Hemant, while I don't want to get caught up in semantics, calling it "sexual harassment" is... totally underselling what happened. This adult (someone my age) plied a _19 year old_ with alcohol (a lot of it from what I've read), and he was her superior, resulting in her, in multiple ways, being unable to either give _or_ meaningfully revoke consent. If *I* did what this guy did, I'd definitely be going to prison. Without a doubt.
What he did was rape. End sentence, end paragraph.
If no one is actually charging him with rape, i.e. alleging it, is it even "alleged"? I'm not familiar enough with libel law to know one way or the other, but I don't see any point to slamming Hemant for playing it safe.
Not a lawyer, but I tend to think not. Hemant is fully empowered to state his own opinions, as we are, and I don't think it would qualify as inflammatory speech.
American libel laws are quite lax when it comes to public figures. I say lax, but I really mean that the bar is quite high. You not only have to show it was wrong, but also prove actual malice. I suspect he could easily sue in Britain. Pseudo-historian David Irving for instance sued Deborah Lipstadt in Britain because even though she was American, she was published in Britain as well as the US and British libel laws are notoriously biased in favour of the plaintiff. Or were, they've changed it a bit but apparently not enough.
It IS wrong. Iowa and a whole shitload of other states need to call it what it is and mete out punishment accordingly if the creep is found guilty. I am beyond sick and tired of all this official minimizing of a vicious and violent act that changes the victim's entire life and turns their world upside down forever. And then, the legal system and society at large rarely has the victim's back. And as a woman, I am beyond sick and tired of always, always, always having to be aware of threats to my safety whenever I leave my house and "take precautions" as if I lived in a quasi-warzone.
As Val Uptuous states so succinctly and eloquently above, FUCK. THAT. SHIT.
George Carlin (the nation is much poorer for his passing) did a marvelous stand-up session on how Americans use official-sounding language to obfuscate uncomfortable truths, much like the legal system continues to substitute polysyllabic legalese for "rape."
The governor of my state (Jay Inslee) just signed a law that protects transgender children seeking gender-affirming care protection from estranged parents trying to interfere in that care.
Ooooh, dammit! I forgot that number one isn’t dump on the poor, just move them all down one. Number one is be holier than thou and demand more respect than anyone else in the room no matter how nasty you are.
Slaton is part of a religion based on the rape of an underage girl by a crafty pigeon who was not its husband.
The imaginary Mary wasn't given a choice. I call that rape. I call what Slaton did to the very real Sophia rape. Why he hasn't been arrested and charged with rape is beyond obscene.
But the bible says he'd have to marry his victim--and he's already married. You wouldn't want him to have more than one wife, would you? Oh wait, the bible's okay with that too.
Well Brigham Young had many wives and so did Solomon so that's not an insurmountable problem. (Except that today's laws don't allow these Christians to do what they really want to do).
Reminds me of a bad joke told by Bob Saget, who actually told it to see who would laugh in the audience and castigate those laughing. The joke was simply him saying:
"I really like middle age women.......you know 14, 15, 16...."
Common at the time all over the Middle East and Europe. Particularly among aristocratic families who never had to delay marriage because of economic circumstances. In theory the marriage was not consummated until the onset of menses.
God impregnated Mary. God is Jesus. Jesus is Mary's son. Ipso facto, Mary's son impregnated her and committed incest before he was born. OK, I'll believe that. Here's my money.
Few things trigger my personal alarm bells quite like a theatrical profession of piety on the part of a politician. They always have something to hide. This world doesn't face a single problem that has Christianity as a solution.
Considering the rest of his staff, all male btw, were willing to break the rules to protect him, I’m gonna guess all of em are at least fine with rape, even if they haven’t done it yet. Kicking him out was a self preservation act, pretend to punish him so no one goes snooping around for their bad behavior.
They don't have to respect anyone; they OWN everyone who isn't just like them. Members of other religions, women, LGBT folk, anyone with a bit more melanin in their skin... Not for nothing does their holy book endorse slavery.
Jesus, who had the power of a god, never freed a single slave. Instead, he gave instructions on how to beat them. Even the obedient ones. Yet he's considered holy, moral and righteous.
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
-- Abraham Lincoln, from his speech to the 140th Indiana Regiment, March 17th, 1865
Amazing that a mere Deist human should be far more moral than the Christian messiah.
