Quote of the Day: Jim Bob Duggar Edition

"It was a very difficult situation. But as we talked to other parents and different ones since then, a lot of families have said that they have had similar things that happened in their families."

Jim Bob Duggar

According to the gospel of Jim Bob Duggar, molestation happens all the time in Christian families. What Josh Duggar was doing to his sister and other little girls in a Christian setting is perfectly normal. I call bullshit on this.

1969 Bill Cosby Date Rape Comedy Routine

Bill Cosby have come under public accusations of drugging and raping women. Andrea Constand accused Cosby of raping her when she was a teenager.

Over the years, I’ve struggled to get people to take my story seriously. So last month, when reporter Lycia Naff contacted me for an interview for the Daily Mail, I gave her a detailed account. I told her how Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times. In one case, I blacked out after having dinner and one glass of wine at his New York City brownstone, where he had offered to mentor me and discuss the entertainment industry. When I came to, I was in my panties and a man’s t-shirt, and Cosby was looming over me. I’m certain now that he drugged and raped me. But as a teenager, I tried to convince myself I had imagined it. I even tried to rationalize it: Bill Cosby was going to make me a star and this was part of the deal. The final incident was in Atlantic City, where we had traveled for an industry event. I was staying in a separate bedroom of Cosby’s hotel suite, but he pinned me down in his own bed while I screamed for help. I’ll never forget the clinking of his belt buckle as he struggled to pull his pants off. I furiously tried to wrestle from his grasp until he eventually gave up, angrily called me “a baby” and sent me home to Denver.

A total of 13 woman have come forward with claims of being sexually assaulted by Cosby. The common theme in their stories is being drugged by Cosby. Technically, this comedy routine doesn't prove or disapprove the allegations against Cosby.

In 1969, Cosby did a comedy bit on drugging women with the mythical Spanish fly. Technically, this comedy routine doesn't prove or disapprove the allegations against Cosby. It does make me wonder why Cosby thought date rape was amusing.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Bill Cosby

Via Feministing: Stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress did a bit on alligations of Bill Cosby being a serial rapist. 13 women have accused Cosby of rape. Andrea Constand has brought a civil lawsuit against Cosby. That lawsuit was settled out of court.

What Cosby never mentioned was the civil lawsuit he settled just two days earlier with Andrea Constand, 32, a former Temple University employee who claimed Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his Philadelphia-area mansion in 2004. Constand's lawyers Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz ended up with 13 witnesses, most referred to in court documents as "Jane Does," who came forward voluntarily with strikingly similar claims of drugging and or abuse by Cosby. Terms of the settlement, reached before any of the women could testify, were not disclosed. But PEOPLE reporters have interviewed five of the women and share three of their stories now.

Cosby defenders can say why didn't these women press charges? The other view is if Cosby is innocent why settle? If true this is highly unsettling. Barbara Bowman says she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby.

A month or two later, she was in Atlantic City and says she was given another glass of red wine and felt "completely doped up again." Confused, Bowman somehow made it back to her room, but the next day Cosby summoned her to his suite. After she arrived, Bowman says, Cosby "threw me on the bed and braced his arm under my neck so I couldn't move my head, and he started trying to take his clothes off. I remember all the clinking of his belt buckle. And he was trying to take my pants down, and I was trying to keep them on." Bowman says that not long after she resisted the assault, Cosby cut off contact with her and had her escorted to the airport for a flight back to Denver. She didn't tell authorities about what happened, but she did approach an attorney who "wouldn't take it seriously," says Margo Singagliese, 52, the friend who went with her to see the lawyer.

This is something to think about the next time you hear Cosby lecturing others on the standards and morality.

Rape is Not Okay

Via Feminist.Girl: these rather disturbing results of a survey of high school students on when rape is okay. The answer to every question shoul be NEVER.

Quote of the Day

"Violence isn't the victim's issue. It's the abuser's. To insinuate otherwise is irresponsible and disgusting. Walk. Away."

