When GOP wins; we all lose

I know we all kind of expected it. But I think my coworker said it best, “Whose excited about elections results?” in the saddest voice ever with slumped shoulders. So the GOP took the House and Senate, which was pretty much expected, and in Maryland the GOP took back state Governor.

A few things, yes mom, I still have a job. Larry Hogan isn’t going to dissolve our contract with the state…he can’t. We are protected by the Legislature. Now, if they turned on us, we’d have to talk.

Second, time to show your colors, conservatives. My coworker and I were talking about how well, if they are going to win now they have to take a stance. Remember when I was bitching about how the GOP controlled House kept passing anti-choice legislation? Everyone kept telling me (and I’m looking at some of you specifically with narrow eyes and general disgust on my face) it will never pass the Senate. Well, now it will pass the Senate. See these GOP Senators are going to have to take a stance or risk not being reelected. So bring on the anti-choice legislation kids, because we’re about to watch the US Congress try to systematically take control of women’s lives and bodies and the disenfranchise people of color. Couple this with the Supreme Court shit show, we’re in for something alright.

The final count is 52 Republicans and 44 Democrats in the Senate with 243 Republicans and 174 Democrats in the House. John Kasich remains Ohio’s Governor, and Wendy Davis lost Texas.  On the good side of things, Baltimore City expanded collective bargaining, and voters fought back personhood amendments in a few states.

Alright, I think the Steubenville rapists got off too easy, but…

Ma’Lik Richmond served the time he was sentenced to. He should have been sentenced longer of course, but he wasn’t. We have a broken system. That said, once someone serves their time they get to continue to live their lives, and in this case that means go back to finish high school and play football.

Yes, Richmond will be a registered sex offender for the next 20 years, having to register every six months. He appealed to have that status dropped, but it was denied. I agree it makes me uncomfortable to know that this boy is going back to the same support group that enabled his behavior in the first place. That said, we shouldn’t be able to punish people indefinitely when that is not what is required by law. Additionally, he is a kid, a child. Does he never get to start over?

I believe we need to increase the penalties for people convicted of rape. I also believe we need massive reform of the criminal justice system. But we are bound by the system we have, and Richmond served his time. If we’re going to rise up and demand justice, I don’t think Richmond should be the target. No, the target should be the militarized police that just open fire on black men.

This is probably going to end badly

It is almost like Republicans forgot the ass kicking Kasich’s anti-labor policies got. Look, I know there are Republicans in Ohio, hell there might be one in Cleveland proper…though I doubt it. We’re hemorrhaging residents and are 2 to 1 black. Our median household income according to the 2010 Census is $26,556 with a poverty rate of 34.2%. But don’t worry, Cleveland promised to raise money to host the convention. I’m not 100% where they are going to get it because they are already taxing us like a mother fucker for private sports teams.

Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE CLEVELAND. If I didn’t already have the name of my memoir picked out (The Art of the Slow Clap) Believeland would be a contender. I have no love for conventions let alone the Republican National Convention. Let me explain a bit about how this came about, and why even if the Democratic National Committee wanted to have their Convention in Cleveland I wouldn’t be dancing on the ceiling.

The Republican National Committee panel announced they are recommending Cleveland as the host city. See one of the major concerns about the convention is paying for it. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus insisted that the Republican Party wouldn’t be the one to foot the bill. The Convention is expected to cost about $60 million. According to AP, “In proposals and presentations to the party, Cleveland pledged to raise the tens of millions of dollars required to pay for the weeklong rally for the party faithful.”

Yes, I know this will also bring funds into Cleveland. After all people who come for a convention will spend dollars on getting there, staying there, food, etc. Maybe I shouldn’t be coy? This convention will bring money into corporations that have little to do with the residents of Cleveland. So unless, all the hotels are going to unionize and pay a living wage I have zero fucks to give. AP notes that Florida saw a $214 million direct economic impact from the 2012 Convention. I would like to see this number broken down again. How much of this went into the pockets of residents? And how much went to the corporations exploiting the labor in Tampa?

So we all know the importance of Ohio in the presidential campaigns, which is more than likely what this is. Republicans see hosting in Cleveland as a two-fold victory: Cleveland footing the bill, and Ohio. Cleveland is in the running for the Democrats too, as is Columbus.

