A Connecticut state representative has been stripped of his title as deputy speaker today after he making a lewd remark to a 17-year-old girl during an Appropriations Committee hearing last month.
The teen was testifying at the hearing to promote and acquire more funding for a program at the Connecticut Science Center that she claimed helped her get over her shyness and her fear of snakes. At one point during her presentation, which you can listen to above, the teen said: "I am usually a very shy person, and now I am more outgoing. I was able to teach those children about certain things like snakes that we have and the turtles that we have... I never liked snakes, but I ended up loving them."
After the teen concluded her presentation, according to the audio of the hearing, Rep. Ernest Hewett spoke up and commented, "If you're bashful I got a snake sitting under my desk here."
Though Hewett later claimed that his statement came out wrong - which seems like a bullshit excuse - House Speaker Brendan Sharkey stripped him of his title as deputy speaker. Additionally, there have been calls for Hewett to resign from his position.
Speaking to the Hartford Courant, Hewett explained he meant the comment as "the kind of crazy analogies I use to try to make a point. Like, sometimes I'll tell someone, 'If you believe that, then I have an acre of land in the Everglades to sell you.' …It came out the wrong way. …It had nothing to do with sex, in my mind, but I can understand how people would think that by hearing it." Yeah, right.
According to The Day of New London, the president of the Connecticut Science Center, Matt Fleury, said today that he passed an apology from Hewett on to the teen, and she has reportedly accepted it.
Too long, didn't read version? Basically, the world sucks.
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[via Political Wire // Boston.com]
