Wednesday, March 11, 2009
David Vitter: Rage Against the Airport Machine
Posted by Kevin Allman on Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 3:38 PM
The subscription-only newsletter Roll Call has a story this morning about Sen. David Vitter and an alleged tantrum he pitched last week at Washington D.C.'s Dulles airport. Seems the senator was tardy for his flight back to MSY and found the door to the jetway locked with the plane still at the gate, whereupon he proceeded to open it....
After setting off the security alarm, the Louisiana senator proceeded to dress down an airline employee who told him entering the restricted area was forbidden. He invoked his standing as a senator, delivering a "do-you-know-who-I-am" tirade, the paper said.The airline worker then announced he was going to summon security.
"Vitter, according to the witness, remained defiant, yelling that the employee could call the police if he wanted to and their supervisors, who, presumably, might be more impressed with his Senator's pin," the paper's Heard on the Hill column noted. "But after talking a huffy big game, Vitter apparently thought better of pushing the confrontation any further. When the gate attendant left to find a security guard, Vitter turned tail and simply fled the scene."
The paper joked that Vitter, 47, had joined the "mile-low club," and said that there's a "proud tradition" of US lawmakers devolving into temper tantrums at airports.
Reached for comment by Roll Call, Vitter's spokeperson did not dispute the incident.
The lesson here: When it comes to federal airport law, no one gets special pampering.
UPDATE: Vitter in a statement this morning:
"After being delayed on the Senate floor ensuring a vote on my anti-pay-raise amendment and in a rush to make my flight home for town hall meetings the next day, I accidentally went through a wrong door at the gate. I did have a conversation with an airline employee, but it was certainly not like this silly gossip column made it out to be."
Speaking of...
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Comments (5)
Showing 1-5 of 5
Wow you missed a chance to bring up the prostitute story again. The raw story.com brought it up at the beginning of the "Article" and then again at the end, just in case someone didn't get the message. I mean they had to put the Airport "Incident" in the proper context. If you going to say stuff just to make Vitter look bad then this is an old stand by I am surprised that you didn't go to that old canard. I mean who gets mad at the airport these days? Only a republican would stoop to this level. And then he turned tail and fled the scene. As if he was a felon. I am glad you did all your "fact" checking before you posted this block buster. You quoted a website that was quoting another website. You guys really are working entirely too hard over there. Your Muck rakes must be full. Maybe you can make a 10 page feature out of it and get your buddy Tom Tomorrow to illustrate it for you?
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Actually, we didn't find the prostitute story to be germane to this incident, which is why we didn't mention it - but you're certainly welcome to have done it.
Why is the fellow still a senator? He does not impress me as someone suited for public office.
David Vitter's temper is legendary among those who know him, particularly his current and former colleagues. I don't know who's right about this alleged incident, but I do know that the alleged tantrum is entirely consistent with Vitter's reputation.
So what. Are we supposed to recall a politician because they have a rampant ego? Is that where we are at now? Your saying he has a bad temper and if this is true then this is demonstrative of that but like I said a lot of people get mad at the airport. This is just a thinly disguised personal attack on Mr. Viter. I see now that he has responded and he called it a "silly gossip column" I am sure you reject that assertion since you repeated it as news. Hey I don't know the man my self and he may be something of monster personally but I don't care. I only want him to do his job and watch out for my interest in Washington. I will leave the gossip to the gossipers. I don't see where you did a lot to confirm the facts of this before you printed it. I guess you just personally liked the story. That is your prerogative as a publisher. Just like mouthing off is my prerogative as a reader. Scuttlebutt indeed. Isn't that another name for gossip?
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