The Virginia Virtucon blog calls for the resignation of Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry, the delegate who objected to Will Vehrs’ humor in an online caption-writing contest that made light of economic misfortunes in Armstrong’s home district. Armstrong, it seems, has used inappropriate humor himself, at times.
According to a May 2, 2006 article in the Cavalier Daily about sexual harassment:
However, sexual harassment is not confined to lobbyists and at times has found its way to the House floor. Del. Jeannemarie Devolites, R-Vienna, the majority whip, said she had negative experiences with three delegates when first elected to the House.
In particular, Devolites said Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry, publicly embarrassed her on several occasions, including doing an impression of Bill Clinton and comparing her to Monica Lewinsky. Later, Armstrong apologized for his comments on the floor of the House.
“I think they considered it part of my initiation,” Devolites said.
Luckily for Armstrong, Devolites didn’t choose to make a federal case out of the incident, or he might not have remained in the General Assembly long enough to call for Vehrs’ resignation.
Chad Dodson weighs in on the issue here. And Waldo Jaquith here. An Associated Press story appears here. Writer Kristin Gelineau characterizes Vehrs’ captions as “snarky.” Does snarkiness (or is the noun form of the word simply “snark”) warrant a 10-day suspension?
