House Stenographer Flips Out During Vote

[jberryhill]

As noted in earlier threads, there was a woman who took the podium during the vote, started yelling something, and was removed from the House chamber.

She was apparently an actual House stenographer, and not an infiltrator. Reports from Twitter suggest she started ranting on about Jesus, Masons, and the House doing the work of the devil.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. Been a long week for everyone, heh.

[renie408]

3. ROFL!!

[LisaLynne]

2. I hope she gets the help she needs.

And afterwards, a new job, which she will presumably need.

[kentuck]

4. Damn!

It's hard on some people.

[napkinz]

5. I missed it

any video link?

[NYC_SKP]

12. I have the audio link. Do you want to listen to it? Here you go!

.

https://soundcloud.com/toddzwillich-1/floor1-101612-wav

[napkinz]

16. thanks

[philly_bob]

34. Two points: (1) Scary fundy infiltration and (2) compassionate woman tries to calm "Molly". (nt)

[mockmonkey]

28. Audio

The first WAV marked "Floor"

https://soundcloud.com/toddzwillich-1

[steve2470]

6. poor woman, hope she gets the help she needs nt

[randome]

9. Hope she gets the insurance coverage she needs, too.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[steve2470]

19. yes indeed nt

[flamingdem]

30. Oh, that's a perfect comment randome considering

the circumstances! Those repukes wanted to snag her healthcare as a last ditch nasty.

[RagAss]

7. Sad...working around the clock and missed her meds?

[jberryhill]

39. She had a message she wanted to deliver

Do you assume all protestors are crazy?

[RagAss]

52. I don't think people who need medication are crazy.

Those were your words.

[JaneyVee]

8. She probably just found out Ben Affeck is playing Batman.

[randome]

11. Or she simply couldn't hide her disappointment in 'Agents of SHIELD' any longer.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[SamYeager]

25. Hey, WATCH THAT SHIT!

I LOVE Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

[randome]

29. To each their own.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[pinboy3niner]

10. Afterward, the House voted unanimously to put a satanic curse on her

[randome]

13. LOL! That's the perfect end to this madness!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[uppityperson]

24. oh my dog. You made me choke

[flamingdem]

31. Oh, you know at least one of those fundies thought

just that! The devil appeared due to ACA, etc.!

[sweetloukillbot]

14. I think I know one worker who won't have a job when the government reopens... n/t

[Coyotl]

15. Maybe she has been working with too many insane Republican members?

There are 144 of them, latest count, who think the USA needs to crash and burn, plus another 18 in the Senate. That a seriously large herd of nut jobs.

[cvoogt]

17. And to think

She was one of the moderate stenographers

[Squinch]

18. Oh, no! It's terrible to have a break in the first place, but to do it so publicly!

I hope she is OK.

[bottomofthehill]

20. Nothing to laugh at

This has been a crazy time for a lot of people and she has been at work for 14 plus hours. Low blood sugar, stress and fear of loss of insurance, there are a lot of things could be going on. Let's not rush to judgment quite so fast. Now along with everything, she is a national laughing stock and her job is in jeopardy.

Not really funny

[Xipe Totec]

22. Imagine how we feel

She's on to us.

Now we'll have to change our passwords and secret handshakes.

Again.

What a pain in the ass.

[A HERETIC I AM]

57. I have an idea for the new handshake.

This time we reach between our legs from the front.


No one will ever figure that one out.

[jberryhill]

38. Do you say that about Code Pink protestors?

[bottomofthehill]

41. I would say the same for anyone who just had a breakdown

On national tv, in private, wherever. My daughter is thinking of being a code pink " intern " this summer and my wife and I would have to support her if that is what she chose to do. What does code pink, occupy, whatever have to do with that, the woman's life has gone to hell in just a few seconds. She has a husband and children and she is now thought of as a joke. As bad as she feels now, she will feel worse as people she knows start to treat her differently.

[jberryhill]

47. Why do you assume this woman is mentally ill?

Someone gets up and starts yelling about their deeply held opinion in order to disrupt a proceeding.

If you agree with them, they are "protesters".

If you disagree with them, they are crazy.

Is that how it works?

This woman apparently believes, as she shouted, "you cannot serve two masters" which is a biblical reference to choosing between God or money. Belief in longstanding conspiracies about financial arrangements - including that masons have somehow been involved - and that moneylending is satanic, is not uncommon. It's all pretty weird, but I don't think believing in God and condemning the international banking system makes one mentally ill. It's "crazy" in the "crazy shit people believe" category, but not in the clinical sense.

[bottomofthehill]

53. Someone who does something out of character that could cost her job

And makes her a national, no international laughing stock does not make her mentally ill, but there is a very good chance that there is a medical reason for the outburst.

[jberryhill]

54. Sounds like a description of Sarah Palin

I don't know whether this was "out of character", but Palin had a job before making an international laughingstock out of herself.

[bottomofthehill]

56. Let's try this,...

She has been on the House Floor thousands of times, and, while under stress of possibly losing her health insurance for herself and her family (husband and children) working long hours not knowing her pay status, being over tired after a 14 hour day, probably eating a poor diet ( I know I am) what could possibly go wrong, ....I don't know, maybe something as simple as low blood sugar....but it is easier to laugh and make fun of her

[jberryhill]

62. I object to two things here

You are saying that the choices are:

1. Laugh and make fun of her, or

2. Assume she was subject to some sort of illness, seizure, or condition.

There are many instances where people perform diligently at a job, and then one day make a perfectly deliberate decision that they want to make a stand for some principle in which they believe.

