Rapegate
posted by Silvana
In case you already weren't worried enough that Sarah Palin doesn't give a flying fuck about sexual assault victims, the McCain campaign is here to remedy that right quick.
First, the story breaks that under Palin's watch, Wasilla women who went to the police saying that they had been sexually assaulted by a man, were charged for the rape kit. In case anyone doesn't know, a rape kit is an exam done for the purpose of collecting and preserving evidence--it's not a medical procedure. And yet, despite the fact that it's similar to collecting fingerprints, taking photos of a crime scene, or doing ballistics analysis, the city of Wasilla insisted on charging women, or their insurance companies, for the kit, rather than using city funds. As of today, neither McCain, Palin, nor anyone on either of their staff teams has commented on this story. What's the problem—too ridiculous to dignify with a response? Hardly, especially when the former Governor, Tony Knowles, has acknowledged that Wasilla was the only town in Alaska doing it. Prompting the state legislature to pass a law forbidding them from doing so.
And yet, silence. However, the McCain campaign was nice enough to give us a rape-related nugget today, though there's nary a word about the rape kit controversy. Instead, they brought up rape when talking about Troopergate, the controversy where Palin allegedly had the Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Walter Monegan, fired because he wouldn't fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law.
Palin didn't fire Monegan because of her sister's ex-husband, the McCain campaign reassures us. No, actually, it was because Monegan had the gall to seek federal funding for a program to attack Alaska's problem with sexual assault. What's Alaska's problem with sexual assualt? It's got the highest rape rate in the country, a title it's held for a while. And Monegan wanted to do something about it. And the McCain campaign has no problem asserting that that's the reason he was fired:
First, the story breaks that under Palin's watch, Wasilla women who went to the police saying that they had been sexually assaulted by a man, were charged for the rape kit. In case anyone doesn't know, a rape kit is an exam done for the purpose of collecting and preserving evidence--it's not a medical procedure. And yet, despite the fact that it's similar to collecting fingerprints, taking photos of a crime scene, or doing ballistics analysis, the city of Wasilla insisted on charging women, or their insurance companies, for the kit, rather than using city funds. As of today, neither McCain, Palin, nor anyone on either of their staff teams has commented on this story. What's the problem—too ridiculous to dignify with a response? Hardly, especially when the former Governor, Tony Knowles, has acknowledged that Wasilla was the only town in Alaska doing it. Prompting the state legislature to pass a law forbidding them from doing so.
And yet, silence. However, the McCain campaign was nice enough to give us a rape-related nugget today, though there's nary a word about the rape kit controversy. Instead, they brought up rape when talking about Troopergate, the controversy where Palin allegedly had the Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Walter Monegan, fired because he wouldn't fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law.
Palin didn't fire Monegan because of her sister's ex-husband, the McCain campaign reassures us. No, actually, it was because Monegan had the gall to seek federal funding for a program to attack Alaska's problem with sexual assault. What's Alaska's problem with sexual assualt? It's got the highest rape rate in the country, a title it's held for a while. And Monegan wanted to do something about it. And the McCain campaign has no problem asserting that that's the reason he was fired:
The last straw, the McCain campaign said, was in July, when Monegan planned to travel to Washington to seek federal money for a plan to assign troopers, judges and prosecutors who could exclusively handle sexual assault cases — one of the state's most intractable crime problems.Sarah Palin to rapists: Don't worry, guys, I got this one.
Labels: m. leblanc
Posted at 9:07 AM
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