It’s about time!

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was FINALLY renewed today and it is the same version that was proposed a year ago–with the clauses to cover for Native Americans, LGBT and immigrants.  We shouldn’t have to fight so damn hard to protect women who are being assaulted.  This wasn’t a difficult choice the Republicans wasted an entire year on it when they could have been focused on fixing our economy and creating more jobs.  The bill is now on it’s way to President Obama for signature.

Special interests, my ass!

UPDATE 2:  Angry Black Lady says that the graphic is actually from Think Progress, just FYI.

UPDATE:  a nice little graphic added at bottom and a link here to the post that is its source from the audacious Angry Black Lady Chronicles.

Not too long ago I wrote a post about how the House Republicans killed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) because ‘them thar women injuns need ta stay on da resuhvashun an shouldna be awtherized to persecute da white man’ in spite of the fact that those white men are rapists scum.  I, and many other women, did not take kindly to this attitude.

Well the issue has come up AGAIN.  Senate Republicans put forward an amendment that would strip the provision of VAWA that focused on increasing protections for Native American Women. Their supposed reason? They say that provision was added by “special interests”. So the vulnerable, the rape victims, they’re a special interest group? Really? What of kind of piece of shit do you have to be to think that way? Seriously.

Thankfully, Senate Democrats defeated this odious amendment so that VAWA remained intact and then passed the Senate easily with some bipartisan support (as it should have).   Now VAWA will go to the House, where who knows what will happen.  I’m not optimistic considering what happened last time (repeating, see my earlier post).   By the way, Marco Rubio, the supposed savior of the GOP who gave the Republican rebuttal to the President’s State of the Union Speech, voted AGAINST VAWA for the second time in a year. So if you hear Rubio talking about how much he cares about women’s rights, he’s lying.   The only thing he cares about is how he can further restrict those rights, not protect them.

PS:  Here’s a great article on Rubio by Bob Cesca, it’s a nice early take on the man who will probably be the GOP Presidential candidate in 2016

Why is it always the same assholes, um, I mean faces, over and over again?

Sources:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/senate-coburn-amendment-vawa.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/vawa-vote_n_2669720.html?ir=Politics

Betcha didn’t know….

A list of some news items that caught my attention.

• The DOJ issued an internal memo laying out the legal justification for killing American citizens using drones and NBC got a hold of it.  I’ve been ambivalent about drones (not a supporter, just ambivalent).  But this shows that the White House has established a policy that American citizens who are considered to be enemies of the U.S. because the aid and abet terrorists groups that are trying to harm the U.S. can be targeted because we are at war.  Unfortunately, the War on Terror is not a finite thing and therein lies the problem.  I support the President on most things but on this, I DO NOT.  Here’s a great article on the nuances of the policy and some recommendations for what should be done.
  
• Baby Boomers, folks in their 50′s and early 60′s, were hit harder by the Recession than other age groups, so much so that their average life span has been reduced by three years. But hey, best health care system in the world…..NOT!
• The Postal Service is ending Saturday mail delivery but do you know why?  Because the Republicans in Congress forced them to pay their retiree health care costs up front in 2006 (something no other agency in federal government has to do) and then later refused to actually fund that expenditure.  So it wasn’t anything the USPS did wrong.  Congress has been trying to kill the USPS for years now.
• The little boy being held hostage in Alabama was freed by an FBI raid of the bunker.  What you might not know is that the Mother of the boy actually asked the police to do their best not to hurt the kidnapper.  Her reasoning, he was a sick man who needed help.  Now that is a truly empathetic person.
• Republican factions have begun infighting because one wing is blaming the other for Romney’s loss.  The Karl Roves of the world are squaring up against Tea Party members.  Karl Rove and his supporters represent the Washington insider, the practical Republican who does whatever it takes to win and they expect party obedience.  Tea Party members don’t like to “fall in line” with the party and tend to support candidates that take principled stances (meaning stances that fit into their worldview).   It’s funny, both in an ironic and haha kind of way, that neither wing of the party is looking at their ideas as being rejected by voters, just the way in which they presented those ideas.   So they’re having conferences where consultants are telling Republicans things like never, ever to use the word “rape” again in a public setting.  From their viewpoint, it’s not that so many of them think rape is sometimes justified that turns off female voters, it’s the fact that they share that thought with the public.  Meanwhile liberals are making popcorn and sitting down to enjoy the show.
• The President’s skeet shooting photo is being mocked.  I get this because the White House should have let the derision over the skeet shooting comment during an interview just fade into obscurity.  Putting out that picture was like putting Dukakis in the tank.  Now there are conservatives declaring that the photo is not legitimate and was  photoshopped.   I don’t get this.  Everything is not about fooling you.  Maybe this growing paranoid subculture in the U.S. is based on narcissism….that arguably the most powerful man in the world has the time to cater to some idjits who think that everything revolves around them and that they and they alone know the truth.   Riiiiiiiiiiight……..Sigh….
• Since the President dominated among Hispanics in the last election, receiving 75% of their vote, the Republicans have taken notice.  Their answer?  Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) proposed yesterday that anyone whose illegal immigrant parents brought them to the U.S. as children be granted citizenship.  Wait, isn’t that the Dream Act?  Yep.  So why now?  Why didn’t you support it before?  Oh, they rejected you and now you’re hoping to tap into future Hispanic Voters.  It’s gonna take a lot more than this little morsel to make that happen, bub.

