This is simply ... amazing ~ this is getting a LOT of media attention today ~ actually more than the negative vote did at the time ~ I find it exceptionally difficult to believe that anyone can be this ignorant ~ well, obviously except for some [was it 30?] R politicians ~ and I have news for Mr Thune ~ no one has to "create a vote which they could use to attack Republicans" when the Rs are casting this kind of vote ~ Sooz


By Amanda Terkel at 5:26 pm

Republicans Are Shocked The Public Is Mad At Them For Voting Against Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment

Last month, 30 Republican senators voted against Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) amendment that would punish defense contractors "if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." His amendment was inspired by Jamie Leigh Jones, who was gang-raped by her co-workers while working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad in 2005, and then had to fight her employer for justice.

The GOP senators who sided with defense contractors at the expense of women - such as John Thune (SD) - have been facing an intense backlash. David Vitter (LA) refused to give a rape victim a straight answer when she confronted him about his vote, claiming that he is "absolutely supportive of any [rape] case like that being prosecuted criminally to the full extent of the law."

Politico reports that Republicans are now scratching their heads at why the public is so incensed about their "no" votes:

As BarbinMD writes, "Seriously? They voted against an amendment that was prompted by the brutal gang-rape of a young woman by her co-workers while she was working for a company under contract for the United States government, after which she was locked in a shipping container without food or water, threatened if she left to seek medical treatment, and was then prevented from bringing criminal charges against her assailants. And they failed to anticipate the political consequences?"

Thune is also claiming that Franken doesn't really care about Jones and other rape victims whose employers have blocked them from seeking justice; he and other Democrats just wanted to "create a vote which they could use to attack Republicans."

So basically, the only lesson they learned is that next time, they have to hide their votes when they decide to screw over women's rights. That way, they can support their allies in the contracting business and the public will never find out.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/13/rep ... n-shocked/

i am shocked that they are shocked.

really? i'm not.

The Republican Party, given it's current trend of purging moderates, is evolving into a party that promotes hate, anger and lies. I look forward to the next election if this trend continues. Obama will win by an even bigger majority than the last election.