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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Women's Rights / The War On Women / You need another lover like you need a hole in your head

You need another lover like you need a hole in your head

by DougJ|  June 10, 20145:03 pm| 121 Comments

This post is in: The War On Women, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Not even going to read the victim-blaming link bait at the Bezos daily site, but can’t believe they thought the original headline was appropriate.

Before & after at The Washington Post: http://t.co/igTVd3GLJB pic.twitter.com/fOPWgZBzlT

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) June 10, 2014

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Previous Post: « Open Soccer Thread: Alas, Poor Caxirola
Next Post: “Good Samaritan” My Ass »

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 10, 2014 at 5:06 pm

    I used to read that rag regularly when I lived in Maryland. Now its past its expiration date.

  2. 2.

    c u n d gulag

    June 10, 2014 at 5:08 pm

    Yes, little ladies, leave the taking of lovers to your husbands, and let them beat them up instead!
    Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!

    The WaPo is going the way of the NY Post, the WSJ Op-Ed page, the Washington (stupid) Times and Free Beacon (of ignorance).

    It’s not fit to wrap a dead fish in, because it’ll be an insult to the intelligence of the poor dead fish.
    And you wouldn’t line your birdcage with it, because if they ever find out, the PETA people will accuse you of wanton cruelty to animals.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:09 pm

    The first one is mind-bogglingly stupid, but the replacement still sucks.

  4. 4.

    Cacti

    June 10, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    The only women who get beaten are slutty sluts.

  5. 5.

    Suffern ACE

    June 10, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    Well men clearly haven’t changed, so it must be something women are doing.

  6. 6.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    Um, married dads is no guarantor that violence against women will cease. I think that’s pretty obvious to those who do not have their heads permanently up their asses, unlike Fred Hiatt.

    I say again…evacuate five or so employees of the WaPo who are not shitheads (obviously does not include such luminaries as Hiatt, Krauthammer, Will, Chucky Lane, for starters) and then lock down the building and use a mass driver from orbit on it. Then start again.

  7. 7.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 10, 2014 at 5:13 pm

    It is funny how marriage is the answer to all problems in the conservative playbook.

  8. 8.

    Mudge

    June 10, 2014 at 5:13 pm

    Become a Lesbian. Another way to avoid male-female domestic violence. I’d also bet that far fewer cases of domestic violence are reported by wives than by girlfriends.

  9. 9.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    @Cacti: Well, let’s be honest. ALL women are slutty sluts except for Phyllis Schafley. And perhaps Bar Bush.

  10. 10.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2014 at 5:15 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Except for teh ghey. There’s no solution for that other than a network of Vernichtungslagern.

  11. 11.

    the Conster

    June 10, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    What the fuck over. This is why I never leave the boat.

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: And Mom(tm).

  13. 13.

    boatboy_srq

    June 10, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    “Married dads.” Isn’t that what the anti-SSM crowd are all up in arms about?

  14. 14.

    Morbo

    June 10, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    “married fathers are much less likely to resort to violence than men who are not tied by marriage or biology to a female.”

    Emphasis mine, good choice not reading it.

  15. 15.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    @boatboy_srq:

    “Married dads.” Isn’t that what the anti-SSM crowd are all up in arms about?

    Pure win.

  16. 16.

    Quaker in a Basement

    June 10, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    It’s always amazing to me how one person can say something and look totally stupid while another says essentially the same thing but looks great doing it.

    Compare these headlines to Louis CK’s recent rumination on why women ever agree to go out with men in the first place.

  17. 17.

    taylormattd

    June 10, 2014 at 5:20 pm

    The original sub-heading is a real treat too.

  18. 18.

    Kropadope

    June 10, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Unless you’re gay.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    June 10, 2014 at 5:25 pm

    Somebody needs a quick course in cum hoc ergo propter hoc. Maybe the reason married men are less likely to be violent is because women prefer to marry men who aren’t violent. “Get married, you slut!” isn’t a very useful message when the reason the men aren’t married is because they aren’t worth marrying.

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2014 at 5:25 pm

    OT, but in the same vein…

    Laura Ingraham Uses Taco Bell Ad To Mock Immigrant Children’s Detention Plight

    Looks like someone is competing with Ann Coulter to use the wayback machine to be the Bitch of Buchenwald.

