Abbott Has A Lack Of Compassion For Texas Women

From the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle: 

Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the most restrictive abortion law in the nation months before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe, appears determined to toe the hard line.

Abbott has doubled down — supporting an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest — a calculated gamble showing he’s willing to prioritize the extreme demands of his base over the views of the majority of his constituents, who strongly support at least some abortion rights. While he’s backed off of his far-fetched vow to “eliminate rape” in the state of Texas — a hasty response to a reporter’s question about how the abortion ban would affect sexual assault victims — his latest attempt to address the issue is almost as cringe-worthy.

“We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it,” Abbott said during a segment on Lone Star Politics. “By accessing health care immediately, they can get the Plan B pill that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place.”

We’ll give Abbott credit for coming back to reality. Perhaps it dawned on him that ending rape just wasn’t feasible, what with Texas leading the nation in rape offenses in 2020 and the clearance rate for rape arrests dropping by nearly half over the course of his tenure. Or maybe he considered the state’s enormous backlog of untested rape kits, which have left thousands of victims in limbo as they await justice.

Yet telling rape victims to go out and get a pill that’s only effective within 72 hours of conception reflects Abbott’s fundamental misunderstanding of the effects of trauma.

Plan B, also known as the “morning-after pill,” is a critical tool to prevent pregnancy. Yet many women who suffer the trauma of sexual assault don’t immediately realize they can be pregnant. As Piper Stege Nelson, chief public strategies officer for the SAFE Alliance, told NPR last year, many rape victims sometimes cope with the abuse by numbing themselves to the reality that they could be pregnant.

“That dissociation can lead to a detachment from reality and the fact that she’s pregnant,” Nelson said.

Even for victims who want to follow the governor’s advice and immediately pursue Plan B, the Supreme Court’s dismantling of Roe has made obtaining the pill far more difficult. Pills have been in such high demand in Texas that some pharmacies have been forced to limit sales because of dwindling supply. It’s one reason why the owner of a suburban Lubbock coffee shop started giving away the pill for free.And, in another testament to the extremism and ignorance that exists in the anti-abortion movement in this state, protesters were quick to condemn her as well, apparently believing Plan B to cause abortion.

Perhaps the governor’s promotion of it will clear up that misconception. But other obstacles remain: When Plan B is available over the counter, it’s not exactly cheap. It can cost up to $50 at a pharmacy unless you have an insurance plan that covers it. And for a state with the highest uninsured population in the nation, that means many low-income women are forced to pay what could be a prohibitive price for a pill that could restore some modicum of control over their reproductive lives.

If Abbott’s desire were genuine to help rape victims — or any woman, for that matter — avoid unwanted pregnancy, he’d make a serious effort to expand health access for Texas woman. That starts with a step he has refused to take for years: expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a program that requires insurance companies to cover women’s contraceptives. Texas is one of only a dozen states that has steadfastly refused to expand the program. The state’s recent plan to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage is so restrictive — it excludes women who terminate pregnancies, even in medical emergencies — that the federal government is likely to reject it.

f Abbott wanted to encourage more pharmacies and other stores to sell Plan B over the counter, he could direct the attorney general to clarify the legality of doing so since there seems to be so much confusion. Emergency contraception does not require a doctor’s prescription or parental consent to people over 17 years old, and yet that coffee shop outside Lubbock, Tumbleweed + Sage in Wolfforth, has had the police called on them for making the pill available.

Another thing the governor could do to truly aid rape victims and catch predators before they rape again is help local law enforcement investigate the crimes. The Lavinia Masters Act Abbott signed into law in 2019 provided $50 million in grant funding for local authorities, and requires labs to process a kit within 90 days of receipt. Yet the Dallas Observer reported that data from late 2021 shows that over 1,000 kits which had been sent to labs between September 2019 and late November 2021 were not analyzed within the required time frame. Strengthening the law by threatening to pull grant funding from governments that lag in testing could go a long way.

Women in Texas don’t need Abbott to continue feigning compassion. They need him to restore their rights to control their own bodies. Short of that, they need him to take realistic steps to reduce rapes and improve access to emergency contraception. It’s not nearly enough — but it’s better than some impossible promise he couldn’t keep if he wanted to.

Epstein's Arrest Has Donald Trump Running Scared

Jeffrey Epstein is in a lot of trouble. He has been arrested again. Federal prosecutors have charged him with sex trafficking.

Epstein was known among his rich friends for throwing sex parties in Florida and New York, and paying girls as young as 13 or 14 to have sex with his guests.

Donald Trump was one of those friends. Trump attended at least some of those sex parties with underage girls, and he has been accused by some of those girls of having sex with them -- and then threatening them to keep quiet about it.

Let's be clear about the crimes we are talking about. Epstein is not the only person to have committed a crime at those parties. The age of consent in Florida is 18, and 17 in New York. Any person having sex with a girl under those ages committed a crime -- and that crime is RAPE OF A CHILD.

Trump was proud of his association with Epstein in the 1990's and early 2000's. He called him a "terrific guy", and bragged about both of them liking girls "on the younger side".

