Democrats ask Chris Janicek to quit Senate race after 'sexually inappropriate' text message

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Aaron Sanderford

Nebraska Democrats are asking their U.S. Senate candidate to quit the race after he sent staffers text messages that the state party described as "sexually inappropriate."

Omaha baker Chris Janicek sent a group message to at least five people, including a female staff member who filed a complaint with the Nebraska Democratic Party. His text said that they needed to "get her laid," referring to the female staff member.

Janicek has apologized and said he's staying in the race.

"This is a moment in time where I made a terrible mistake in a text message," he said.


Chris Janicek

KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD

Read more: https://www.omaha.com/news/local/democrats-ask-chris-janicek-to-quit-senate-race-after-sexually-inappropriate-text-message/article_c27453b7-a487-5e98-b434-ecaaa7ad269f.html

[elleng]

1. DAMN!

[LakeArenal]

2. Terrible mistake to put it in a text.

Should have said it to her face. Alone.

He better quit.

[marble falls]

17. Terrible mistake to have expressed it in any context or medium. He's got to go.

[PatSeg]

25. But so, so stupid

to put it in writing, in a text. You would think that by now, people would have learned to be careful what you write in texts or emails. The don't go away and can be used against you. For that matter, even saying it out loud to someone is dangerous, as you don't know if you're being recorded. When in doubt, don't say or write anything that is inappropriate or offensive. And that one is highly offensive to women. I thought we were moving past that kind of crap.

[LakeArenal]

53. Thanks for getting my point.

[PatSeg]

59. You're welcome

Parents lecture their children about how they use texts and social media, yet well educated, worldly people still behave recklessly when using a smartphone or computer. Careers and marriages have been destroyed because of this kind of idiocy and it boggles the mind that people keep doing it.

[marble falls]

27. Beyond stupid.

[obamanut2012]

42. wtaf he shouldn't ever say it to her

WTF is wrong with you???

[LakeArenal]

52. It was facetious. Geez.....

Take a breath.

[Beakybird]

3. Bow out, asshole!

[Me.]

4. Better We Find Out NOw

[brooklynite]

56. No, in the sense that he wasn't going to win anyway...

...and nobody ran against him for the SEN nomination.

[Me.]

57. Don't Know About You

But I'd rather not be surprised if there is going to be a problem. As for never going to win anyway, I never say that anymore.

[AleksS]

5. If Democrats could only work this hard

To get republicans off the ballot!

[marble falls]

18. Two different issues. He needs to go. We aren't hypoctrites.

[still_one]

6. If they have a replacement candidate to step in Janicek's place, I would say resign

[marble falls]

20. Either way he has to go.

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. Maybe this will convince repugs to vote for him.

[Laelth]

9. Sadly, it might. n/t

-Laelth

[Laelth]

8. This isn't the end of the world.

Nobody was really hurt. Nobody got grabbed by the genitals. Nobody died on 5th Avenue. He apologized. Let it go.

-Laelth

[neohippie]

11. If you could go back now

He could have said someone get her a snickers bar, it was wrong, but it's also wrong to hold human beings to a standard of infallibility and one bad decision shouldn't wipe out, a history of better choices, either

However, maybe there's a history of other questionable behavior or comments, at least people are demanding accountability

[Laelth]

13. He could have had a V8. n/t

-Laelth

[delisen]

16. He revealed his attitude toward women.

He should have not demeaned the person but he could and did.

Why should any woman or man vote for this misogynist. Democratic women should not have to put up with this crap.

[Laelth]

19. Why vote for him?

He’s NOT a Republican.



-Laelth

[marble falls]

21. I have higher standards than "not a Republican".

[Laelth]

31. You'd prefer a Republican Senator over a misogynistic Democrat?

I am not defending misogyny, obviously, but I can’t wrap my head around the idea that a Republican would be preferable to any Democrat in our current political environment.

-Laelth

[marble falls]

33. That's an easy question. I will not help elect a racist Democrat either. "He may be a crook ...

but he's our crook" is such a Republican attitude. There has to be another Democrat in Nebraska.

Anthony Wiener was OK with you?

[Laelth]

36. I hear you, and no. Anthony Wiener was not OK.

But the alternative is a Republican. I don’t think that there’s another option for us in Nebraska at this late date.

It’s a long-shot, either way. I just hate to see us eating our own.



-Laelth

[End Of The Road]

14. Misogynistic much? Nt

[Laelth]

15. Lots of people would be happier if they got laid more often.

It’s still inappropriate to say so, admittedly, but I don’t consider this observation misogynistic in any way.

-Laelth

[marble falls]

22. Is that something you'd say to your mother? We have to be better than them.

[Laelth]

29. Honest, good-faith question.

Would it be OK if I said it to my father, instead?



-Laelth

[marble falls]

30. I'd never say that to anyone. Not even you. There's an aspect of harrassment in it.

[Laelth]

32. LOL. Good answer.

I freely admit that I would be happier if I got laid more often.

That said, our candidate has acknowledged that he made a mistake. He has apologized. My point is that this isn’t a major offense, and that we should accept his apology and move on. Even a misogynistic Democrat is better than a Republican in our current political environment.

-Laelth

P.S. I also freely admit that what does not appear to be a major offense (to me) may be a major offense to you. In that regard, I thank you for taking the time to educate me.

