Brickbat: Freeze Frame

A Nebraska state senator has resigned after an aide accused him of taking inappropriate photos of her without her knowledge and sending them to others. Mike Groene admitted taking the photos but said none of them were sexual in nature. Groene, who was going to leave the legislature next year because of term limits, said he plans to resign to spare his family. He said he also will not run for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents later this year as he had previously announced he would do.

Comments

[Crackers Boy]

So? This is neither a brickbat nor news.

CB

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

From TFA:

According to the article, the staffer said Groene sent the photos of her to others with email captions of a sexual nature. Some of the photos were reportedly zoomed-in close-ups of parts of her body, with explicit subject lines.

How is this not a politician behaving badly? How is it not of interest to his constituents?

[Brandybuck]

Is Crackers Boy the secret identity of this creepazoid? Or is he just show sympathy to a fellow creepazoid?

[mad.casual]

Do you have proof that he created the captions and sent them? Proof that they even originated from an email client/server he had access to/controlled? Because the people who would have access to the servers that would indicate from where the photos originated, people who are in no real way beholden to an outgoing Senator, investigated and found nothing:

He said the photos he took were harmless images of staffers, visitors and family members in his office, and that legislative information technology workers went through his laptop and found nothing that would be considered sexually inappropriate. Groene said he had a cordial, professional relationship with the staffer.

“She's a very modest person, and I guess she was offended" because she wasn't aware of the photos, he said.

It's a he said/she said situation and, unlike past hs/ss situations, we aren't even talking about physical contact, nudity, direct harassment, etc., etc., etc.

I hate Al Franken, this is even less substantiated and less plausible than what his own party generally regretted putting him through at the time. Only, by virtue of it's contemporary nature, more plausible than Blasey-Ford and, again, we aren't even asserting Groene assaulted or harassed her. With the gossamer fibers of evidence the public has, it looks very much like an attempt to poison the well and assault free speech.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Just about every brickbat is unconfirmed. Why does this one need extra confirmation before it qualifies as a brickbat?

[mad.casual]

Was it the brickbat or you who said, "How is this not a politician behaving badly? How is it not of interest to his constituents?"

[mad.casual]

Moreover, where's the bottom? Alien in slammer after fist fight with HRC? Half-bat half-human locked up in medical lab?

[Longtobefree]

At last, a completely useless brickbat.

[Don't look at me!]

Pics, or it didn’t happen.

[Utkonos]

Or he was framed.

[mad.casual]

Ceci n'est pas un scandale.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

Let's not glossy it over.

[Don't look at me!]

We’ll see how it develops.

[Rubbish!]

See, it's so much what he did. His mistake was not being dreamy like Justin. He's an old, fat, white-haired lech, and you can't go taking snapshots of the help if you look like that. That's the rule he broke, so he has to pay the price.

[Brandybuck]

At least he wasn't mailing out pictures of his Anthony Weiner.

[Utkonos]

I’m all for exposing dirty politicians. However, developments have been cast in a very negative light even though the true picture isn’t so black and white.

[Don Draper]

Where are the photos? I’m old enough to judge for myself if they’re inappropriate, and young enough to laugh if what he said was funny!

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's a politician, so I don't believe him, but on the other hand she works for a politician, so I don't believe her, either.

[NOYB2]

A Nebraska state senator has resigned after an aide accused him of taking inappropriate photos of her without her knowledge and sending them to others. Mike Groene admitted taking the photos but said none of them were sexual in nature

Now try to analyze this from a libertarian point of view: did he violate anybody's property rights? Did he aggress against anybody? Did he cause any harm? Was he threatened with legal actions or repercussions?

I had always assumed that in a libertarian society, you could take pictures of people in public places, share them, and comment on them, even if that comment was "nice boobs on that one".

But I'd be happy to hear alternative "libertarian" points of view.

[markm23]

Who said the pictures were taken in a public place? It was probably in his office. I'm sure that if 50 protestors crowded into his office, he would be claiming it was not a public place.