Michelle Beadle

Pussy Riot Attacked in a McDonalds

This is a brutal attack of members of Pussy Riot by organized Vladimir Putin supporters.

Quote of the Day: Woody Allen Edition

"I'm open-minded about sex. I'm not above reproach; if anything, I'm below reproach. I mean, if I was caught in a love nest with 15 12-year-old girls tomorrow, people would think, yeah, I always knew that about him."

Woody Allen, from an interview he did when he was 40 years-old.

Allen has been accused by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow of child molestation.

From Farrow's open letter in The New York Times.

For as long as I could remember, my father had been doing things to me that I didn’t like. I didn’t like how often he would take me away from my mom, siblings and friends to be alone with him. I didn’t like it when he would stick his thumb in my mouth. I didn’t like it when I had to get in bed with him under the sheets when he was in his underwear. I didn’t like it when he would place his head in my naked lap and breathe in and breathe out. I would hide under beds or lock myself in the bathroom to avoid these encounters, but he always found me. These things happened so often, so routinely, so skillfully hidden from a mother that would have protected me had she known, that I thought it was normal. I thought this was how fathers doted on their daughters. But what he did to me in the attic felt different. I couldn’t keep the secret anymore.

It is getting harder to believe that Woody Allen is innocent. Dylan Farrow is now a grown woman living under a new name. Why would she open herself up for potential attacks on her character unless her accusations are true. It is certainly obvious that Dylan Farrow's relationship with Allen is strained. That didn't happen by accident.

Photo of the Day: Feminist Edition

Anyone that blames a woman for her being raped and makes excuses for the rapist is an idiot.

Hat tip to the Tumblr Rabble Pro-choice.

Unserious Men At the Armed Services Hearings

This goes to how Republicans refusing to learn about the policy issues are hurting the country. Sen. Bill Nelson pressed generals on sexual assault convictions overturned by military leadership. On the Republican side, Sen. Jeff Sessions goes on a rant about how Playboy and Penthouse are too blame for sexual assaults in the military.

SESSIONS: Mr. Chairman, I’d just add a letter, a document here that was given to me from Morality in the Media. Pat Truman used to be in the Department of Justice. I knew him when he was there. He points out that, a picture here of a newsstand and an Air Force base exchange with, you know, sexually explicit magazines being sold. So, we live in a culture that’s awash in sexual activity. If it’s not sold on base, it’s right off base. There are videos and so forth that can be obtained, and it creates some problems, I think.

This is the same kind of ignorance that caused Sen. Saxby Chambliss to blame hormones for military sexual assaults.

“The young folks coming in to each of your services are anywhere from 17 to 22 or 23,” he pointed out. “Gee-whiz, the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur. So, we’ve got to be very careful on our side.”

Sessions and Chambliss just throw these comments out there without providing a conservative policy solution. Does Chambliss feel that large groups of young men and women should be barred from being around each other? Would Chambliss bar males and females from attending high school together? We all know those kids in high school are crazy mad with hormones?

Does Sessions want to propose a constitutional amendment to ban dirty magazines. The Supreme Court ruled in in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell that pornography is free speech. Sessions and Chambliss don't provide answers because they just say these things because they are poorly prepped for the Armed Services Committee hearings and it shows. This is what happens when voters elects people that are willfully ignorant about policy.

Bill Nelson Questions Air Force on Sexual Assault Case Reversed

During the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Bill Nelson asked military officials if they have ever decided to not prosecute an accused enlisted man or officer because of an outstanding service record. Nelson didn't completely buy it. Nelson asked Air Force Gen. Mark A. Welsh about a sexual assault conviction that was reserved by Lt. Gen. Susan Helms. Ignoring her own legal advisers, Helms overturned the conviction of a captain. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has let Gen. Welch know her displeasure of the Air Force's handling of sexual assault cases.

