A Method in the Madness
A Method in the Madness
Those who have heard about the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act — which just passed the House and received an endorsement from President Bush — may wonder how the bill muscled its way through with such glaring problems. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) provided a possible reason: Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and his staff apparently perverted the captions of five amendments in order to “distort their meaning and intent.” You are likely to see a pattern to his strategy…
Original Amendment: A Nadler amendment allows an adult who could be prosecuted under the bill to go to a Federal district court and seek a waiver to the state’s parental notice laws if this remedy is not available in the state court.
Sensenbrenner’s Translation: Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have created an additional layer of Federal court review that could be used by sexual predators to escape conviction under the bill.
———-
Original Amendment: A Nadler amendment to exempt a grandparent or adult sibling from the criminal and civil provisions in the bill.
Sensenbrenner’s Translation: Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have exempted sexual predators from prosecution under the bill if they were grandparents or adult siblings of a minor.
———-
Original Amendment: A Scott amendment to exempt cab drivers, bus drivers and others in the business transportation profession from the criminal provisions in the bill.
Sensenbrenner’s Translation: Mr. Scott offered an amendment that would have exempted sexual predators from prosecution if they are taxicab drivers, bus drivers, or others in the business of professional transport.
———-
Original Amendment: A Scott amendment that would have limited criminal liability to the person committing the offense in the first degree.
Sensenbrenner’s Translation: Mr. Scott offered an amendment that would have exempted from prosecution under the bill those who aid and abet criminals who could be prosecuted under the bill.
———-
Original Amendment: A Jackson-Lee amendment to exempt clergy, godparents, aunts, uncles or first cousins from the penalties in the bill.
Sensenbrenner’s Translation: Ms. Jackson-Lee offered an amendment that would have exempted sexual predators from prosecution under the bill if they were clergy, godparents, aunts, uncles, or first cousins of a minor, and would require a study by the Government Accounting Office.
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Disgusting.
Typical, but disgusting
April 29th, 2005 at 3:49 pmI agree with John, very typical…and nasty!
April 29th, 2005 at 4:32 pmYou stole my word John. Disgusting.
I wonder if Sensebrenner’s grandmother was a ’sexual predator’ who happened to be a grandmother.
April 29th, 2005 at 5:43 pmWhat an asshole.
April 29th, 2005 at 6:50 pmActually, though it is juvenile, it’s also entirely consistent with the anti-choice crowd’s language. “Abortion clinics cover for child rapists” is one of their big rhetorical points. No, seriously.
April 29th, 2005 at 7:16 pmPlease read Rep. Louise Slaughter’s diaryover at Daily Kos. She posted right after giving this speech. She lays out the totally unethical way they treated these amendments.
April 29th, 2005 at 8:31 pmIt makes more sense to call those who desire to force a woman to carry an unwanted embryo to term “sexual predators”. Wouldn’t it be interesting to replace “right to life” or “anti-abortion” with the term “sexual predators”? After all, those who are determined to force women, minors or otherwise, to complete an unwanted pregnancy are using/attempting to use force to prey on women. They force/would like to force women’s bodies to be used against said women’s free will in a sordid attempt to futher their own narrow views (such as in the case pregnant 13 year old in Florida being denied a desired abortion). They use women as pawns to futher their quest for power. In my humble opinion, that makes them the “sexual predators”. Furthermore, in cases of pregnancy caused by rape/incest/statutory rape, those who would force a woman to bring the embryo to term are virtual accomplices to the rapist, continuing the physical violence in a very permenant way. Yes, disgusting is certainly the correct word for the day.
April 29th, 2005 at 9:33 pmThere is a corporate/theocratic coup currently underway in this country. This sort of language shaping is essential to the shifting of perceptions by the general population. It’s effective and it’s happening on so many fronts right now that the potential for regaining or even initiating a contrasting message is really diminishing. Words are weapons and the right has been honing it’s story for quite awhile. Liberals/Progressives/Whatever are being very naive if they/we think that just shining a light on this kind of B.S. for all the world to see is going to make any difference. The general population is reluctant to think for itself. The right is generating powerful images and anecdotes to save folks from having to think too hard. Bush was more than happy to bring his “press conference” to a halt last night so folks could see “The Apprentice” without missing a minute. That’s how engaged people are with the dialog between competing philosophies in this country.
April 29th, 2005 at 9:48 pmJoin me every Wednesday night please. Liberal radio lives not just on Air America. Subject To Discussion is on Wednesdays http://www.subject2discussion.com
April 30th, 2005 at 5:17 amDo you guys (the commenters, not CAP) understand that what Sensenbrenner is doing is not “language shaping” or “shifting of perceptions”.
It is a TACTICAL move wrapped in lies.