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Bad link.

  22. 22.

    beltane

    June 10, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    Does this mean that women should only take married dads as lovers?

  23. 23.

    Violet

    June 10, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    I thought there was no such thing as violence inside a marriage. If a man beats his wife she obviously deserved it. Plus, that’s just between the two of them. Of course the women are better off legally tied to men like that. Makes it harder for them to leave. Just common sense.

  24. 24.

    Felinious Wench

    June 10, 2014 at 5:28 pm

    Sigh. I’m just very tired at this point. The rest of you go on without me for a while, myself and my vagina are taking a break from pundits.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:28 pm

    @beltane: I think that would be a very bad idea as it would have an adverse effect on my life.

  26. 26.

    beltane

    June 10, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    @Roger Moore: And what about divorced dads? Perhaps violent husbands are more likely to become ex-husbands.

  27. 27.

    ranchandsyrup

    June 10, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    66 dead school kids from shootings since BENGHAZI!

    ETA: sorry wrong thread.

  28. 28.

    The Moar You Know

    June 10, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    The article was even more offensive than the headline. Was really impressed that the psychopath who wrote it managed that.

    But this guy has it beat by a mile:

    I’m an Army veteran, and my benefits are too generous.

    WaPo has gone into full on trolling mode, or they’ve decided to win over the dozen or so readers of the Washington Times.

  29. 29.

    SatanicPanic

    June 10, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    I’d be interested to know how Washington Post thinks women could skip the boyfriend step and go straight to husband.

  30. 30.

    beltane

    June 10, 2014 at 5:33 pm

    Remember, it’s not domestic violence if a husband beats his wife with a stick no bigger than the diameter of his finger. Also, spousal rape is an oxymoron. These things are the perks of marriage, the reward a man earns for agreeing to legally cohabit with a dirty she-beast.

  31. 31.

    BGinCHI

    June 10, 2014 at 5:34 pm

    Written by a Heritage Foundation flack.

    Shorter assholes: Hey bitches, do what we say or get violated.

    I’m so sick of these paternalistic fucks. They make being a straight white guy more difficult every day.

  32. 32.

    The Moar You Know

    June 10, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    Become a Lesbian. Another way to avoid male-female domestic violence.

    @Mudge: It is, however, a great way to encounter female-female domestic violence. I lived in SF for close on a decade, and the local lesbian community was famous for being the source of the most 911 calls made to the police. Almost all those calls were domestic violence calls.

  33. 33.

    beltane

    June 10, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    @SatanicPanic: According to the Washington Post, women have no place choosing their own husbands. Only sluts have boyfriends. A real, proper lady is sold, as an intact virgin, to a man of her father’s choosing for a price of twenty camels.

  34. 34.

    Kropadope

    June 10, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    I’d be interested to know how Washington Post thinks women could skip the boyfriend step and go straight to husband.

    I believe this is referred to as the “Disney princess” model of courtship.

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    June 10, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    @beltane:

    Perhaps violent husbands are more likely to become ex-husbands.

    Or widowers.

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    @Roger Moore: @beltane: The actual post article does address that, but it seems to ultimately conclude that marriage changes men and makes them better. It gets rather circular IMO.

  37. 37.

    currants

    June 10, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    Wait, so marriage solves domestic violence? I had no idea.

    (Clearly, the author/title-writer doesn’t either.)

  38. 38.

    Mudge

    June 10, 2014 at 5:41 pm

    @The Moar You Know: You have some data, I don’t..but on another level, such a thought/solution would never be advanced by a wingnut. I suspect that allowing Lesbians to marry now will lower the 911 calls. Again, I don’t expect the right to advocate gay marriage as a solution.

  39. 39.

    Eric U.

    June 10, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    I grew up in Appalachia. There were plenty of murders in the local area. Almost all of them involved a husband killing his wife. Other sorts of murders were very rare. I’m sure times have changed.

  40. 40.

    Amir Khalid

    June 10, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    TPM, writing up the reaction from one of its readers, quotes the reader in its headline: “A Gross and Deliberate Misrepresentation of the Data”.

  41. 41.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    @efgoldman: Marriage is also their answer to ameliorate income inequality, that’s what David Brooks told me in his column this morning. I am skeptical.