Foxes in the hen house

As I said last week, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is forcing his 3,000 volunteer “posse” members on school grounds at a variety of locations to provide “armed protection” to our children from possible mass murderers. I say forcing because he is on record as saying he will force the schools to accept his help.

It doesn’t matter whether they like it or don’t like it,” Arpaio said, regarding whether schools want armed guards. “I’m still going to do it. I can’t imagine criticism coming when they’re given free protection.

He can’t imagine criticism? Of course he can’t. He’s a narcissistic asshole who thinks even his bowel movements shine with the light of divine inspiration. Since he can’t imagine a criticism, let me point out a few REALLY obvious problems with this little scheme.

1. Posse members wear uniforms that look very much like official deputy uniforms so it is difficult to distinguish them from actual law enforcement officers.
2. Our kids don’t need that kind of protection, thank you very much. The odds of a mass murder happening are still very, very low (1 in 1 Million). They catch our attention, sure, and it hurts us all psychologically, and yes, something needs to be done about gun control. Particularly when you combine these rare but very public mass murders with the much more common gun deaths the U.S. experiences every year, all 30,000 of them. However, scientifically speaking, the odds that your child will be a victim of a mass murder are much lower than the odds of your child getting killed in a car crash (1 in 67) or getting cancer (1 in 330) or drowning (1 in 7,683).
3. By allowing the posse thugs to patrol our schools the odds that something bad could happen just got worse. Apparently posse members are poorly vetted.

Example A: Jake Cutler. This man tried to sexually assault his girlfriend while choking her. She fought back and he threatened to call the police himself. He said he “had a badge” and that the police would believe him and not her. Parents love violent sexual offenders being around their children while armed, don’t they?
Example B: Kevin Ray Campos. This guy got into a fight with bouncers outside a nightclub and verbally assaulted Scottsdale police officers. Parents love men who have little impulse control and a disrespect for authority hanging around their kids with loaded weapons, don’t they?
Example C: Doug Clark. This fellow is a real gem and he’s a constable too. Imagine our luck! He had rolled a county vehicle, driven over 90 mph in a 45 mph zone, used his siren when he was not on duty (this is a big NO-NO in law enforcement folks), and using red/blue emergency lights to slow traffic so he could find something in the road that his wife lost (again, an officer should NEVER do this). Oh, did I mention that he is accused of ramming his car into another driver and holding them at gunpoint while he was off duty? What was the other driver’s crime? The other driver had earlier backed into Clark’s car and left the scene. Now we’ve all experienced this at one time or another. But Clark’s response is way, way over the top. So a fender bender deserves a ramming and being threatened with a gun and being in fear of one’s life? Sounds like Mr. Clark needs a lessen in humility, not to mention proper law enforcement procedure AND impulse control therapy. Parent’s love men who think they are above the law patrolling elementary schools with deadly force, don’t they?

And this is only a tiny sample. The list of offenses is long–Drug possession, violent behavior in public, impersonating an officer, and even sex crimes against children….yes, even pedophiles, apparently can join Arpaio’s posse. That’s EXACTLY who we need watching our kids pretending to be gods with death on their hips. When confronted with the results of this investigation by CBS5, Arpaio’s response is that he trusts his posse and he needs them because of budgetary shortfalls.

What’s that, Joe? You say you’re short on manpower? Why is that? Could it be because you and the entire Republican party in Arizona refuse to tax the population properly and instead give massive tax breaks to businesses who in no way, shape or form need them and you pay yourself far too much money and line the pockets of your cronies with money and spend money on frivolous unnecessary things? I would gladly pay more in taxes to have vetted, trained deputies performing their duties than to allow violent, sexual predators performing a deputy’s job. And I sure as hell don’t want these freaks at my kid’s school with guns.  How about we reduce your salary and every yahoo in State Government, up to and including the Governor, and hire some more deputies?

So tell me again, how these posse members increase my child’s safety. We have rules and standards for the police for very good reason–so we don’t end up with a fascist government! You can’t just let anyone be a cop because it’s a tremendous amount of power. So, why the hell are we allowing crazy, irresponsible and criminal people to become “posse” members and giving them the power of life or death over our children?!