Now Trump has changed his tune. In a statement yesterday, he tried to make it sound like he and Epstein were only casual social acquaintances -- like everyone in Palm Beach. And he said they had not spoken in 15 years, because he was "not a fan of his".

It is likely that the "falling out" Trump said he had with Epstein was around 2008, when Epstein was convicted of having sex with an underage girl. Epstein got a sweetheart deal from then federal prosecutor Acosta (now Secretary of Labor). He received only 13 months in jail, and was able to get out of jail on weekdays so he could go to work.

Did Trump and other rich Epstein friends arrange for the deal, so Epstein would keep his mouth shut about who participated in those parties? There's no proof, but it's likely. Other people convicted of the same crime got much harsher sentences.

It may be different this time. There won't be another sweetheart deal for Epstein, and he could be looking at spending the rest of his life in prison (without daily releases to go to work). The publicity is just too great this time. The public wouldn't stand for it.

Will he spill the beans this time? Will he give up his rich friends to try and get a shorter prison sentence. A lot of Epstein's rich buddies (including Trump) must be quaking in their boots over the thought of that. They all (including Trump) committed crimes. Even if the statute of limitations has run out on some of them, the public exposure could be devastating. We are not talking about sexual groping this time -- it's rape of a child.

It is no wonder Trump is trying to distance himself from Epstein.

More Proof That Trump Is A Loathsome Sexual Predator

(The caricature of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)

This is nothing new. Anyone with an ounce of common decency already knew Donald Trump was a sexual predator -- and from his past comments, is proud of that.

Last week, another woman came forward to tell us about Trump victimizing her sexually. And it wasn't just an unwanted kiss or groping. It was RAPE!

Here is just part of how Paul Waldman describes this latest example of Trump's loathsome sexual activity:

When we look back on June 2019, we’ll say that this was the time when a credible allegation of rape was made against the president of the United States, and he had already shown himself to be such a loathsome character that it was treated as a third-tier story, not worthy of much more than a passing mention here and there in the news.

After New York magazine published author and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s account last Friday of an encounter she says she had with Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman that ended with him raping her in a dressing room, many of our most important news outlets reacted with only minor interest. None of the nation’s most important newspapers put it on their front page the next day. None of the five Sunday shows mentioned it at all.

There are many reasons to find Carroll’s allegation credible. She’s a fairly well-known public figure. Her description of what happened to her — him slamming her against a wall, mashing his face against hers, yanking down her tights, and penetrating her — accords not only with the allegations of multiple other women but Trump’s own words on that infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he bragged that he can sexually assault any woman he pleases. “I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

Just to remind ourselves, these are just some of the accusations women have made against the president:

• Kristin Anderson says she was in a bar when Trump reached under her dress and grabbed her genitals.
• Jessica Leeds says Trump groped her when they sat next to each other on a plane.
• Natasha Stoynoff says Trump got her in a private room, pushed her up against the wall, and kissed her against her will. They were interrupted by a butler, allowing Stoynoff to get away.
• Jill Harth says she was exploring a business opportunity with Trump when he pushed her up against a wall, then kissed and groped her.
• Summer Zervos says she went to Trump to discuss career opportunities, whereupon he kissed and groped her.

To repeat, these are just a few of the many allegations of sexual misconduct against the president. What they have in common is Trump allegedly acting in precisely the way he bragged that he could.

Yet Trump’s position on Carroll’s allegation is the same he has taken on all the others: She’s a liar. He doesn’t say it was a misunderstanding or it was consensual, just that she’s a liar. That is also the position taken by his aides, his supporters and pretty much every Republican who has been forced to address the president’s horrific history: These women are all liars. . . .

But the rest of us need not acquiesce to their dismissal of these stories out of some supposedly savvy assessment of political realities. We can speak the truth:

If the allegations are true, the president of the United States is certainly a sexual predator, and most probably a rapist. We will never know for sure how numerous are his victims, but at a minimum they might number in the dozens.

To those who say, “That’s awful, but what matters now is what he does as president,” I understand. But this all must be part of the reckoning we eventually make with this sickening era in our history. Not just his boundless corruption, his bigotry, his cruelty, his eagerness to allow hostile foreign governments to twist our elections. This, too: One of our great political parties selected as its champion the single most odious and immoral figure in American public life, then went to every length they could to defend him.

I have no illusions that Republicans will ever face the accountability they deserve for their tireless service to Trump, any more than he will face accountability for his own actions. But we can’t ever stop saying it, crying it, shouting it: This is who you gave us. You are complicit in all he is and all he has done. I’d say you should be ashamed, were it not for the fact that you’ve proved you have no shame.

History, at least, will remember — if we make sure it does. It’s not nearly enough, but it’s something.

15% Of UT Female Undergraduates Have Been Raped

Here in Texas, the rape of female college students has been in the news -- thanks to the scandal at Baylor University (a private religious-based university). That scandal has seen the university chancellor and football coach forced out of office for not dealing with the problem of campus rapes. But Baylor is far from being the only college campus with a rape problem.