Edward Snowden, for example, or Daniel Ellsberg - perfectly responsible folks performing at their jobs who one day said, "Fuck it, I'm making a stand."

This woman's beliefs are not uncommon among religious conservatives - not uncommon at all.

Rosa Parks rode a bus many, many times before one day saying "Screw this."

Unless shown evidence otherwise, I have to assume that this woman was taking a stand for something she believed in by violating a rule or social norm in a dramatic way.

Among the religious right, they hope for a Day of Reckoning of some kind. Call it the End Times, Apocalypse, or what-have-you, we do not lock people up for believing these things. Many of them believed that breaching the debt ceiling and throwing the international economy into chaos would herald the arrival of these events, leading to the return of their Savior.

Unless you are going to write off these people as all mentally ill, then it does them no honor to suddenly believe they are not in their right minds when one of them has the courage to take a stand for their professed convictions.

[joshcryer]

42. If a Code Pink protestor started ranting about Freemasons...

...I would say that.

[steve2470]

45. she struck me as mentally ill but who knows, maybe she's like that all the time, just not at work

The only way I can see her retaining her job is to be diagnosed mentally ill by a competent doc, and even then it might be dicey.

[bottomofthehill]

49. Not like that all the time

Over worked under stressful conditions. Long hours, shitty diet, angry people, the staff is there waiting for legislation, Members come and go when they want, the floor staff is stuck in place....the whole thing is sad

[steve2470]

50. yes I think she had a psychotic break....

I think as time goes on, it will become clear that's what happened.

[steve2470]

51. "being transported to a local area hospital for evaluation."

https://twitter.com/frankthorpNBC/status/390686965063884800

Capitol Police say the stenographer that interrupted the House vote "is being transported to a local area hospital for evaluation."

House of Reps. Producer at @NBCNews. Links and RTs aren't endorsements and opinions are my own

[BluegrassStateBlues]

21. 2016 frontrunner. nt

[geek tragedy]

23. I bet even she thinks Cruz is too extreme. nt

[FarCenter]

26. Well, she's sort of right. But a poor choice of where to point it out.

"He will not be mocked," a woman shouts on the recording. "This is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been... the Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons, they go against God."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/house-stenographer-removed-during-vote-2013-10

A number of the Founding Fathers were masons.

But she may have read one too many Dan Brown books.

[JVS]

27. I don't think it's fair to expect someone who has to listen to congress talk all day to not flip out

[Rex]

32. I'll make sure Papa Smurf knows.

Did the building start to shake?

[flamingdem]

33. So what's wrong with the Masons?

Are they atheists after all?

[KinMd]

35. Are Masons the guys who drive the little cars in parades?

[BluegrassStateBlues]

36. Lot of talk about them in conspiracy theorist communities.

Part of the shadow government crap and whatnot.

[jberryhill]

43. Here you go

[Brother Buzz]

44. A parade just isn't a parade without the Shriners

All Shriners are Masons, not all Masons are Shriners

[TwilightGardener]

37. Creepy thing was the way she kind of sashayed up to the podium, arms swinging.

Kind of made the little neck hairs stand up.

[lpbk2713]

40. She's going to be a YouTube star.

Sadly.

[Brigid]

46. That would be me up there . . .

If I had to hear those RWNJs in the House spouting their crap all day after day.

[pinboy3niner]

55. She's probably close to the truth about the GOP caucus and the satanic stuff

Only the sale of their souls to the devil can explain that bunch.

[texanwitch]

58. I agree.

I wouldn't last long in that job.

[BluegrassStateBlues]

48. Who wants to play a game of Claire Danes or House Stenographer? nt

[Skittles]

59. is it some kind of virus?

http://gawker.com/passengers-intense-in-flight-meltdown-caught-on-camera-1443879888

[napkinz]

61. the video is out --->

Stenographer Removed For Shouting On House Floor (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post
By Paige Lavender

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/stenographer-shouting-on-house-floor_n_4112145.html

[JonLP24]

63. I know plenty of sane people

that believe the crap she does.

If she needs help, I hope she gets it but she may be a reasonable person that got fooled by this nonsense.

[jberryhill]

65. Here's her statement:

The House stenographer that took over a microphone and began shouting in the House chamber Wednesday night told a Fox News reporter that the Holy Spirit compelled her to do it.

“For the past 2 and 1/2 weeks, the Holy Spirit has been waking me up in the middle of the night and preparing me (through my reluctance and doubt) to deliver a message in the House Chamber,” stenographer Dianne Foster Reidy told Fox News’s Chad Pergram in a written statement. “That is what I did last night.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/house-stenographer-holy-spirit-moved-me-98486.html#ixzz2i0V35sZX

[napkinz]

66. I wonder if she is a FOX "News" viewer

Most of their viewers live an in alternate universe. I really believe FOX "News" can contribue to illness. Many of their viewers are DELUSIONAL.

[CK_John]

64. I hope they checkout her recent document recordings and I wonder if she is an Ave Marie plant.