*Be Careful What You Wish For
(note: It took me awhile to understand the "trigger" reference that appeared in the occasional diary; since the flurry of Akin-related posts over the past few days, I think I finally understand...and this diary would definitely qualify, I suspect...)
Two days ago I posted the following diary:
I'm sure you all remember the sickening, revolting case of Jamie Leigh Jones, the KBR contractor who was kidnapped, drugged, gang-raped, beaten and imprisoned by her co-workers overseas.
She was then effectively gang-raped again by KBR, which invoked a clause in her contract which prevented her from suing the company for the extremely hostile work environment, enabling her attackers before, during and after her assault and imprisonment.
She was finally rescued thanks to one of her "guards" having the briefest moments of human decency and her congressman having (for a Republican) the briefest moment of clarity. She then went on to have the all-too-fleeting moment of victory when Sen. Al Franken spearheaded an amendment in the U.S. Senate which prevented the Federal Government from contracting with any corporation which included clauses in their employee contracts that prevented employees from suing for being gang-raped.
And yes, I can't believe that the preceding sentence even had to be typed.
Here's the exchange between Franken and a toady arbitration lawyer from almost 3 years ago; trust me, this is the most riveting clip you'll see today:
Just to refresh your memory about the full extent of Jamie Leigh Jones' nightmare, here's a description from the Guardian:
In legal papers Jones, who was 20 at the time, says she was fed a knockout drug while drinking with KBR firefighters.
"When she awoke the next morning still affected by the drug, she found her body naked and severely bruised, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, blood running down her leg, her breast implants ruptured and her pectoral muscles torn‚ which would later require reconstructive surgery. Upon walking to the rest room, she passed out again," the papers say.
Jones was treated by a US army doctor who gave forensic evidence to company officials. She says the firm placed her under guard in a shipping container and she was released only after her father asked the US embassy to intervene. When the forensic evidence was handed to investigators two years later, crucial photographs and notes were missing.
Jones says she identified one of the men who attacked her after he confessed, but that Halliburton/KBR prevented her from taking legal action against him or the company by pointing to a clause in her contract requiring disputes to go to arbitration.
...
KBR has sought to discredit Jones's account by saying she was seen drinking and flirting with a firefighter before leaving the gathering with him, and that the man claims to have had consensual sex with her. The firm denies that Jones was held prisoner, but not that her injuries indicated serious sexual assault.
Well, we all remember how the vote on Franken's amendment went. It passed (thank God), but THIRTY MALE REPUBLICAN SENATORS VOTED AGAINST IT.
In the aftermath, a dark-humor (?) parody website, Republicans for Rape, went live and caused some fuss & bother (big shock). They primarily wanted to call attention to the names and faces of the 30 (male) Republican Senators who, after hearing Ms. Jones' story, decided that it was more important to protect multinational corporations than to protect their employees from being gang raped, beaten, kidnapped and imprisoned.
Shortly after the vote, of course, the outrage quieted down, and the website seems to have gone dormant, with the most recent update being October 26, 2009.
Between the disgustingly intrusive anti-abortion laws being passed by numerous states of late, including the "state-mandated rape by vaginal probe" law passed by Virginia; the selection of Paul Ryan as Romney's running mate; the latest verbal atrocities by Todd Akin and Steve King; and, of course, the unveiling of the Romney-approved 2012 Republican National Convention Platform, which includes a call for a Constitutional Amendment outlawing abortion under ANY circumstances, with NO EXCEPTIONS for victims of rape, incest, or for the health of the mother... I think it's safe to say that the Republicans for Rape website is no longer even close to a parody.
It's now their official slogan.
The webmasters should either dust the site off and bring it up to speed, or turn it over to someone who's willing to do so. I've already contacted the site suggesting as much.
Well, after I (and others, apparently) sent an email to the website owners pointing out the slew of recent misogynistic bills passed by state legislatures as well as the verbal atrocities committed by Mr. Akin and Mr. King, after a 3-year hiatus, they've responded...and the new update is pulling no punches:
Thank You, Congressman Akin
It's been nearly three years since our last post. The Republican party hasn't been showing us much love. Sure, they've been threatening to do away with the Violence Against Women Act. And of course, they've been hard at work requiring rapes for abortion seekers. What have they have been doing for us, the die-hard rape enthusiasts?
Todd Akin knows what I'm talking about. He's a rape connoisseur, just like us. Barack Obama has a palate so unrefined that he thinks "rape is rape." Todd knows better than that.
Here's the only problem with a dark parody website like this, though:
Too many dipshits don't understand that it's SATIRE.
I know I'm the one who was encouraging the R4R site to come back online, but thinking it through, I realize that there's a huge number of conservatives who actually think that Stephen Colbert really is one of them. They're too stupid/ignorant to grasp the concept that he's mocking them.
Anyway, the R4R site is back in business. Let's hope that those who think that it's actually advocating for rapists are few and far between. Unfortunately, I believe that group is otherwise known as "most of the modern Republican party."
Fortunately, the site does break character on the "donate" page:
I need to break character for a moment.
In an ideal society there would be no need to create pro-rape satire. We do not live in an ideal society. Thirty out of one hundred United States Senators voted to favor business interests over the rights and dignity of rape victims.
We encourage you to donate your time and money to organizations that serve to prevent rapes from ever happening and to aid the victims of rape. While we cannot direct you to any specific organization, we encourage you to seek out and donate to a local rape crisis shelter.