[LaelthsDaughter]

45. Um...

Where is the harrasment? I’ve never ever gotten the implaction of harrasment from a get laid, shut up. It usually means ‘please, anyone but me. Go fuck off cuase I don’t wanna hear you, get laid and then come back.’ And it’s not offensive. Everyone needs to get laid.

[marble falls]

58. Seriously ...

https://apnews.com/db5b8e0b714d76827262eb0381574312


"The text messages, which were obtained by The Associated Press, were from a group chat involving Janicek and five other people, including the female staffer. At one point, he wrote that he had argued with her and then asked whether the campaign should spend money on “getting her laid.”

“It will probably take three guys,” he wrote, before describing in graphic detail an imagined group sex scene involving the female staffer."


He said that to demean her. To diminish her. Its not just sexual harassment, its out and out harassment. Doesn't is sound an awful lot like the words used by an orange shitgibbon on a bus just before the 2016 election???

[delisen]

24. Never heard it said about a man.

It is a phrase used to keep women in their supposed place and out of the public space.

Less competition of course gives the less qualified opportunity to thrive and keep prejudice and inequality thriving-just what brought us to where we are today.

[BamaRefugee]

28. Seriously? You haven't been listening then.

[rzemanfl]

35. +1 n/t

[TheFarseer]

38. I've definitely heard that about a man.

Not saying it should be said regardless.

[neohippie]

39. I am a man

I have been told I need to get laid

I have been told that on a message board online by another man. I was offended, but I am not so offended that I don't speak to the person who said it or felt like I needed to leave the online community.

I did complain that I thought that it was bs, and a personal attack not relevant to the discussion etc..

But in the grand scheme of things it was just an insult and life goes on, we can't be so offended that we can't get past a mistake in judgement, unless people don't learn from their mistakes or show that it 's part of a larger pattern of behavior

How offended should we be, I didn't like what happened with Al Franken, and thought that he should have not quit without more of a fight, this seems way less offensive than the behavior that ended his political career

[sarisataka]

40. Never?

I've heard it said about men, women, even women to men.

[obamanut2012]

43. wtaf it is sexist and misogynistic as fuck

[Laelth]

47. My daughter has advised me that "just get laid already" is now gender-neutral.

It’s used by women to other women. It’s used by men to other men. It’s used by men to women. It’s used by women to men. It’s rude, certainly. It means “shut up,” but this is no longer a gendered issue.

Our Senate candidate has apologized for his poor judgment in sending that text. That should be enough, imo.

-Laelth

[Midnight Writer]

10. The difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats will denounce a guy like this and try to remove him.

Republicans will stick up for a guy like this and even double down on his atrocious behavior.

[FM123]

26. Yep.

We don't like this kind of behavior - the repugs, on the other hand, seem to celebrate it.....

[TheFarseer]

12. Janicek had no chance

And anyone they replace him with has no chance. Many Dems don’t like Janicek because he’s a bit of a live wire or maybe eccentric is the right word. It’s hard to get anyone credible to run in Nebraska. Janicek was only marginally credible as a senate candidate if we are being real.

[marble falls]

23. That's exactly right. But he still needs to withdraw.

[TheFourthMind]

34. Not a moment in time, it's a mindset. Quit now so you won't have to quit later. n/t

[Javaman]

37. dude, you fucked up. take your lumps and quit.

there is no surviving this, regardless of how large your ego appears to be.

[Sloumeau]

41. So, if he loses the race, we could lose our chance at a Senate majority...

because of this idiot? This is almost unbelieveable.

[Polybius]

48. Sasse wasn't losing anyway

His seat is considered Solid R.

https://cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings

[LaelthsDaughter]

44. Overreaction.

I think we need to judge the facts as we see them. A Democrat running for a senatorial position made a mildly inappropriate comment to one of his staff members in a text. He has since apologized, but is still running for office.

This text is inappropriate in that it’s not meant to be shared in a public setting, nor is it what the Democratic Party wants to promote. I understand. However, do we really want to give up a seat in the Senate over the text? I wouldn’t.

In the end, this text is controversial. It’s telling a chick to shut up. While it’s wrong to tell people to shut it, sometimes it just needs to happen. This issue is also not sexist anymore. For my generation, you tell everyone to ‘get laid’ when they’re grouchy. It doesn’t matter what you present as or what you have or anything else. I got the impression the real complaint was that Janicek was being sexist. However, I don’t think so. In this light, his comment isn’t as evil as people are making it out to be.

Don’t get me wrong. I still think he handled the situation badly. At least he apologized. Janicek may do more to atone, as well. It just seems that calling for him to drop out is akin to sending one of our own to the wolves. In otherwords, not helpful.

[sarisataka]

46. More than mildly inappropriate...

Per the article:

Janicek's texts described lining up multiple partners for group sex with the staffer and suggested the "three guys" could be paid.

"Thoughts?!money" he wrote.

[LaelthsDaughter]

50. That does change things.

That does change my mind a good bit. It wasn’t in the op. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[sarisataka]

54. No problem

I could forgive a one off comment (assuming the victim also forgives him) but it seems he went far beyond that

[Laelth]

51. Didn't read the whole article initially.

But this, if true, crosses the line.

-Laelth

[tblue37]

55. I don't understand how any politician can think sexual banter of any kind is appropriate

with staffers, especially in a group including men and women.

You can interact with people without always reverting to sexual references, after all.

[Polybius]

49. When did he send the texts, recently or years ago?

I skimmed through the article but couldn't find any info.