cannabisnews.com: Memo Rips GOP Hopeful for 'Lewd' Actions





Memo Rips GOP Hopeful for 'Lewd' Actions
Posted by CN Staff on July 15, 2004 at 19:18:14 PT
By Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press 
Washington -- A potential Republican candidate for the Senate seat from Illinois -- where the party's nominee withdrew over sex club allegations -- engaged in "lewd and abusive behavior" while she served as a top official in the White House drug policy office, an internal inquiry found last year. In front of her staff, Andrea Grubb Barthwell made repeated comments about the sexual orientation of a staff member and used a kaleidoscope to make sexually offensive gestures, according to the findings of a March 19, 2003, "hostile workplace memorandum" prepared by drug policy office staff. The Associated Press obtained the memorandum.
In an interview Wednesday with the AP, Barthwell said the memorandum overstates what happened, but she said she was wrong for participating in "inappropriate banter" at a staff birthday party. "As the senior person there it was my job to stop it before it got started and I didn't. I in fact joined in," she said. Barthwell said she has not decided whether to pursue the Senate seat, but she said the complaint should not be a factor in her candidacy. "I think it's something that was in the past, something we dealt with and it was resolved to everyone's satisfaction," she said. Barthwell, a Chicago-area physician and a political unknown, resigned last week as deputy director for demand reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy to explore pursuing the nomination. Republicans have been scrambling for a candidate since Jack Ryan dropped out of the race last month over allegations in his divorce papers that he took his wife, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan, to sex clubs before they split up. Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, who considered running for the seat as a Republican, decided not to enter the race, GOP officials said Wednesday night. Dairy owner James Oberweis, who finished second behind Ryan in the primary, has been mentioned as a possible replacement candidate. At the drug policy office, Barthwell oversaw national efforts to prevent and treat drug abuse. She won bipartisan praise after being nominated by President Bush in 2001. The report says her staff had "the highest regard for Dr. Barthwell's credentials and knowledge, but ... almost uniformly stated their fear and discomfort with what they consider to be unusual behavior patterns and displays of temper." The lewd and abusive behavior finding stemmed from a Dec. 19, 2002, staff gathering. Barthwell made comments about a staff member's sexual orientation after the staff member misspoke in an earlier conversation, the memorandum said. "Dr. Barthwell made reference to this staff member sitting on men's laps. A kaleidoscope pointed upward was placed on a chair by Dr. Barthwell as the staff member was about to sit down," it said. "Dr. Barthwell suggested that the staff member would want to cut the cake available for the gathering because the knife was 'long and hard' and he might 'enjoy handling it.' When the cake was cut, Dr. Barthwell referred to the pieces as 'most' or 'beefy' and she said to the staff member, 'I know you like it big and meaty.'" The staff member was not identified. In the interview, Barthwell said the staff member was engaged in the banter and didn't seem uncomfortable. "Had he been the least bit uncomfortable at the time, I would have brought it to a stop," she said. "Because he was an active participant, I didn't." The memorandum, though, said the staff member and at least one other person objected to her comments. It said the staff member felt the comments were "lewd, derogatory and called into question his heterosexuality." The staff member didn't file the complaint; another colleague did. The matter was then referred to a fact-finder, in accordance with the drug policy office's long-standing procedures for resolving personnel issues such as sexual harassment or discrimination complaints. A fact-finder interviewed 26 people, including 13 within Barthwell's department, for the memorandum. Tom Riley, a spokesman for the drug office, said, "The grievance was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties." He declined to discuss specifics, citing privacy concerns. As a result of the grievance, everyone in the office was required to participate in sexual harassment training, Barthwell said. She said she was also asked to take an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission course "to make sure that I had information available to me to prepare me to be a supervisor in the government workplace." John Fluharty, a gay Republican serving as an adviser to Barthwell, rejected any suggestion that she is insensitive. "She is a decent, honorable woman who would be an asset in the United States Senate," he said. Source: Associated Press Author: Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press WriterPublished:  July 15, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Related Articles:Bush Aide Resigns for Possible Senate Runhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19160.shtmlTranscript: Are We Getting Close To Legalizing Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19154.shtmlTranscript: Buchanan and Press - Keith Strouphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16159.shtml 
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Comment #31 posted by Jose Melendez on August 04, 2004 at 22:01:12 PT
I think they're afraid to run Barthwell
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-sen04.html State Sen. Kirk Dillard, a panel member from DuPage County, said he is undecided between the two, but argued both have pluses and minuses. He said Keyes' celebrity status and speaking ability could help overcome the fact that he lives in Maryland and has no real connection to Illinois. Dillard said Keyes is convinced that the media glow Obama received for his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention has elevated the race to a national contest. "Since we're elevated to a national race, he believes so strongly that this is crucial for the future of America that he would be willing to come to Illinois and run this race against Barack Obama," Dillard said. Dillard said Barthwell is hampered by her lack of political experience, but said "she also has a tremendous life story to tell," including overcoming addictions to alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana 20 years ago and rising to become a member of the Bush administration.