The University of Texas recently did a survey of its undergraduate students on the problem -- surveying 28,000 students at its 13 campuses. The results were rather shocking. It turns out that 15% of female undergraduates in the UT system have been raped. That would translate into more than 3,000 raped women just at its Austin campus.

This is unacceptable. This kind of figure means the campus is literally a dangerous place for women. The good thing is that the University of Texas is trying to remedy the problem. UT-Austin spokesman J.B. Bird said:

"These findings, which reflect problems endemic to our society, are highly disturbing. UT-Austin is committed to addressing sexual misconduct by speaking about it openly and developing programs and initiatives to end sexual violence, change behaviors and discipline offenders."

This is not just a UT or Baylor problem. A nationwide survey in 2015 found that 18.5% of students had been sexually assaulted by "force or incapacitation". The problem of rape/sexual assault is a problem that exists in every state, and on most college campuses (both public and private) -- and as the Baylor example shows, religious-based colleges are not exempt from the problem.

Rape and sexual assault are no laughing matter. They are serious crimes -- and it is time for all colleges and universities to deal seriously with those crimes. A college campus should be a safe place for all students to learn -- not a place where students, especially females, must fear for their safety.

NOTE -- The definition of rape used in the UT study was:

"having oral sex with someone, making someone perform oral sex, or penetrating someone's vagina or anus with penis, fingers or other objects without their consent, by use of verbal pressure, taking advantage of them when they're incapacitated, threatening to harm or using force."

A Defeat And A Victory In The War Against Rape

The picture above is of Brock Allen Turner. He's a Stanford University student (from a wealthy family) who was caught raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. He was convicted of three counts of sexual assault, and could have faced 10 to 14 years in a state prison. But the sentence passed down by the judge was 6 months in the county jail.

Outrageous is too mild a term for that sentence. The judge obviously took into account that Turner was white, wealthy, and went to a prestigious college. He treated him like he was the victim -- not a vicious rapist. And he did this even after a heart-rending victim statement from the real victim (which you can read in full here).

This makes it clear, once again, that our justice system is not fair. Does anyone really think a Black or Hispanic student (or even a poor white student) would have received only six months in the county jail for this vicious crimes? Of course not. This same judge would undoubtably have sent them to a long term in the state prison.

This criminal (and that's exactly what he is) should have received the same sentence that many others receive for the same crime. He should not have been treated differently because he is white, wealthy, and a student in a prestigious college.

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But all is not bad in the war against rape. The three brave and caring women (Sonia Ulrich, Maria Saltzer, and Monica Kenyon)  in the picture above stood up and stopped a rape. They witnessed a man pouring a drug into the drink of the woman he was with (while she had gone to the bathroom), and they took action. That man is now sitting in jail -- right where he belongs.

Here is how Ms. Kenyon describes the incident on her Facebook page:

GUESS WHO STOPPED A RAPE LAST NIGHT?! THESE GALS!

Ok, so we're still recovering from the events, but we wanted to tell the story. And if it seems like the photo is making light of a heavy situation, it's because we know FB prioritizes pics AND we needed to get your attention. This is no joking matter. 

Monica, Marla, and I were at Fig at the Fairmont for their delicious happy hour ("Fig at 5." Treat yourself). I was going on about something and saw Monica staring behind and making a funny face. I stopped. "What's going on?" After a few second she said "That guy just put something in her drink."

Now, Fig is a nice restaurant. We were enjoying our charcuterie platter and some fancy cheeses. That type of place. They had a bottle of wine they were splitting. It seemed like a first or second or third date. After a few "Oh god. What do we do"s, I got up to find her in the bathroom to tell her. Warn her. Tell her to get up and leave this creep. Make him drink it. Something. 

So, after feeling awkward hanging out by the sinks in the bathroom til she was done, I approached. "Hey! Um, this is kind of weird, but, uh, we saw the guy you were with put something in your drink." 

"Oh My God." She said. Shocked, kind of numb, so I babbled "Yeah, my girlfriend said she saw him put something in your drink and we had to say something. Woman to woman...you know. We had to say something. How well do you know that guy?" I was expecting to hear "We just met," but I got:

"He's one of my best friends."

Shit. Yeah. One of her best friends. They had known each other for a year and a half. They worked together. 

I continued to talk for a bit and said she could ask "the one with the short blond hair" any questions since she was the one who saw it and then left her to return to the table. 

When I got back, Marla was talking to the server about what happened. Seeing if he or the manager could do anything. Monica filled us in on more of what she saw. 

"He pulled her glass toward him, kind of awkwardly, then he took out a little black vial. He opened it up and dropped something in. Then he tried to play it cool, like checking his phone and hiding the vial in his hand and then trying to bring it back down slyly." He apparently saw Monica looking. Marla said she was just going to lean over to Monica and say "that guy is acting really creepy" when she saw Monica already looking. Witnessing. 

It only took a minute for the manager to walk to their table, see if everything was ok, allowed the girl to order a sparkling water. All super cool. He stopped by our table and said he couldn't do much because he didn't see it. But he did let security know. 

