The House is set to vote today on a watered-down version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that the President has threatened to veto for its lack of coverage, particularly in regards to undocumented people, native women, and the LGBT community.
But while Republicans have accused the Democrats of playing politics with women’s domestic safety, the opposite may actually be true.
In a sit-down with bloggers on Capitol Hill today, DNC Chair and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) told reporters that she’d heard House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) actually ordered his caucus to move VAWA as far to the right as possible:
RYAN GRIM of the Huffington Post: I’d heard that the Republican leadership wasn’t very happy with the committee for going how far right they went with this. Had you heard anything that–
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Actually, I’d heard that this was a direct directive from John Boehner himself. So…
GRIM: What’s the thinking in that?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: You know, I think their obsession with opposing immigration at every possible turn has permeated every single possible bill, including things that are normally as mom and apple pie as reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
VAWA has been passed and reauthorized twice with strong bipartisan support. Each reauthorization has expanded the bill and added new provisions. This year, the Senate passed VAWA in a 68 to 31 vote, after some debate, with the added provisions intact to protect LGBT, undocumented, and Native people. The House version of VAWA does not include these protections.
And while Republicans may have rectified the portion of their original bill that violated the confidentiality of victims by adding a manager’s amendment, the bill still seriously weakens the visa program extended to undocumented victims of domestic abuse, so that they are put in a position of fear in reporting assault.
Were you planning on cutting the cord on your cable as soon as Hulu signed a few more content deals and let you watch your favorite shows the day after they aired? Think again. The New York Post reports that Fox is renegotiating its deal with Comcast in a way that would require Hulu to require users to prove that they already subscribe to cable in order to get access to its content. The authentication system would likely work the same way: users would log in to Hulu with their cable company logins, rather than with a Hulu ID. Fox is already somewhat more restrictive about its content than the other major networks (with the exception of CBS, which puts almost none of its content on Hulu and declines to stream many episodes at all). Currently, you have to have Hulu Plus to stream Fox shows the day after they air. Otherwise, you have to wait a full week to watch the shows supported only by ads.
It makes sense that now is the time Fox would strike. Hulu (and Netflix as well) are early in their efforts to create original content. And while those companies say publicly that their original shows are meeting their expectations, they haven’t been precisely clear about what those expectations were, or whether that means they’re even close to garnering network-level (or even cable-style) audiences for that programming. They’re nowhere near close to telling the television networks to shove it, so Fox is striking in what it sees as one of a few remaining moments of opportunity, especially because it wants to make sure it can retain the cash to pay its retransmission fees. The cable companies need to hang on to their subscribers both to ensure their own profits, and to meet their own outside demands. Until retransmission fees are out of the equation, it’s hard to imagine that this model is going to change dramatically.
DNC May Collaborate On Opposition To State Marriage Amendments |
The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), said on Tuesday that the DNC will “certainly consider” assisting state groups in North Carolina and Minnesota fighting constitutional amendments that would ban same-sex marriage. The DNC previously offered $25,000 to the 2008 effort to oppose Proposition 8, a small sum for an $83 million campaign. When Maine was fighting a marriage amendment in 2009, however, the DNC did not contribute any money. In fact, they emailed Maine voters multipletimes the week of the vote to get out the vote and even ask for their help in New Jersey, but never once mentioned the marriage amendment. Wasserman Schultz’s comments echo those of President Obama, who said on Saturday that “we’ve got to work hard to oppose” discrimination in state constitutions.
NEWS FLASH
Allen West Attacks Wasserman Schultz Again: ‘I Need A Bucket’ |
Tea Party Rep. Allen West (R-FL) faced serious criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike in July when he viciously attacked fellow Florida representative and Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). In a disparaging email, he called her “vile, unprofessional, and despicable” and “not a lady,” then refused to apologize (even though he falsely claimed at one point that he had). West also tried to blame his sexist conduct on his military background. But it’s obvious from a radio interview today that West’s opinion of Wasserman Schultz hasn’t changed, nor have his insulting comments. While playing a game of “free association,” during which West would give the first word or phrase that came to mind when radio host Michael Berry said a person’s name, West said “I need a bucket” to describe Wasserman Schultz. He went on to give a lengthy defense of his hateful comments, saying, “I stand by what I said.” Watch it:
In her comments, Coulter referenced Rep. Allen West’s (R-FL) sexist attacks on Wasserman Schultz from earlier this summer, in which he called her “the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the US House of Representatives,” telling her to “shut the heck up” because “you are not a Lady.” ThinkProgress reached out to a CPAC spokesperson to see if they would condemn Coulter’s hateful comments. We have not heard back.
Fox News hosts Bill O’Reilly and Stuart Varney agreed last night that Rep. Allen West (R-FL) was merely defending his “honor” when he personally attacked Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) as “vile” and unladylike for criticizing his voting record. “I think he should have gone after Wasserman Schultz the way he wanted to,” O’Reilly said, adding that West shouldn’t apologize:
VARNEY: He is a man of honor, a blunt military guy. … Maybe he could have used softer language. Perhaps he should have.