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Comment #30 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 16, 2004 at 20:27:22 PT
And now a word from a Barthwell supporter
You can read the whole letter at the URL below, it's not that long. But I really like the closer:"Don't they have a clue as to what a great candidate she would be?"I almost thought this person was being sarcastic, but this is a conservative paper.
http://www.illinoisleader.com/letters/lettersview.asp?c=17687
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Comment #29 posted by mayan on July 16, 2004 at 16:23:35 PT
kap'n, Sam & lag...
Kapn, the White House may have ditched Cheney's physician for a reason. His old physician has always maintained that Cheney's heart & health were fine. Now, Bush may be looking for an excuse to ditch Cheney in favor of Giuliani,Ridge,etc. so we may hear of a new physician any day who says that Cheney is unfit to serve. If Bush get's rid of Cheney then Bush only needs to get rid of himself! Sam, I believe it was Harry Belafonte(sp?) who referred to Powell as a house n*gger in that Powell more or less kissed his master's ass just so he could sleep in the master's house instead of in the shed with the other slaves.lag, isn't Nugent from Michigan(Motor City Madman)? I imagine he could have dual residences. Illinois doesn't need another intellectual twit. Regarding Barthwell, this reported behavior won't help her chances regarding a Senate run but as kap'n pointed out, the republicans are desperate to field a minority candidate. Obama will defeat whoever they field since Ditka's out of the running. 
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Comment #28 posted by Jose Melendez on July 16, 2004 at 14:31:19 PT
variations on a theme
from: http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20040420/20apr2004142230.html Administrative subpoenas I guess is kind of an ominous sounding word, but it is, to put everybody's mind at ease about administrative subpoenas -- we use them to catch crooked doctors today. - W.from: http://www.georgewbush.com/HomelandSecurity/read.aspx?ID=2017 If we can use these subpoenas to catch crooked doctors, the Congress should allow law enforcement officials to use them in catching terrorists. 
(Applause.)  - W. from: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/09/271787.shtml  The president noted that the government already had the power to use such subpoenas without a judge's consent to catch "crooked doctors" in health care fraud cases and other investigations.  The analogy was accurate as far as it went, but what Mr. Bush did not mention, legal experts said, was that administrative subpoenas are authorized in health care investigations because they often begin as civil cases, where grand jury subpoenas cannot be issued.  
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Comment #27 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on July 16, 2004 at 13:36:29 PT:
SHE LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THE SISTERS FROM THE HOOD!
She is the last women who should make comments about other people! She looks like one of the "Sisters" from "The Hood."
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Comment #26 posted by E_Johnson on July 16, 2004 at 11:36:39 PT
My most vivid memory of Barfwell
When she was deabating Rob Kampia on the Lehrer News Hour and she said medical marijuana was snake oil.Gwen Ifill, bless her soul, raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth and asked her if this is snake oil then why are doctors recommending it for their patients?The look on Gwen's face was one of utter disbelief and dismay. It was precious. She could not believe this woman in front of her.It takes a lot to get a reaction like that out of Gwen Ifill, she's one of the most unflappable women on television.But Barthwell did it.
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Comment #25 posted by Sam Adams on July 16, 2004 at 11:16:48 PT
Just in case...
you didn't get the "back to the fishes" reference.....it's from a John Candy movie, "Summer Rental" - he's in the bar and he keeps asking for more oyster crackers -"oooh these oyster crackers are so good, do you have any more"??Then he goes out to try to learn sailing on a boat, and ends up barfing his lunch over the side, saying, "Oyster Crackers! Back to the fishes!"Pretty obscure, I know......
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Comment #24 posted by Sam Adams on July 16, 2004 at 11:11:21 PT
EJ: my thoughts exactly
The Bush cabal grabbed the opportunity to have black woman lead the propaganda charge in favor of unpopular policies that are enslaving her own people.When things got dicey, they dropped her like a bad habit.Remember, before the Iraq war, when Colin Powell got criticized by that guy (forget who) who accused him of being an unruly slave on the Bush plantation who was taken out to the shed for a whoopin' by the overseer (Cheney). This is eerily familiar. This time, the slave was causing the plantation owner to look bad, so they sold her for cheap on the auction block right away.