At a widely watched committee hearing last month, Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, narrowed her eyes with disdain as Michael B. Donley, the secretary of the Air Force, expressed regret about recent assault cases. She then excoriated him and Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the chief of staff of the Air Force, when they suggested that they were making progress on the problem.

“I do not think you should pat yourself on the back,” Ms. Gillibrand admonished them. Sexual assault, she said, is “undermining the credibility of the greatest military force in the world.” She has since introduced legislation that would give military prosecutors rather than commanders the power to decide which sexual assault cases to try. Her goal is to increase the number of people who report sex crimes without fear of retaliation.

Pay no attention to the happy talk by generals at the Armed Services Committee hearings. There is still much work that needs to be done to make women safe in the military.

The Misunderstanding Saxby Chambliss has on Sexual Assault

At the Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Saxby Chambliss can't tell the differences between consensual sex and sexual assault. Chambliss asks a sensible question about if there was a study to find out the pregnancies of first women serving on aircraft carriers were the result of consensual sex or sexual assault. Chambliss then inserts his foot in his mouth.

“The young folks coming in to each of your services are anywhere from 17 to 22 or 23,” he pointed out. “Gee-whiz, the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur. So, we’ve got to be very careful on our side.”

Chambliss understands that not enough is done by the military or Congress to stop sexual assault. Chambliss is smarter than most of his Republican colleagues. Unfortunately, Chambliss partly attributes sexual assault to kids and their crazy hormones. Rape is about one taking power over another person. That has nothing to do with kids wanting to hook up.

Anti-Stalking Laws in VAWA

Pushing Rope pal Ginger Lee wrote about how Republicans delaying passage of the Violence Against Women Act were endangering from that are being stalked.

Without VAWA, most states won’t recognize a protective order from another state. As it currently stands, attempting to cross state lines safely, and doing so in a way that will allow a protective order to be used if something occurs outside of the jurisdiction of the original order, is a complicated process. The laws vary so greatly from state to state that what may “protect” a person in TN won’t protect a person in SD unless an ‘out of state’ registration is applied for. When applying for an out of state recognition, there are states that will contact the person the protective order is against. For victims trying to “disappear” or get to a safe place outside of the state the order was written, complying with the laws correctly can put them in danger.

Go and read her post.

Charlie Crist's Morgan and Morgan Problem

If Charlie Crist wants to run for governor it would be best that he unattached himself from Morgan and Morgan. The law firm has been accused by State Farm of overbilling.

A former paralegal at Morgan and Morgan turned into a whistleblower last fall and gave State Farm information to investigate the billing practices of Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, the president of the Brevard County Medical Society, with regards to his dealings with the law firm, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

State Farm is accusing Morgan and Morgan of filing bogus medical claims in auto accidents.

Central to the allegations: Orlando-based Morgan & Morgan, which considers itself the nation's largest personal-injury law firm; Dan Newlin, a 10-year Morgan & Morgan lawyer who left the firm late last year to open his own office; Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, president of the Brevard County Medical Society and a volunteer assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Central Florida School of Medicine; and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the nation's largest auto insurer.

In 2011, a former female Morgan and Morgan employee sued for sexual harrasment. The employee accused the law firm of sexual battery.

Morgan and Morgan have a C+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB has closed three complaints with Morgan and Morgan in the last 12 months.

There is also the infamous penis incident.

A U.S. District Judge in Miami has tossed two attorneys from the famed “Morgan & Morgan – For the People” law firm from a case after the opposing counsel complained that, one of the lawyers drew pictures of male genitalia and unashamedly played Angry Birds during depositions, the blogs miaminewtimes.com reports.

Richard Celler and Stacey Schulman, representing a class action complaint against Ventura Limousine & Transportation Services, Inc., were the two lawyers booted from the case. The Limo company allegedly violated the Fair Labors Standard act, and an ex-employee had enlisted the services of the mega law firm, Morgan & Morgan.