  42. 42.

    Greg

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: This. According to conservatives if we all just entered into heterosexual marriages at age 20 and had two children right away, all poverty, domestic violence, unruly children, poor education, obesity, smoking, drug addiction and probably cancer would all magically disappear. You know how they know that? Because those things never happened on Ozzie and Harriet, the era they fondly remember as the most perfectest time in America EVER!

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    @efgoldman: Their fathers’ wishes? Wouldn’t commands, orders, or decrees be more accurate? Don’t even get me started on deferring….

  44. 44.

    SatanicPanic

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    @efgoldman: I wonder if the Republican party can be convinced to adopt this as a part of their platform. Women voter outreach!

  45. 45.

    geg6

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    The needle on my outrage gauge has been buried for about two weeks now. And the WaPo has been not even up to fish wrap standard in at least a decade. I refuse to even read others criticizing this latest stupidity simply because I can’t take it any more. I have to stop reading and watching news for a while because it’s going to make me completely insane if I don’t. I’ll leave it up to you guys to just summarize for me for a while.

  46. 46.

    Mino

    June 10, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    Safest of all….widows.

  47. 47.

    bemused

    June 10, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    I rarely read comments other than here but anyone read the Wapo article comments? I’m curious what the reaction is there. I’d rather not go there. It’s way too entertaining here.

  48. 48.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 10, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    @bemused: I was curious too, 9 out of 10 comments are taking WaPo to task.

  49. 49.

    Missouri Buckeye

    June 10, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Marriage, and tax cuts.

  50. 50.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 10, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    In India, about a 100 years or so ago, they would shave widows’ heads so that they would be unattractive to men. I have heard horrendous stories of sexual abuse of widows from older Indian women.

    ETA: Plus no jewelry of any kind and they could only wear one color, either white or some dull red, till the day they died.

  51. 51.

    bemused

    June 10, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Good to hear! These days, I am pleasantly surprised when rationality takes the lead. It’s so rare.

  52. 52.

    The Moar You Know

    June 10, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    I suspect that allowing Lesbians to marry now will lower the 911 calls.

    @Mudge: I don’t. These women are just about the poorest residents of a city that demonstrably hates poor people. They are frequently people of color in a city that has horrendous racial issues with those who are not Asian or white. And, of course, there are still discrimination issues they have to contend with being gay. They are under tremendous stress in virtually every facet of their lives, and people under stress are a lot more likely to beat on each other than people who are not.

    It’s a shitty situation.

  53. 53.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    You really want to end violence honey? Exercise your 2nd amendment rights and shoot the fucker in the nads. I am sure this will be perfectly acceptable to those people who are blaming you for the violence against you. No down side as far as I can see fo fire away girls!

    /sarcasm off

    Seriously, all I ever pray for, the one thing this entire species needs and deserves, is just one giant fucking meteor. How come my prayer is never answered?

  54. 54.

    The Moar You Know

    June 10, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    Because those things never happened on Ozzie and Harriet, the era they fondly remember as the most perfectest time in America EVER!

    @Greg: The era of 90% tax rates. Funny how that part never gets bought up.

    Even by liberals.

  55. 55.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    Let’s try again:

    http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/10/laura-ingraham-uses-taco-bell-ad-to-mock-immigr/199655

  56. 56.

    Felinious Wench

    June 10, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    I was also wondering about partners who may be biological parents that live together that are not in a civil marriage. What bucket do they fall under? Marriage by proxy?

  57. 57.

    PhoenixRising

    June 10, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    Gah. I just…

    Look, there are data to clearly and convincingly demonstrate that ‘mom’s boyfriend’ is the most dangerous man in America, if you’re a child under 6.* There are studies that show all higher order primates engage in more violence against the offspring of their mating rivals than they do against their own. This is ingrained animal behavior, we are animals that dress up in clothes, end of story about that correlation. It’s real.

    But the handsprings you have to turn to get from that correlation to ‘marry that man to keep your kids safe’? I dream of that kind of flexibility.

    *Obviously your smarter sociologists grasp that this might be related to other questions, like, What’s going on in mom’s life that she left her toddler in the ‘care’ of a young man not its father, whose qualifications for babysitting may be limited to ‘he was home’, i.e. not at work or school?

