December 11, 2007
Worst Headline of the Day Award
The thinly veiled sexism oozing out of today's Examiner column by veteran local politics observer Harry Jaffe is hard enough to take, but to whomever thought up this gem of a headline, be they copy editor or author, DCist salutes your willingness to go boldly where no human beings in the 21st century were thought to be capable of going anymore. Yes, if the recent Office of Tax and Revenue scandal has taught us anything, it's that the greed of an entire gender is to blame. Women totally are always shopping, and these two women were both arrested for stealing and then shopping, ergo, all women love to steal and then shop. I know I do! I'm talking LOVE here.
The column itself isn't entirely better, though we're willing to believe that the larger point Jaffe wants to be making is that women are just as capable as men of being corrupt, which is certainly true enough, if mindnumbingly obvious. Unfortunately, Jaffe stumbles into the territory of that dreadful headline with this section:
The Walters and Bullock corruption cases raise a more serious set of questions:
» Why are women the masterminds of the two most high-profile, high-dollar corruption cases in D.C. history? Men were reduced to clerks in their schemes.
» Why are we so shocked at their particular practice of conspicuous consumption?
Really? These are the more serious questions that have come out of these two scandals? That you've become concerned that women may no longer be pure as the driven snow? That men may have been emasculated in the process? We have some other news that might shock you, Jaffe. Don't tell anyone, but we have it on good authority that women are working and having sex before marriage. You know, between all the shopping.
Since Jaffe was the one to bring up what the "more serious questions" are that have come out of these two scandals, allow us to offer our own: It's been reported that someone may have taught Harriette Walters how to steal from the tax office, as though it was a time honored tradition passed down from city employee to city employee. What is the root of this sense of entitlement and culture of corruption within the District government, and what can we do to weed it out once and for all?
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I know, keep chicks out of government. All they wanna do is steal and shop, steal and shop. Put some real men in charge and this won't happen, and at least if the guys steal, it will be to invest the loot in mutual funds. If the broads stay home and watch after babies it might distract them from the feverish compulsion to steal and shop, steal and shop.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc!
well, if they cant drive they still have to do something!
ba dum chi
I forgot my sarcasm tag, but Jaffe is such a pig on this one that I surely don't need it.
As far as what lessons should be learned (seriously), I believe there is an audit underway. Forensic accounting and criminal investigation may be necessary to dissect this one before we jump to conclusions, but the general lesson is that if this government money that's not being carefully watched, it will be funnelled away by evil opportunists.
False companies have been a mainstay in DC corruption whether it's related to the Washington Teachers Union, charter school operations, or the Office of Tax and Revenue.
I'd say that we need a white collar police force to be every bit as aggressive as our many blue collar ones here in DC.
Women rock!
Women be shoppin'!
personally i find it better to shop first and then steal
LMaooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a idiot.....wtf does gender got to do with embezzlement/stealing? How about all those men in Iraq that have stolen billions...what their gonna just sit on the money and make furniture made out of 100 dollar bills?????
"True enough. Men are supposed to be brutes and can’t be trusted; women, especially as public officials, should be more nurturing and trustworthy.
Another myth bites the dust."
Poor Jaffe. Sexism must break way to reality. Sucks to be him.
On a side-note, I'd really appreciate it a bunch if, in the future, when reporting on the exploits of male embezzlers, they included a track record of the hookers, blow, and cars that the men purchased with their ill-gotten gains. That way headlines could read: "Scandal Reveals that Men like to Steal, Speed & Screw"
personally i find it better to shop first and then steal
Think he'll be writing a follow up about black people? There could be a whole gross generalization series.
That headline still doesn't beat the one that the Washington Post corrected that said something like, "DC Audits Retarded Agency," implying the agency itself was mentally challenged. Come to think of it, they probably should have left it the way it was.
Definitely a double standard here. Had a man been raiding the tax office, he would have blown the cash on forties of Steel Reserve, grape flavored blunts, and Thai prostitutes. That's what Neil and I did after Silverado SNL got rightsized. And what did that get us? Multimillion dollar consultant jobs and a dose of crotch rot that you can smell from Vancouver.
Moral of the story: always pay in cash and if possible, be born to a family in big oil.
who is this harry jaffe schmo?
This story is pretty absurd, although the fact that the media is also discussing Oprah's potential effect on the presidential election did make me momentarily question the 19th amendment. (j/k)
;-D
Harry Jaffe? More like Harry [i]Gaffe[/i]!
ROFLROFLROFL!!!!ROLF AND FLORIAN
Geez, Sommer, stop being such a bitch. Is it that time of the month or something?
(I sincerely hope you can read the sarcasm and don't reach through your screen to strangle me.)
I think it was Colbert King that had an article a while back touching somewhat on this issue, but more in relation to Brenda Belton who stole from the charter schools. I think he was highlighting the backstory of how the perpetrators used their powerful sorority network to gather accomplices.
Actually, I'm a little surprised that Jaffee didn't mention Belton, since she fits in with his hypothesis.
Also, I'll add that I think the particular fascination that people have with the way Walters spent her money has more to do with class (and probably race) than gender. There's no doubt that certain reports have had a whiff of snobbery as they revel in the nouveau-riche sort of products Walters bought.
i wonder when they'll just get to the true root of the problem and somehow blame this on menstruation and hormones.
us women can't be held responsible for our crazy actions. we didn't mean to steal! our periods made us do it! obviously
Just wait until Jaffe hears that Ms. Walters blew most of the money on tampons with 24k applicators.
If I'm ever barefoot while washing my dishes, it's because I've thrown my 3-inch heels at Jaffe's head to try to draw blood.
I would say that there could be an interesting underlying study of gender differences here. Several questions come to mind. Given equal opportunity will women embezzel as often as men? When women steal do they do it for the same reasons as men? When women steal how do they spend/use their stolen money differently than men?
I heard the DOD had to change some of their models for tracking graft when women entered the workforce in large numbers because they didn't steal the same way as men had (if I recall correctly, they didn't steal as much and they tended to give money to family - making it harder to spot).
That being said, the headline is awful.
I would say that there could be an interesting underlying study of gender differences here. Several questions come to mind. Given equal opportunity will women embezzel as often as men? When women steal do they do it for the same reasons as men? When women steal how do they spend/use their stolen money differently than men?
I heard the DOD had to change some of their models for tracking graft when women entered the workforce in large numbers because they didn't steal the same way as men had (if I recall correctly, they didn't steal as much and they tended to give money to family - making it harder to spot).
That being said, the headline is awful.
I would say that there could be an interesting underlying study of gender differences here. Several questions come to mind. Given equal opportunity will women embezzel as often as men? When women steal do they do it for the same reasons as men? When women steal how do they spend/use their stolen money differently than men?
I heard the DOD had to change some of their models for tracking graft when women entered the workforce in large numbers because they didn't steal the same way as men had (if I recall correctly, they didn't steal as much and they tended to give money to family - making it harder to spot).
That being said, the headline is awful.