FFS, what a fucking pig. No, that's an insult to pigs, they're intelligent. This man is a used condom. No, that was at least once useful. He's a used condom with a staple in it. Could have done good things but instead it just stabbed the people he's supposed to help in the junk. There we go.
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he was the one spreading it around bragging he nailed her, making it sound like she asked for it rather than him drugging her.
I'll say this for the man... he sure doesn't do things by half-measures. Half-truths, sure- and far more whole lies, wearing flaming trousers like a Hollywood stuntman (are we sure he's never claimed to be one of those?)... but he 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 does not lack for commitment. I wouldn't be shocked if I learned that he'd washed the unemployment checks, too- when this guy finds a crime he likes, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 does he ever go for it!
Well... not 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. The words he actually 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 were "not guilty." At this point, though, we pretty much have to take it as a given that anything coming out of his mouth is the exact polar opposite of the truth, so... it's basically a confession, innit?
Surprising absolutely nobody except perhaps the utter dupes who d̸o̸n̸a̸t̸e̸d̸ ̸m̸o̸n̸e̸y̸ ̸t̸o̸ got rolled by him, they all boil down to variations of "filching money in amounts large enough to upset the US Attorney's Office" and "fibbing about shit that it's actually illegal to fib about."
Rape. It was rape. He drugged and raped the aide.
Being expelled from his position is not where this needs to end. Prosecute him for rape. And the punishment is only a year in prison? Fuck that shït.
It being Texas I'm surprised the punishment isn't 'atta-boys' and free beer.
Unless the person was black of course.
Free beer, tomorrow.
Free beers! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip...
Hemant, while I don't want to get caught up in semantics, calling it "sexual harassment" is... totally underselling what happened. This adult (someone my age) plied a _19 year old_ with alcohol (a lot of it from what I've read), and he was her superior, resulting in her, in multiple ways, being unable to either give _or_ meaningfully revoke consent. If *I* did what this guy did, I'd definitely be going to prison. Without a doubt.
What he did was rape. End sentence, end paragraph.
Utterly agreed. If the young lady is up for it, Slaton should be so charged, never mind sued for damages!
Can Hemant be sued for slander/libel if he uses the word rape if the victim doesn't press charges and/or this asshole isn't condemned ?
Don’t forget we have a magic word, allegedly. He can say allegedly raped her, until he’s convicted then it’s proven and no longer alleged.
If no one is actually charging him with rape, i.e. alleging it, is it even "alleged"? I'm not familiar enough with libel law to know one way or the other, but I don't see any point to slamming Hemant for playing it safe.
Not a lawyer, but I tend to think not. Hemant is fully empowered to state his own opinions, as we are, and I don't think it would qualify as inflammatory speech.
American libel laws are quite lax when it comes to public figures. I say lax, but I really mean that the bar is quite high. You not only have to show it was wrong, but also prove actual malice. I suspect he could easily sue in Britain. Pseudo-historian David Irving for instance sued Deborah Lipstadt in Britain because even though she was American, she was published in Britain as well as the US and British libel laws are notoriously biased in favour of the plaintiff. Or were, they've changed it a bit but apparently not enough.
Not too long ago, I searched Iowa Code (where I live) for the word "rape".... it's not there. Those crimes fall under sexual assault here.
It seems less offensive, and that feels wrong.
In NM, it is criminal sexual penetration.
It IS wrong. Iowa and a whole shitload of other states need to call it what it is and mete out punishment accordingly if the creep is found guilty. I am beyond sick and tired of all this official minimizing of a vicious and violent act that changes the victim's entire life and turns their world upside down forever. And then, the legal system and society at large rarely has the victim's back. And as a woman, I am beyond sick and tired of always, always, always having to be aware of threats to my safety whenever I leave my house and "take precautions" as if I lived in a quasi-warzone.
As Val Uptuous states so succinctly and eloquently above, FUCK. THAT. SHIT.
George Carlin (the nation is much poorer for his passing) did a marvelous stand-up session on how Americans use official-sounding language to obfuscate uncomfortable truths, much like the legal system continues to substitute polysyllabic legalese for "rape."