Let’s come back to Cleveland and its problems for a moment. Cleveland has awful infrastructure. Poverty is a way of life, and I want to know how Cleveland plans on paying for this. Look if they have a reserve somewhere I don’t know about I could get on board. What this feels like to me is stealing from poor people to facilitate a party for rich people which will generate profits for corporations (which according to the Supreme Court are people).

So there was another gang rape committed by student athletes, but this time there is an active investigation

Take a minute, you read that right. Somehow, somewhere, the police are actively pursuing men accused of rape. Clutch some pearls this shit never happens.

Erin Gloria Ryan had a post over at Jezebel on the subject. She too was as shocked as I was when it was released the police were seeking to prosecute. Briefly, the assault allegedly occurred at a party post prom for Calhoun High School where there was underage drinking and then the online rumors started. The survivor is an 18 year-old Georgia high school senior by three classmates. However, a fourth boy was in the room, possibly manning the door. Instead of a Steubenville, the local authorities have files serious charges against the three men and promised more charges are coming.

The four boys “ended up” in a room with the woman which is how the news outlets are describing it…which is weird like did they teleport, walk, carry her, etc? WILL WE EVER KNOW? I’m pulling for teleportation. Could just be me. The survivor told authorities she couldn’t remember who raped her, just it was multiple men who inserted “foreign object” into her vagina, which caused tearing and severe trauma. Local authorities call the trauma substantial during a press conference. Allegedly, other party attendees knew what was happening and did nothing. Fuck all of those kids.

Immediately after the attack, the internet imploded a little showing distain for the lack of action by the police, except they were working. They interviewed 50 people in regards to the party and sexual assault. The police gathered evidence against Field Chapman, Andrew Haynes, and Avery Johnson on sexual battery charges. All three turned themselves in the next day and were barred from their graduation. The Gilmer County Sheriff has promised all students who were drinking at the party will be charged, and rape charges may be on their way for the three men.

None of the men spent a night in jail. They also might sell out others for a reduced sentence, which would obviously suck. However, each of the three could face decades in jail, here’s hoping. The woman’s life is forever changed, but we won’t know the consequences for a while.

The good news: the authorities took the charges seriously from the beginning which is really different from how Steubenville and all universities have been handling cases. Of course, this is the minimum, right? Doing their job is a pretty low bar. Additionally, the community response has been supportive for the victim. The community appears to be condemning the entitlement and awfulness of the three men. A local columnist, David Cook wrote in the Times Free Price:

“You know what causes rape?

Rape mentality causes rape.

And while alcohol can be a preferred weapon used by rapists, the foremost question we need to be asking ourselves as a society: What causes rape mentality, especially at a time when one in five college women is sexually assaulted?

‘Most often, it’s by someone she know,’ reads a recent White House study.

This is not about alcohol; it’s about something wedged into the male mind, something premeditated that says it’s OK to sexually assault women. It is a pornographication of relationships: In 2012 a U.N. international study showed that 70 percent of men who admitted to raping women did so because they felt entitled.

As if they owned her body.”

 Nothing like that was coming out of Steubenville, hell CNN worried about the futures of those boys.

So the gender wage gap is a thing, and Gov. Kasich isn’t really concerned

I read this yesterday, apparently, the gender wage gap between men and women under Gov. Kasich is about $10 an hour. The Dayton Daily News found that the average pay gap between men and women in four of five elected statewide officials has grown to almost $10 per hour, while it dropped to under one dollar in the rest of the state. This is compared to the gender wage gap under Gov. Ted Strickland, which was $3.99 per hour.

Gov. Kasich’s office has denied this saying that the newspaper didn’t take into account office staff and policy advisers from other state agencies that Kasich uses. When accounting for this, the gendered wage gap is $5.04 per hour, compared to Gov. Strickland’s $1.28 per hour.

Ohio’s gender wage gap over the past seven years averaged $1.09 per hour, and dropped to 86 cents per hour this year. The article talks a bit about Democratic challenger, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, which has a gender wage gap within his office of about $7.02 per hour.