State Sen. Ed Flanagan said Wednesday he was “very sorry” if he offended anyone while unclothed inside the men’s wellness center at the Greater Burlington YMCA.
As related in a story first reported by “Fair Game” in today’s Seven Days, last Friday a YMCA patron complained to Y officials that Flanagan was masturbating in plain view of other patrons inside the adults-only wellness center. After confirming what he had seen with a fellow patron in the center at that time, Tiki Archambeau filed his complaint.
Archambeau spoke publicly about his complaint to Seven Days and noted that he had previously observed peculiar behavior by Flanagan in the wellness center. That behavior included using the treadmill while clad in nothing but shoes, socks and a watch.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2009.
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Ah, 7dvt, there you are, living down to yer image.
One more thing, I haven’t seen any GOP turkey pull a bit of idiocy YET about which I found out. I guarantee I’ll be every bit as rude & harsh with them. I’m not a Republican, in fact the so called GOP here are RINO’s including Douglas. This state needs severe fiscal conservatism quickly, before the tax base entirely disappears. Shummy & Shap have a good shot of performing this trick by screwing around with the negotiations among CVPC, GMP and Entergy. Wait to see what this economy looks like if Entergy tells those two to stick VY up their noses. Bye-bye IBM, General Dynamics, Green Mt Coffee Roasters GE and a bunch of tech startups.
I understood your comments perfectly well. I don’t buy any part of them in the least. Either Ed is in the public service and competent, or he isn’t and gets out. Period! I’m not picking on anyone’s afflictions. But don’t stand there and beclown yourself either.
Ed, I’d respond to your comment if I felt like you understood my posts, but since you’ve failed to comprehend my two basic points I don’t see what could possibly be achieved.
Molly, forget it! paving stones, roads, heat and kitchens all that stuff. Public figures shouldn’t be making solo PDA’s in the (S)wellness center. Lets not get our “proclivities” mixed either. Would you be for a solo PDA in the YWCA in front of you or your daughter? How about some hairy stud giving a demo in the Unisex room? OK? Just a new kink they’re working out! Get over the PC junk.
Tiki Archambeau swears this whole thing isnt political but one has to wonder if, thats the case, why he went running to the media?
“Attacking someone when he or she is down is cowardly and puerile. We like to think of our genus as being more evolved than other animals, but social psychology betrays how primitive, vicious, and opportunistic we still are. It’s not just about compassion, it’s about dignity and civility.”Hey, Molly, were you around when Freyne was here?
I have never made fun of or attacked Foley or Sanford. Not in private, not on my blog, not on this or any other forum. Although there is a critical difference here that the “you wouldn’t have this kindly attitude if it were a GOPer” people are ignoring: if these allegations are true, it is likely that the strange behaviors in question are the result of Senator Flanagan’s head injury. Not bad decisions that he is consciously making as a fully competent adult (like Foley and Sanford). This is the element that brings out the compassion we’re speaking of. The fact that he probably isn’t doing these things on purpose, they are symptoms. I worked with head injury patients on an inpatient rehab unit for eight years, and this explanation seems extremely plausible to me.Attacking someone when he or she is down is cowardly and puerile. We like to think of our genus as being more evolved than other animals, but social psychology betrays how primitive, vicious, and opportunistic we still are. It’s not just about compassion, it’s about dignity and civility.
Alan – they have at least three different witnesses corroborating the story. This is news. It belongs in newspapers. Newspapers do not exist to hide news. If a state senator can’t behave himself in public, voters have a right to know. One other thing — People make fun of public figures. From Monica’s stained blue dress to Larry Craig’s wide stance, people make jokes and laugh at these people who hold themselves up to be model citizens. Yes, some of it is over the line. Some of it is tacky (I remember Peter Freyne dishing out many tacky barbs over the years). But is it “hate speech” ??? No. It’s silly to say that it is. And it’s truly absurd to call on Seven Days to censor comments just because you don’t like them.
When you’re elected to public office, you should expect “obtuse puns” and “cheap shots” from the citizens who elected you. Especially after you’re accused of committing lewd acts in front of your public.Read any other political forum and you’ll find worse. When it comes to politics, pretty much all bets are off. So let’s stop with the PC Vermonter oversensitivity. It’s played out.