The poor woman had to sit through 40 more minutes, sitting across from "one of her best friends" knowing that he was trying to drug her. Marla noticed him several times chinking his glass to hers to get her to drink. She played it cool. Mostly, I believed, just stunned. The staff wanted to jump in and dump the glass, dump him, do something! I was going through fantasies of walking up and demanding he drink the tainted glass of wine. Eventually, they finished up dinner. There was a delay getting their bill "The computer is down" is what the waiter kept saying to him. Then, in walks Santa Monica PD. They say "Come with us" and he doesn't protest. Doesn't ask why. Doesn't seem surprised. 

The head of security came by and said that because we notified them immediately, they were able to go back and review the footage from the security camera. 

They got him on tape. They had proof of him drugging this girl. They took the glass away as evidence. They kept us for statements. We asked the girl if she had a ride home. "My car is at his place. In his building. We came together." Part of a plan. We were blown away. She was still in shock. 

But it wasn't over. 

From every table In our section, from through out the restaurant, people came by to thank us for taking action. 

"It happened to my sister...I'm glad I was there to take her home."

"It happened to my roommate at a producer's party. He's still messed up from it."

"It happened to me. At a backyard barbecue."

"It happened to me. At a bar I worked at."

"Some Heroes don't wear capes. Thank you. It happened to me. Thank you."

"Fuck yeah you guys! You fuckin rock!"

At least 10 stories of being personally affected buy someone like this. Something like this. Those were only the ones who knew what went down. I am sure there were tons more stories through out the restaurant and the hotel.

We kept thanking the manager for taking action. We are well aware how many people would not have taken what we said seriously. Not taken action. Said their hands were tied. 

So thank you, everyone at Fig and Fairmont in Santa Monica for keeping this guy from harming someone. 

And thank you in advance to everyone who sees this and shares this and reminds each other that yes, you SHOULD say something. Even if it's awkward or weird or just uncertain if anything can be done. 

Know that YOU did something. And that it helped.

Public Says Military Has Not Done Enough To Address The Problem With Sexual Harassment, Assault, And Rape

These are some rather disturbing statistics. It seems that 24% (or about one out of every four) of veterans say they personally know a victim of sexual harassment, assault, or rape in the military. That's 6 points higher than the number of nonveterans who say they know a victim in their workplace, and 3 points higher than nonveteran men. But the biggest difference comes among women -- where 60% of women vets say they know a victim, while only 19% of nonveteran women know a victim.

While these figures show we have a society-wide problem with sexual harassment, assault, and rape, they also show that this problem is much bigger in the military. Some may try to explain this away by saying the military is traditionally a job for men, but that excuse simply won't fly. Sexual harassment, assault, and rape are crimes -- and they are inexcusable in any workplace, even those traditionally occupied by men.

Congress recently tried to address this problem, but they chickened out at the last moment and left the decision on whether charges would be brought in the hands of military officers. In other words, there was little change since it left the "good old boy" system intact -- and lets officers go easy on those they like and harder on those they don't like. These decisions should have been put in the hands of legal professionals (just like it is in the non-military society).

This brings up the question of what does the American public think. Do they think the military's implementation of this weak law passed by Congress is enough to solve this problem, or should more be done. As the charts below show, the public does not think the military (or Congress) has adequately addressed to problems with sexual harassment, assault, or rape. I have to agree. More needs to be done.

All of these charts were made with information from the Gallup Poll.

1,268 veterans were questioned between June 16th and 20th (with a 3 point margin of error).

1,016 nonveterans were questioned on July 2nd and 3rd (with a 4 point margin of error).

Why Is Sexual Assault OK In Military ?

There is no doubt that the "good old boy" network is alive and well in our military. We learned recently that sexual assaults are growing in the U.S. military -- in spite of the fact the Pentagon leaders have promised to do something about the problem. In the last year the number of reported sexual assaults has grown significantly -- and the number of unreported crimes of that nature are also believed to have grown.

Just last week, we learned that the Air Force's top officer in charge of preventing sexual assaults in the military (and stationed at the Pentagon itself) was arrested and charged with sexual assault. This probably shouldn't have surprised us, since there have been recent cases where a conviction for sexual assault by a military court has been overturned by a commanding officer.

Now we learn that a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood (Texas) has been arrested for operating a prostitution ring, forcing a subordinate into prostitution, and committing sexual assaults on two other subordinates. Making matters even worse is the fact that this sergeant was in charge (at the battalion level) for preventing sexual assaults.

Frankly, I don't understand why the military can't seem to get a handle on this problem. Our society at large has determined that rapes and other sexual assaults are serious crimes -- and criminals are being punished more severely than in the past (although more still needs to be done). But the military can't seem to shake off the old "boys will be boys" attitude.

This is unacceptable on any level. Whatever happened to dignity, honesty, and honor in the military? Do those concepts mean nothing when it comes to rape and sexual assault? I simply don't believe the military couldn't solve this problem if it really wanted to do that. They don't have any problem controlling other crimes -- ranging from insubordination to murder. And the reason why is because they consider those other crimes to be serious. It's time they started considering sexual assaults as serious also, and started treating those crimes the same way other crimes are treated in the military.

