Assaulting Reporters Is OK With 41% Of Republicans

I don't know about you, but I find this chart very troubling. A democracy cannot exist without a free press, and yet more than four out of ten Republicans (41%) think it is appropriate for a politician to body slam a member of the media (as a GOP candidate for Congress did in Montana), and 42% of Trump voters agree. Less than half of both those groups say body slamming a reporter is inappropriate.

Understand that we are talking about a criminal act -- assault (and if the reporter is seriously injured by the body slam, the charge could even be a felony). How can any decent person believe this is appropriate in a democracy? It shows just how far out of the mainstream (how extreme) the modern version of the Republican Party has become.

The chart reflects the results of a new Public Policy Polling survey -- done between June 9th and 11th of a random national sample of 811 registered voters, with a 3.4 point margin of error.

1/3 Of U.S. Women Worry About Being Sexually Assaulted

This chart reflects the results of a recent Gallup Poll -- done between October 5th and 9th of a random national sample of 1,017 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

This survey helps to explain why so many women refuse to support the candidacy of Donald Trump -- especially since his lewd tape extolling sexual assault was released, and many women have come forward with stories of how Trump sexually assaulted them.

More than a third of women (34%) in this country admit to being frequently or occasionally worried about being sexually assaulted. Why would women want to vote for a candidate with a history of sexual assault -- a candidate who minimizes sexual assault, calling it just normal "locker room" behavior for men?

Hillary Clinton's Stand On Campus Sexual Assault

(This photo of Hillary Clinton is from her web site.)

From hillaryclinton.com:

“I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault: Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard.”

HILLARY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

An estimated one in five women report being sexually assaulted while in college. Hillary will fight to bring an end to sexual assault on America’s campuses—because every student deserves a safe environment where they can learn and thrive, not live in fear. 

Thanks to the efforts of advocates and survivors, we are seeing the beginnings of good work around the country. President Obama’s administration has worked hard to shine a light on campus sexual assault.

Hillary will build on the progress that has been made—and take on the problems we have yet to solve. Hillary’s plan to end campus sexual assault is guided by three core principles: 

• Providing comprehensive support to survivors. Hillary will ensure that every campus offers survivors the support they need—no matter their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or race. Those services—from counseling to critical health care—should be confidential, comprehensive, and coordinated. 
• Ensuring a fair process for all. Too often, the process of addressing a sexual assault on campus is confusing and convoluted. And many who choose to report in the criminal justice system fear that their voices will be dismissed instead of heard. Hillary believes we need a fair process for all involved, whether that’s in campus disciplinary proceedings or in the criminal justice system. This includes providing all parties involved with notice and transparency in campus disciplinary proceedings, and ensuring that complaints filed in the criminal justice system are treated seriously.
• Increasing prevention efforts. We need to recognize that it’s not enough to address this problem by responding only once sexual assault occurs. Hillary believes we need to redouble our prevention efforts and start them earlier. She will increase sexual violence prevention education programs that cover issues like consent and bystander intervention—and she’ll make sure we have programs not only in college, but also in secondary school.

Hillary has led efforts to address violence against women her entire career:

• As first lady, Hillary supported the creation of the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women. She also cast a global spotlight on the issue in her historic 1995 Beijing speech, where she denounced violence against women as a clear violation of human rights.
• As senator, she co-sponsored the 2005 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Additionally, Hillary introduced the CARE Act twice, to ensure that rape and incest victims had access to emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms. And, in response to the spike in reports of sexual assault cases in the military, she introduced legislation to make emergency contraception available to servicewomen.
• As secretary of state, Hillary rallied the international community to take collective action to end violence against women. She drew attention to the use of rape as a weapon of war and spearheaded a U.N. Resolution that established guidelines for an international response to sexual assault in war torn areas.

Public Says Military Has Not Done Enough To Address The Problem With Sexual Harassment, Assault, And Rape

These are some rather disturbing statistics. It seems that 24% (or about one out of every four) of veterans say they personally know a victim of sexual harassment, assault, or rape in the military. That's 6 points higher than the number of nonveterans who say they know a victim in their workplace, and 3 points higher than nonveteran men. But the biggest difference comes among women -- where 60% of women vets say they know a victim, while only 19% of nonveteran women know a victim.

While these figures show we have a society-wide problem with sexual harassment, assault, and rape, they also show that this problem is much bigger in the military. Some may try to explain this away by saying the military is traditionally a job for men, but that excuse simply won't fly. Sexual harassment, assault, and rape are crimes -- and they are inexcusable in any workplace, even those traditionally occupied by men.

Congress recently tried to address this problem, but they chickened out at the last moment and left the decision on whether charges would be brought in the hands of military officers. In other words, there was little change since it left the "good old boy" system intact -- and lets officers go easy on those they like and harder on those they don't like. These decisions should have been put in the hands of legal professionals (just like it is in the non-military society).

This brings up the question of what does the American public think. Do they think the military's implementation of this weak law passed by Congress is enough to solve this problem, or should more be done. As the charts below show, the public does not think the military (or Congress) has adequately addressed to problems with sexual harassment, assault, or rape. I have to agree. More needs to be done.

All of these charts were made with information from the Gallup Poll.

1,268 veterans were questioned between June 16th and 20th (with a 3 point margin of error).

1,016 nonveterans were questioned on July 2nd and 3rd (with a 4 point margin of error).

Senate Bill Won't Fix The Military Sex Assault Problem

In 2012, there were 26,000 cases of sexual assault in the United States military -- and that's just the number that were reported. It is believed that there were many more that were not reported, because the victim feared retaliation or expected that nothing would be done. That's a serious and shameful problem -- and as the chart above shows, the American public knows it. A new Rasmussen Poll shows that 82% of the public says it is a serious problem.