Now, apparently with no legal reprecussions (?) the GOP can run this ad about any incumbent:
“Honey, did you see that [Democratic incumbent] voted for a law to protect sexual preditors! [he/she] wants our children to be RAPED and let the rapists go FREE!! We need to get rid of [him/her].”
When the whole thing is a 100% lie!
It’s like voting for a bill to give seniors extra health care, which fails to pass, and THEN rewriting the wording say “this bill proposes to kill all people at the age of 65.” ALl those who voted for health care will be ON RECORD for all time as having voted to kill the elderly.
Please see the point of that - it WILL be used in 2006.
April 30th, 2005 at 7:09 amHadIt, Rep. Louise Slaughter understands what you’re talking about and said so in her speech on the House floor, which you can read in her diary at Daily Kos.
For those of you who haven’t read the speech, I’ll copy part of it here for you, but I highly recommend you read it in its entirety. It is an amazing speech. Or, if you click on the link to her diary, you can find the link to the video of the speech.
Here’s part of her speech:
“But I want to talk for a minute about another abuse which has occurred in this chamber, a personal affront to three of our colleagues I have never witnessed in my near twenty years serving in this House.
The Rules Committee discovered yesterday that the Judiciary Committee Report on this very bill, which was authored by the Majority Staff, contained amendment summaries which had been re-written by committee staff for the sole purpose of distorting the original intent of the authors.
This Committee Report took liberty to mischaracterize and even falsify the intent of several amendments offered in Committee by Democratic Members of this body.
At least five amendments to this bill, which were designed to protect the rights of family members and innocent bystanders from prosecution under this bill, were rewritten as amendments designed to protect sexual predators from prosecution and were then included in the committee report as if that was the original intent of the authors. The thing is, sexual predators were not mentioned anywhere in any of these amendments.
These amendments were no more about sexual predators then they were about terrorists or arsonists or any other criminal class in our society.
These amendments were about the rights of grandmothers and siblings and clergy and innocent bystanders.
I asked the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee about this deception yesterday afternoon at the Rules Committee hearing.
And instead of decrying what I certainly expected would be revealed as a mistake by an overzealous staffer…The Chairman stood by those altered amendment descriptions.
He made very clear to the Rules Committee that the alterations to these members’ amendments were deliberate.
When pressed as to why his committee staff took such an unprecedented action, the Chairman immediately offered up his own anger over the manner in which Democrats had chosen to debate and oppose this unfortunate piece of legislation we have before us today.
In fact…He said, and I quote… “You don’t like what we wrote about your amendments, and we don’t like what you said about our bill.”
To falsely rewrite the intent of an amendment submitted by another member, to intentionally distort its description as being designed to protect sexual predators, is no different than accusing a fellow member of Congress as being an apologist for sexual predators themselves.
That is in effect what the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee has done here, with all deliberation.
And he has ensured that these amendment descriptions will be encapsulated in the record for all time by including those unfair and incorrect amendment summaries in the Committee report.
This is a new low for this chamber M. Speaker.
This is a clearly dishonest, unethical attack on the credibility and character of another member. And sadly, it is just the latest in a pattern of unethical and abusive tactics employed by this Majority.
How incredibly arrogant is this majority…that they believe they have the right to tamper with official congressional documents for their own political purposes?
How unbelievably arrogant is the leadership of this Congress…that they would force their own politicized interpretation of another members work upon this body, and upon the American people, in an official committee report?
The Majority’s actions are not only an affront to all members of this house, but they are also an affront to the American people.
There is no question that we can debate and disagree over the impact a bill will have.
We can argue over how well it has been written or what language it should include to be more effective. But regardless of how that debate turns out, the caption on the top of that bill or amendment serves to instruct the American people as to what original intent of that legislation was.
It serves as an unbiased reading on what that amendment aims to accomplish.
To falsify and rewrite that description as a political attack, is not only unprecedented, it is fundamentally dishonest and it is an abuse of the power given to the Majority by the American people.
And I have no doubts Mr. Speaker, no doubts, that unless the congressional record is amended to reflect the true captions of these amendments, then we will surely see these erroneous captions again in the form of campaign attack mail pieces.
In fact, when we pressed last night in the Rules Committee to have the record amended to reflect the honest and accurate captions that belong on those amendments, we were defeated on a party line vote.
So now, these honorable and hardworking Members of Congress will be forever branded in the official record as having offered amendments which were designed to protect sexual predators, when nothing, nothing could be further from the truth.”
April 30th, 2005 at 12:06 pmPlease see my blog at http://lastmidnight.blogspot.com for a basic, logical argument that can be used to effect the changing of these amendments. They are factually incorrect.
