Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
mizbinkley
Published Letters: 870 Editor's Choice: 116
Wow, Bush's remarks at the American Legion in Fairfax, Virginia are just chock full of goodies:
Today, the men and women at this post visit the wounded in our military hospitals. And I thank you for going to Walter Reed in Bethesda. You know, we're going to make sure that the care is superb care. I went over there the other day and I made it clear to the care-givers that there were some bureaucratic snafus that were unacceptable.
Walter Reed in Bethesda? Well, that explains all of the bureaucratic snafus at Walter Reed. Walter Reed is in DC. The Naval Hospital is in Bethesda. Explains so much...
RichEmery, Bush definitely needs a civics lesson. Which the statement below highly ironic:
"Ignorance of American history and civics weakens our sense of citizenship. To be an American is not just a matter of blood or birth; we are bound by ideals, and our children must know those ideals."
-George W. Bush, September 2002, announcing his "History & Civic Education Initiatives"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020917-1.html
I wonder if he'll read anything on air if you just print it in his notes. Like Will Ferrell's character in "Anchorman," who'd read anything you'd put on the teleprompter. Maybe we should start hacking into Bush's teleprompter.
Will this rise to the level of the George H. W. Bush "supermarket checkout amazement" debacle/myth? "He's out of touch!"
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/bushscan.htm
Or does this just show that Giuliani, like many of us, would make a bad Price Is Right contestant?
You're right, I'm just sayin'. Rudy Giuliani should spend every waking moment in deep thought about important things.
There's no "should" about it. Lots of people do or don't do their own personal grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. And of those that do, some are better at it than others. And some can name every product they use and its price and some can't.
It's a non-issue.
This whole case, very upsetting. By all accounts, Durham County DA Mike Nifong should probably be disbarred. He definitely deserves a big, heaping portion of the blame for this whole mess.
The woman who made the allegations told conflicting stories but (as yet, I believe) has not been charged with hindering prosecution, lying, etc. Regardless, there's some blame for her.
The Duke athletes, even though not guilty of rape, are no altar boys. Between them, there was a history of arrests for drunken and disruptive behavior, emailed racial slurs after the alleged event, and also just regularly hiring strippers for college events. There's some more blame. That being said, these boys deserved some stern talking-tos and possibly some campus-related suspensions, not the media circus that tarnished their futures.
Which leads me to the last group of people to blame--all of us. So many of us rushed to judgment, unaware of the facts, our passions inflamed by issues of race, class and power. I know I thought, "damn those privileged, white athletes." I'm not proud of it. We should all try to be more level-headed in the future.
I just hope this doesn't too badly damage the efforts of legitimate rape victims trying to seek justice.
Mea culpa.
You wrote: "I'm a little dismayed to see MizBinkley compare hiring a stripper to an arrest for drunken, abusive behavior."
Although I do consider regularly hiring strippers for college events to be bad behavior, I don't consider it to be bad behavior equal to drunken, abusive acts.
I think michael sullivan said it well in his post:
Personally, if one of those Duke adult students had been my son he'd already know the police and court system would be the least of his worries even if "all he had done" was legally get drunk and legally hire strippers.
Just wanted to clarify my thinking. I don't disagree with you.
Do feminists encourage false negatives in rape? Have feminists worked so hard to champion rape victims’ rights that they believe without question? I think these are fair questions.
No mainstream feminist is actively encouraging lying about rape, so that’s not the issue. It’s really whether we’re too quick to believe the accuser and condemn the accused.
Rape can be such a physically, psychologically and mentally damaging crime. It’s a crime where you can be stigmatized for being a victim. It can be difficult to prove. As such, it is under-reported. For all of these reasons, alleged victims should be given the benefit of the doubt. The potential emotional harm for doubting real victims is too great.
But when doubts do surface, law enforcement officers should push back, ask more questions. And remember the accused is innocent until proven guilty.
And what should feminists do? Like everyone, feminists should seek the truth, even if it takes you places you might not want to go.
Support the alleged victims, but leave the guilty verdicts to the courts.
HesterEastman, you make a good point. I think a lot of this hinges on how you define feminism. I don’t consider feminists to be a fringe group. I don’t limit it to “NOW” members. And I include among feminists people who say, “I’m not a feminist but I believe in equality between the sexes.” Thus, I consider Salon and the mainstream media feminist.
However, I should have noted that some people view feminists as man-haters dedicated to advancing female superiority. I find such people to be stupid, but that doesn’t negate their existence.
So really, the question “Do feminists encourage false negatives in rape?” was more of shorthand for the awkward, “Have those of us who believe in equality between the sexes and advancing women’s rights to the point of equality been over-compensating in certain instances?”
I do think, though, that what made this case so sensational were all of the “isms” tied up in it: racism, classicism and sexism. Let’s not scapegoat feminism, but let’s not leave it out of the conversation altogether.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