Morgan and Morgan is a serious liability for Crist.

Rick Santorum defends Joe Paterno

Unsurprisingly, Rick Santorum defends former Penn State coach Joe Paterno. For a politician claiming to be for conservative family values. It shows great hypocrisy to claim Paterno did not cover-up Jerry Sandusky molesting young boys.

SANTORUM: I actually read the Freeh Report. I don’t know if you did or not, but I did. And, my concern with the Freeh report, a lot of the conclusions in the Freeh report aren’t matched by the evidence that they presented and so I’ve been talking to a lot of folks at Penn State and they say, ‘you’re just gonna have to wait for the criminal trial of these two guys at Penn State.’ I think there is going to be a whole new line set on what really went on there. So I’m sort of sitting back and waiting for the facts to come out as opposed to at least I’m being told is a version of the facts. … Let’s get the truth. So I think we’re going to see some things come up a little different in the next six months. I just want to make sure we get it right.

When Santorum says he read a report, that translates into Santorum not reading a report. Santorum claimed he read a jobs numbers report by President Obama's economic advisors. Santorum claimed the report shows that the stimulus failed because it only created 240 million jobs. If Santorum was smart he would realize he is giving President Obama false credit for the greatest job creation in modern history. Of course, Santorum doesn't know this because he never read the economic advisors' report or bothered to learn basic economics. If Santorum bothered to read the Freeh report he would know several emails show Paterno being involved in covering up Sandusky's crimes against young boys under his supervision. Law professor Wes Oliver told ESPN that Paterno would have likely faced criminal charges, if Paterno was still alive.

"If you look at what happened here, it's very clear that they were aware that they had a pedophile on their campus," Oliver said.

Santorum defended the Catholic church, after it was discovered church leaders covered-up priests sexually abusing boys. Santorum blamed people advocating for gay rights for the conduct of the Catholic church. Santorum is a member of the Catholic church and a Penn State alumni. Santorum places more importances on institutions he admires than for the welfare of children. That is an odd position for a man who claims to be pro-life.

Quote of the Day: Rick Santorum

"I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created - in the sense of rape - but nevertheless a gift in a broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given you. As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life. We have horrible things happen. I can't think of anything more horrible. But, nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation."

Rick Santorum

Santorum actually believes women are receiving a gift by being raped and impregnated by their attacker. In Santorum's world being raped is something women should put on their Amazon.com wishlist. Santorum then tells condescendingly tells women to tough it out and carry the fetus to birth. This man is insufferable.

Reactions from the feminist blogosphere.

Jill Filipovic

The thing is, we don't just "accept what God has given us" in a whole lot of circumstances. Like when God gives us cancer. Or when God gives us problems with a wanted pregnancy. We try to counteract the things that are physically or psychologically harmful to us, or things that we don't want to happen. And plenty of women do choose to give birth when they're impregnated by rape - that's a totally valid choice. But it's not one that should be forced on any woman, rape or no rape.

Robin Marty

Most candidates, when questioned on whether they could honestly force their family members to carry a pregnancy to term after rape, will at the very least hem and haw a little over the issue.

But not former Pennsylvanna Senator Rick Santorum. He says the baby is still a gift, and he would council his daughters to believe the same.

If you think Santorum has an empathy problem then you aren't the only one. Amanda Marcotte notes that Santorum has spent his career trying to deny the medical rights that saved his wife's life.

Most of us, when we suffer from a traumatic situation, find that it increases our empathy with others in similar circumstances, and many of us are driven to become activists fighting to make life easier for people in similiar situations. But for Rick Santorum, trauma drove him in the other direction: It decreased his empathy for others in similiar situations, and caused him to want to increase their pain and suffering. That's the lesson to be drawn from a profile of Santorum in the New York Times, which explains that after his wife Karen, got sick at 20 weeks of pregnancy and was spared the the spontaneous abortion/early delivery (the distinction is more cultural than biological), Santorum got busy making sure other couples in the same situation could never have the options and speedy medical care that helped saved Karen's life.

