It is typical in American military usage, where titles are used every day, that on first exchange title is used, and then in the course of conversation you use "sir" or "ma'am" as appropriate. If the general has never addressed her as senator during any point of their conversation, I could see her taking time to insist on it. And of course, in a formal setting she is correct to insist on it at all times. I'm more curious, was the general addressing all senators as "senator" then used ma'am with her?

Anyway, let's not label use of "ma'am" as a lack of respect. It is a term of respect, and should be used. Even with senators and presidents. We're Americans, not serfs.

She should more accurately be called HACK.

but heck, twenty-six years in federal Congress and they dredge up this out-of-context, undated five-second clip of some forgettable subcommittee meeting footage of Boxer snipping as an officer and that's the worst they can do?

Carly should know a thing or two about being an uppity female as the most hated woman in Silicon Valley. What did she do besides take the helm of HP when it was a Fortune 20 company and single-handedly destroy it and drive it into the ground? She certainly has no legislative experience.

Carly isn't fit to lick Senator Boxer's boots.

Amusing that this failed CEO, who nearly bankrupted HP and was summarily dismissed in a humiliating purge, couldn't find time to vote in numerous elections in California, but now has found the time to run for Senator.

Look, ma'am...if you would have only shown interest in your state when it mattered, you might have had a case. As it stands, you couldn't ever hope to approximate Senator Boxer's stature and gravitas.

Try voting in the election next time. At least Fiorina will have 1 vote.

Isn't that Carly's MO, without political experience and a very poor voting record, she really has no other method to gain traction except attack.

Of course given she plundered HP, cut thousands of U.S. jobs and made nearly $50 million on the whole deal.

Yeah she's from the party of NO. No way she can win.

...others, Fiorina is a swine.

Before she took over the helm I had no trouble with my HP products and support. After she arrived--or should I correct myself, immediately after she arrived--support and service went downhill at an ever increasing rate. Soon enough HP grew as popular around my place as swine flu.

Anyone who votes for this idiotic fool ought to have their heads examined because this flake will do nothing but harm, the last thing the Republic needs.

Didn't take her long to begin the smears ? Hold onto your hats, this is just the beginning with this fool.

Randy Stone

You don't call the president 'Dude' in congress. It's about 'respect'. Has decency been forgotten that much by people?

Wow...

and I don't think it would be disrespectful for a military man to call the President 'sir', rather than 'Mr President'.

There isn't much of an issue here. Ms Boxer expressed her desire to see her title used, the guy started using it. Does that imply 'arrogance'? By whose curiosu standards?

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http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2145820

It will be hilarious.

My first thought was apparently stolen from Haroun. How did the officer address the rest of the senators? Regardless, his calling her "ma'am" could have been, for him, either an act of respect or disrespect. We need to know the man to surmise that. At this point, I'm more intrigued by the notion that Boxer was being high handed or--probably more in keeping with the message of Fiorina--"bitchy," and therefore should be punished. I'm pretty sure senators have been bitchy since long before women joined their august ranks.

It also reminds me of one of my father's stories from his time in the Army. It was the mid-sixties and the occasion was a rather unusual "mixed company" luncheon that included officers, enlisted men and their spouses. Invitations were sent out, the Army being a formal institution, and they were addressed to, "officers and their ladies and enlisted men and their wives." My dad still simultaneously cringes and laughs at that.

Since when did the U.S. Government exist to serve the U.S. Military?

For some silly reason I always thought it worked the other way around.

How DARE that cheeky Senator berate and disrespect a man from whom she should be taking her marching orders.

Boxer was being a pissy little douchebag for raising the stink she did.

Carly has to deflect attention away from the fact that she has been a miserable failure as a CEO and as a campaign spokesperson and this was the best she can do.

I used to work for hp during the Carly years. Before her reign, when I told people I worked for HP, they would respond along the lines of “Oh, wow, I hear that is a great company to work for.” After Carly, they would respond with a little laugh, a little sneer and a “Oh, so you still have a job?” In other words, she single-handedly torched HP’s reputation.

She slashed tens of thousands of jobs and sent more jobs out of state, away from California. The stock price dropped 40%. She completely failed to deliver on the merger between HP and Compaq. And the worst she can say about her opponent was that Boxer once asked a general to call her “Senator”? She can not be serious.

Does the President say he worked *so* hard to get his title when one of his generals calls him Sir? Pretty bitchy if you ask me.

It's nice to see Carly exercising the kind of cognitive dissonance needed to succeed in modern politics. Lest we forget, this is a woman whose press attache at HP publicly boasted that Carly was "more important than the King of Spain". She did not offer any condolences after the Spanish press took offense. She also had HP specifically craft a statement to deny a rumor that she was spotted riding the subway in New York - the train is simply too bourgeois for Queen Carly.

There's also the small detail that she nearly destroyed HP. She did vastly expand it's fleet of lavishly appointed corporate jets and made off with a few hundred million dollars for herself while HP bled. You have to be impressed by her total lack of accountability and self awareness. She'll probably end up running FEMA in the next Republican administration...