"Pop her ... pop her again"

[deep]

S.C. Lawmakers' Remarks Lead to Uproar

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Lawmakers were taped joking "Pop her ... pop her again" at a committee meeting when they tabled a bill aimed at strengthening state law against domestic violence.

The (Columbia) State newspaper published details Thursday of the meeting Tuesday of the state House Judiciary Committee. One legislator's comments to a female reporter after the meeting also caused an uproar.

"And they wonder why we rank in the bottom on women in office and we lead in women getting killed by men," Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said. House leaders said they plan to reintroduce the bill.

At Tuesday's meeting, according to the newspaper account, Rep. John Graham Altman asked why the bill's title "Protect Our Women in Every Relationship (POWER)" just mentioned protecting women.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison suggested calling the bill the "Protecting Our People in Every Relationship Act," or "POPER," the newspaper reported.

A voice on the tape is heard pronouncing it "Pop her." Then another says "Pop her again," followed by laughter.

"I do not understand why women continue to go back around men who abuse them," Altman told WIS-TV later. "I mean, you women want it one way and not another," he told the female reporter.

Laura Hudson of the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network called Altman's comments "very troubling." She said victims many times return to abusers because they have no other place to go.

Some 150 women marched on the Statehouse on Thursday to protest Altman's comments.

Severe instances of domestic violence, involving a deadly weapon or the threat of death or serious injury, are already a felony in the state. The bill would broaden the types of abuse classified as felonies.

 

[Do Miss America]

Sound like classy men

 

[daygloeyes2]

 

[trish0860]

jesus....unbelievable

 

[indra]

Sound like classy men

Yep. Real charmers.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

It really doesn't surprise me. I think we need some more men to truly speak up and out about this issue.

Sometimes I wonder how many people even care about it..

 

[U2Girl1978]

Great work he's doing!

 

[dandy]

"I do not understand why women continue to go back around men who abuse them," Altman told WIS-TV later. "I mean, you women want it one way and not another," he told the female reporter.

it infuriates me that all too often the people with the authority to make and change the law have no clue about the issues involved. here we have a mysogynist who's responsible for changes to domestic violence laws. lovely.

this guy deserves to be kicked out of office for such hateful comments, but it won't happen.

!

 

[U2democrat]

damn men.

 

[youtooellen]

gosh. idiots.

 

[deep]

Chickens 1, Abused Spouses 0

Here's all you need to know about the S.C. General Assembly. The Judiciary Committee of the S.C. House of representatives just passed out a bill protecting gamecocks (the real chicken kind, not the USC athletic version) while tabling another bill aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence. From WIS-TV:

Both cockfighting and domestic violence are currently misdemeanor crimes, punishable by 30 days in jail. If the bill passes, cockfighting will become a felony, punishable by five years in jail. Domestic violence crimes will remain a misdemeanor.

The real good part of this, though, is these quotes from resident mossback John Graham Altman (R-Charleston) who voted in favor of the cockfighting bill and against the domestic violence legislation:

On cockfighting:

"I was all for that. Cockfighting reminds me of the Roman circus, coliseum."

On domestic violence legislation:

"I think this bill is probably drafted out of an abundance of ignorance."

But wait there's more. Reporter Kara Gormley's questioning of his position on the two bills led to this exchange:

"People who compare the two are not very smart and if you don't understand the difference, Ms. Gormley, between trying to ban the savage practice of watching chickens trying to kill each other and protecting people rights in CDV statutes, I'll never be able to explain it to you in a 100 years ma'am."

News 10 reporter Kara Gormley asked Altman, "That's fine if you feel you will never be able to explain it to me, but my question to you is: does that show that we are valuing a gamecock's life over a woman's life?"

Altman again, "You're really not very bright and I realize you are not accustomed to this, but I'm accustomed to reporters having a better sense of depth of things and you're asking this question to me would indicate you can't understand the answer. To ask the question is to demonstrate an enormous amount of ignorance. I'm not trying to be rude or hostile, I'm telling you."

Gormley, "It's rude when you tell someone they are not very bright."

Altman, "You're not very bright and you'll just have to live with that."

Finally, here's Altman's position on criminal domestic violence:

"There ought not to be a second offense. The woman ought to not be around the man. I mean you women want it one way and not another. Women want to punish the men, and I do not understand why women continue to go back around men who abuse them. And I've asked women that and they all tell me the same answer, John Graham you don't understand. And I say you're right, I don't understand."

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

I think it's sleazy to judge a person by taped conversations that he/she didn't know were being taped.

Don't get me wrong, I think domestic abuse against women is for cowards and they should be punished.

But I still think it's wrong to deceive a person into thinking he's not being monitored.

 

[dandy]

legislative debates are usually taped and part of the public record, so no privacy issues were violated in this case.

"People who compare the two are not very smart and if you don't understand the difference, Ms. Gormley, between trying to ban the savage practice of watching chickens trying to kill each other and protecting people rights in CDV statutes, I'll never be able to explain it to you in a 100 years ma'am."

so let me get this straight--cockfighting is a savage practice that deserves to be a felony offence, but men who beat their wives are only guilty of a misdemeanour? seriously, is this guy saying that chickens' rights are worthy of greater legal protections than women's rights?

oh, no, wait--i'm just a silly woman trying to make a comparison about things that my tiny little mind can't possibly hope to understand.

unbelievable.

 

[Liesje]

I think it's sleazy to judge a person by taped conversations that he/she didn't know were being taped.

Don't get me wrong, I think domestic abuse against women is for cowards and they should be punished.

But I still think it's wrong to deceive a person into thinking he's not being monitored.

"Deceiving" would be telling him he's not being monitored and then monitoring him.

What an arshole!

So, it's the woman's fault that her husband/lover/whatever decides to whoop up on her every now and then? So, if all these women just shut up and left and these men moved on to new women and more violent abuse, maybe resulting in death or maybe abusing little kids.....that's the right solution? Yeah.....right.....