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House Aide's E-Mail Tantrum Goes Viral

Flipping out over nickname is one way to wind up on MSNBC

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 19, 2009 10:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – Rep. Jim McDermott has a staffer named Elizabeth Becton. That's "Elizabeth," not "Liz"—ever. A contact attempting to set up a meeting with the Washington Democrat found that out the hard way after making the tragic mistake of calling Becton “Liz.” Her enraged response, which extended to 19 emails and provoked almost that many apologies, drew Politico’s eye, and then MSNBC talking head Keith Olbermann’s.

In the series of e-mails, which Countdown reenacted last night, Becton rages about how much she hates the nickname. “If I wanted you to call me by any other name, I would have offered that to you,” she fumes. “It’s a fast way to TICK me off. Who told you that I go by that name?” And so on. And just for fun, in Olbermann’s retelling, Becton is played by a dude in a wig.

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

A man makes the fateful mistake of typing "Liz," in this screenshot of a reenactment from Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

A screenshot from "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." The text reads, "NEVER. I hate that name."

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Keith Olbermann reenacts a fateful e-mail exchange. (msnbc)

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House Aide's E-Mail Tantrum Goes Viral