Monday Morning Cleavage!
11 05 2009Here’s an interesting little story. There is cleavage in the story, but the point of the story isn’t really about cleavage. I figured I’d just get that out of the way right off the bat and come back to it later to illustrate a point.
The players in this little story are Mike Nizich, Governor Palin’s Chief of Staff; Annette Kreitzer, Commissioner of the Department of Administration, and citizen watchdog Andree MacLeod.
Andree McLeod has filed several ethics complaints against the Governor in the past few months. She’s also filed a public records request that asks the state to turn over a bunch of emails that call into question the blurring of the lines between partisan political activity and state business and the Palin administration turned all of them over….except for 1100. And now, there’s a little matter of an inquiry from APOC (the Alaska Public Offices Commission) sent to the governor after hearing some public testimony from McLeod. The administration is not fond of Andree McLeod because she’s knowledgeable, tenacious, and an unabashed Republican. A deadly combination.
Mike Nizich has generally been fairly quiet until recently. But not long ago, he popped his head in from the back room and deposited a shocking bit of “HUH?” into a press release that is now on the State of Alaska website. In reference to recent ethics complaints filed against the governor, he said:
I hope that the publicity-seekers will face a backlash from Alaskans who have a sense of fair play and proportion.”
You read that right. The chief of staff for the governor hopes that private citizens filing complaints, who have every legal right to do so, will face a “backlash.” Doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy and like your government is out to protect your rights? Oh, and he’s one of those state employees that didn’t show up to testify after receiving a legislative subpoena in the Troopergate investigation. And so is Annette Kreitzer, but I digress.
I noted with some interest that in this week’s Ear column in the Anchorage Daily News, an email exchange between McLeod, Nizich and Kreitzer was leaked. The exchange, containing the word “cleavage” was an instant attention-getter. Think what first ran through your mind when you read the title of this post. Love it, hate it, or have it, the word “cleavage” gets people’s attention. It’s not quite as….er….titillating if you will, to call it “proper workplace attire” but try to think of it in that way.
In an e-mailto administration commish Annette Kreitzer, Andree allowed as how she’s “astounded at the amount and magnitude of cleavage being exhibited by female employees in State of Alaska offices these days. Upon entering an office, I’m initially embarrassed when subjected to such low cut tops. …The negative impact this all has on the business I have to conduct is not to my benefit. I leave the office feeling offended.”
And, in a follow-up to Mike Nizich, the governor’s chief of staff, she noted, “That’s a lot of pressure to put on guys, whether they are members of the public or colleagues, to just ignore the fact that these women are wearing tops with breasts popping out. … and not cross the lines.”
It’s actually the first sentence that grabs my attention. “In an email to”….. A quick bit of checking with the aforementioned watchdog lets us know that Annette Kreitzer and Mike Nizich were the ONLY people who received the email communication. Quite revealing, if you’ll pardon the turn of phrase. I guess if the administration ”hopes” for “backlash,” the best way to make those hopes come true is to take matters into their own hands. You know what they say….If you want something done right, do it yourself.
And the blurb fails to call to attention McLeod’s past service in the Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development. That would be the agency that tries to make people employable by teaching about appropriate behavior in the workplace. Generally, this does not include sporting lots of cleavage if you work in a state office. As someone who has had to enforce dress codes for longer and more thoroughly than I care to admit, I can vouch for the fact that the concept of “professional dress” is lost on some Alaskans. I have, in my career, had to explain to people whose job it is to work with the public in a professional context, that it is inappropriate to wear to work: a feather boa, a silk evening dress with spaghetti straps, jeans with bullet holes in them, hiking boots encrusted with various amounts of trail debris, rubber flip flops, shirts containing dozens of ornamental safety pins. That is, of course, in addition to short skirts, plunging necklines, shorts and a host of other things. It’s a problem.
We can add this little “outing” of private communication designed to embarrass McLeod to the growing list of backlashes which now includes Palin’s Golden Boy and right-wing shock jock Eddie Burke threatening to institute a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to obtain all emails between McLeod and the State of Alaska. Yes, he actually meant a “Records Request” to the state, and not a federal FOIA, but I’m hoping nobody corrects him. “The feds” will get a good chuckle if he submits a FOIA request. His now regular bashing of McLeod has taken on alarming tones, presumably in the hopes of cowing her into backing off. Good luck. McLeod is the real pit bull in this state.
