>

Sinema is a spoiled brat.
The Senate ethics handbook states that “staff are compensated for the purpose of assisting Senators in their official legislative and representational duties, and not for the purpose of performing personal or other non-official activities for themselves or on behalf of others.”
Craig Holman, a congressional ethics expert with the nonprofit group Public Citizen, said Sinema’s apparent demands that staffers conduct personal tasks amount to a clear violation of Senate ethics rules, and would typically warrant a formal reprimand by the Senate Ethics Committee. >

Oh no. Not a toothless reprimand! >

I imagine that in a bygone era where people at least pretended to have character, such a publicly embarrassing thing would have had career consequences down the line. >

It wasn’t so long ago that this was true.  I think 24-hour news channels/cable news/the 24-hour news cycle pretty much killed off the type of in-depth reporting that would actually lead to career consequences down the line. >

That and a penchant for "both sides get equal treatment" serves to validate a lot of utter nonsense by placing it alongside legitimate viewpoints. >

Yes!  The pace (24-hours and they are on to the next thing) and the penchant for sloppy “both sides” reporting have gotten us here.  
We need to slow down and digest news.  And — more importantly— insist that news orgs give us something digestible, not the shitty fast food news they have fed us for 30+ years. >

Mass consumption period is an issue that spans so much — from mass consumption of media to mass consumption of things.  
We have some serious items to work on as human beings. >


Unsurprisingly, some staffers found these instructions—and Sinema’s zeal in ensuring they were followed to the letter—to not only be onerous but detrimental to the overall staff’s mission to serve constituents, craft policy, and communicate that work to Arizona.

It is really all about her. >

I thought she was one of the good ones when she came in.   She quickly proved she wasn’t but this stuff is just beyond the pale.  Hopefully, AZ realizes that they got hoodwinked but also hopefully, they don’t just go back to an R. >

We won’t, hopefully. But if I went back in time, given the choice between her and McSally, I would absolutely, grudgingly vote for her again. Awful as she was, at least a few things made it through that wouldn’t have otherwise. >

Fortunately, she's now made it so an actual progressive can run against her and blow her out of the water. >

Yep that’s why she’s running independent.. ugh she sucks we knocked on a lot of doors for her.. >

Staff members shall not use the term Christian Enema when referring to the Senator, even during events taking place after work hours. >

Let it be known that henceforth the term "Christian Enema" shall be known and used throughout the land. >

here, here. >

motion carries. >

Motion approved. >

Oh no! Loose motion on the floor!!! >

Of course she blocks all legislation that helps average people. People like this don’t respect anyone that earns a dollar less than them. >

The symbol of entitlement of the rich. >

Wow…. The Devil Wears Prada In The Senate? >

At least that movie had some quality acting, and Emily Blunt's sexy accent. It and the book had some peeks of character development too.
Something something fiction is obliged to make sense quote unquote.  Or we can sing some Bad Religion. >

A lot more interesting too >

She’s so quirky! What an inspiring girl boss! /s >

This KS sounds like a real douche >

Sounds more like a Christian Enema to me >

Has she tried unplugging her modem and plugging it back it in? >

Seriously, that's what Verizon or any other company is going to tell you, among several other things, before scheduling a tech to come to the house - four days from now.
This is a 46-year-old woman who had a bachelor's degree at 18, has a law degree, a PhD, a master's in social work and an MBA. She teaches business law and master's level classes. And she doesn't know to unplug the modem? >

Reading the article, it sounds like she's not home when she wants someone to fix the internet. That makes me think she does remote work from D.C. to her home and requires her computer to be online to access her home's computer. In that case, it makes sense that she'd want someone near her place to deal with that. However, I'm not sure if it's allowed by Senate Ethics or not. >


I'm not sure if it's allowed by Senate Ethics or not.

Apparently, it doesn't matter.  Because nothing is going to be done about it. >

She’s an independent thinker alright. Uberkaren. >

It appears that some of her staffers are pissed she left the Democratic party >

Possibly. 
I'd also speculate that staffers talk to each other all the time. Congressional staffers are the professional backbone of Congress and they can usually find work for other members.    
If her staffers were talking to other staffers, and then she did something like leave the democratic party, people are going to talk where they might have kept it quiet before. >

Honestly - staffers run the country. Sure the person they work for has the final decision, but a lot of the research and actual work is from the staff. >


And while the document is mostly just revealing of Sinema’s exceptionally strong preferences about things like air travel—preferably not on Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and absolutely never a middle seat

I despise her, but the preferences above are definitely something I agree with lol
Also, if I’m being honest, the setting of defined work and off-work time is a pretty healthy strategy that a lot of business and life coaches recommend 

“Do not schedule anything, ever, outside of ‘regular’ work hours without first getting Kyrsten’s permission,” the document reads. “She will very, very rarely agree to work outside the regular hours, so only ask if it’s a big deal.”
The memo is clear that Sinema doesn’t start work before 8:45 a.m. and staffers should not schedule anything after 8 p.m. In fact, it specifies that the senator is “often not reachable” after 8 p.m. during the week, which would make her highly unusual among U.S. senators. >


I despise her,

But then you write two paragraphs defending her. >

Two paragraphs expressing that these are mostly reasonable, and should be thought of as reasonable regardless of which senator it was. >

Reasonable in that she was elected to fight for these sort of provisions for her constituents, not doing fucking courtesies as she votes down a minimum wage, that's not even a living wage, but hey nice try. >

