Regular dKos followers know that while I'm mostly known these days as the ACA Signups guy, I've been "moonlighting" for the past couple of years as the curator of the Republican Rape Advisory Chart, now up to a whopping 8 volumes.
So how the hell did this one from just 3 months ago escape my attention???
Republican: If a Woman Has Right to an Abortion, a Man Should Have Right to Force Himself on a Woman
Republican Maine state Representative Lawrence Lockman is under fire for comments he’s made in the media regarding rape, abortion, and homosexuality.
An investigation by Mike Tipping, an activist with Maine People’s Alliance, found numerous offensive comments made by the Republican in various newspaper interviews.
Perhaps the most inflammatory was a press statement from 1995 in which Lockman says “If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.”
Actually, I already answered my own question: In March I was a bit preoccupied with the ACA enrollment insanity, so I was asleep at the wheel on the "Disgustingly offensive Republican rape quotes" front. Damned things shoot out of their mouths so often these days that I can't keep up anymore...
Update: it has been pointed out in the comments by a couple of people that the EXACT phrase "rape should be legal" isn't part of the original quote.
I debated whether to include quote marks around the phrase in the title or not, and decided that the original was close enough in both word structure as well as meaning to do so. However, I've reconsidered and have removed the actual quotes accordingly.
His exact quote speaks volumes anyway.
Update x2: According to Illegitimi non carborundum in the comments, this schmuck lives in a "very red district", but they do have a "decent Dem" running against him.
However, I'm having trouble finding his opponent. Supposedly he represents the 30th State House District, but according to the Primary Candidate list here (XLS spreadsheet), he's running for the 137th State House District.
Assuming this is correct, his opponent is a guy named Oscar Emerson.
According to the spreadsheet, the 30th district race is between a Republican named Holly Buonaiuto and a Democrat named Kimberly Monaghan-Derrig...except that Ballotpedia says that Monaghan-Derrig represents the 121st district. WTF???
Can a Maine resident clear this up? Was there a redistricting thing that happened in Maine recently? Who the heck is running against him?
Update x3: Thanks to Spud1 in the comments for pointing out that SenDem did indeed call attention to this story back in late February.
I do admit to being slightly annoyed that he/she chose to use a "rip-off" version of my original GOP Rape Advisory Chart (although it's not like I could--or would even want to--copyright it or anything).
It's just a touch ironic given that I created it back in October 2012...giving full credit to the earlier version created by Connecticutie.
Anyway, that eventually led to a whopping 8 "Volumes" of the Chart. Here's the original; you can find the other 7 at the official website:
Update x4: Meanwhile, in related news...
Technically speaking, I haven't confirmed that this jackass is a Republican, but I guarantee you that he isn't a Democrat:
… I studied Darwin, I studied Dawkins, Hitchens, E.O. Wilson, some of the purveyors of evolutionary thought. And they led me to a very, very dark place. ‘Cause you have to start asking questions: Well, if evolution is true, and it’s just all about the male propagating their DNA, we had to ask hard questions, like, is rape wrong?
UPDATE x5: Wow, this is the first 5xUpdater I've posted in awhile...
I've now had several people confirm that Oscar Emerson is indeed the correct Democratic opponent facing Lockman this fall. Due to some redistricting weirdness, it's actually the 137th state house district that's at stake here.
I've also confirmed that the district is a tough nut to crack (it went for Mitt Romney 53-45), and that he can't take outside money since he's running under Maine's "Clean Election Act" (basically public financing). However, you can help in other ways, obviously, including getting the word out, etc.
Here's his Facebook page, and here's a good overview of Emerson.