  58. 58.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 6:05 pm

    @efgoldman:
    The hockey gods abandoned me this past March too! My favorite forward in the world finished as runner up her last year. I blame the fact that she got a 4.0 GPA that semester – too much time in class not enough on the ice!

    Seriously, how many D-I championship scholars get a 4.0 GPA in pre-med classes? And graduate in 4 years on top of it? Plus she is the single nicest 22 year old I have ever met & that includes my own kids. She makes me sick!!

    But I often feel like Diogenes, but I know honest people, I am looking for a single person I think justifies that the world deserves to continue on. I am constantly disappointed. Perhaps there are some jungle tribesmen who are untouched by the world around us but I am not seeing them

  59. 59.

    WereBear

    June 10, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    @PhoenixRising: You don’t understand wingnut sociology. Create a conclusion, then torment the data.

  60. 60.

    FlipYrWhig

    June 10, 2014 at 6:19 pm

    They also think that getting married pulls people out of poverty, by the same misreadings, question-begging, and general preconceived-conclusion nincompoopery.

  61. 61.

    Joseph Nobles

    June 10, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    That subheadline is still there. “#yesallwomen need to marry the father of their kids if they don’t want to get slapped around and raped so much”? Jesus H.

  62. 62.

    Shortstop

    June 10, 2014 at 6:22 pm

    @Felinious Wench: “Women get weary, oh, they do get weeeeeary, reading the same shabby logic.”

  63. 63.

    rk

    June 10, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    If they didn’t shave women’s heads they would make them wear white and eat non spicy food for the rest of their lives. My grandmother was widowed at a very young age. She wore white for 40 yrs. Of course there was no question of remarriage. I consider that to be abuse. She had a miserable sad life. A man in her situation would have been allowed to remarry in a heartbeat. I know of so many women (some relatives, some I just heard about) who were beaten by their husbands and no one ever lifted a finger to help. According to the Washington post, marriage should have protected them from violence. These writers are so clueless about what happens in the world. Marriage is the norm in Afghanistan, Pakistan and most other countries. Why aren’t these places paradise for women?
    The truth of the matter is men commit horrific violence against girls and women all over the world with full societal sanction. Until that changes it is not going to stop. It’s not women who need to be told to stop dressing a certain way, stop speaking a certain way or just get married and the violence will stop. It’s men who need to be told to fucking knock it off.

  64. 64.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    @Shortstop:
    Can’t hear that song now & not think of Nuke LaLouch. Sad, I really like the song.

    “Women don’t get wooly they get weary!”

  65. 65.

    Felinious Wench

    June 10, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    @Shortstop: Between shootings because some guy can’t get laid to campus rape/trigger warning denial from George Will to “get married, sluts, or you deserve to get hit!”

    It’s Tuesday. I’m done for the week. I’m picking up my toys and going home.

  66. 66.

    Shortstop

    June 10, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    @Schlemizel: hey! Did you go to Gettysburg yet? How was it?

  67. 67.

    Shortstop

    June 10, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    @Felinious Wench: hold the door. Right behind you, sister.

  68. 68.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 6:31 pm

    @Shortstop:
    Nope – going to be there on July 1-3. Plan on standing with the 1st MN on the 2nd.

    Thanks to all who suggested stuff before but I screwed up & didn’t save the suggestions. Particularly names of people for the drive you around tour. Plus anything worth doing for day trips around there. Been trying to talk the Mrs into DC but she does not think 2-3 days is enough to make it worth while.

  69. 69.

    Shortstop

    June 10, 2014 at 6:37 pm

    Ah, the battle dates. Well played. Call ahead and request John Archer for the tour. Do not under any circumstances accept John Smarsh. Side trips: you can access the Appalachian Trail from nearby Caledonia State Park. The Eisenhower farmhouse (just behind the Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge) is a hoot — suspended in the 1950s. The buses to the farm leave from the battlefield visitors’ center. Let me keep thinking. Email me at shortstop bats 1000 (no spaces) at gmail if you want more.

  70. 70.

    Mike in NC

    June 10, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    Why hasn’t the WaPo offered full-time employment to Tucker Carlson, Michelle Malkin, and David Limbaugh to beef up its stellar cast of fellators of the 0.1%?