Last year, Congress passed a bill that was a good first step in solving this problem. That bill provided an attorney for a victim, made retaliation against a victim a federal crime, required anyone convicted of sexual assault to receive a dishonorable decision, and removed the authority of military commanders to overturn a guilty verdict. But the bill stopped short of making the biggest change that needed to be made -- taking the decision on whether to take a sex assault case to trial away from military commanders (and putting it in the hands of legal professionals).

Those opposing that change said it would hurt the authority of military commanders to do their job in commanding troops. I think that's ridiculous. They would have the same authority they always had to perform the job they have been given -- to command troops and wage necessary wars. They just would no longer be put in the middle of a sexual assault case, which they have not been trained to deal with. In fact, not having to decide whether to pursue a sex assault case or not might actually help them, since they would no longer be responsible for a decision (either way) that could prove to be unpopular.

I do think, or at least I hope, that most military commanders would make good decisions on whether to prosecute a case or not. But it only takes a few rotten apples to stink up the whole barrel. And there are weak or stupid commanders who would try to cover up a sex assault instead of prosecuting it -- because they like the officer or soldier, or because they think the officer or soldier is particularly good at the job, or maybe just because they think a sex assault prosecution would look bad for them personally (making it look like they weren't a good commander). These are all things that have no place in the decision on whether to prosecute, and putting the decision in the hands of legal professionals would eliminate them.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) tried to fix this problem this year. She, along with some other senators, introduced a bill that would take this decision out of the hands of military commanders. She had majority support for the bill, but the bill was filibustered and she couldn't get the 60 votes necessary to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote (falling about 5 votes short).

Instead, the Senate, on a 97 to 0 vote, passed a much weaker bill. The bill they passed would extend last year's law to cover the military service academies, give victims some input into whether a case would be heard in a military or civilian court, and would not allow a "good soldier" defense. But this weak bill still lets military commanders make the final decision on whether a case would be prosecuted or not. In essence, the Senate argued a lot and then did virtually nothing. Commanders can (and many will) still cover up any sexual assaults that take place under their command, and there will be very little that a victim can do about it.

And I can't blame this entirely on the Republicans. The successful effort to kill the good bill (and pass a weak one) involved senators from both parties. Both Republicans and Democrats voted to keep Gillibrand's bill from reaching the Senate floor (and her bill had support from senators in both parties).

I'm sure these senators will now go back to their home states and brag that they have solved the problem of sexual assault in the military -- but they haven't, and the American people know that. That same Rasmussen Poll (taken on March 8th and 9th of 1,000 nationwide likely voters, with a margin of error of 3 points) shows that 66% (or two out of every three Americans) believe the decision on whether to prosecute a sex assault case should be taken out of the hands of military commanders.

Why Is Sexual Assault OK In Military ?

There is no doubt that the "good old boy" network is alive and well in our military. We learned recently that sexual assaults are growing in the U.S. military -- in spite of the fact the Pentagon leaders have promised to do something about the problem. In the last year the number of reported sexual assaults has grown significantly -- and the number of unreported crimes of that nature are also believed to have grown.

Just last week, we learned that the Air Force's top officer in charge of preventing sexual assaults in the military (and stationed at the Pentagon itself) was arrested and charged with sexual assault. This probably shouldn't have surprised us, since there have been recent cases where a conviction for sexual assault by a military court has been overturned by a commanding officer.

Now we learn that a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood (Texas) has been arrested for operating a prostitution ring, forcing a subordinate into prostitution, and committing sexual assaults on two other subordinates. Making matters even worse is the fact that this sergeant was in charge (at the battalion level) for preventing sexual assaults.

Frankly, I don't understand why the military can't seem to get a handle on this problem. Our society at large has determined that rapes and other sexual assaults are serious crimes -- and criminals are being punished more severely than in the past (although more still needs to be done). But the military can't seem to shake off the old "boys will be boys" attitude.

This is unacceptable on any level. Whatever happened to dignity, honesty, and honor in the military? Do those concepts mean nothing when it comes to rape and sexual assault? I simply don't believe the military couldn't solve this problem if it really wanted to do that. They don't have any problem controlling other crimes -- ranging from insubordination to murder. And the reason why is because they consider those other crimes to be serious. It's time they started considering sexual assaults as serious also, and started treating those crimes the same way other crimes are treated in the military.

This is a problem of leadership, and leadership problems start at the top. If the military leaders in this country don't step up and take the appropriate action, then they should be replaced by leaders who will.

Sexual Assault A Growing Problem In Military

The creep in the picture to the left was arrested for sexual battery in Arlington (Virginia) last Monday. He groped a woman's breasts and buttocks, and when he tried to do it a second time, she fought him off and called the police.

But it gets worse. This man is a Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force -- and he is the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response chief at the Pentagon. Let me repeat that. The man the Air Force put in charge of preventing sexual assault has been arrested for sexual assault.

Could this be part of the reason that the military can't seem to get a handle on its sexual assault problem? And there is still a growing problem with sexual assault in the military. A new report from the Department of Defense shows that 3,374 sexual assaults in the military were reported in 2012 -- a 6% rise from the previous year.

And that's just the tip of the ice berg, since most sexual assaults are not reported -- because the women are afraid they will be ignored or have their careers hurt if they report them (or have the blame put on them for being assaulted and kicked out of the military). The number of estimated sexual assaults also rose last year -- from 19,000 in 2011 to 26,000 in 2012.

Obviously, the "good old boy" culture of the military is still alive and well. And just as obviously, the military is still failing to effectively deal with its growing problem of sexual assault. Maybe it's time for some heads to roll at the Pentagon, because this is totally unacceptable in a free country that claims to value equal rights.