I’d also like to bring to your attention a definition I found online. It’s the definition of “cyber-bullying.” Now it’s possible that the administration has never heard of such a thing. After all, a sitting legislator in this state has denied the existence of email etiquette, so all things are possible. But, here it is.
Cyber bullying is using technology to threaten, insult, or harass. Technologies like cell phones and the Internet allow for aggressive expression toward others that doesn’t rely on physical strength or even physical contact.
Hmmm. Hope for retaliation, name calling, and revealing personal email communications that many would consider embarrassing , all utilizing the internet. Yes folks, I think we have a winner. Cyber-bullying. It’s not just for Junior High anymore.
And I was going to put a nice shot of cleavage up there at the top, but I thought that it might be distracting while you were trying to think about the post. Which also goes to prove a point.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Well, austintx, if he can bank his shot, while still missing the 8ball, all power to him. But it looks like a scratch to me…
May 11th, 2009 at 8:01 PM
G’night all…
May 11th, 2009 at 8:18 PM
OK, AKM: I know who wore the pink feather boa. The hiking boots would have been me (sorry!). I can’t quite remember the girl that wore the evening dress, but I remember the girl with the cleavage who would come over to me while I was on the ladder and ask if I needed anything (bat bat bat…..).
May 11th, 2009 at 8:23 PM
(You see, my wonderful readers, records requests can work both ways.)
No wonder, Palin, is out at 8 P.M. trying her damnest to get good press.
AKGovSarahPalinCurrently meeting w/leaders in Eagle to discuss flood damage & the way forward for this good AKn community.
15 minutes ago from TwitterBerry
May 11th, 2009 at 8:29 PM
lee at 86 said: “Finally…As to allowing folks under 30 years old to be the final arbiters of professional style and dress….my only comment would be that the vast majority of successful companies (large or small, private or public) in the country (and world) are not run by people under the age of 30….and never will be.”
they’ve never been run by women or ethnic minorities, either. add that to traditions for which i have no respect.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:38 PM
How is this for an idea…..
If some of the people/workers is these State Offices want to ‘let it all hang out’ (remember THAT song… maybe not… YOU may be too young)
and you are doing business there you MIGHT …” accidently ” snap a picture with your cell phone of them. They want to display themselves…. and they let everybody else see them. They should have no objection to just a few more people taking a peek at them….. posted to YouTube maybe..? (or a blog)
Can you say ” Alaska Employees Gone Wild”
If they knew someone might take their picture… it could act as a deterrent as well. (somebody could ‘ leak ‘… that picture takers may be out there)
Good evidence to pass onto Andree Mcleods case…..for those non-believers/detractors.
Who wants to be made famous…. for Bad behavior..?
May 11th, 2009 at 8:38 PM
we need to choose our battles more carefully, i believe.
i wish palin was out of office by now. she has been running on her rims forever. why continue with this charade?
once she’s gone we can get on to more important business, i hope.
and we can stop pretending to like people like mc leod, fagan and monegan — who are not really on our side.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:58 PM
@107 clark
” once she’s gone we can get on to more important business, i hope.
and we can stop pretending to like people like mc leod, fagan and monegan — who are not really on our side.”
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Oh dear. Love to see the ghastly gov gone but we shall have to live with ALL ourselves then too.
Whether I agree on all things with Ms McLeod or not, I admire her strength and courage in stepping up to the plate when we need it. That will stay after the gov has gone.
It will temper how I see what comes after as well.
So, no pretending here.
No splitting off into we and them either.
All that important stuff we are waiting to get to work on includes ALL Alaskans.
Right now, I’d like to see Ms McLeod have the moral support she deserves, No pretending here.
Ms Mc Leod- We’ve got your back.
No pretending here…
Go for it!
May 11th, 2009 at 9:14 PM
What, no pictures?
How can there be a proper discussion of the issue without graphical illustration?
May 11th, 2009 at 9:17 PM
clark: You’ve got that right, Fagan is definitely not on our side. He’s against the gov, but for reasons entirely his own. I’ll say this much, he likes our side about as much as he likes the guv, which isn’t much.
