Neo-cons attack little Vermont *(possibly triggering)--Clarkman rants and raves
If you google "Cashman VT" you'll get a barrage of stories about a local judge who sentenced a man who commited sexual assault against a child of the course of a few years, to 60 days in jail. Since this drama has been going on for a few weeks, Judge Cashman upped the sentence to 3 years and, the corrections department has agreed to give this man treatment while he's in jail. (previous to this, the corrections dept. labeled this man "low risk" and didn't offer him treatment). There was and continues to be state-wide outrage and national news coverage over it. Bill O'Riley of the "O'Riley Factor" (total asshole) has covered it and the word on the street is the Republicans in state and some Republicans out of state are milking this for all it's worth as a way to attack and accuse Democrats as being bad and in favor of pedofiles, queers and all things bad. (you know the drill... Blame us for the destruction of "american values", "family values", etc.)
So the bill our community is working on--adding gender ID and expression to the state's non-discrimination law-- is on hold. Very on hold. I've got a sinking feeling and I'm really pissed off at some individuals in Vermont who are using this situation to drag liberals and Democrats through the mud. In turn they are holding up anything else in the state, any bill, any issue, anything, from getting talked about. Ammendments to laws regarding corrections, sexual abuse and treatment-- new proposed laws, and many other offers have been made from the House Judiciary Committee, and (to no surprise) the Governor and his crew have rejected it all. And the fucking Republican party is blaming the Democrats for holding things up!! That is the biggest crock of shit I have ever seen! They're still fixating on getting the judge de-robed. (Anyone should be able to see that the real issue here is how the state itself deals with sexual assault, sex offender treatment and goverenance of the dept. of corrections, not to mention adequate funding for anti-violence education). What a fucking waste of my time and tax money, Governor Douglas!
Thanks for nothing, asshole.
So the bill our community is working on--adding gender ID and expression to the state's non-discrimination law-- is on hold. Very on hold. I've got a sinking feeling and I'm really pissed off at some individuals in Vermont who are using this situation to drag liberals and Democrats through the mud. In turn they are holding up anything else in the state, any bill, any issue, anything, from getting talked about. Ammendments to laws regarding corrections, sexual abuse and treatment-- new proposed laws, and many other offers have been made from the House Judiciary Committee, and (to no surprise) the Governor and his crew have rejected it all. And the fucking Republican party is blaming the Democrats for holding things up!! That is the biggest crock of shit I have ever seen! They're still fixating on getting the judge de-robed. (Anyone should be able to see that the real issue here is how the state itself deals with sexual assault, sex offender treatment and goverenance of the dept. of corrections, not to mention adequate funding for anti-violence education). What a fucking waste of my time and tax money, Governor Douglas!
Thanks for nothing, asshole.