This whole thing is so depressing. She’s bickering over rape kits? Why not hassle the relatives of murder victims for gas money for the hearse? She will force her poor kid to marry and is probably forcing Bristol to carry the baby in public so she can prove her fundie credits to people who might finally be starting to think about perhaps questioning why the pony hasn’t shown up yet.

Frankly, Palin should just demand that any supposed rape victims provide a male family member as a witness.

Erm, of course “rape” here should be in quotes, as should every other reference to “rape” and “rapist”, so as to avoid implying in any way that “rape” actually exists or suggesting that it’s not just an evil lying-attention-whore-feminist conspiracy. Because not putting “rape” in scarequotes means the feminists win.

Frankly, Palin should just demand that any supposed rape victims provide a male family member as a witness. (What do you *mean* she wasn’t accompanied by a male family member whenever leaving the house? The harlot!) And yes, I expect rapists to testify against themselves –to fulfill this male-relative-witness requirement– in cases of incest. I think they would totally step up and do the right thing. (Still no legal abortion, of course; that would be immoral!)

Their rape rate (per city stats linked above), extended to “per hundred thousand”, is obscene. That I’m the first one I know of to bring it up kind of disturbs me. I’m not the most sensitive SNAG on the planet.

USA Today

#

Interrobang said,

September 23, 2008 at 19:57

t has been noted elsewhere, but not nearly broadly enough, that Mrs. Palin’s problem with rape kits stemmed from the fact that they contain emergency contraceptives.

If that’s why Palin hates rape kits, Palin’s even more full of crap than previously imagined. Either that, or you’re repeating a debunked canard. Rape kits contain things like specimen bottles, sterile swabs, and sealing stickers for collecting the physical evidence of rape. They don’t contain EC, because the police don’t give out EC, pharmacists do; either ones at drugstores, or ones in hospitals. Rape kits are exactly like other forensic evidence-collection kits, except that they are specifically geared towards collecting forensic evidence where a woman’s body is the crime scene. If it were possible to dust a woman’s bits for fingerprints, they’d probably contain dusting powder too.

Well, my understanding is that the provision of EC is standard procedure during the hospital exam, though it is not part of the “evidence-gathering” procedure the rape kit itself is used for.

The bill requiring locals to pay for the exam and kit made it clear they had to pay for EC as well:

Sec. 18.68.040. Costs of examination and certain medical care to be borne 06 by law enforcement agency. A law enforcement agency or other authority that is investigating a sexual assault that is alleged or suspected to have occurred within its jurisdiction is responsible for the costs of testing for sexually transmitted diseases,
emergency contraception, and examination of the victim necessary for
(1) collecting evidence using the sexual assault examination kit under
AS 18.68.010 or otherwise; or
(2) determining whether a sexual assault has occurred.

Compare that to the carefully-worded statement by Palin’s rep:

Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said in an e-mail that the governor “does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test.”

NRO’s Latest Rape Kit Howler

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sagra said,

September 23, 2008 at 19:22

Wasilla stats. There were ten rapes in 7 years.

Actually, the FBI doesn’t get all the info.

Here’s the stats put out by the City of Wasilla itself. A little more than 7/yr.

City of Wasilla Crime Stats

From D.N.Nation’s link @ 06:12 -

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

If you’re in the GOP & George Fucking Will turns on you, it’s time to give up. You’re toast. The man can literally sway the opinion of millions – neocons worship him like a god.

The wave rolls on: Obama just got 8 electoral seats in one day. A whole week like that, & this thing is over. Even Palin getting a bionic neck & offering free blowjobs for votes wouldn’t make up the gap fast enough.

I’d wager that the figure is so inflated because the sherrif is skeering the mayor off as well as any concerned citizen off.

“What? Spend $15,000 a year???? Why, that’s a whole new cruiser for Dep. Bob!”

But that just confuses me more. Where does this come from then?

According to Fannon, the new law will cost the Wasilla Police Department approximately $5,000 to $14,000 a year to collect evidence for sexual assault cases.

That doesn’t square with less than one rape a year or else my math skillz are ‘way off.

I’d say “cost” isn’t the reason they’re charging victims for rape kits.

Shorter guy talking to Skylark: If it’s not illegal for black people to vote, then it certainly should be.

If that’s why Palin hates rape kits, Palin’s even more full of crap than previously imagined. Either that, or you’re repeating a debunked canard. Rape kits contain things like specimen bottles, sterile swabs, and sealing stickers for collecting the physical evidence of rape. They don’t contain EC, because the police don’t give out EC, pharmacists do; either ones at drugstores, or ones in hospitals. Rape kits are exactly like other forensic evidence-collection kits, except that they are specifically geared towards collecting forensic evidence where a woman’s body is the crime scene. If it were possible to dust a woman’s bits for fingerprints, they’d probably contain dusting powder too.

This makes a rate of 1000 to 4000 rapes per 100,000, at least 29 times the national rate, according to this report. Even if my estimates are off by an order or magnitude, that makes the rape rate nearly three times that of the country at large.

I don’t think I’d want to be a woman in Wasilla.