This is a problem of leadership, and leadership problems start at the top. If the military leaders in this country don't step up and take the appropriate action, then they should be replaced by leaders who will.

The Media Should Be Ashamed

I have tried to stay out of this story. It just seemed too obvious that this girl was raped and justice had to be done for her. But it seems there are still way too many people in this country that don't think rape is a serious and vicious crime. And worse yet, a lot of them seem to be working for major media outlets. The graphic above shows what has happened. These media outlets are more worried about the rapists than the girl that was raped.

The media dropped the ball on this. They should have covered it as a crime and punishment story -- a teaching moment for all the men in this country. Instead, they used this opportunity to commiserate with the rapists (criminals). Do they really think women (even underage girls) are little more than play-things for men, and any girl that has too much to drink is fair-game for criminals?

Let me tell you what I think:

* Rape is still a vicious crime, even when perpetrated by teenagers.

* Rape is still a vicious crime, even when perpetrated by star athletes.

* Rape is still a vicious crime, even when perpetrated by so-called "good students".

* A rapist is a sex offender, and should be required to register as such.

* Anyone who has sex with a woman who did not say yes (or if she was too intoxicated to say yes or no) is a rapist.

* Covering up the crime of rape makes a person as guilty as the rapist (and making excuses for a rapist exposes a severe lack of values and judgement).

* I do not feel sorry for the criminals in the Steubenville rape case. By receiving only a sentence of a year or two in a juvenile facility, they got off light. They could have been (and probably should have been) certified as adults and been given long prison sentences. And neither the victim nor the court is responsible for "ruining their lives". They did that all by themselves by committing a violent crime (and rape is always a violent crime).

* I think the media should be ashamed of how they handled this story. Their biased reporting just helps the continuation of this country's "rape culture".

No Justification

I agree with the sentiment above. It should be offensive to all men for anyone to try and shift the blame for a rape onto a woman. It is never the woman's fault that a man has raped her, and there is no justification for that heinous act.

This brings to mind an excellent post I recently read on the blog Unreasonable Faith. Here is a part of that post, with an pledge that all men should take:

It’s not women who need to adopt a change in attitude, it’s men. I think as men we can probably all think of instances where we’ve laughed amongst ourselves at jokes that we would absolutely never tell in the presence of a woman. I can certainly think of instances from my own youth where my attitude to women was not so much questionable as downright disgusting. I’ve given unthinking support to male friends who were accused of rape, without even stopping to think that maybe they did it. I’ve certainly had sex with women whilst we were both very drunk, and not thought to ask myself if they would have wanted to do it sober. I’ve hung around in groups of male friends discussing women like they were trophies to collect. And to my fellow men I say this: I know damned well that my experiences are not uncommon. The vast majority of us have done (or still do) these things.

And that is what needs to change to end rape culture: The things that we men do and say and are, when only men are present; the ways we interact with each other, the things that we find acceptable; the standards that we relax when we are with “the boys”.

So to that end, I’d like to make a little pledge:

I will never condone rape or support rape culture in any way. I will object, loudly, when a rape joke is told. I will not tolerate objectification of women, amongst my male friends or amongst anybody else. I will do my best to be aware of my male (and white, and straight, and middle class) privilege, and to not take advantage of it. If and when I have children, I will try to educate them to critically appraise the media to which they are exposed and be aware of the gender messages within it. I will not spend money on any product, company or media which I am aware of having promoted rape culture or gender disparity, regardless of whether they have done so deliberately.

A Holiday Poem

It looks like The Atheist Pig is getting into the holiday spirit, and is calling out some theocrats on their mean-spirited nonsense. Gift from god? It doesn't get more ridiculous than that!

GOP And Rape

I know right-wingers will not like this graphic, but then they deny all sorts of reality. As harsh as this may sound, if you listen to what the new teabagger Republican politicians are actually saying, then the truth of the above graphic becomes apparent. They care nothing about women's rights -- even to the point of minimizing rape.

A fellow blogger, over at Infidel 753, offers the Republican politicians a little advice on how to avoid saying something stupid about rape. It comes a little too late to help them in this campaign, but maybe they can take this advice to heart in 2014. He says:

Excellent advice!

The Apology Akin Should Have Made

By now you've probably heard that Rep. Todd Akin (R-Missouri) has made an apology for disprespecting women who have been raped. Well, it was sort of a non-apology apology -- the kind Republicans are famous for making. What he actually said was the he had "mis-spoke", but what he meant was that he should have known better than to tell the truth in an election year.

But The Onion, America's premiere humor and satire site, has their own version of the Akin apology -- and personally, I think it's the one he should have made. Here is part of the Onion version (and I urge you to read the whole thing -- it's hilarious):

As a politician, I often find myself in situations where, unfortunately, I express a certain thought or idea poorly, or find my words taken out of context. Indeed, that is what happened this weekend. Upon reviewing the impromptu remarks I made Sunday afternoon, I can now see that I used the wrong words in the wrong way. I would now like to set the record straight with the American people and clear up some confusion about what it was I intended to convey.

You see, what I said was, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” But what I meant to say was, “I am a worthless, moronic sack of shit and an utterly irredeemable human being who needs to shut up and go away forever.”

