America: Determined To Repeat History

The Supreme Court's decision to skewer the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one more reminder, as if we needed it, that America is determined to repeat history. The white, male, christian, property-owning people of America (yes, the founding fathers come to mind) continue to prevail while those of us who do not fall into those categories are becoming more marginalized with each passing year.

 Editorial cartoon criticizing the usage of literacy tests for African Americans as a qualification to vote. Cartoon shows man "Mr. Solid South" writing on wall, "Eddikashun qualifukashun. The Black man orter be eddikated afore he kin vote with us Wites, signed Mr. Solid South." An African American looks on. Illustration in: Harper's Weekly, v. 23 (1879 Jan. 18), p. 52

 

Jodie Laubenberg: Rape Kits Let Women Get "Cleaned Out" After Rape

This is a picture of Republican representative Jodie Laubenberg. She lives in a cottony-soft, rainbow-lined, candy-filled bubble somewhere in Texas.  

She equates the elegant inner workings of the female body with the mechanical guts of car engines and oil-burning furnaces that can be “cleaned out” whenever they get dirty.

While fighting for a legislative bill that restricts abortion in Texas, this woman stated that forensic rape kits – those used by medical professionals to collect evidence from the abused bodies of sexual assault victims – are really just abortion kits that help women get “cleaned out" after rape.

This "cleaning out" process, according to Laubenberg, rids women of pesky post-rape pregnancies and alleviates the need to add a provision for rape victims to the current anti-choice bill she is supporting in the Texas legislature.

Her original statements, her lame attempt to defend her words, and the “Pants On Fire!”  rating she received from PolitiFact Texas can be seen here.

Were her words not so offensive, I may have actually found her ridiculousness comical. 

Photo Credit: Texas House of Representatives website.

WTF

Edward Snowden. It seems like more people are talking about what he did instead of what he shared.

Double Fault For Serena Williams

The disturbing comments Serena Williams made about the Steubenville rape victim in her Rolling Stone interview were bad enough …

We watch the news for a while, and the infamous Steubenville rape case flashes on the TV – two high school football players raped a drunk 16-year-old, while other students watched and texted details of the crime. Serena just shakes her head. "Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don't know. I'm not blaming the girl, but if you're a 16-year-old and you're drunk like that, your parents should teach you: Don't take drinks from other people. She's 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn't remember? It could have been much worse. She's lucky. Obviously, I don't know, maybe she wasn't a virgin, but she shouldn't have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that's different."

Now she only worsened the matter by releasing this non-apology :

“What happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me. I was deeply saddened. For someone to be raped, and at only sixteen, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved – that of the rape victim and of the accused. I am currently reaching out to the girl’s family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written – what I supposedly said – is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame.

I have fought all of my career for women’s equality, women’s equal rights, respect in their fields – anything I could do to support women I have done. My prayers and support always goes out to the rape victim. In this case, most especially, to an innocent sixteen year old child.”

Perhaps she should stick to playing tennis.

TSA Tries To Shame Teenage Girl

This photo depicts a 15-year-old high school student who had the misfortune of being the target of reported inappropriate comments from a male TSA worker at Los Angeles International Airport. 

Photo credit: Mark Frauenfelder (a.k.a. dad),
boing boing

The agent, who remains nameless and faceless in the media reports that I have read, reportedly showed hostility toward the girl and made angry comments about the outfit she was wearing--the outfit shown in the photo on the left.

According to the girl's father, the TSA agent was "glaring" at her, then  stated, “You’re only 15. Cover Yourself!” 

In no particular order, here are some of the reasons why I find this incident so disturbing: 

1. The adult, male TSA worker seems to be taking an unhealthy interest in the body and attire of an underage girl.

2. This is another blatant reminder that airline passengers are forced to interact with TSA agents (even creepy ones) if they want to fly.

3. The TSA worker’s job allows him to demand personal information from citizens (which is how he knew the girl’s age) then use that information for his own purposes (such as making his “You’re only 15” statement). 

4. This TSA worker dredges up concerns about possible underlying perversions of TSA agents (many of whom I’ll assume are not perverts) who carry out invasive body scans and intimate hands-on searches of airline passengers.

5. This TSA worker cannot keep himself from having sexualized thoughts about an underage female passenger who did nothing to provoke this unwanted attention. (You know that old ‘she was asking for it’ argument that always rears its ugly head?) 

6. This TSA worker seems to be paying more attention to an underage girl’s body and clothing than to the general safety of the airport.

7. Despite having two witnesses who heard the worker’s derogatory comments to the girl, the TSA did not immediately relieve him of his duties.

 

8. The girl’s clothing is totally appropriate for a teenager which makes me question the possibly devious mindset of this TSA worker.

9. Anyone who so angrily voices their righteous opinions about what other people should/shouldn’t wear, how they should/shouldn’t behave, and how they should/shouldn’t look clearly aims to control, abuse, humiliate, and shame the person they are judging. In this case, shame falls squarely on the shoulders of the male TSA worker, not on this teenage girl who was so embarrassed and frightened by the incident that she reported it to her father. 

Fourth Amendment Nightmare

I just woke up in a cold sweat. I had a nightmare that the government was reading, listening in on, stockpiling my personal data, private conversations, intimate thoughts, all my emails, IM's, phone calls, library records, Facebook posts, tweets, online chats, Amazon orders, Google searches, AOL, Skype, You Tu...... Oop, wait a minute. Someone's knocking at my door.

I gotta go.

I'm Sure This Will Piss Somebody Off ...

"Why do people say "grow some balls?" Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding."

Sheng Wang