The Young Democrats of Louisiana have sent out a new e-mail against Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) -- the staunch social conservative who was implicated in a prostitution scandal -- declaring that we can only guess at his motivations for opposing legislation to crack down on rape.
The letter blasts Vitter for voting against the amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), which will guarantee employees of military contractors access to the court system if they are sexually assaulted:
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed an Amendment to make sure taxpayer-funded government contractors cannot deny rape victims a day in court. For reasons only he knows, David Vitter voted against ensuring women have the right to seek justice.
Since David Vitter has not publicly stated why he is opposed to making sure women who are raped or sexually assaulted can pursue their attackers, we can only guess his motivations.
However, it is clear that Vitter regularly votes against the best interests of women.
The full e-mail is available after the jump.
David Vitter's Women Problems
Dear ______,
Let me ask you a question.
Do you think a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted should be able to have her day in court?
I imagine this should be a simple question to answer as the U.S. Constitution says every American has the right to due process. In America, victims of crime should be able to go after criminals and those who help them.
Unfortunately, Jamie Leigh Jones found out the hard way that women who are raped can't count on their day in court. In 2005, Jones was working for KBR/Halliburton in Iraq when she says she was gang raped by co-workers. When she reported the horrible assault to her supervisors, she was told she could not seek medical treatment and was locked in a metal container while the company she worked for planned their next moves.
The worst part is that her company, a taxpayer-funded government contractor, had inserted language into Jones' employment contract that said she could not take allegations of rape and sexual assault to court. Instead, her employer told her that she had to settle the matter in private, through arbitration. To me, that's the equivalent of giving their employees the green light to commit rape and other acts of sexual violence.
As a woman, I'm horrified and disgusted. As an American, I'm disappointed that our tax dollars go to this government contractor that was able to get away with blatant disregard of their employee's well-being.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed an Amendment to make sure taxpayer-funded government contractors cannot deny rape victims a day in court. For reasons only he knows, David Vitter voted against ensuring women have the right to seek justice.
Since David Vitter has not publicly stated why he is opposed to making sure women who are raped or sexually assaulted can pursue their attackers, we can only guess his motivations.
However, it is clear that Vitter regularly votes against the best interests of women.
David Vitter has voted to deny pregnant women the very crucial health care they need, endangering the lives of women and children.
David Vitter has voted to allow insurance companies to reduce life-saving breast cancer coverage, putting the profits of insurance companies ahead of people's lives.
David Vitter even voted against a law that says women should get equal pay for equal work, harming American families in the process.
All this really leaves me wondering. What exactly is David Vitter's problem with women?
Katrina L. Rogers
Women's Caucus Chair
Young Democrats of Louisiana.
P.S. David Vitter thinks it is OK to send taxpayer money to companies that deny rape victims their day in court. Maybe it's time to stop sending taxpayer money to David Vitter. Sign the petition to Defund David Vitter right now!
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ericf
October 8, 2009 4:21 PM
If Franken intended a trap for Republicans, 30 of the male Republicans walked into it. I think however he was genuinely incensed. Watch him with the witnesses taking apart who I guess is a lawyer for either KBR or the arbitration company.
http://www.mnprogressiveproject.com/diary/4177/franken-proving-his-quality-again
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slb
October 8, 2009 6:26 PM in reply to ericf
Wow, Franken would have made one tough lawyer in the courtroom.
I seriously doubt he did this as a trap for Republicans. His demeanor at that hearing suggests that he was genuinely incensed. He offered the amendment because it was the right thing to do.
Requiring people to submit to binding arbitration for civil complaints is bad enough, but requiring them to go to binding arbitration to settle criminal complaints strikes me as criminal in and of itself!
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fitley
October 9, 2009 1:00 AM in reply to ericf
I suspect he might have voted the other way but he got nervous when it came to a vote and he shit himself. Ladies back me up on this.
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kenga
October 9, 2009 1:38 PM in reply to fitley
That would explain the diapers ...
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Texas Aggie
October 10, 2009 12:39 AM in reply to ericf
Al Franken!!! Good on the man!!! When he got through taking that little slime ball apart, I was cheering. When Ms. Jones said that she was "livid," I waited for her to continue by saying "I wanted to rip his face off."
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Cath
October 8, 2009 6:12 PM
Great email message. Defund David Vitter!
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MyMy
October 8, 2009 6:15 PM
The past couple of months it's been race-baiting, now it's showing genuine aggression toward women: the RNCC comments on putting Pelosi in her place, the National Review calling for the end to women's suffrage, Beck making fun of Madelieine Albright's neck: now this. They really seem to think they've got 'most' people on their side, do they? Well, they'd better think again!
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slb
October 8, 2009 6:29 PM in reply to MyMy
What? The National Review is calling for a repeal of the 19th Amendment? What on earth inspired them to do that?
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Cool Blue Reason
October 8, 2009 9:14 PM in reply to slb
Well, from their twisted perspective, everything has gone downhill since the weaker sex got the franchise. From FDR's socialist revolution to civil rights to the "feminization" of the dominant culture, they'd rather put that genie back in the bottle.
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slb
October 9, 2009 2:57 AM in reply to Cool Blue Reason
Good lord. I'd say "What Neanderthals," but that's being unfair to Neanderthals.
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JNagarya
October 8, 2009 6:18 PM
So let me guess:
The law would provide women rape victims a remedy.
But not male rape victims.