Santorum has no problem allowing women to die to please his religious worldview. No wonder Santorum views rape as a minor nuisance to women.

Jamie Leigh Jones Testifies

Jamie Leigh Jones finally gets her chance to tell her story in court.

"One of the firefighter, he handed me a drink. He said, 'Don't worry I saved all my ruffies for Dubai," Jones testified. She says she was drugged with what she believes was a sedative Rohypnol, widely known as a date-rape drug" and also known by the nickname "ruffies."

Jones said she woke up the next morning in her room and discovered she was naked, sore and had bruises and scratches on her thighs and wrists.

She said she had no memory of what happened to her. She said she found (Charles) Bortz in the room with her and he told her that they had sex the night before.

"I was putting the pieces together. I was figuring it out. I knew I had been raped," Jones said as she cried. At one point during her testimony, Jones took a short break to regain her compposure.

The firefighters worked for KBR, which was a subsidiary to Halliburtion. The sexual assault against Jones occurred in 2005. Halliburton and KBR severed ties on April 5, 2007. Jones' civil suit is against Halliburton, KBR and Bortz.

Jones was examined by an Army doctor. Shockingly, the Army gave the rape kit back to KBR. Jones' legal team has never seen the rape kit.

Jones testified to being locked in a trailer by KBR after her doctor's examination.

I'm scared to death. I want my dad. He's my protector," Jones said. "As I'm banging on the door, I say I need to get out of here. I need a phone. I need to contact my dad."

Jones got a phone from KBR employee Jamie Armstrong. The latter saw the Army give the rape kit to KBR. Jones called her father. Jones' father contacted Congressman Ted Poe. Jones was released and treated in the United States for her injuries.

Jones testimony, of her injuries, to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.

Dr. Schultz confirmed that I had been penetrated both vaginally and anally, and that I was "quite torn up down there." She indicated that based upon the physical damage to my genitalia, that it was apparent that I had been raped. She stated that she didn't know if I wanted to hear it or not, but I had "also been sexually assaulted anally." Dr. Schultz took photographs, and completed a form that indicated the bruising on my inner thighs and stomach, and on my wrists. She also took swabs, vaginal combings, and then put the entire kit together in a small, white box. I watched her give this box to the KBR security personnel as I was again turned over to these men.

The security guards then locked Jones in a trailer. Jones wasn't allowed to leave. Apparently, KBR considers being a rape victim a crime.

Jamie Leigh Jones Case Going to Court

Great news: Jamie Leigh Jones is finally getting her day in court.

HOUSTON – Jury selection began Monday afternoon in the case of a Houston woman who says she was raped by co-workers in Iraq when she worked for KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton.

The suit was filed by Jamie Leigh Jones against Halliburton and its ex-subsidiary, KBR Inc. Jones says she was raped while working for KBR at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. KBR and Halliburton, both based in Houston, split in 2007.

Jones has fought for the past six years to get her day in court. She finally had that chance Monday, arriving at the courthouse early with her attorneys at her side.

Jones can only file a civil suit. The Bush administration and Congress placed contractors under State Department supervision. Military contractors are not under the Defense Department. Therefore the the military article code does not apply. That is why Blackwater has been able to break the law in Iraq. Attorney Scott Horton explained the legal failure of the policy.

(1) The Justice Department is effectively not present on the scene, does not have personnel deployed charged with conducting investigations, collecting evidence and making preliminary decisions as to whether incidents are suitable for prosecution. This would require a team of FBI agents with appropriate training, including access to forensic labs and personnel.

(2) The case when first alleged seems to have been treated as an issue related to administration of a contract, rather than a criminal justice matter, triggering only a State Department investigation. But the State Department does not have authority to conduct criminal inquiries or to bring charges.