It is clear to me now that I did not choose my words with care and did not get across the point I was trying to convey. In hindsight, I guess instead of using the words “legitimate rape,” I should have used the words “I am an unforgivable, unrepentant, and unconscionable subhuman dickhead.” Or better yet, “I am an evil, fucked-up man who should never have been elected to the United States Congress, and anyone who would vote for me is probably a pretty big fucking dumbshit, too.” See how much more sense that makes? It’s amazing how a few key word changes can totally alter the meaning of a statement.

Rape And The GOP

As the father of three wonderful daughters, I have been incensed at the cavalier attitude toward rape demonstrated by many teabagger GOP candidates in the last few days. They have made it clear that their ideology (and their re-election) is more important to them than the health and safety of the women of America. But while I can rant against their insensitivity (and downright meanness), the words to expose their vicious attitude really should come from a woman.

And that has happened. A fellow Texas blogger who calls herself humanbeing, over at the excellent blog Somervell County Salon, has written a powerful statement on the subject -- one that should be read by as many people as possible. In that interest, I share her words here with you:

On July 6 1984, an 18 year old male armed with a meat cleaver broke into my house and sexually assaulted me. I was raped. It was two days shy of my 37th birthday. After he had burst through the door and physically overwhelmed me, knocking over lamps and furniture in the process, he held the cleaver to my throat, and said he'd kill me if I didn't do what he told me to do. I did.

By some miracle, after about an hour of torture, he left my home. I had not been murdered nor cut to pieces. But it took me four years to recover some semblance of normal life, a life that had been completely destroyed by this pathetic person's psychopathy. The hundreds of sleepless nights, the anorexia, chronic anxiety and PTSD that I suffered probably shortened my lifespan by years.

Then there's the collateral damage a rape survivor must endure: the trip to the emergency room, the police investigation, the meeting with the District Attorney, testifying before the Grand Jury, the trial and the stigma that one carries after surviving this unspeakable experience. You can never go home or feel comfortable about your world again. One of the worst parts was the alienation from one's friends, family and society. It's just too ugly and uncomfortable for them. "You're safe now" they would say, "It's over." No, it wasn't over, not for me.

This happened a long time ago. Even though he only infected me with herpes, thankfully, I did not get pregnant. If I had gotten pregnant, I would have aborted the pregnancy immediately. Fortunately, in 1984, abortion was legal and I could have had that procedure safely and privately, without my legislators' consent, involvement or objection.

Politicians can pontificate all they want about their moral values. I respect their rights to have and exercise those values in their personal lives. But I absolutely will not support any agenda to deprive me or any other woman of their rights to choose what happens with our bodies. One thing is very clear to me as I listen to this self-righteous, pandering discourse from Paul Ryan, Todd Akin, Mitt Romney, Sid Miller, Rick Perry and the rest: These men have no understanding or experience of the realities they flagrantly pretend to have knowledge about.

I believe that the women in this country, and the men who support them, will not tolerate the kind of sexual fascism these people are offering. Women in America have been fighting for their rights for a long time and if we have to win those rights all over again, I can promise that we will do it.

Those are well written and powerful words. And there are other very good posts written by humanbeing and her cohorts over at Somervell County Salon. It's a very good blog and one of my regular reads. I urge you to go over and give it a try.

Has Akin Killed His Campaign ?

Unless you live in a cave and have no access to media of any kind, you know about the serious mistake Rep. Todd Akin (the teabagger candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri) made when he honestly told the voters and the media his feelings about rape and abortion. He is against abortion, even in cases of rape, and said that in cases of "legitimate" rape women have a natural bodily defense that keeps them from getting pregnant by their rapists -- an attitude based on his misogyny and without any basis in medicine or science.

That rape-friendly statement by the teabagger candidate immediately drew a firestorm of protest from around the country. Even the members of his own Republican Party were horrified by his disingenuous and mean-spirited comment, and many of them are calling for him to step down and let the Missouri Republican Party find a replacement. They are afraid he has ruined his chances of beating his incumbent Democratic opponent (Claire McCaskill). As the chart above shows, even the talking heads at Fox News are afraid of how damaging this story can be to his campaign -- and they are trying their best to avoid the story (to protect Republicans).

This brings up the question of whether Akin has really damaged his campaign (and possibly that of other Republicans). Or do Missouri voters (who are trending Republican) simply not care that the GOP senate candidate is a complete idiot and an integral part of that party's war on women? There are two new polls that try to answer those questions.

The first survey is from Public Policy Polling and was taken on August 20th. It shows Akin holding on to a very slim lead (44% to 43%) -- very similar to the lead this poll showed he had last May (45% to 44%), although the results in both months are within the margin of error. About all that can be said is that the race seems deadlocked at this point. But there is evidence that Akin definitely hurt himself with the statement. His favorability rating is not upside down (24% favorable and 58% unfavorable) -- and even worse than the favorability rating of his opponent, Claire McCaskill (41% favorable and 53% unfavorable). It may simply be that voters haven't had time for the full impact of Akin's gaffe to sink in.

