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Schumer To Gillibrand: That Flight Attendant Was A 'Bitch'
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
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On a flight from New York to Washington, D.C., this weekend, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took issue with a flight attendant's request to turn off his cell phone, calling her a "bitch" after she walked away.
According to Politico, the attendant asked both Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who was sitting next to him, to turn off their phones so the plane could take off. Schumer resisted, asking if he could finish his call. When told "no," he kept arguing, according to Politico's witness, a House Republican aide.
He eventually hung up. After the attendant walked away, Schumer turned to Gillibrand and called the attendant a "bitch."
A few minutes later, his phone rang again. "It's Harry Reid calling," Politico's source quoted Schumer as saying. "I guess health care will have to wait until we land."
"The senator made an off-the-cuff comment under his breath that he shouldn't have made, and he regrets it," Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon said.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee jumped on the story, blasting out a press release that calls the episode an "air rage incident." The NRSC release also links to a Washington Post story from January, in which Schumer apparently had a commercial flight leave 15 minutes early so he could make a Senate vote. (For what it's worth, the NRSC claims that left passengers stranded, but the Post reported that everyone got out on time.)
The NRSC has demanded an apology.
Gillibrand's office told Politico that Schumer was "polite" with the flight attendant. Her office did not immediately answer a request for comment from TPM.
Late update: Schumer apparently called the flight attendant personally to apologize.
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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
December 16, 2009 11:05 AM
Oh for christ's sake, now we're parroting single anonymous source Poltico dirt slinging?
Well gee, if a "House Republican aide," safely nestled in the comfort of anonymous sourcedom, says something, it MUST be true, right? It's not like most House Republican aides are Young Republican frat boys and sorority gals with all the sociopathic delight in dirty tricks that entails, is it? Indeed, it's not like any Republican in recent history has ever been known to tell a lie for political effect, is it?
There's a long list of serious things going on today people need to know about. This isn't one of them.
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WhiteKnight
December 24, 2009 10:41 AM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
Chuck Schumer was licking his lips in victory after the vote on Healthcare. Watch the it on FOX News. That licking of the lips is, according to psychologists is a sign of control and power he believes he has, how arrogant! He believes he is above the law, a god in his own right.
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bignose
December 16, 2009 11:08 AM
When Cheney apologizes to Leahy for telling him to go fuck himself, then I might begin to care about this. But probably not.
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dtOZONE
December 16, 2009 11:09 AM
lol I love Schumer, he's so New York. Yeah, that's how we roll.
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henk
December 16, 2009 1:11 PM in reply to dtOZONE
Yup hold up a plane load of people so you can finish your phone call sound very New York. Pretty selfish as well.
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mk3872
December 16, 2009 11:11 AM
Are you kidding me? Are we dealing with children or adults here?
And is Politico supposed to do political reporting or are they TMZ?
A Republican aide dishes, the RNC uses it score political points and Politico happily reports the whole thing.
Wow, what a system!
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agio
December 16, 2009 11:12 AM
Right, because the Republican party has always been on the side of flight attendants and other unionized service professionals.
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Dogger
December 16, 2009 2:17 PM in reply to agio
The GOP has an established record of respect for working women. Just ask Valerie Plame.
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Spiffarino
December 16, 2009 11:12 AM
Schumer to NRSC: Go fuck yourselves.
I wish.
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Steve LaBonne
December 16, 2009 11:19 AM
It's hardly news that Schumer is a self-important asshole. So what? Very few Senators fail to fit that description.
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Bruce Webb
December 16, 2009 2:11 PM in reply to Steve LaBonne
Exactly right.
Schumer needs to find out the name of that stewardess and send her an apology and some flowers. Everybody else needs to STFU.
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dswx
December 16, 2009 11:19 AM
What in the world is going on at TPM?? It prints more trash like this everyday with no explanation as to why it has deteriorated so badly. Polls are published without proper context, tabloid news become "facts"...
And no effort whatsoever to try to learn, improve or acknowledge what they are doing. It's as if they are saying "We know better than you.". No, you do not. TPM...stop acting as if you are a right-wing trash talk show and stop shilling for Politico, a right-wing blog.