  71. 71.

    Patternmaker

    June 10, 2014 at 6:42 pm

    THANK YOU Rk!

    (Having said that, Sarah Lamb wrote an excellent study of widowhood in, IIRC, Benares, called “White Saris and Sweet Mangos” that I recommend to any armchair anthropologists/sociologists out there.)

  72. 72.

    Cain

    June 10, 2014 at 6:43 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    What do you mean, 100 years ago? That shit is going on even now up in the North. Not so bad in the south, we made sure our grandmothers did not put on the white or shave their head. We strongly told her that none of that nonsense is going to go on.

  73. 73.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    Oh how about a happy story after reading all these depressing comments.

    A former coworker of mine from DC years ago left yesterday.

    Long story short he got divorced and felt the need to ride his motorcycle across the country. Called me for a place to stay for a few days in St. Louis. Planned to spend a night or two. Said he had to see the Arch. We went downtown (about 33 miles from my front door). He walked up to the Arch, looked around a little, touched it and was like cool and started to walk away. I am like dude, you know the stuff is under it? He is like under it? The museum dedicated to Lewis & Clark, cause you know the Arch is a monument to our expansion westward ….

    I then took him to Forest Park. People talk about Central Park in NYC (he is from NYC). Forest Park blows Central Park away IMHO. First off larger and pretty much in the center of the city. Much of it built for the 1904 World Fair we had. Golf courses. Natural History Museum. Science Center. World class Art museum. Zoo. Botanical gardens. All of this is FREE.

    Then I took him to some of the “hippters” areas of town (yeah we might roll like that). Spencer was blown away. He stayed here for more than a week :). At many times saying things like I didn’t know St. Louis was all this. I was like Spencer I live here by CHOICE not because I am forced to through a job or something else. I’d like to think I wouldn’t live in a place that sucks.

    I am not much of a football fan, but he is. As he left gave me his Watford soccer jersey as thanks. I hear that is sign of respect :).

  74. 74.

    Kay

    June 10, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    @PhoenixRising:

    I read it twice because I couldn’t figure out how they got there either:

    is the fact that some other men are more likely to protect women, directly and indirectly, from the threat of male violence: married biological fathers

    They just flipped that thing and turned it right around.

  75. 75.

    D58826

    June 10, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    ot but seems like the elephant is winning again –

    More Americans disapprove than approve of Bergdahl’s release in exchange for five Taliban detainees, according to two new national polls.

    Senator Imhof says the issue isn’t the return of Bergdahl but the release of the 5 Taliban. Pray tell is he stupid enough to think that these cold hearted mass murders, evil incarnate, would release Bergdahl simply to celebrate the Belmont stakes?.(no need to answer that is a rhetorical question) .

  76. 76.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 10, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    @Cain: 100 years ago in Konkan, Brahmin widows had their head shaved, thankfully they don’t do it in Maharashtra any more.

  77. 77.

    Mudge

    June 10, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Tax cuts for the rich will fix this.

    You have totally depressed me.

  78. 78.

    Emma

    June 10, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    @Shortstop: Line forms on the left.

  79. 79.

    Suffern ACE

    June 10, 2014 at 6:57 pm

    @D58826: yep. It is going to be a long summer if fun.

  80. 80.

    Just One More Canuck

    June 10, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    Reduce violence against women with this one weird trick

  81. 81.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    @D58826: They are fucking idiots. I’ve said this here a few times but not recently so I will say it again. One of my earliest memories was in 1973. I was 5. My father was a professor at the Army War College. I recall skipping with him going to the “Great Hall” to see as he said to me a “great American” speak.

    His name was John McCain.

    For the next several hours, and it was hours, he talked about being tortured and his experience. Things my 5 year old ears didn’t really need to hear. I don’t recall a lot of specifics (other then a few), but at the end it was the longest standing ovation I’ve ever seen to this day.

    Talked to my father today about Bergdahl for the first time and the conversation only lasted a few seconds. He was livid. He cussed. I think my father as cussed in my presence like once a decade (if that). Said something that sounded like a quote from Obama. “We bring our own home.” My father might not like Obama and is a Republican but he won’t bow to the talking points of those on his side.