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Comment #23 posted by Agog on July 16, 2004 at 10:42:55 PT:
Typical do nothing behavior
We investigated and sent everyone to "sensitivity" training. Just because someone joined in doesn't mean they were entirely comfortable with the situation, it may very well have been a "face saving" manuever. Pretend to be playing along just to make sure you don't reveal your weaknesses, which you know will only be further exploited later. Ahh the arrogance of power and position.Sukoi - I sent the info you requested to the link on your screen name, please let me know if I need to resend somewhere else.All the Best
Agog
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Comment #22 posted by Max Flowers on July 16, 2004 at 10:39:20 PT
Barthwell: pathetic loser
It is truly pathetic that in this government, or any branch of American government, we could have someone who is in charge of telling The People what they should/should not be ingesting who is by their own admission a recovering addict and alcoholic... the hypocrisy is staggering! Oh wait, that's the president's story also. Interesting, eh?It's like putting an admitted killer in charge of gun policy, or a rapist in charge of sex crime policy. And now we see that she is a crude, gross excuse for a woman, abusing someone on her staff with sexual slurs. Distinguished doctor my ass... she is a low class loser.
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Comment #21 posted by E_Johnson on July 16, 2004 at 10:25:29 PT
I'll bet she was forced to resign because of this
Bush can't promote the idea that he's against gay marriage, but not against gays, while his high level appointees are being accused of crude verbal harassment of gay co-workers.They probably knew this story was headed for the press, and made her quit before it came out, and handed her the consolation prize of a possible run for the Senate.
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Comment #20 posted by kaptinemo on July 16, 2004 at 10:10:21 PT:
First Cheney, now "Dr." Barthwell
Both seem to have problems relating to drugs.The Veep let his personal physician go due to his own drug usage. (Forgive me, but this just demonstrates that working for liars is stressful; the doc winds up self-medicating to handle the pressure. My, how familiar this sounds.)Now, we learn that "Dr." Barthwell also has a past...one she didn't own up to until recently. Perhaps the cognitive dissonence of working for the same brand of liars, and having to publicly mouth those lies herself, were just a bit too much. I'm guessing that trying to reconcile what she worked for with her own experiences were just too jarring.In any event, the damage is done. But she'll be in no position to pontificate against Mr. Obama, now. Not without risking a charge of hypocrisy that she cannot dodge. Not now, not with this latest revelation.
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Comment #19 posted by E_Johnson on July 16, 2004 at 09:57:47 PT
Think again lady
""My history is much like many other people," she said.
"Except for the part where you're held at gunpoint by police, and then locked in a cage with crazy violent people, that is.
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Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on July 16, 2004 at 09:55:12 PT
Sam, let's put two and two together
"Why couldn't this stuff have come out while she was still with ONDCP?"Because this is why she was forced to step down?
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Comment #17 posted by Sam Adams on July 16, 2004 at 09:14:19 PT
Oh, I'll rue the loss of heckling opportunity
Why couldn't this stuff have come out while she was still with ONDCP? I would've loved to have shouted out "Moist & Beefy!" at her next "smoke-weed" dog & pony show.
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Comment #16 posted by Sam adams on July 16, 2004 at 09:10:53 PT
Back to the fishes! see ya, Dr. Grubb
Put a fork in her - her career is over.  I'll bet she did something bad, internally, to get kicked out of the Bush Administration. With this latest development, I would say her political career is done. Now she'll actually have to work for a living.It's always satisfying to see karma in action - she dedicated her professional life to screwing sick people. This is no surprise.I love her excuse - the staff member was joining in! Right, like some guy is going to confront his boss at a staff function in front of everyone. Political and career suicide.What a disgusting person. It's no surprise to see boorish behavior from people like her and Clarence Thomas. Only a evil person would sell out their own people (African-Americans) by joining the Republicans.
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Comment #15 posted by BigDawg on July 16, 2004 at 08:31:22 PT
Bad Joke Freedom23???
I wouldn't call it a bad joke.Jokes tend to have an element of truth in them.I have been saying since the 80's that if the gov't is going to push for drug testing, then gov't officials should be the first group tested.Of course, we would probably have to hold emergency elections to fill the empty seats.
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Comment #14 posted by duzt on July 16, 2004 at 08:31:10 PT
she needs a hit
Except for the fact that it could cause her to eat herself to death it sounds to me like this lady could really use a little herb. As big as she is and as stressed out as she seems to be at all times her heart has to be on the brink of imploding. Take a hit doc, calm down. Oh and this comment, Barthwell also said she is recovering from addictions to alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana, but has not used any of those substances for 20 years."My history is much like many other people," she said.Umm, that's an awful lot of addictions doc. Seems to be addicted to power and food at the moment. She should be in rehab.
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Comment #13 posted by freedom23 on July 16, 2004 at 08:16:19 PT
A little humor at her expense.
"The report says her staff ... almost uniformly stated their fear and discomfort with what they consider to be unusual behavior patterns and displays of temper."Hmmm, sounds like she has a drug problem. She needs to be tested.(I'm sorry, it's a bad joke. Forgive me.)
