact that the computer used was located in Chambliss’s Washington office.)
The blog comment at issue was left Sept. 21 on a discussion of whether gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military on “Joe.My.Blog,” a site operated by Joe Jervis of New York City – perhaps an hour after the U.S. Senate turned away an attempt to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Blog participants quickly tracked the Internet Protocol address to Chambliss’ office.
Chambliss last week condemned the comment, and requested an investigation by the U.S. Senate sergeant-at-arms, who acts as the chamber’s top law enforcement officer.
The statement from Chambliss’ office:
“The office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms has concluded its investigation, and I responded to that report immediately with the removal of a member of my staff. I commend the Sergeant at Arms, Terrance Gainer, and his staff for their very thorough and professional work.
“I have called Mr. Jervis, the blog’s author, and apologized to him personally, and I am sorry for the hurt this incident has caused. Regardless of one’s position on issues and policies, such comments are simply unacceptable, are not befitting those who work in the U.S. Senate, and I will not tolerate them from my staff.”
Jervis, who monitors JoeMyGod, confirmed his conversation with Chambliss and paraphrased the senator’s remarks:
”He said, ‘Joe, I don’t know if you’re Republican or Democrat, or liberal or conservative. But none of that should matter because what was said on your blog shouldn’t be said to anybody by anybody. And I want to offer my sincerest apologies.’
“He said, ‘There’s been a lot of criticism about why it’s taken so long to bring this to a resolution. But this is something that’s going to dramatically affect someone’s life, and we had to make sure we got it exactly right.’”
Jervis accepted Chambliss’ apology.
“I consider the matter closed. The gentleman is no longer in Chambliss’ office,” he said. “I’m pretty sure if he were a direct Chambliss hire, we would know his name. I don’t think he was Chambliss’ to fire.
“I was never calling for this guy’s head. I just wanted the senator himself to address the issue and say that this can’t happen in my office. He has done that.”
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116 comments Add your comment
Last Man Standing
October 1st, 2010
8:43 am
CarpetBagger:
“His office is the WORST in the U.S. Senate regarding veteran’s issues.”
Care to cite your source or offer any proof of this statement?
Saxby Chambliss Apologizes for Staffer’s Threatening Anti-Gay Slur | The Moderate Voice
October 1st, 2010
8:46 am
[...] D.C. office (JMG readers had initially tracked it down to Atlanta). The AJC’s Jim Galloway is picking up that the staffer was not fired, but “removed,” because he (the commenter called himself [...]
Elvis Prez
October 1st, 2010
9:07 am
The King says “it’s time to move on, uh ha ha”
gm
October 1st, 2010
9:11 am
This does not surprise many minorities in this state, had that been someone saying all white males must die, Chambliss would had act a lot sooner.
Whe will Blacks, and other minorities learn that white male especially here in Hickville dont care about you as long as you can entertain them playing football, singing or danceing.
Let these had of been Obama administration white males especially these southern rednecks would have lost their mind.
You Asked
October 1st, 2010
9:28 am
Laugher
October 1st, 2010
12:35 am
All heterosexuals must die…there I said..lets see if I lose my job!
- – -
They all will eventually.
According to gm the Chambliss staff will be investigating you within a few days.
This is much ado about very little. A stupid staffer makes a haveful bigoted remark on a smalltime blog and the national press picks it up. Must have been a slow news day (or a politcially motivated report) because I can dredge up pantloads of bigoted hatred on any number of blogs by any number of people on any day.
Do Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgendered, etc. deserve their full rights under the law. Yes.
Do they have the right to dispense vigilante justice on the stupid staffer or use his stupid actions to take down a sitting Legislator? No.
M Abby
October 1st, 2010
9:37 am
Here’s a guess: The assigned military person who is responsible for the posting of the stupid comment is an affected gay/lesbian military person. They were not happy with DADT and they were not happy with Senator Chambliss position on DADT. Soooo…they played gay guerrilla and pulled a moby, that is the sat down at their computer at Chambliss’s office on that day and went to the web site JOE.MY.GOD and posted that stupid comment knowing if someone looked hard enough (after some guidance) they could figure out where it came from and embarrass another “bigoted, homophobe Southern Senator”.
Once they did, I think they then made sure JOE knew the post had been made and provided some guidance on where to look for the originating office (again, hard to believe JOE just picked this one out of many ugly comments to track down).
Last Man Standing
October 1st, 2010
9:39 am
gm:
Have you ever voted for a conservative? If so, whom?
Has Obama done ANYTHING that you disagreed with? If so, what?
Last Man Standing
October 1st, 2010
9:43 am
gm:
Be careful! Your obvious racist attitude is showing!
Jamie Roberts
October 1st, 2010
11:26 am
Thank you, Saxby Chambliss, for your addressing the substance of the comments and your apology.
Pangur
October 1st, 2010
11:27 am
Listening to all the queers get bent out of shape on this is as predictable as it is boring. In the gay reaction to all this is the nicely blended narcissism and refusal to face reality that is so pervasive in the gay lifestyle and community. Behind all the bluster is a massive denial of the self-destructive and sociopathic tendencies of gay life (increasing AIDS infection rate, anyone?). Watching you guys get pozzed then shrieking in your Ungaro spring frocks about equality has all the persuasiveness of a used needle.
Whatever
October 1st, 2010
11:49 am
honestly gay men are just disgusting and such huge crybabies about everything…and most seem to have a bunch of mental problems that are not the result of bullying…consider what a huge percentage of them seem fixated on dominance/submissive issues and wildly promiscuous sex…but hey no biggie, they only gave the world AIDS
Whatever
October 1st, 2010
11:54 am
also…oh wow someone got flamed in a blog comment WELP BETTER HAVE A HISSY FIT ABOUT THIS…gay men seem to spend a lot of their energy on tattling, maybe because deep down they are pretty ashamed of what they are
Poz them All
October 1st, 2010
12:16 pm
Getting homosexuals to admit that they are broken, useless, whining, narcissists is a chumps game. That said homosexuals are a bunch of broken, useless, whining, narcissists.
Prissy And Offended
October 1st, 2010
1:18 pm
You don’t understand, a comment on a blog post is WORSE THAN THE HOLOCAUST. The fewer people that read it, the worse it is. There must be no free speech which ever causes anyone anywhere to feel the slightest bit bad about themselves. Exceptions may be made for certain groups in order to enlighten them as to their own evil, but that’s it.
Homer
October 1st, 2010
3:20 pm
Usmc Dawg, apparently whomever it was in the Seantor’s office who started this uproar cares what gay people do in their bedroom. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made the post, right? If no one cared what gay people do then there would be no need for the gay rights movement. I would think that would be pretty simple for you to understand, “Dawg.”
Phil Lunney
October 1st, 2010
4:15 pm
I e-mailed Saxby prior to the vote on DADT asking him to vote for the repeal of this policy. I received his standard boiler plate response which was well documented and detailed, but to me, was just the cover he uses to “stay pure” to his GOP (now Tea Party) Loyalty Oath. This incident shows that he and his staffers use this kind of dialogue in private. There is no excuse for a US Senator from Georgia to not represent all Georgians. Saxby, I will forgive you when you sponsor a motion to REPEAL DADT when congress returns after the election. Show some guts and take responsibility, otherwise, resign. There are thousands, if not 10’s of thousands Georgia based military that would be able to serve with honor upon this repeal.