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-fc-2212&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-2212&hspart=fc¶m1=7¶m2=eJw1i8sKgzAQRX9llhYkTkw0LX5GV0VcpJrGkGjEB5Z%2BfSfQMot7zr2MdUPbdPcHRxRCijbvZnKyG2GaUCEvS5I%2B9ZRuIbiyUjKOkqk0WROpOzbCQxNN8eNC0EXFELLTzUM8N5h34MiwASpq2cC7lhfQyxLMaZ7e7UUlFBM1ZH7cp5BDcN6ANb2PF%2BjHNU6m4FwwTAebfunV%2FV%2FMYH8bV0oyUX0BiZI%2BPw%3D%3D&p=George+Carlin%2C+sheel+shock+to+post+traumatic+stress+disorder&type=fc_A30C76C6185_s58_g_e_d070122_n1009_c1#id=1&vid=e632b83bc3a4dbc4610f050e30e02b35&action=click
Yeah, I wonder if that was a mistyped word, he does call it assault (a much more apt term) later in the article. Although I agree it's just rape.
OT
The governor of my state (Jay Inslee) just signed a law that protects transgender children seeking gender-affirming care protection from estranged parents trying to interfere in that care.
Good on ya, Gov. Inslee.
Nice! I needed some good news.
Conservative Christian Values
1. Dump on poor people, stealing as much as you can
2. Finagle as much government assistance as possible through fraud
3. Worship and fellate the rich
4. Sexual assault
5. Hate and vilify people of color, women, LGBT people, disabled people and anyone not in your church
6. Guns, guns, and more guns
7. Lie
Just like Jesus said.
Sure they can be distilled down to “ Hypocrisy. Sexual misconduct. Cruelty. Projection."
But they love to get specific.
Ooooh, dammit! I forgot that number one isn’t dump on the poor, just move them all down one. Number one is be holier than thou and demand more respect than anyone else in the room no matter how nasty you are.
First rule of Jesus Club: never shut up about Jesus Club.
Nailed it.
"𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 “𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.”"
If I were his family, I'd be packing the car.
Interesting he doesn't say what he wants to spend time with them FOR. Can I be pardoned for being a tad suspicious?
I’m a bit curious how his family feels about spending more time with him…
rape is not an affair.
Slaton is part of a religion based on the rape of an underage girl by a crafty pigeon who was not its husband.
The imaginary Mary wasn't given a choice. I call that rape. I call what Slaton did to the very real Sophia rape. Why he hasn't been arrested and charged with rape is beyond obscene.
But the bible says he'd have to marry his victim--and he's already married. You wouldn't want him to have more than one wife, would you? Oh wait, the bible's okay with that too.
He's also gotta cough up 50 silver shekels for the victim's dad. Then it's totes OK. :S
I don't know where he's going to find silver shekels these days. Would coin dealers have them?
The Israeli Shekel is still the official currency of Israel.
Whether that's in paper form or coinage (or both), I'm not sure.
Well Brigham Young had many wives and so did Solomon so that's not an insurmountable problem. (Except that today's laws don't allow these Christians to do what they really want to do).
See? They're persecuted.
And a number of Joey's nearly 40 brides were underage. What a surprise.
The youngest (Helen Mar Kimball) was 14.
Well wasn't one of Muhammed's wives like 8?
Edit: she was 6 !! (Aisha )
Aisha. Married at 7 or 8 to Muhammad when he was into his 50's.
The marriage was...uh, "consummated" when she was 9 or 10. What is it with the religious and child sex?
Reminds me of a bad joke told by Bob Saget, who actually told it to see who would laugh in the audience and castigate those laughing. The joke was simply him saying:
"I really like middle age women.......you know 14, 15, 16...."
Common at the time all over the Middle East and Europe. Particularly among aristocratic families who never had to delay marriage because of economic circumstances. In theory the marriage was not consummated until the onset of menses.
God impregnated Mary. God is Jesus. Jesus is Mary's son. Ipso facto, Mary's son impregnated her and committed incest before he was born. OK, I'll believe that. Here's my money.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Zombies#Plot
Few things trigger my personal alarm bells quite like a theatrical profession of piety on the part of a politician. They always have something to hide. This world doesn't face a single problem that has Christianity as a solution.
Piety is not the lesson it brings to people, it's the mistake they bring to the lesson.
Okay, that's ONE. How many more such asses are in the Texas state government? I'm quite happy to bet that Slaton isn't the only jerk out there.
Considering the rest of his staff, all male btw, were willing to break the rules to protect him, I’m gonna guess all of em are at least fine with rape, even if they haven’t done it yet. Kicking him out was a self preservation act, pretend to punish him so no one goes snooping around for their bad behavior.
