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Subject of Hoffman’s tweets satisfied with ruling [UPDATED]
Published 11:19am Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Updated 11:22am Wednesday, June 15, 2011The Democratic state senator mentioned in an out-of-context Twitter post by Senator Gretchen Hoffman is satisfied with the Senate Ethics Subcommittee’s response to the situation.
“I think the ethics committee ruled very fairly,” said Senator Barb Goodwin, a first-term senator from Columbia Heights who before that served as a state representative for three terms.
Hoffman is required by the committee to send Goodwin a written apology, take down the offending “tweet” and post a new tweet with either an apology or a link to the committee’s report showing that she was in the wrong.
Goodwin took issue with Hoffman’s tweet alleging that Goodwin had called people with mental illness “idiots and imbeciles” on May 18 during a floor debate on the omnibus human services bill. In fact, Goodwin was illustrating how far society has come on the topic of mental illness by explaining that mental institutions used to call their patients idiots and imbeciles.
“I’m not thin-skinned,” Goodwin told the Journal. “It’s about the fact that when something like this comes out, it demeans people with mental illness … It also makes people think that the Legislature is a place where things like this are said by people who they elected to serve.”
Goodwin said she received several unhappy e-mails and letters after word of Hoffman’s tweet got out, but she believes her reputation as a defender of people with disabilities will not be tarnished in the long run, thanks to the ethics subcomittee’s bipartisan ruling.
She added that she hopes to get back to the state budget situation, but she felt to let the tweet go could make other senators afraid to share their views on the floor.
Hoffman had not removed the post from Twitter as of 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Tags: Gretchen Hoffman, Gretchen Hoffman twitter post, State Capitol
So Senator Hoffman misunderstood Senator Goodman. Is this why they (the democrats) need to raise taxes? So we can spend countless dollars investigating misunderstandings? I would like to share with everyone that I am a little thin skinned when it comes to our State Government wasting money on frivolous BS. Simply asking Senator Hoffman to retract the statement because she misunderstood Senator Goodman was never considered. Also isn’t the result the same? Senator Hoffman needs to apologize and remove the tweet. No there is hay to be made there for the democrats. God how I wish I could get a committee to meet every time I thought somebody either took me out of context or misunderstood what I had to say. Better yet I would love to be able to demand a committee meeting every time I took exception with somebody’s words or actions. This is a sad case of gotcha at best, and a pathetic attempt to tarnish the reputation of an exceptional Senator who has done a terrific job so far fighting to lower taxes, and reduce regulations so that we can get our economy growing again in Minnesota. One last thing, I would like to know how much Senator Goodman’s and the democrat’s gotcha game cost the hard working tax payers of Minnesota.
taxes need to be raised to pay back the pillaging the GOP did to buy votes during the Bush era. it was known and hotly argued at the time that His bribes/extra refunds and tax breaks would end up leaving us all in this exact financial bind we are in now.
only He added even more debt than anyone could have imagined.
there is a trickle down affect to such insanity.
as fir Hoffman, she should just resign already, this arrogant Anti-truth, Anti-American tone of her’s is unacceptable! plain and simple. what an embarrassment to the entire country and humanity as a whole.
in fact what a party of dirtbags the GOP are overall, taking food from hungry babies and booting poor pregnant women in need off WIC??? just to line the pockets of the already bloated rich?
thats just downright EVIL incarnate!