    We bring our own home ……

  82. 82.

    Russ

    June 10, 2014 at 7:03 pm

    The polling on Bergdahl proves that the right can still control the narrative and peoples opinion.

  83. 83.

    D58826

    June 10, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    @Tommy: the new rule is ‘We bring our own home …… only if Sarah approves of their politics’. Really getting to the point I would contribute to the ‘direct an asteroid on Washington’ fund.

  84. 84.

    skerry

    June 10, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    Boy killed today in Troutdale, OR was a freshman. Emilio Hoffman. RIP

    #NotOneMore

  85. 85.

    gelfling545

    June 10, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    @beltane: See, this is why I don’t understand why the conservative element gets so worked up over their idea of “Sharia law”. They’d love it taken to its most extreme form. Perhaps they are jealous.

  86. 86.

    skerry

    June 10, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    If only he was married. He’d be such a nicer man.

  87. 87.

    Howard Beale IV

    June 10, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    @efgoldman: Naah, it’s because the right false flag plot hasn’t happened yet.

  88. 88.

    Hill Dweller

    June 10, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    It doesn’t help that the wingnuts and feckless Dems/reporters are pretending the 5 Taliban detainees are superheros.

    Moreover, if the American people were told the Taliban detainees are going to be released next year regardless, I wonder how they would view the trade.

  89. 89.

    Violet

    June 10, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    President Obama spoke out against gun violence today. Saw the clip on the lead story on NBC Nightly News. Said we’re the only developed country where this happens. Said the US doesn’t have a “monopoly on crazy people”. Other countries have people with mental illnesses too and this doesn’t happen. Why not? Because here they can buy ammunition and guns.

  90. 90.

    Gravenstone

    June 10, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    @SatanicPanic: Arranged marriages, of course.

  91. 91.

    Howard Beale IV

    June 10, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    @D58826: Inhofe should’ve had his pilots license yanked for his landing on a closed runway.

  92. 92.

    Amir Khalid

    June 10, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    @D58826:
    I’m sure the backlash from securing Bowe Bergdahl’s liberty will hurt Obama when he has to run for his third term. (/snark) All I see there is yet another party-line poll result. This may look like a win for the Republican party, if you judge by the noise, but what have they really won? They failed to stop Obama from doing what was right — reducing the count of detainees at Gitmo and bringing a captive soldier home. Their complaint that Obama is freeing dangerous enemies is bogus: the Taliban 5 will, after a year in Qatari custody, return to an Afghanistan with few or no American soldiers left to fight. They are reduced to libelling Bergdahl and his dad out of mere spite.

  93. 93.

    beltane

    June 10, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    @skerry: Horrible. We need a memorial for all those sacrificed on the altar of ammosexual freedumb. Some gave all, most couldn’t give a shit.

  94. 94.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    @Hill Dweller:
    Thats easy – they would demand we not release them. We are an outlaw nation doing what we damn well please, whats one more violation of law when we surrendered human decency more than a decade ago?

  95. 95.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 7:14 pm

    @D58826: I hate to admit that in my mid-40s I feel like time is passing me by and I am not sure how our nation has gotten to where it is today. Maybe Bergdahl was a terrible solider. Maybe he held anti-American views. Heck maybe he walked off his post.

    But he is still an American service member. We can sort all that out once he is FUCKING HOME! Just cause we might not like this or that about the man doesn’t mean we let him rot in some cage in some god forsaken place.

    It is at this point I say something I almost never say (I didn’t serve myself), to about 99% of those against the deal, so you served when exactly? Heck as much as I can’t stand Palin if she was on an USO Tour and some extreme group got her I’d want my government to move heaven and earth to get her back.

    I guess she doesn’t feel the same about you, me, and clearly Bergdahl. That is a level of sad I don’t have words for.

  96. 96.

    beltane

    June 10, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    @Tommy: Those who are thinking about serving our country should consider if the folks back home are really worth the sacrifice. If Sarah Palin represents Real America, that says worse things about America than any of our enemies’ propaganda over the decades.

  97. 97.

    D58826

    June 10, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    @Tommy: Notice she stays safely in Alaska. Only danger is if her pet moose goes rouge I’m also reminded of the short story by O Henry where the kidnapers had to pay the parents to take the kid back. I suspect that would be the case here as well.