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Comment #12 posted by Jose Melendez on July 16, 2004 at 08:07:22 PT
thanks JR
from: http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-sen16.htmlThe inquiry found evidence of "excessive displays of temper by Dr. Barthwell" and concluded her management style "created an atmosphere of intimidation and lack of respect for" the agency's leadership. Barthwell dismissed those findings as the complaints of employees who were upset that she came in with a mission to increase productivity in the department, which had lacked a politically appointed deputy director for 11 years. A former employee, Bernie McCann, described Barthwell's tenure as "a management nightmare," so bad that her staff dropped from 14 when she started to two in late 2003. "They found Dr. Barthwell difficult to work for -- and we can even say extremely difficult to work for," said McCann, 50, a policy analyst who left the department to pursue a doctoral degree. "There were, I think the term might be 'dressing downs,' bullying, arbitrary supervisory decisions . . . belittling . . . ridicule." Barthwell dismissed McCann as "a former disgruntled employee and said the number of workers dropped because "early retirement was given as an option, and a number of people who couldn't keep up with the pace opted out." Barthwell also said she is recovering from addictions to alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana, but has not used any of those substances for 20 years. "My history is much like many other people," she said. - - -I also would like to know how this "Doctor" justifies arresting people who, by her own admission, have faced the very same issues.Perhaps if her parents had confronted her at the first sign of an alcohol or drug problem . . .
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Comment #11 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 16, 2004 at 06:19:48 PT
Today's Sun-Times
Today's Chicago Sun-Times has more on the incident, saying it's part of a rash of complaints that A.B. is a difficult boss to work for. She also admits past struggles with alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana... but doesn't mention jail. Did she get away with crimes that she is now persecuting others for?
http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-sen16.html
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Comment #10 posted by Jose Melendez on July 16, 2004 at 06:09:47 PT
Re: comment #7
Walters, sheep, what more could you ask for?http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/05/images/20010510-1-m.jpg
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on July 16, 2004 at 04:34:39 PT:
I wouldn't worry, JRBD
She's still in the race. This business has only just started. And given the Republican's legendary ability to ignore historical facts, whether it be lies about matters of national defense or the execrable, immoral actions of it's individual supporters, her campaign will go on. The Repubs are quietly DESPERATE to field a token African-American to deflect (they hope) the natural criticism that they have earned by their inability to recruit from that group. As if by pointing to her, they can use her as a propaganda tool. Pathetic.So...Illinois reformers *will* have the opportunities to ask her the hard questions that heretofore she's been able to use the Executive Branch to deflect. She's left the Olympian protecton of the ivory tower of the DrugWar castle...and is about to confront the angry villagers she imperiously sneered at and was an accessory in harming. And the vast majority of those harmed by imprisonment for possession are African-Americans. I'm sure the Illinois families of those imprisoned might have a thing or two to say to "Dr." Barthwell about how her efforts at ONDCP 'helped' them.What's that old saying about frying pans and fire?
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Comment #8 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 16, 2004 at 03:10:34 PT
Sigh
I almost wish she had become the GOP's nominee - a former ONDCP official who can't hide from the public, and who now has to go out and meet the public and debate other candidates? That actually sounded very intriguing. But I doubt it'll happen now.
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Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on July 16, 2004 at 00:10:29 PT
What will happen next?
Maybe they'll find pictures on the Internet of Walters shagging sheep.
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Comment #6 posted by JustGetnBy on July 15, 2004 at 21:44:32 PT
NOT Politically Correct
Man, I gotta tell ya, if this ain't Karma in action I'm a monkey's uncle.  She deserves everything that comes her way.  "As you sow, So shall you reap."
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Comment #5 posted by lag on July 15, 2004 at 21:14:50 PT
ah...hilarious
Man, they are just having the worst of luck finding a GOP operative to run for senate in Illinois...I'm sure whoever they find that Obama will rip them a new one.First, Jack Ryan and his sexxy club scandal, then Mike Ditka and his not-so-sexxy temper, I'd heard rumors of Ted Nugent, with his intolerance, and now this...ah sweet.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on July 15, 2004 at 20:20:46 PT
Fox News just spelled Nevada wrong!
Navada blaze raging out of control! Their main headline.http://www.foxnews.com/I am laughing so hard. How long before they see it?
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Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on July 15, 2004 at 20:15:11 PT
She's Da Queen of Da Nile
Andrea Bargewell, Queen of Da Nile
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Comment #2 posted by RasAric on July 15, 2004 at 20:08:01 PT
"The Grubber" Barfwell Gets Lewd andNasty
Oh My God!!!! lol. This is pretty damn funny:)How's she gonna respond/react to this?
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on July 15, 2004 at 20:02:12 PT
I'll bet Barfwell is having a bad day
Oh my oh my should we send her a Get Well card?Or a Get Therapy card?
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