What’s that saying again, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well, sometimes.
And yeah, I also agree that too many complaints, no matter how valid they are, will begin to hurt our cause at some point. It’s the law of diminishing returns. Either way, she’s got some courage, that McCleod!
May 11th, 2009 at 9:23 PM
This is a little O T… but everybody has left the open thread some time ago.
I just got this ADN News Break.
Coast Guard commander relieved
The commander of the Coast Guard’s sector in Anchorage has been relieved from duty, the Coast Guard said Monday evening.
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I have no idea if there is some ‘ story’ behind this or what the angle is.
The first question is… why was he relieved..? Did something happen?
May 11th, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Did I miss something here? I was under the impression that this was NOT a formal complaint filed by Ms. McLeod, but rather emails sent when/as a state employee. If that is the case then her emails addressing dress-code violations are very very reasonable, and the Nizich/Toomey behaviour is spitty to the 10th power.
If that is not the case, and this is an ethics complaint (which I never got the impression that it was/is), and somehow alleges that the gov is directly or indirectly responsible for the poor wardrobe choices of State gov employees, well, then I’m going to have to say that it’s eye-roll worthy.
But that still does not negate the Toomey/Nizich dastardly behaviour, behaviour that seems worthy of an ethics complaint itself. To really get steamed about that aspect check out Celtic Diva’s post on this.
If one is an employee and wants to complain about having to sit around in meetings (or next to someone) with their stuff hanging out (cleavage/chest/etc), you meet with a supervisor in person or, if you’ve determined that they are less than credible in relation to taking action on issues, you send an email so that your concerns are voiced and there is a paper trail. This case seems to me to fall under that umbrella, with the spitefulness of Nizich/TOomey exploiting the situation to the gov’s advantage (or at least making the attempt to spin it to the gov’s advantage).
May 11th, 2009 at 9:47 PM
@112 SMR -
No, you didn’t miss anything here.
And you are correct about the overall picture.
And it’s important .
It is important that behavior towards Ms McLeod by this administration be watched carefully and mustn’t be lost in talk or strategy about getting rid of the ghastly gov .
Outing private communication with Ms McLeod when it serves the Adminstration’s purpose is worthy of the same contempt I feel about the Administration refusing to pony up their own professional email for … how long now?
May 11th, 2009 at 10:02 PM
105 clark Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 8:29 PM …….”they’ve never been run by women or ethnic minorities, either. add that to traditions for which i have no respect.”
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I agree with you 100% on this (except for the word “never” :>) )
Things are slowly changing but it takes a continued willingness to fight for change, eh? I think that’s why some of the women on this post have expressed dismay that younger women are so willing to sexualize themselves in the workplace nowdays. Older women have fought in the trenches since the 1960’s for women’s equality in the workplace….which included, in no small part, the fight to be viewed as more than a sexual distraction for the male workers, especially in more male-dominated professions.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:26 PM
The Whole World is Annoyed by Sarah Palin
Raed Jarrar just toured Americaland, where he stopped off in Alaska to visit with Sarah Palin. His impressions? He said that her voice was very “annoying in person”. Yep, that sounds about right!
http://ow.ly/6n0R
May 12th, 2009 at 3:11 AM
@ Palin Sucks, Salam Pax was a great blog! I’m glad Raed had resurfaced with a book.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Aussie Blue Sky,
You prove my point. That one issue would have not cost the complainant.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:00 AM
This story has been Dugg @ Digg
(/) no cyber bully’s
May 12th, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Shucks! Maybe Sarah should have saved all those RNC clothes and handed them out to the state employees to cover up all the cleavage.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:01 PM
# austintx Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 5:56 PM
Is this skirt ok ???
http://onemansblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/sarah-palin-hottie.jpg
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It’s for breastfeeding!!
May 12th, 2009 at 12:38 PM
curiouser Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 1:21 PM
#31austintx Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 1:01 PM
I have a silly question…….Is there a dress code or policy in some sort of Employee Manual ??
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I don’t think that’s silly. I was wondering the same thing.
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Apparently it’s not silly – I can’t find it and I’m here.