The other survey is a SurveyUSA News Poll. This one is a bit more negative toward Akin. This poll didn't ask their respondents who they would vote for right now, but it did ask whether they thought Akin should drop out of the race, and 54% said he should drop out (including 33% of Republicans and 58% of Independents). Also, 55% said they didn't buy his excuse that he just "mis-spoke" (including 27% of Republicans and 60% of Independents). Only 35% thought he should stay in the race and 32% thought he had just "mis-spoke".

Has he mortally wounded his campaign? That answer is still up in the air. Perhaps it will be answered by coming polls. But one thing is certain -- he didn't do himself any good. And he's made the unseating of his opponent much more difficult.

The Award Goes To Missouri's Teabaggers

I was sure that the state of Texas was going to win the 2012 Award for Craziest Or Most Idiotic Politician. After all, we had a real contender in Ted Cruz. He won his GOP senate nomination by promising to defeat a nefarious plot by George Soros and the United Nations to outlaw golf courses in the United States. How could anyone top this noble defender of American golf courses? Even such stalwart teabaggers as Louie Gohmert and Rick Perry couldn't come up with anything that idiotic.

But alas, we have lost. The teabaggers of the state of Missouri have nominated a candidate for the United States Senate that is so breathtakingly stupid that he leaves all the other idiotic candidates in the dust. It is Rep. Todd Akin.

You have probably heard of Akin's latest pronouncement. He thinks women who are raped should not be given any choice of whether to have their rapist's baby or not. Why? He said he has been assured by doctors that women's bodies have a natural defense against becoming pregnant by rape, and that natural defense will kick in when there is a "legitimate" rape.

I must admit that I am a bit confused as to just what constitutes a "legitimate" rape. Aren't ALL rapes illegal? Maybe Akin could enlighten us on this point, and while he's at it, tell us who these doctors are that told him such a stupid thing (so the rest of us can avoid these "doctors" at all costs).

Of course, this mean and idiotic statement by Akin is no joking matter. He has denigrated the millions of women who have been raped in this country, and ridiculed the awful choice that far too many of them have to make. His vicious statement is so far over the line that many in his own party (the Republican Party, of course) are trying to distance themselves from him -- although the response from the Ryan/Romney campaign was rather tepid, saying only that they "disagreed" with Akin.

But while this is probably the most egregious and amazingly stupid of Akin's beliefs, it is by no means the only idiotic thing he believes. For instance, he believes the 17th Amendment (which provides for the direct election of senators) was a mistake and should be repealed. He also believes free lunches for school children, the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960's, and Medicare are all unconstitutional. He has also been one of the prime leaders against allowing equal rights for gays and lesbians. And he wants to pull the U.S. out of the United Nations.

I have to hand it to the Missouri teabaggers. They have nominated a senate candidate far and away stupider than any other in 2012. How can any state compete with their nomination of Akin? I do have a question for the other residents of Missouri though. You're not really going to elect this fool to be a United States Senator -- are you?

A Satire On The "War On Women"

It's no secret that the right-wing congressional Republicans (and the GOP presidential candidates) have virtually declared war on the women of America. Commenting on the latest Republican attack on women, their opposition to the Violence Against Women Act, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) says, "This is part of a larger effort, candidly, to cut back on rights and services to women. We've seen it go from discussions on Roe vs. Wade, to partial birth abortion, to contraception, to preventive services for women. This seems to be one more thing."

She is absolutely right. Republicans seem determined to cut both rights and services for American women. They have, in essence, declared war on women -- and seem determined to put and keep women in a second-class citizenship status. Here in Texas, Republican legislators have mandated that women seeking a legal abortion must be raped by a vaginal probe and humiliated before exercising their constitutional right (which if performed by an individual would result in a well-deserved and lengthy prison sentence).

My fellow Texas blogger, John C. over at Bay Area Houston (an excellent resource on Texas politics), has written a great post. It is a very funny tongue-in-cheek satire on the Texas vaginal rape law (and the general war on women). I am reposting it here for your benefit:

Governor calls for new prostate exam procedures.

"Every life lost to prostate disease is a tragedy we all must work together to prevent, and I commend Rep. Miller and Sen. Patrick for their hard work on this significant legislation,"

Friday March 16, 2012  •  Austin, Texas  •  Press Release

Gov. Rick Perry ceremonially announce his support for new legislation crafted by Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller which requires men to have a modified prostate procedure to ensure he is fully informed before making any impactful decisions.

The governor designated the measure an emergency item for the upcoming 2013 Legislative Session. He was joined by Sen. Dan Patrick and Rep. Sid Miller at the ceremony. "This important bill will ensure that every Texas man seeking or not seeking a prostate exam has all the facts about the procedure, and understands the devastating impact of such a life-changing decision."

The bill will require a series of hour long anal probes, performed by specialists with overly large digits, which will provide much needed information for men to determine what medical procedures would be necessary in the future. Under this legislation, a physician is required to display the results of the probe and explain the results in graphic detail.