(3) The Department of Defense was called upon to provide medical expertise, which was a reasonable step. But no guidelines appear to have been available as to how this was done. The alleged surrender of the rape kit by military medical personnel to Kellogg Brown & Root was grossly improper, producing a serious lapse in the chain of custody—and in this case, loss of evidence which cannot be reproduced. It reflects an attitude which I hear constantly when interviewing State Department and Defense Department personnel—namely, that the problem is the contractor’s. Of course, the contractor has an interest in performing its contract and maintaining a good relationship with the contracting agency. The contractor does not have any interest per se in law enforcement. It might well decide to terminate employees it believes are involved in a crime, but beyond that the contractor will, very appropriately, believe that the responsibility for law enforcement lies with law enforcement agencies.

Sadly, the Obama administration has done nothing to change the military contracting rules.

SlutWalk

The title may throw some people off. What feminist organizers of Slutwalk are trying to do is stop having women being accused "of asking for it" when they are sexually assaulted. The goal of the event is the raise awareness of the dangers of sexual assault.

SlutWalk is coming to NYC!

SlutWalk first began in Toronto, where on January 24th 2011, a representative of the Toronto Police gave shocking insight into the Force's view of sexual assault by stating: women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized".

As the city's major protective service, the Toronto Police have perpetuated the myth and stereotype of 'the slut', and in doing so have failed us. With sexual assault already a significantly under-reported crime, survivors have now been given less of a reason to go to the Police, for fear that they could be blamed. Being assaulted isn't about what you wear; it's not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behaviour creates an environment in which it's okay to blame the victim.

Last year seven women reported being sexually assaulted at the University of South Florida. Only two of two reported cases resulted in arrests.

In August, a freshman said she was raped after a party by two men who took the sleepy woman back to her room. Afterward, she ran for help, and police searched her room for evidence. She gave them the names of the men she said attacked her, and police collected their DNA.

But prosecutors said proving a lack of consent beyond a reasonable doubt would be difficult.

It doesn't matter if the young women ran from the men. She may have "asked" for sex.

Prosecutors didn't want to handle the USF cases because the women knew the men. The fact is women are more likely to be raped by someone they know. The legality is difficult and there is the possibility that a mentally unstable woman could accuse an innocent man. However, the lack of prosecutions are going to make sexually assaulted USF students less likely to go to law enforcement. What woman would want to be accused of asking to be sexually assaulted and watching the perpetrator go free.

SlutWalk will be held on August 20th between 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. A location has in New York City has yet to be named. Contact slutwalknyc@gmail.com for more information.

Lara Logan Talks About Cairo Assault

Lara Logan talked to 60 Minutes about the sexual assault she suffered in Cairo. Logan was beaten by flag poles, dragged and assaulted for 25 minutes.

Conservative Reaction to Lara Logan Story

Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit wrote this sick piece of garbage about Lara Logan's sexual assault.

Lara Logan is lucky she’s alive.
Her liberal belief system almost got her killed on Friday. This talented reporter will never be the same.

Why did this attractive blonde female reporter wander into Tahrir Square last Friday? Why would she think this was a good idea? Did she not see the violence in the square the last three weeks? Did she not see the rock throwing? Did she miss the camels? Did her colleagues tell her about the Western journalists who were viciously assaulted on the Square? Did she forget about the taunts from the Egyptian thugs the day before? What was she thinking? Was it her political correctness that about got her killed? Did she think things would be different for her?

Lara Logan was asking for it because she is a liberal. What utter nonsense.

Jill Filipovic wrote about the Logan story at Feministe. A commenter shared her experience being repeatedly raped by her boyfriend. It is a heartbreaking read. I wasn't going to post it. After reading the internet attacks against Logan, I thought people should understand that rape can happen anywhere to anyone. Rape has nothing to do with political idealogy and everything to do with the violation of a human being.