A bit out of the ordinary for this blog, but since I spend a lot of time there, I can’t help passing on this story from Vermont.
It had been my impression that the Vermont Republican Party had not yet gone full crazy, at least not as crazy as most of the rest of the country’s Republicans, but this sort of made me think twice.
A Republican lawmaker publicly apologized to a Democratic colleague before the Vermont House of Representatives after she was caught on video pouring water into his bag multiple times over the course of five months.
“I am truly ashamed of my actions,” Representative Mary Morrissey, who serves Bennington, Vt., said at a House veto session Monday.
“It is something very out of character for me and I am ashamed,” said Representative Mary Morrissey.
Videos of Morrissey pouring cups of water into a personal bag belonging to Representative Jim Carroll, who also represents Bennington, were first acquired by Seven Days. The news outlet obtained the videos via a public records request after Carroll mounted a camera above where he hung his bag to find a culprit for the frequent soakings his belongings were getting.
“For five months, I went through this,” Carroll said at the meeting after Morrissey’s apology. “It was torment, there’s no doubt about it.”
When House Speaker Jill Krowinski first saw the videos and confronted Morrissey about it, she initially denied it, Seven Days reported. But she later apologized to Carroll, an encounter the latter told the outlet was “uncomfortable.”
On Monday, Morrissey admitted her behavior was “disrespectful” and said she had apologized to Carroll privately. She added that she will be “working toward resolution and restoration through our legislative process.”
“It was conduct most unbecoming of my position as a representative and as a human being, and is not reflective of my 28 years of service and civility,” Morrissey said. She also asked for forgiveness from her colleagues and the citizens of Vermont.
Well, at least she apologized instead of continuing to lie by denying it like most Republicans would do, but then again, she lied throughout the apology. You can’t claim that stuff you repeatedly did for five months is “out of character”.
In any sane world, she would resign or the Bennington Republicans would refuse to renominate her, but don’t hold your breath.