"This bill will protect human life: the lives of men who may or may not want a prostate exam, as well as those who are faced with such a life changing decision," said Rep Sid Miller. "By providing men with a full 24-hour waiting period between these long, detailed, penetrating, pulsating, anal probes, this bill will provide men with adequate time to catch their breath and weight the impacts of their life-changing decision of taking a desk job without the use of Preparation H."

"Today is a great day for men's health in Texas," Sen. Patrick said. "This bill will greatly improve men's healthcare in Texas, provide men the information that they deserve through informed consent of a pulsating, probing, and long duration anal probe, and will undoubtedly save thousands of lives."

After the ceremony Dr. Miller joined Dr. Patrick in performing a medical procedure to remove Perry's head from his ass.


NOTE: State Senator Dan Patrick and State Representative Sid Miller are the Republicans who wrote and pushed through the Texas vaginal rape law. They would, of course, never actually write a law like the one above -- because that would subject them to the same kind of rape and humiliation they have so happily forced upon Texas women.

Legal (And State-Sanctioned) Rape

Doonesbury has always been an excellent cartoon. Cartoonist Gary Trudeau realized long ago that he doesn't have to make up anything -- the politicians do plenty of things insane enough to keep him supplied with material forever. This week he's taking on the Republican requirement that any woman seeking an abortion in the state of Texas (and now Virginia, also) must be raped with a 10" vaginal ultrasound wand (even if she objects to the procedure).

Any individual who did that to a woman against her will would be convicted of rape and given a long (and well-deserved) prison sentence. It is no less a rape when it is ordered to be performed on a woman against her will by the state of Texas. Rape is still rape whether it is done by an individual, a group, an organization, or a governmental body. The human body is sacrosanct (whether male or female), and no invasive procedure should ever be done without the full and un-forced consent of the person whose body is being invaded.

There may be a few of you who say this can't be rape because it's not done for sexual gratification. If you believe that, then you're a moron. Rape is not now, and never has been, about sex. It is about power. And that is just what is being done by the state of Texas (and Virginia). The state, thanks to the Republican-controlled government, is trying to demonstrate its power to control a woman's body.

These are the same people who tried to deny equal rights to minorities until forced to grant them by federal law (and are still trying to do this -- just look at the Republican redistricting plan for Texas). These are the same people who deny equal rights to gays/lesbians by refusing to allow them to marry. And these people (Republicans) want to keep women in a second class status in America by denying them control over their own bodies.

They use (or rather misuse) their 1st century religion to justify their attempt to keep white men at the pinnacle of power in this country (in spite of the fact that in this secular country the Constitution is supposed to be the ultimate law -- and it says ALL people should have equal rights).This must stop!

Past efforts to impose their misogynistic beliefs were bad enough, but this latest action goes way too far. Rape, including state-sanctioned rape, is just wrong and can never be justified -- not even by religion, ANY religion.

Virginia Poised To Join Texas In Legalizing State-Sanctioned Rape

The object in the picture above is a vaginal sonogram probe. If an individual in the state of Texas were to insert this probe (or anything similar) into a woman's vagina without her permission, that person would be guilty of rape and sentenced to a long and well-deserved prison sentence -- and no one would feel sorry for the offender as he/she was hauled off to prison.

But due to the lack of empathy or wisdom of the Republican majority in the Texas legislature and the Republican governor, Rick Perry, it is now legal for the state of Texas to commit the same kind of rape it would send an individual to prison for. The legislature passed a new law in the last legislative session that requires a doctor to use the above wand to perform a sonogram on ALL women requesting an abortion -- regardless of whether the woman wants the procedure or not. She can say no, and it will still be done.

I must admit that I am still a bit mystified over how the same "law and order" Republicans who want extremely long sentences for rapists (and some who even want the death penalty for rape), can turn around and demand state-sanctioned rape of women trying to make one of the hardest decisions of their lives. Obviously these men (and it was mostly men making this decision) were absent when morality, ethics, and common decency were being distributed.

These degenerate legislators have no problem with forcible rape (penetrating a woman against her will) as long as it is done by the state for "religious" reasons (although I still can't find any prohibition of abortion in the Bible. The prohibition against killing in the 10 commandments is clearly referring to the killing of humans, not unviable fetuses -- and even the prohibition of killing has many exceptions in that book).

Now the state of Virginia is set to join Texas in demanding women who want an abortion be forcibly raped before that procedure can be done. I admit that I don't know exactly how Virginia law defines rape, but I would bet it is very similar to the law in Texas -- and that means the Virginia legislators are fixing to pass a bill that would legalize rape by the state. And their Republican governor has indicated he will sign the bill into law. This is just sick. Rape is still rape -- whether it is done by an individual or the state.

But that is not all. The Virginia legislators will not be happy with just legalizing the forcible rape of women seeking an abortion. They want to completely remove the right of any woman to control over her own body. They are also set to pass a "personhood" law, which would give a fetus the rights of a real (male) human person -- rights that would overrule the rights of a woman. These legislators believe men should have the right to control what is done to their body, but women should not have that right.

That reduces women to a second-class citizen status. How can any woman vote for the Republican Party -- the party that doesn't believe they should have rights equal to those enjoyed by men?