Because women are oppressed.
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slb
October 8, 2009 6:40 PM in reply to JNagarya
Where did you get that idea? No, don't answer that; I suspect I know where your head has been, and I'd just as soon not have to contemplate that further. Here's the description of Franken's amdendment from MinnPost.com:
So not only would men be covered in cases of rape, they would be covered if co-workers beat them up or if their supervisors engaged in some form of illegal discrimination.
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Trailerville
October 8, 2009 10:49 PM in reply to slb
Thanks for the link. I was wondering what the opposition was saying.
FTA: Jeff Sessions "maintained that Franken's amendment overreached into the private sector and suggested that it violated the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution."
That made me laugh, but then I thought about how this guy is the top Republican on the judiciary committee and I wanted to cry. So much ignorance, but even more cynicism! Hooray for the modern Republican party!
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PushMe-PullYou
October 8, 2009 6:30 PM
My guess is that Vitter's reason is either $ or he hates women, or both.
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Stiggs
October 8, 2009 7:11 PM in reply to PushMe-PullYou
Pure recalcitrance is certainly an option. He is in the party of no, after all.
Sen. Franken: We think rape is bad, what do you think?
D.Bag Vitter: mm, no.
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AJM
October 8, 2009 8:57 PM in reply to PushMe-PullYou
Vitter wishes to prevent the bankruptcy of some current contractors?
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Vicki Morrison
October 8, 2009 6:36 PM
Good for you Louisiana Young Dems. Ms Rogers why don't you run against Mr. Vitter?
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cole_dranx
October 8, 2009 10:02 PM in reply to Vicki Morrison
I'd donate.
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Bullsmith
October 8, 2009 8:36 PM
In the history of negative ad fodder, this one really stands out. I mean how do you defend the contractual 'right' of a company to keep rape victims out of court on the basis that they were raped on the job, or by a co-worker, or by their boss. Because?... Haliburton what?
It's indefensible, and it's not particularly topical. Should run in 30 Senate races.
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LuxVeritas
October 8, 2009 8:41 PM
In Vitter's defense, every Republican voted pro-rapist, anti-rape victim (incidentally also pro-criminal mega-military contractor who funds them) - http://bit.ly/sEt4J (note the special hypocrisy of these same people voted to de-fund ACORN)
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rbeats
October 8, 2009 11:19 PM
Gotta love the fact all 30 go to church every Sunday and raise their children on Christianity.
Says allot about the foundations of religion in our society, more so than Republicans.
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pmc
October 8, 2009 11:35 PM
I am no fan of Vitter and am in favor of pretty much anything that gets him out of the Senate and replaces him with a Democrat. I also like Franken and think that this amendment is a great idea. But to call it an "anti-rape law" strikes me as a huge stretch, even for purposes of political debate, where I recognize that a degree of hyperbole is acceptable and literal truth is not necessarily required. It's not as if rape would somehow be legal or non-punishable in the absence of this amendment. All the amendment does is ensure that most defense contractor employees can bring various claims (including but not limited to claims arising from sexual assaults by fellow employees) against their employers in court, rather than in an arbitration proceeding. That's a good thing, but it's not an anti-rape law.
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lexalexander
October 9, 2009 8:55 AM in reply to pmc
In practical terms, yes, rape is pretty much non-punishable under the set of circumstances that gave rise to this case. So, yes, the amendment is quite literally an anti-rape law in terms of its effect on real-world conditions.
The larger issue here is that no government or corporation anywhere should be permitting any mechanism whereby the victim of a crime is denied the right to have the perpetrator duly processed by the criminal-court system.
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pmc
October 9, 2009 11:23 PM in reply to lexalexander
I'm sorry but it's not true that the KBR employees' gang rape of Ms. Jones was not punishable. It was a violation of the criminal law -- the military and the Bush Department of Justice could have prosecuted the alleged rapists, but they chose not to. Jones wants to sue KBR (not her alleged attackers) in court not for rape, but for failing to protect her against her alleged attackers (KBR employees) - and she is in fact doing so (see http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/09/halliburton-loses-jamie-leigh-jones), despite the fact that the amendment at issue here has not yet become law. The amendment has nothing to do with punishing her attackers (criminally or otherwise), nor does it have anything to do with allowing the victim of a crime "the right to have the perpetrator duly processed by the criminal-court system." All it does is prevent defense contractors from requiring their employees arbitrate any employment-related civil claims they may have against the contractors. Again, that is a good thing - but it's not an anti-rape law.
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fitley
October 8, 2009 11:38 PM
Not like a whore monger is much concerned about the safety or well-being of women. No surprise there.
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fitley
October 8, 2009 11:45 PM
Oh yeah is Franken the shit or what? Dude got right to work. The Repubtards used to insinuate that he was just some lazy ass comedian looking for a free ride. Read it and weep INBREDHEADS. This is how things get done, not that any of you would know anything about that. Go fluff your lobbyists. Here need a bib? You look a mess.
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Craig-Bob Schwartz
October 9, 2009 10:34 AM
I believe Vitter's reasoning was explained as, "It's not rape if you're wearing a diaper."
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SOS ICEBERG
October 9, 2009 1:08 PM
Just as Larry Craig became Larry "wide stance" Craig, David Vitter needs to become David "pro-rape" Vitter.
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ejg3
October 9, 2009 2:12 PM
Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize which is priceless. Vitter on the other hand is a firm believer in a piece at any price.
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