Reposted for all new Freepers

Definitely a dream. The last thing she would be saying as she was untied is that she was sorry and that she planned to read the Constitution. No, she'd be heading for a good lawyer.

You had me up until the line "if I had a gun". LOL.

I should have known it was just too good to be true :-)

Too good to be true, but a good idea nonetheless...

"Leslie, oh Leslie! Where are you?"

I wrote this on April fools day, not with that in mind, it was just when the inspiration hit.

Anyway, back in June a Republican State representative in Oregon thought it was cute and sent it to all of his fellows reps. There is some gun-grabbing liberal female rep in Oregon who took offense and thought it was written about her. Some women's group went after the sender and made the whole thing about violence against women.

The funny thing is that after the sender of the note apologized for sending it, this article was read into the Oregon state legislature.

Then some guy in Oregon took it upon himself to send it to every senator and rep in all 50 states.

It gets better! I was sitting at home one night and I got an email with the subject line You're an idiot with the return address being that of my very own state rep. Now that perked my interest and we sent a flurry of emails back and forth that evening. It was obvious that he did not know who or where I was from. When I asked him if that was any way to address his constituients the email went silent.

The next day I got from him apologizing, saying he didn't know that it was a parody. I asked him if he votes on legislation without reading all the way through too.

I wonder why the practice of tar and feathering ever went out of style. Is it the price we pay for being civilized as opposed to free?

419

Source

GOOD INTENTIONS GONE AWRY
By Jim Bice 6.22.01

An incident occurred in the Oregon Legislature this past week that is noteworthy in its utter assininity. It seems there is an article circulating on the internet written by Tom Buchanan. This story can be read in its entirety by logging on to Tom Buchanan's Website. This is a fictional account about a female legislator in Colorado who, upon leaving her office one night was abducted by a group of several men and two women wearing period clothing from the late 1700s. This particular legislator had the reputation of introducing and supporting legislation which was contrary to the Constitution and particularly anti-gun. The abductors stripped the woman to her underwear, covered her with molasses and feathers and bound her to a memorial statue on the capitol grounds. They then proceeded to read to her from the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. They then faded away without a trace as though they were ghosts. The woman was so unnerved by the experience that when found and released she immediately began to study the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and to review her Oath of Office. The experience as well as her study of these documents produced a profound change in her attitudes regarding her sponsorship and support of legislation which may be in conflict with the Constitution.

Former Coos County Sheriff Mike Cook e-mailed this story to State Representative Wayne Krieger (R) Gold Beach. Krieger, a former police officer, upon reading the story, became concerned that someone might take it upon them selves to try to copy the activities described in the story. (There have been quite a number of instances of legislators receiving threats for their positions on various issues.) Krieger made copies of the story and distributed it to ninety other legislators but, unfortunately, did not included a cover letter outlining his intentions and concerns.

Among the ninety legislators who received this article was State Senator Ginny Burdick (D) Portland. Burdick is well known and well documented as being a liar, a whiner and an avid supporter of anti-gun issues. Her standard, and again well documented, tactics are to use unsupported "facts", half truths and outright lies to pursue her anti-gun obsession, ostensibly in the interest of public safety. When her efforts fail, she has a tendency to whine, snivel and conduct herself as a petulant spoiled child.

It seems that when Burdick read this article by Buchanan she immediately accused Krieger of a personal attack on her and further accused him of promoting violence against women. Keep in mind, there were no names on these copies and they were distributed to 89 other legislators.

Because of the sniveling and whining by Burdick, the Republican leadership (an oxymoron) coerced Krieger into issuing an apology, which Burdick instantly refused to accept. She then went to the local liberal media and portrayed herself as a poor innocent victim of the mean old woman hating Krieger.

What's wrong with this picture? Let's take it a step at a time. First, Krieger's intent was to alert his fellow legislators to the potential danger of this article circulating among individuals or groups who could decide to act out this work of fiction in real life. Second, Burdick, recognizing her own dishonest, unconstitutional and treasonous positions, immediately decided the article was aimed at her. Third, the gutless Republican "leadership" forced a junior representative to issue an apology which was not warranted. (The proper response was to tell Burdick to crawl back under her rock and put her sniveling where the sun doesn't shine). And fourth, if anyone in Salem had the ability to read and understand the story (which is doubtful), they would have found that it was not an assault on a woman as much as a wake-up call to one who had violated her Oath of Office and violated the tenets of the Constitution she had sworn to uphold. Burdick, of course, chose to conduct herself in her typical juvenile manner and assuage her own guilt by bluster and misrepresentation of the facts of the situation. Or was this, perhaps, a lame attempt to discredit Krieger in his own district in order to bolster chances for another Burdick-like lying whiner to defeat him in the next election cycle?

With the exception of Burdick and her handful of whining sycophants, most everyone else accepted Krieger's apology and reasons for distributing the article. State Representative Joanne Verger (D) Coos Bay stated, "I felt that Wayne's apology was well accepted. He said that if he had to do it again he would put out a cover letter on the article explaining his reason for passing it out." She continued by saying, "Everyone has moved on with lots of things to work on. Wayne was sorry if he offended anyone."