April 30th, 2005 at 1:27 pmHadit, I agree with you completely. The language used isn’t an alternative truth, it’s the sugar that makes the lies easier to swallow. I wouldn’t trust these folks to tell me the sky is blue. But if they say it’s blue-green and then sort of purpleish and then before you know it, the sky is red and folks are going, “Well, wasn’t the sky always red?” People have to be made aware of how they are being lied to. It’s become totally reflexive in our political “discourse” to acuse the other side of lying. People don’t pay any attention. Shifting perceptions and shaping words are the most effective ways of helping a lie go down without a fight.
April 30th, 2005 at 1:57 pmI’ve always said Republicans are not interested in an honest debate to decide policy.
I guess we have proof now, don’t we? This isn’t some rant on a blog like the right wingers use to “characterize” the left, this is an official act by elected representatives of Republican voters.
This literally represents the red-state side of this country.
The issue isn’t even being lied to. I don’t mind politicians lying to me, we should all be used to that by now. All I ask is confine your lies to your own talking points. This strategy of deliberately mis-stating your oponents’ words is ridiculous. And it is classic Karl Rove. To turn a phrase from the President, the turds are blossoming like never before.
Ah, springtime and old Turd Blossom is sowing fields of ass in our nation’s capitol.
April 30th, 2005 at 3:18 pmI have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that these things can be done. It seems like a hugely criminal act to falsify the record as the rebubicans have. Is there nothing that can be done?
April 30th, 2005 at 7:05 pmRay, I think they can ammend the record later, but with this group in charge, I wouldn’t look for it to happen before the mid-terms.
April 30th, 2005 at 7:48 pmThis orwellian legislation distorted anyone who could get arrested for taking a young woman to get a abortion (if she chooses to do so) as a sexual preadator………. these theocrats have gone way so far that this strikes me at ad-nausm. this is just another way to block a woman’s right to choose.
May 1st, 2005 at 5:13 amSounds like 21st century southern conservatives are trying to reprise their happy experience with the Fugitive Slave Act.
May 1st, 2005 at 11:27 amAbortion must be made illegal once more. The US military needs healthy, strong bodies for its neverending wars.
A fetus that is terminated has more rights than a live, functioning human being.
Life? Liberty? Pursuit of happiness?
Not anymore, the State has full right to your life.
Why waste that good, developing somaplasm when it can be used for purposes of power and greed?
Just my cynical viewpoint.
May 1st, 2005 at 11:59 amOkay, I had to go back and read that again. Let me get this straight. Republicans are going on record as saying that Democrats want to “Exempt sexual predators from prosecution.”
Is that their story? Really? That is the reasoned analysis of the Republican leadership?
Sounds like they’re really running away with this “secular culture of death” rhetoric. That little “misunderstanding” should be real easy to clear up. Loudly and repeatedly.
A question for every Republican running in 2006: Do you believe Democrats want to exempt sexual predators from prosecution?
May 1st, 2005 at 2:13 pmThis orwellian legislation distorted anyone who could get arrested for taking a young woman to get a abortion (if she chooses to do so) as a sexual preadator
Oh but they are! Don’t you know they are raping and killing the unborn children by allowing those fancy-dancy doctors to touch them? All doctors are pedophiles anyway! Stop taking medicines! Trust in the Looooohhhd Geeeezus to heal you!!! Hallelujah!!
(…ok, I’m done now…)
May 2nd, 2005 at 9:09 amWitch, you’re almost right, but remember this is the republican party we’re talking about–”you have to keep taking the medicines, all the medicines you can, but you must not buy them from Canada…”
May 2nd, 2005 at 8:21 pmI was appalled to discover that not only is Sensenbrenner defending this childish mudslinging, but so-called ‘Family Values’ organizations are actually lionizing Sensenbrenner and using this story to motivate their membership.
May 5th, 2005 at 10:57 pmI’am so sick and tired of these people trying to destroy this country with there lie’s and their propaganda, when you have a one party government this is what happen’s, I’am not saying that the democrat’s are perfect, but they will never ever do anything like this. I truely hope that people in this country dem’s and repub’s alike see these people for what they are, and we can get throuhg this w/ our country intact. “Thank You”
June 11th, 2005 at 4:17 pm[…] Our friends to the east are not so lucky. They are represented by F. James Sensenbrenner of Menominee Falls. Yes, that F. James Sensenbrenner, who rewrote the Congressional Record to accuse Democrats of supporting child molestors. The very same F. James Sensenbrenner who gavelled closed a Congressional hearing on the PATRIOT Act because he didn’t like the questions. When the Democratic members of the committee objected, he ordered their microphones shut off before slinking through a side door. C-SPAN recorded the entire shameful incident. No points for guessing what the F stands for. […]
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