Amused Cynic

The Senator is no lady.

Congressman California State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore [h/t Patience], who will be running against Barbara “Senator” Boxer next year, thinks we should all go back to calling Senator Boxer “Mrs. Boxer.”  He nails her for her pettiness and her open contempt for the military here at Big Hollywood. [Emphasis added]

Barbara Boxer’s snippy confrontation with Brigadier General Michael Walsh on Capitol Hill on June 16, 2009 (Don’t call me “Ma’am,” call me “Senator”) wasn’t a display of a lack of proper military respect for Boxer, it was an open display of contempt from Boxer towards the people who serve in the military. That the Senator’s contempt was open and obvious shows Boxer’s lack of acting skills – most liberals have mastered the art of at least acting like they respect the men and women in the armed services.
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Boxer dressing down of a U.S. Army general in public unfolded during a hearing on the Army Corps of Engineers’ work in New Orleans. When General Walsh, recently returned from Iraq, addressed California’s junior senator as “Ma’am” – a perfectly acceptable sign of military respect to both a U.S. Senator or a senior female officer, Boxer immediately responded, “I had a… You know… do me a favor, could you say ‘Senator’ instead of ‘Ma’am’ – it’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title so I’d appreciate it, yes thank you.”

According to the U.S. Army’s own guide to protocol, Members of the U.S. Senate should be verbally addressed as “Sir,” “Ma’am” or “Senator.” So, General Walsh was simply following longstanding tradition.

When addressing senior officers, with the exception of generals whom most junior officers and enlisted personnel usually call “General” more than “Sir” the most respectful form of address is “Sir” or “Ma’am.” Ironically, use of the actual rank in address is oftentimes used in situations when the senior officer has not yet earned respect from an enlisted person, as in “Yes, Lieutenant!” as opposed to “Yes, Ma’am!”

Of course, this wasn’t Barbara Boxer’s first confrontation with the U.S. military – not by a long shot. Boxer cut her political teeth on the anti-Vietnam war protests back in the day and never really changed her outlook on the uniformed defenders of the Constitution of the United States. Who can forget her confrontation with American hero Gen. David Petraeus back in 2007? Boxer called Gen. Petraeus a liar and then wrote a blog for the Huffington Post on September 14, 2007 which she headlined, “General Petraeus, Take Off the Rose-Colored Glasses.” Seen through the lens of time Boxer’s blog rant can almost be laughable were its implications not so injurious to our national security in calling for an immediate end (read: “defeat”) to the war in Iraq.

Perhaps it’s time for the Barbara Boxer to have a new title: “Ex-Senator.”

I agree. It’s long past time to send this nasty, disrespectful, empty-headed, melodramatic little shrew packing.

UPDATE:  Over at Constitutional Alamo, there’s a comparative presentation on “I worked so hard to get that title.”  Heh.

UPDATE II: Don Surber discovers the source of “Senator” Boxer’s pique….6 years at the Evil Academy…