I wonder how many of his other staffers even think he did anything wrong. I've known plenty of people who think drunken consent is, well, consent.
The rest are following the eleventh commandment: Thou Shalt Not Get Caught.
All of the repukes. If they're not misogynists they can't get elected in Texass.
I would be shocked to find that this was the first time he did something like this.
2 "magic" words, youth pastor.
Christians love to manipulate and disrespect people. Slaton is no exception to the rule.
"Manipulation is when they blame you for your reaction to their disrespect"
-- Anonymous
They don't have to respect anyone; they OWN everyone who isn't just like them. Members of other religions, women, LGBT folk, anyone with a bit more melanin in their skin... Not for nothing does their holy book endorse slavery.
Yet they demand automatic respect for themselves and their beliefs.
And they wonder why people look at them with disdain?
Well really now, slaves always resent their masters. We just have to learn our place, that's all.
Jesus, who had the power of a god, never freed a single slave. Instead, he gave instructions on how to beat them. Even the obedient ones. Yet he's considered holy, moral and righteous.
"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
-- Abraham Lincoln, from his speech to the 140th Indiana Regiment, March 17th, 1865
Amazing that a mere Deist human should be far more moral than the Christian messiah.
FFS, what a fucking pig. No, that's an insult to pigs, they're intelligent. This man is a used condom. No, that was at least once useful. He's a used condom with a staple in it. Could have done good things but instead it just stabbed the people he's supposed to help in the junk. There we go.
"We know what those values are: Hypocrisy. Sexual misconduct. Cruelty. Projection."
Christianity in a nutshell.
Misogyny. Racism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Christofascism.
What's the conversion rate Dollar/Shekel theses days ?
Even if she was a virgin and then lost her value the unanimous vote for the expulsion is still surprising.
“Within days of the sexual harassment, all the legislators seemed to know what had happened.”
Back channels can be incredibly swift with such things.
That's just locker room talk.
Back channels sounds more like San Francisco bath house talk to me. ;)
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he was the one spreading it around bragging he nailed her, making it sound like she asked for it rather than him drugging her.
That sounds like the most likely channel.
OT: George Santos charged.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/politics/george-santos-charged-justice-department/index.html
Has Christmas day changed ?
Nope ... but maybe it's your un-birthday!
It’s my unbirthday! My favorite day.
I could have sworn that your unbirthday was yesterday.
HUBD
Woo hoo! Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen!
I pass. I want some hobak buchim instead.
As tired of ice cream cake as I once was, I'm not passing up ice cream for zucchini.
Probably explains my waistline.
https://youtu.be/RdsZT7WKjW8
They're just persecuting him because he's, like, you know, guilty.
https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1973/05/29
We can classify Republicans in two groups: Under Indictment and Yet To Be Indicted.
Holy shit I can't wait to hear his testimony. "Your Honor, you can't prosecute me! I'm your mother!"
"I can't be guilty of sex with an underage person. I'm a youth minister." I can already see the jury doubled over with laughter.
It's Texass; the jury would nod in agreement.
Damn, you're right. 😩
https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-federal-charges-updates-33667a0900271e5002459ab748d8fdc8
"𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 2021 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘻𝘪 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦."
I'll say this for the man... he sure doesn't do things by half-measures. Half-truths, sure- and far more whole lies, wearing flaming trousers like a Hollywood stuntman (are we sure he's never claimed to be one of those?)... but he 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 does not lack for commitment. I wouldn't be shocked if I learned that he'd washed the unemployment checks, too- when this guy finds a crime he likes, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 does he ever go for it!
Update- Santos plead guilty! /s
Well... not 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. The words he actually 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 were "not guilty." At this point, though, we pretty much have to take it as a given that anything coming out of his mouth is the exact polar opposite of the truth, so... it's basically a confession, innit?
*𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵- 𝘜𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦- The indictment is actually for 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 counts, not the two which were initially reported: https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-charges-explanation-b3469ff891e0fa53ea78fa15910ebc62
Surprising absolutely nobody except perhaps the utter dupes who d̸o̸n̸a̸t̸e̸d̸ ̸m̸o̸n̸e̸y̸ ̸t̸o̸ got rolled by him, they all boil down to variations of "filching money in amounts large enough to upset the US Attorney's Office" and "fibbing about shit that it's actually illegal to fib about."
Do his supporters who voted him into office get any credit?