Then attack her for that, not for only working 11 hour days or not wanting a seat next to the shitter on an airplane. >

I posted this elsewhere, but here are the perks to being a Senator:

$174,000 base annual salary
Free airport parking
Free onsite gym
Weaker insider-trading restrictions (they don't have to publicly disclose trades or insider information)
Up to 239 days off
Healthcare subsidies under Obamacare
An incredible retirement plan (pension in addition to social security)
Free (taxpayer-paid) airline tickets
$3.3 million allowance to spend on staff and travel expenses
Onsite beauty salon
Shuttle service around the Capitol
A freaking doorman to just push elevator buttons and hold doors for them
Dedicated settlement fund for settling disputes
Exemption from certain federal laws (protection for retaliation against whistleblowing, FOIA, etc)
Free parking in illegal zones (with their special license plates)

And that's not counting anything they make outside of the Senate (teaching fees, appearance fees, speaking fees, personal pet projects). With that salary and up to 239 days off with free healthcare and exemption from a lot of laws and regulations, I think they can stand to work a few extra hours and sit in a middle seat from time to time. >

So, again, rather than attack Sinema for her terrible track record or her outright lies to her constituents, the problem here is the perks that all senators get, and her 55 hour work week? Your selective outrage is astounding. >


the problem here is the perks that all senators get

The problem isn't that she's getting those perks, the problem is that she's getting those perks without wanting to do the actual work involved with being a Senator. Those perks are supposed to support her in being available for her constituents, and instead, she has an entire staffing guide to enforce how her staff should serve her, rather than help her serve her constituents.

Your selective outrage is astounding.

Not quite. Did you not read the article ? The topic of this article is her absurd expectations that she has with her staff. There have been a myriad of articles about how shitty of a Senator she has been and we've all expressed our outrage about that in those articles. Even in articles that have nothing to do with her, we've expressed how terrible she is on all issues, including how she ran on a progressive platform and once in office, flipped the switch and turned into a horrible human.
If nothing else, this article supports what a terrible Senator she is - she's only in it to serve herself and nothing else, otherwise her staffing guide would be more focused on crafting plans and legislation rather than have her groceries ready and picked up for her.
If you don't like the topic of this article, post an article about her track record and talk about that instead. >


The topic of this article is her absurd expectations that she has with her staff.

Again, not wanting to be disturbed after 8pm and having preferences for airline seats don’t seem absurd. The topic of the article is fine, it’s just the way it’s written is clearly trying to create outrage at what is more or less a pretty normal list of demands of one’s assistants. It seems like a few instances that she should’ve used a personal assistant rather than a senatorial assistant, but nothing in this article is particularly damning. If Biden had his assistants pick him up groceries while he was too busy campaigning, would you be accusing him of corruption? The answer is no. The only reason you’re jumping on Sinema for doing this is because she has utterly failed at her official duties, which is the real issue with her as a senator, not that she had an assistant make an appointment with comcast for her. >

Republican politician turns out to be a colossal piece of shit, shocked I tell you… >


Sinema’s exceptionally strong preferences about things like air travel—preferably not on Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and absolutely never a middle seat

I’m all about bashing Kristen Enema for stupid shit, but honestly that’s normal. No one wants to be by the bathroom, and everyone hates middles. Okay? >

I can't stand her. That said, this passage seems like plain common sense: "strong preferences about things like air travel—preferably not on Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and absolutely never a middle seat” >

The latter two would necessitate the first, since Southwest does open seating. >

For $20 extra per flight you can guarantee A-group, i.e. preclude the possibility of a middle seat. >

Why is it always the libertarian leaning individual rights types that wants housemaids and servants around them? I see stuff like this at work too.
It's like their obsession over individual liberty for themselves is a cover for raging narcissism. >

Way back when there was a website called the smoking gun and they'd upload all these artist's concert riders and they were fascinating. She's a piece of shit, but there's a lot of politicians and celebrities with similar demands >

I was a concierge for many years. Tbh this sounds like your average person with enough money to afford a Mercedes. >

I think one of the biggest problems facing this country right now (and its tenuous grasp on democracy) is that people do not value candidates with gravitas and honor any longer.  Being a member of Congress has become too lucrative, and its attracting the worst of the worst, instead of people who want to be civil servants; who want to represent their constituents to the best of their ability.   It's now become about how can I best serve myself, and the people who donate the most money to my campaign. >

Pay them more, but impose stricter disclosure laws and outright prohibit more types of outside income. >

Entitled Much?🤦‍♂️ >

Karen Sinema >

Feel like this also belongs in r/entitledbitches. I have come to thoroughly detest this woman. She could have done so much good but her time in office has been marked by greed and self- interest. >

What a surprise. She is a shitty boss as well as a shitty senator. >

The biggest joke is that someone is required to email her to ask her if she needs groceries and cc another boss. That’s not an example of “efficiency” whatsoever. >

Does your brain just go to complete dog shit when you hit 50?
This woman is doing manic pixie girl bullshit, and Elon is doing whatever that fuck he’s doing (avant-garde capitalism?).
I suppose craving power and having an inner voice saying “you’re being so fucking weird, stop!” are mutual exclusive? >

So you’re telling me that she’s exactly the kind of person I assumed she was. >

Well you know she's an f'ing queen.
She's a supa-star! >

That's an insult to Mary Katherine Gallagher, don't hate! >

"So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Kyrsten wouldn't go on stage that night..." >

"But the shop owner and his son, that's a different story altogether...I had to beat them to death with their own shoes."