To the point, by refusing to insist that he leave office immediately after disgracing it and himself, Democratic leaders have officially tolerated behavior they all stated they will not tolerate.
For those of you who have sworn off news, but decided to return today, here is what this hot mess of a legislator wrote:
“Is the dude basically saying, if we provide free Blowjobs for Uncle Pervie there will be few rapes and few chink broads will be shipped in CONEX containers to the Port of Wilmington??”
He meant to send this email to a pal o’ his who shared Brady’s comfort with his vernacular. He instead sent it to a sex workers’ advocate. Oopsies. See ‘hot mess’ above.
The News-Journal is the only publication to carry a comprehensive story on this today. Kudos to Natalia Alamdari. We can only hope she sticks around for awhile.
Here are the bold responses from Democratic leaders:
“Misogynistic, anti-Asian language has no place in our Party and calls into question the integrity of any leader,” Betsy Maron, chair of the Delaware Democratic Party, said in a written statement. “No apology will rectify the fact that Representative Gerald Brady felt comfortable enough to use such hateful language behind closed doors.”
When asked if the party was calling on Brady to step down, Democratic spokeswoman Sarah Fulton said no.
There’s more:
House Democratic leaders said they were “shocked and disappointed” this week when they learned of Brady’s email, according to a letter sent to Brady on Tuesday by House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, and House Majority Whip Larry Mitchell.
Like the state Democratic party, House leadership said the language “cannot be excused and will not be tolerated” by the caucus, but did not call on Brady to resign.
Instead, as our commenter Andy C pointed out:
House leadership is directing Brady to take sensitivity training to “better understand and appreciate how deeply your words affect people.” He is also being told to reach out to local Asian American organizations to “open a dialogue” and make amends and rebuild trust with the Asian American community.
The irony of Our PAL Val Longhurst requiring someone else to ‘better understand and appreciate how deeply your words affect people’ is not lost on me. But, I digress.
The idea that this hot mess who chose to (figuratively) blow up his marriage and once threatened to jump off the roof of his house is capable of meaningful change is laughable to anyone who knows him. Seriously, his synapses are fried.
Plus, and this is important, yes, he has insulted the Asian American community, but his utter disdain for women permeates his remarks, something that The Kop Kabal overlooks. Perhaps because that’s part of the unwritten code on how police treat female officers?
Kids, here’s the dirty little secret at play here–at least when it comes to the House leadership: Gerald Brady has supported them for leadership. Stop. End of story. It’s also why they’ve done nothing to in any way punish spousal abuser Andria Viola Bennett.
That’s why I’m more disappointed in the response from the State Democratic Party. If Erick Raser-Schramm and Jesse Chadderdon were still in charge, I think we would have seen a stronger response.
Gerald Brady will not change. Oh, sure, he might emerge from ‘sensitivity training’ and try to read something that Drew Volturo wrote to describe his contrition. (Pro-Tip To Drew: You’ve done great on this. However, putting multi-syllabic words in Gerald’s mouth is a dead giveaway that you wrote them. And, trust me, you don’t want him to try to read them out loud.)
Party leaders, by tolerating behavior they have said they will not tolerate, have failed to act. Failing to call for Brady to resign is a failure. An Epic Fail.
Maybe somebody in a position to do something will demonstrate some leadership on this. I’m not holding my breath.
State Party Chair
Betsy Maron miserably fails her first test of Party leadership[