Aren't our elected representatives supposed to comply with their Oath of Office, adhere to and defend the constitutions of the United States and of Oregon and conduct themselves in a businesslike and mature manner? What then of the conduct of Burdick with her distortion of the situation, her whining and her refusal to accept the truth and an apology? Would you want this lying whiner representing you? And what of the Republican "leadership" who wouldn't even demonstrate the courage to back one of their own who was innocent of any wrongdoing? Is that the kind of gutless representation you want? Aside from undermining our individual rights and wasting our money, what sort of childish games are this bunch playing in Salem?

For those who may take exception with the terminology and tone of this article I challenge you to get the facts, not react based upon how you "feel". This is what happened, pure and simple. There's no way anyone with even a shred of honesty and integrity can condone the distortions, whining and gutlessness this situation engendered.

For posterity sake I'll post any references to the story in this thread.

The following can be found at www.wvi.com/~timothyw/ginny/ginny5.html

Representative Krieger apologized without reservations for his actions of a fictional threat as perceived by Ginny Burdick and her legislative supporters. Burdick and her supporters didn't even investigate the validity of the supposed threat. Here is the account leading up to his forced apology on the House floor according to CeaseFire Oregon and the Portland Tribune.

Original Email from CeaseFire Oregon

----- Original Message -----

From: Ceasefire Oregon

To: stopgunviolence@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 4:08 PM

Subject: [stopgunviolence] Torture Tale Stirs Up Senate: Contact Rep Krieger Today

Representative Wayne Krieger Circulates Offensive Email

In a completely inappropriate effort to trash Senator Ginny Burdick, Representative Wayne Krieger of Gold Beach recently circulated a violent fantasy of kidnapping and torture clearly aimed at Senator Burdick for her support of gun control laws.

Please contact Representative Krieger, GOP Leaders Mark Simmons and Karen Minnis and Governor Kitzhaber and let them know how unbecoming a these actions are.

The article then lists a bunch of contacts

Also take the time to write to the Portland Tribune, Willamette Week and Oregonian to express you feelings about Representative Krieger's behavior.

---

Torture tale stirs up the Legislature
By DON JEPSEN
for The Tribune

SALEM Rep. Wayne Krieger of Gold Beach said he regrets circulating a violent fantasy of kidnapping and torture in a move that apparently was aimed at Sen. Ginny Burdick for her support of gun control laws.

Krieger, a first-term Republican, distributed the Internet article last Tuesday to each state lawmaker's office. The story is a fictitious account of a Colorado legislator who is an advocate for gun control laws. In the story, she is partially stripped, tied to a Civil War statue, and covered with molasses and turkey feathers for her beliefs.

The article caused a furor in the Capitol, and Krieger, a retired state trooper, stood up on the House floor and said he didn't mean to offend anyone. He declined to further explain his motives to The Tribune.

Burdick, D-Portland, characterized the article as a personal attack that promoted violence against women.

"I was filled with revulsion," Burdick said. "It was terribly offensive."

Burdick has been one of the Legislature's most ardent and visible gun safety proponents. She was the driving force behind last year's successful Measure 5, which expanded criminal checks for gun sales, and this year sponsored a bill prohibiting concealed handguns in schools.

Her advocacy has made her the target of threatening Web sites and hate messages. Krieger's action, she said, was more upsetting because it came from a fellow lawmaker.

In the article, which was written as a dispassionate news story, the fictitious Rep. Leslie Lee Michaels is found -- bound, gagged and left tied to a statue with a sign around her neck saying, "I voted against the Constitution" -- by an apparently unmoved group of students touring Colorado's Capitol.

The article said, "The group admired the display as Leslie tried to hide her shame." One of the fictitious students commented, "It was awesome!"

The fictitious legislator is described as having undergone a political reversal. She withdraws her gun control legislation, saying she has "seen the light" and "been shown the way to preserve the rights of the people." The fantasy turns out to be a dream, readers are told at the end, merely "wishful thinking."
Krieger never thoroughly explained in public why he distributed the article. At one point, he told other lawmakers that he found it funny but later said he distributed it because it illustrated the extreme opinions generated bygun control issues.

Colleagues defend Burdick

Several Senate members mounted a vigorous defense of Burdick.

"It's a piece of sexist, abominable trash clearly aimed at one of our members," said Sen. Joan Dukes, D-Astoria.

"This land is a nation of freedom, home of the brave," said Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland. "Such is the case of Sen. Burdick, who constantly receives death threats and numerous rude phone calls."

Rep. Verne Duncan, R-Milwaukie, said: "This sort of thing can attack any one of us. It is regrettable."

The day the article was distributed, Rep. Randy Leonard, D-Portland, was preparing to publicly criticize Krieger and read the article into the record. Before he could rise, however, Rep. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, approached Burdick and invited her into House Speaker Mark Simmons' office to talk with Krieger and GOP leaders.

Burdick met with Simmons, R-Elgin, and House Majority Leader Karen Minnis, R-Fairview, as well as Krieger. Simmons asked if Burdick would accept an apology.

"If he (Krieger) gets up and apologizes," she told them, "I will be satisfied."
Krieger then went to the House floor.

"Those of you that know me know that I don't condone violence and wouldn't support this kind of activity," Krieger told his colleagues on the floor. "As a retired police officer who has spent his whole career protecting people, I certainly didn't intend anyone to be offended. I should have taken the time to write a cover letter to explain my concern (about gun control legislation) and why I sent it. I apologize if I caused anyone grief or harm."

Burdick characterized Krieger's apology as "very lame" and inadequate, "not
only to me but to all women and all people who work on this issue."