O’REILLY: I don’t care about that. I think he should have gone after Wasserman Schultz the way he wanted to.
VERNEY: But I don’t think he should have apologized.
O’REILLY: I wouldn’t have apologized either. Look, he used words that were forceful because he felt, as you said, his honor was impugned — I have no problem with that.
But his machismo seems to be trumped by politics, as his siding with West belies a pretty glaring double standard. Following a remarkably similar incident last year, when former Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter accused Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) of being unladylike, O’Reilly took Bachmann’s side, excoriating and mocking Specter’s insensitivity. Watch his interview from late January, 2010 with Bachmann:
West and Specter were both in the wrong in the much the same way, but O’Reilly defended one and attacked the other.
But O’Reilly and Varney’s views are not unique, it appears, as Media Matters notes that other that Fox hosts have defended West’s harsh rhetoric as well while attacking Wasserman Schultz in obviously gendered terms. Host Monica Crowley took West’s side while calling Wasserman Schultz “she of the angry perm.” Fox contributor and right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin, meanwhile, said Wasserman Schultz is nothing more than former congressmen “Alan Grayson in heels” or “Anthony Weiner, only an octave higher.”
Tea Party Rep. Allen West’s (R-FL) misogynistic comments have provoked a serious backlash. After shooting off an incendiary email demanding that the “vile, unprofessional, and despicable” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) “shut the heck up” and act like a lady, furious women lawmakers and advocacy groups “lined up to exorciate” the GOP freshman for his own “unprofessional, vitriolic and offensive personal attacks.” The Congressional Black Caucus may even seek to discipline its only Republican member.
Now, the ever-petulant West is refusing to apologize to Schultz. Instead, he’s fundraising off it. He sees himself as an “honorable person” desperately trying to survive in “a very dishonorable environment” in which “the hard left can continue to attack” minority and female conservatives.
In playing the victim card with right-wing radio host Mark Levin last night, West assessed that the backlash to his rants originate from the fact that black conservatives “invalidate the liberal social welfare policies and programs.” He then declared that liberals see him as “a threat because I’m the guy that got off of their 21st Century plantation”:
WEST: People who are black conservatives — I grew up in the inner city, strong vavlues, came from a strong military family and background — what we do is we totally invalidate the liberal social welfare policies and programs. I’m a threat because I’m the guy that got off of their 21st century plantation. And they cannot afford to have a strong voice such as mine out there reverberating and resonating across this country. [...] That’s why all of a sudden you have about four or five different websites that went up today saying that Allen West hates women, which having been married for 22 years to a woman with an MBA and a PhD and having two beautiful daughters, that to me is the epitome of the falsification of the truth.“
Listen here:
Given his well-documented history of anti-woman views, he will have to do more than point to his wife and daughters to prove he is not the reactionary misogynist who wrote that email. What’s more, offering partisan, hyperbolic slavery metaphors to vilify progressive Americans will hardly foster the “honorable environment” and respect he so often demands. (HT: Miami Herald)
Allen West Refuses To Apologize, Blames Military Background For His Insulting Remarks |
Facing a barrage of criticism, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) remains defiant and says he won’t apologize to DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) for a disparaging email in which he called her “vile, unprofessional, and despicable” and “not a lady.” On Fox Business Network this morning, West said an apology is “not happening,” and then tried to blame his poor etiquette on the military. West, a veteran who was discharged from the Army for abusing an Iraqi, said “there are certain ways we talk in the military. I guess I haven’t learned the DC-insider talk.” As if basic civility is something only practiced inside the Beltway. Watch it:
It’s insulting for West to attribute his behavior to an institution that places a premium on respect. In the same interview, West even tried to blame Wasserman Schultz for the incident, saying it was her decision to release the private tirade he sent to her to the media.
West’s spokeswoman Angela Sachitano called reports of the congressman’s apology “absolutely false.” In fact, West was “waiting on an apology from the Congresswoman,” said Sachitano, for a remark Wasserman Schultz made last year. The Huffington Post is standing by its initial report of West’s apology.
The House is set to vote today on a watered-down version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that the President has threatened to veto for its lack of coverage, particularly in regards to undocumented people, native women, and the LGBT community. 
Were you planning on cutting the cord on your cable as soon as Hulu signed a few more content deals and let you watch your favorite shows the day after they aired? Think again. The 
Fox News hosts Bill O’Reilly and Stuart Varney agreed last night that Rep. Allen West (R-FL) was merely defending his “honor” when he 
Tea Party Rep. Allen West’s (R-FL) misogynistic comments have provoked a serious backlash. After shooting off an incendiary email demanding that the “vile, unprofessional, and despicable” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) “shut the heck up” and 
