Violence Against Women... It's A Republican Family Value

GOP spokesmodels Rand & Marco favor violence against women

This afternoon the Senate overwhelmingly voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, 78-22. Every Democrat plus 23 Republicans voted for it. All four of the Republican women in the Senate, Kelly Ayotte (NH), Susan Collins (ME), Deb Fischer (NE) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) were among the 23 who voted YES. And then there were the other 22-- all male, right-wing extremists, the Hatred and Bigotry wing of the Republican Party. What a disgrace, that on the same day Republicans were showcasing potential 2016 presidential nominees Marco Rubio and Rand Paul by having them respond to President Obama's State of the Union address, both of them were in the small minority of anti-women fanatics and misogynists. Here's the full list:

• John Barrasso (R-WY)
• Roy Blunt (R-MO)
• John Boozman (R-AR)
• Tom Coburn (R-OK)
• John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Ted Cruz (R-TX)
• Mike Enzi (R-WY)
• Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
• Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
• Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
• James Inhofe (R-OK)
• Mike Johanns (R-NE)
• Ron Johnson (R-WI)
• Mike Lee (R-UT)
• Miss McConnell (R-KY)
• Rand Paul (R-KY)
• Jim Risch (R-ID)
• Pat Roberts (R-KS)
• Marco Rubio (R-FL)
• Tim Scott (R-SC)
• Jeff Sessions (KKK-AL)
• John Thune (R-SD)

President Obama was grateful for the strong support the bill got on both sides of the aisle. "Today the Senate passed a strong bipartisan bill to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act," he said minutes after passage. "This important step shows what we can do when we come together across party lines to take up a just cause. The bill passed by the Senate will help reduce homicides that occur from domestic violence, improve the criminal justice response to rape and sexual assault, address the high rates of dating violence experienced by young women, and provide justice to the most vulnerable among us. I want to thank Senator Leahy and his colleagues from both sides of the aisle for the leadership they have shown on behalf of victims of abuse. It's now time for the House to follow suit and send this bill to my desk so that I can sign it into law."

Ah... the House. Yes, the crazy, extremist House. Boehner and Cantor have indicated they will refuse to allow it to come up for a vote. Last month Gwen Moore (D-WI) and John Conyers (D-MI) introduced an identical bill to the one that passed today, H.R. 11, which has 194 co-sponsors... all Democrats. Boehner has it bottled up in the Judiciary Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Education and the Workforce Committee, the Financial Services Committee, and, oddly, the Natural Resources Committee, where his reactionary cronies who head those committees, respectively Robert Goodlatte (R-VA), Fred Upton (R-MI), John Kline (R-MN), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Doc Hastings (R-WA) are dutifully keeping it from serious consideration. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) is one of the Senators who supported the legislation who had a message for Boehner and his cronies today: "Domestic violence and abuse are inexcusable. And so was the House of Representatives' failure to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act last year... There are 24 new victims of domestic violence every minute. An average of three women will be killed today by their partners. It's long past time to bring the Violence Against Women Act back, and to take a stand against domestic violence."

Domestic violence against women has always been a right-wing value. It's part of their Bronze Age patriarchal ideal. It's sick and has no place in the 21st Century-- just like the Republican Party. Many of the senators who voted for domestic violence today are in backward, brainwashed states like Utah and Idaho or in states where backward brainwashed people still command majorities at the polls, like in Oklahoma and Texas. There is no one to hold those senators accountable for their vote; they'll probably be feted for it! I have a feeling, though, that this vote can come back to bite Miss McConnell and Lindsey Graham in their butts in 2014. And Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson and Roy Blunt are clearly out of step with voters in Florida, Wisconsin and Missouri.