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tonigo
December 16, 2009 11:31 AM in reply to dswx
The price of fame I guess. As TPM became more popular, it becomes more mainstream.
Things fall apart. The center cannot hold.
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Joppoi
December 16, 2009 12:15 PM in reply to dswx
I posted the same thing a few weeks ago. The tabloid nature of most articles, the focus on bizarre PPP polls, and the secondhand gossip from anonymous sources is all truly dismaying.
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ched
December 16, 2009 11:39 AM
Hey, thanks for the scoop, TMZ! Er,I mean TPM.
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Egypt Steve
December 16, 2009 11:41 AM
Yo, where the fuck was Ted Petruna when we needed him? He shoulda dragged Schumer off the plane single-handedly, like he did those deranged Arabs who wouldn't switch off their phones. These damned Semites with their cell-phones ...
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inokeah
December 16, 2009 12:05 PM
Schumer will be Schumer, no more no less. He is a New Yorker to his core. Crude, rude, uncivilized and disrespectful. This goes in big cities where rats rule.
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Stroszek
December 16, 2009 12:11 PM
Missing Greg Sargent here.
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tommyo
December 16, 2009 12:11 PM
This "story" deserves reporting? Who cares? Talk about the petty MSM...
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Steaming Pile
December 16, 2009 12:19 PM
Hardly a "macaca" moment.
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tweakyd
December 16, 2009 12:21 PM
Fuck you whoever insists on talking on your phone while we all wait for the plane to take off.
The attendant should have announced to the whole plane that "we'll wait to take off while the good senator finishes his call".
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rbe1
December 16, 2009 2:06 PM in reply to tweakyd
Considering the fact that most modern aircraft (meaning those built after 1940 or so) can make up for 15 minutes of lost time to arrive at their designated gates on time, why the hysterical reaction ?
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tweakyd
December 16, 2009 2:51 PM in reply to rbe1
good point - you should tell the flight attendant, pilot and all the passengers that
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ohyeathatsright
December 16, 2009 12:28 PM
NOT NEWS
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agio
December 16, 2009 12:47 PM
BTW, whether Schumer was being an asshole or not, the whole "no cell phones use during flight" things is somewhat silly. I saw a Mythbusters in which they demonstrated that the chances of a cellphone interfering with cockpit radio communications are basically nil.
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tweakyd
December 16, 2009 12:53 PM in reply to agio
'...basically nil'.
and you saw this on Mythbusters?
-so its 'basically' safe then.
Maybe you should peruse some reality shows for more transportation safety policies and report back, agio
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agio
December 16, 2009 1:01 PM in reply to tweakyd
Sure. It's surely almost as fun and productive as posting "fuck you" invectives to Senators on the Internet.
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trblmkr
December 16, 2009 2:29 PM in reply to agio
Safe or not, it's bloody annoying to hear someone yelling, "wha, wha, say that again, I didn't hear, meet where, wha, say again, OK, wha". They should allow texting and Schumer (and all the other old farts) should learn how to text.
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tweakyd
December 16, 2009 2:32 PM in reply to agio
Actually, the fuck you was directed at any idiot who gabs on their phone while the everyone else waits for him/her to finish so the plane can depart.
So, next time you're on a plane talking into your phone and an attendant tells you to shut it off, why dont you tell the attendant you know better cuz of what you saw on Mythbusters.
...and everyne will be thinking 'fuck this agio guy'.
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jsdc007
December 16, 2009 1:30 PM
Who cares? And for the record, more than half the flight attendants one meets onboard any US carrier today meet the basic b*tch requirements.
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Rich in NJ
December 16, 2009 2:20 PM
The GOP has become the champion of political correctness.
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Ted
December 16, 2009 2:24 PM
Since when has the NSRC given a $#@& about flight attendants?
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EdA
December 16, 2009 3:14 PM
And 30 of the 40 Republican Senators in the NRSC voted explicitly that it is wrong to hold an employer legally responsible if its employees kidnap and gang-rape a fellow employee on company time. (For some reason, the female Republican Senators didn't agree that gang-rape is no big deal.)
I think that maybe there is some inconsistency here.
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