Boxer out of line, disrespectful over 'Senator' address
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 6/23/2009 7:00:00 AM
Brigadier General Michael Walsh, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was testifying last week before Boxer's Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works about the progress of the Louisiana restoration process in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Boxer: "Well, why has it been delayed?
Walsh: "Ma'am, at the L-A-C-P-R is..."
Boxer: "You know, do me a favor. Could say 'Senator' instead of 'ma'am?'"
Walsh: "Yes."
Boxer: "It's just a thing; I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it. Yes, thank you."
Walsh: "Yes, Senator."
Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) knows Walsh personally and says addressing Boxer as "ma'am" was completely appropriate.
"He'd been out there toiling in 104-degree heat, serving America. And responding to people who address you with a respectful 'yes, sir' or 'yes, ma'am' is exactly what you're taught to do in military protocol," he notes. "When confronted with Senator Boxer admonishing him for addressing her as 'yes, ma'am' and directing him to address her as 'Senator,' the proper response would have been 'yes, ma'am!'"
Ironically, Fox News reported that the same day at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, two Navy officials repeatedly addressed Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) with the title "sir." Wicker had no objections.