Furthermore, why, for the love of all that’s holy, is Sheriff Joe Arpaio still in office? What the hell is wrong with you Maricopa County voters? Seriously. What could possibly be worth putting up with this corrupt jerk and his dangerous foot soldiers  If something happens to one of the kids because of these volunteers, because apparently people like me can do nothing to stop this asshole and his fascist agenda, then I want to see Arpaio go to prison where some very large ugly man uses him in very bad, painful ways for the rest of his unnatural life.

If you live outside of Maricopa County just be thankful–oh, and maybe call the Department of Justice and ask them why the hell they dropped the ball on prosecuting Arpaio? Too bad they don’t allow booze at work because a shot of whiskey might help me forget that I still live in The Fourth Reich.

Ladies, are you feeling the love yet?

One would have thought the Republican party had learned a lesson from the Presidential election wherein they lost a good portion of some very important demographic groups like Hispanics, Asians, Women, etc.  However, it appears that they remain oblivious not only to their lack of appeal to these groups but that they have no intention whatsoever in changing their message.  Why do I say that?  Because House Republicans killed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

We have had the VAWA act since 1994 and every so often it gets reauthorized, almost automatically, by Congress, because no one in their right mind wants to de-fund the laws that help female victims bring their attackers to justice nor decrease the excellent services and programs that help those women recover (and that helps to get sexual offenders, usually repeat offenders, off the street).  Except this year, something was different. The Senate passed it per usual but the House rejected it because of a new addition to the bill.  The addition to the bill expanded protections to Native Americans, Immigrants and to those in the LGBT community encompassing a population of about 30 million women.

I fully expected opposition from the crazy House Republican Caucus regarding the  extension of legal protections to non-citizens such as  Immigrants.   Plus considering their loathing of anyone who is not heterosexual, and voila, it was custom made for a fifteen minute bitch fest on Fox News in prime time so the Tea Party darlings would get their base all riled up and in a lather.  Then I fully expected them to slink back to the Hill and pass the damn thing–because it’s a good bill, drafted by both parties, and everyone, including them, know it.  Hundreds of thousands of women will not receive the justice they deserve without this law.  Passing it was the right thing to do.  After a few weeks of resistance, they bowed to the inevitable and said ‘ok the immigrants and the gays can stay but not the indians’ (paraphrasing here).

According to Rep. Eric Cantor (R-GA) the final hang up that they just couldn’t overcome was the “tribal provisions”.  Let me explain.  You probably already know that Native Americans actually have reservations across the U.S. and those lands are considered sovereign nations.  Meaning that they have their own government and they interact with the U.S. through that government.  It also means that they enforce their own laws, run their own courts, etc separate from the U.S.  Now the relationship between the U.S. and the sovereign Native American nations is not as cut and dried as it sounds.  For instance, Native Americans are citizens of both their tribe and the U.S.  This relationship can get complicated and it’s not always easy to determine when we are stepping on each others toes, so to speak.  However, we’ve had this kind of blurry relationship with them since the 1800′s.  Currently there are 566 federally recognized tribes in the U.S.  and we’ve legislated many powers back and forth over that time period.  So this is not a new issue. This is not something that Congress should be shocked to learn or have any reason to fear.

What VAWA had to do with this issue of sovereignty was to allow tribal courts to prosecute non-Tribal criminals that hurt Native American women.  You know why?  Because there was no one who could and would prosecute them.  That’s right.  For a very long time, too long a time, Native American women have been assaulted by non-Native American men and they were not punished in any way shape or form.  Just how bad is it?

One in three reports being the victim of a rape or attempted rape and Native American women are also 10 times more likely to be murdered than other groups of women in the US. Most of the attacks are also reported to be perpetrated by a person of another race.

You know what really sucks, when I did a Google search for this info the first link that came up wasn’t a U.S. news agency….it was Al Jazeera. This has been going on under our noses for decades and we have been so incredibly blind to it.  Now we can do something about it and it’s not a big deal.  This addition to VAWA simply gives the tribes’ courts jurisdiction, the court apparatus on the scene so to speak, to prosecute such cases.  The batshit crazy Republicans in the House* decided now was the time to get paranoid about sovereignty and see this as a means of weakening our national power.  Apparently preserving the God given right of white men rape and pillage the natives is more important than protecting the women.  It is simply disgusting.

I want all you women reading this and any men that actually give a shit about women to remember this in 2014 when we have another mid-term election for Congressional seats.  Let this motivate you to get your butt off the couch and go vote because we can’t afford to let the likes of Eric Cantor or anyone who thinks that protecting women from domestic violence is a bad thing back into office.  If you need something to help store it in long term memory, watch this video.  You’ll never hear Three Little Indians again the same way.

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* Thanks a lot Tea Party for voting these asswipes into office in 2010 they’re doing a bang up job, NOT