  98. 98.

    srv

    June 10, 2014 at 7:22 pm

    So when are the John Cole’s of the left going to boycott Amazon?

    Jeffie gets his hits in one way or another, god bless him

  99. 99.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 7:24 pm

    @beltane: Agreed. I have not served. Neither has my brother. Outside of us pretty much all other males have. I am not remotely joking when I say the military is our family business. Heck at my grandfather’s funeral a few months ago my cousin, who has two tours in Qatar as a pilot, well his two kids (14 and 17) were telling me they wanted to go to college so when they graduated they could fly drones.

    As a hippie, peace loving liberal this made me both very sad and happy at the same time.

    Sad, well who would want to do that ….

    Happy that at 14 and 17 the kids knew what they wanted to do and I would bet a large sum of money they’ll do it.

  100. 100.

    Howard Beale IV

    June 10, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    @beltane: Actually, I’d love to see how those who want to separate themselves from the US how they would want to go ahead and actually do it-especially those states whose federal inbound receipts are greater than their outflows.

    Let’s start with currency-they’d have to create their own-no fucking way will they be allowed to use the US Dollar. Next thing they’d have to create their own defense force. Then treaties. Border patrols. And that’s just for starters.

  101. 101.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    @Tommy:
    I’m a red diaper baby, tree-hugging (former dope smoking) hippy from the ’60s. Even back then when I was very active in the anti-war movement I separated the soldier from the war. Granted, it was a bit easier than because there was the draft so not everyone went to war because they volunteered, but then again not everyone who volunteered signed up for the Bush Bullshit either.

    Like it or not, agree with it or not, voted for the enflamed assholes or not, we as a nation sent those kids there do do shitty things and we owe it to them to do everything in out power to get them home & get them whole as best we can. We keep falling down on that last part. I have no idea what happened to that kid, I have no frame of reference to judge how my mind would be warped. I know what it did to my kid and not everyone is as strong as he is. War does bad things to people, good people. If he was fucked in the head we own that. We should support him and hope he can recover.

  102. 102.

    srv

    June 10, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    @Tommy: the awesome thing about drones is that the pilots get to see the results of their handiwork.

    The McCains never saw the results of theirs.

    Enjoy their ptsd

  103. 103.

    Violet

    June 10, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    @D58826: No she doesn’t. She pretty much lives in Arizona these days. Maybe she’s in Alaska during the summer and for strategic photo ops, but according to locals she’s usually in Arizona.

  104. 104.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    @Howard Beale IV: They couldn’t do it. I live four miles from a good sized Air Force base. Three huge/important Commands. Around 30,000 active duty. No combat related troops. All logistics. A fraction of the size of some of the bases in say TX, NC, or GA. We often come up on BRAC and the entire region freaks.

    The studies show it generates about $18B a year to the area. And that is just the first dollar spent. By far, I mean by far the largest employer in the entire St. Louis metro area. We literally don’t know what we’d do if the base closed. So you know yeah, lets pull up stakes on all those huge military bases in deep red states and see how that works out for them.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    June 10, 2014 at 7:38 pm

    @Eric U.:

    Nope, still mostly guys killing their ex-GF or ex-Wife – mostly with some of the kids too. Perhaps teaching girls how to shoot picket pistols in phys-ed in Junior High?

    But how to convince them to shoot their husband/boyfriend, whom they believe is a good guy who just needs to calm down, take a deep breath.

    Not.

  106. 106.

    Schlemizel

    June 10, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    @J R in WV:
    yeah:
    @Schlemizel:

  107. 107.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    @Schlemizel: Agreed. I went back and read like the 30,000 word Rolling Stone article Michael Hasting did on Bergdahl, and to use a military term, his unit was FUBAR. Heck I might have walked off post as well. His unit was at like 40% capacity when deployed. Leadership was non-existent. Many members only were in his unit cause the military lower their standards. Heck a BBC camera crew was with the unit for a few days, they have the fucking pictures of how bad it was. Members of his unit would go out on patrol with baseball caps on.

    If you have not read it, please do. Members of his unit went on the record, using their names, are now on TV slamming him. In the article many mocked Bergdahl cause he FOLLOWED orders and seemed to spend a lot of time reading manuals and working with his weapons.

    I should note they were at a forward operation post and although I’ve never served if people around me in a war zone were not taking things seriously it would freak me the fuck out.

  108. 108.

    D58826

    June 10, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    House GOP is planning on have long and exhausting (not exhaustive) hearings on Bergdahl. The committee chairclowns are falling all over each other to get started. (sigh)

  109. 109.

    D58826

    June 10, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    but some good news – in the Va. primary Cantor is losing – VA-07: Almost 60 percent in and Brat leads 58/42. Of course Brat is probably crazier than a mad hater but its kinda nice to see anyway

  110. 110.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 7:57 pm

    @D58826: Holy shit. The number 2 guy in the House GOP might go down?

    BTW mad hater is an awesome typo in the context.

  111. 111.

    Tommy

    June 10, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    @Tommy: Oh I should note a few mentioned he was always studying maps of the area, therefore he must have been planning to go AWOL. I found this strange.

    I am a directional challenged male. I could get lost in a closet. It would seem to me if I was in a (1) foreign land (2) people were trying to kill me in said land, well I might spend a lot of time looking at a map cause if things went sideways I’d like to make it back to the base and not have to stop and ask for directions.

    You know, just saying.

  112. 112.

    Kay

    June 10, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    I’ve been a little obsessed with this since reading about it.

    They think they can predict domestic homicide before it happens, with a risk analysis that is based on 20 years of collecting data and looking for signs that recur again and again. Specific things, not demographics or assumptions about people based on personal preference or ideology.

    The bottom line is that we believe—in fact we know—that domestic violence homicides are predictable, and, therefore, are preventable. This bold statement has driven much of JDI’s work over the past six years to address the ways that our systems, services, policies, and practices can help keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable.
    For many years, JDI collected the names and accounts of victims of domestic violence homicide in Massachusetts. In 2005 JDI embarked on what has become a central issue for the Coalition: the prevention of domestic violence homicides. You can read more about our efforts in the Works in Progress section. You can also read our latest “Blueprint to Prevent Domestic Violence Homicides.”

    I’m wondering if they could try the same thing with child abuse, because the truth is it’s an absolute crap shoot. We’re all just guessing, and there’s really no “prevention” at all. It’s such a wide net that it catches all kinds of people who don’t belong in there, and doesn’t really focus in on what the bad cases have in common.

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    @Kay: As you can probably guess, this kind of thing makes me nervous. A little too Minority Report for my comfort.

  114. 114.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 10, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    @beltane:

    it’s not domestic violence if a husband beats his wife with a stick no bigger than the diameter of his finger.

    Huh? SRSLY?

  115. 115.

    Kay

    June 10, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    I know, but prevent. Instead of putting all of it one big basket and issuing useless CPO’s and broad statements about “domestic violence” and then just rolling the dice, you could say “you know, you, you specifically, are going to die if you stay in that house”.

    I’m not talking about process (although the process sucks for child abuse now, so there’s that). No changes in laws. I just mean specific information.

  116. 116.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 10, 2014 at 8:24 pm

    Holy fuck, Eric Cantor just lost to tea party challenger.

  117. 117.

    Runt

    June 10, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    When the WaPo writes “PostEverything”, they really mean it. They will post any and all crap the wingnuts send them.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    June 10, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    @Kay: I get the very strong upside on the prevention front, I would want to see very stringent rules one who had access tot he info and very serious limits on the purposes for which it could be used. My pro-defense background coming to the front here, I guess.

  119. 119.

    Cain

    June 10, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Most of us middle class south indian brahmins have removed this practice as disgusting and awful. I don’t think we are at the point where they can get married though. :P

  120. 120.

    Cain

    June 10, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Most of us middle class south indian brahmins have removed this practice as disgusting and awful. I don’t think we are at the point where they can get married though. :P

  121. 121.

    moderateindy

    June 11, 2014 at 12:48 am

    @beltane:

    A real, proper lady is sold, as an intact virgin, to a man of her father’s choosing for a price of twenty camels

    Seriously, I could get a virgin for the price of a pack of smokes? Now I feel real stupid dropping all that coin on flowers and dinner, dating them impure women that have allowed someone into their precious garden.

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