RADAR ALERT: Act Now to Prevent a Repeat of HRES 590 Disgrace

Despite our heroic efforts to stop HRES 590, RADAR has just learned that the bill passed the House of Representatives last Tuesday.

HRES 590 is jam-packed (.pdf file) with half-truths, distortions, and lies. Passage of this biased resolution is a national embarrassment.

We did succeed in stopping the bill from being debated by the House Education and Labor Committee. But it appears the House leadership did an end-run on us, taking the bill out of committee directly to the House floor. Not only that, the leadership cut the debate short, requiring a two-thirds vote for a voice vote.

Yes, it was a disgraceful short-circuiting of the democratic process, but that's what they did. So we have to learn from the experience and plan to do much better next time.

What lesson did we learn? That stopping a flawed bill like this requires a MASSIVE outpouring of voter discontent. To do that, we need to substantially increase the number of people signed on to the RADAR E-lert list.

So here's what we're asking you to do –

Think of all the listservs and organizations you belong to that are concerned about the destructive effects of VAWA. Pass along this Alert to those groups with this simple message:

"Join the growing effort to reform the Violence Against Women Act - go to http://www.mediaradar.org/join_vrc.php and sign up to receive the RADAR E-lerts."

Do it now. We must not allow a repeat of the HRES 590 disgrace.

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Date of RADAR Release: October 3, 2007

R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org/.

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Comments

The entire and very brief HRES 590 resolution is worth
the three minutes it takes to read on thomas.loc.gov -
because it is a fine example of feminist rhetorical propaganda technique.

The language in the bill is basically a litany of core feminist myths, distortions, and fraudulent statistics that have been used with much success to frame the way society perceives and talks about domestic violence.

The primary tactics in this bill's language are to lie by omission, and deliberately eliminate any mention of female violence or male victims of DV.

This starts early on in the bill with this line:

"Whereas domestic violence affects people of all ages, racial, ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds;..."

Notice the conspicuous absence of the word "gender" in the categories of persons affected by domestic violence.

Think that was just absent-minded writing? No way -- because to have used that single word would imply that MEN are affected as "victims."

Given the typical PC-ness of feminist rhetoric, I am puzzled that the bill's authors did not find a way to insert language honoring lesbian, gay, and transgender "victims," while still excluding men.

The bill's only import, since it does not authorize funding or additional draconian DV laws, it to illustrate how thoroughly Congress is in thrall to radical feminism.

No pol is going to vote against a freebie like this, because they can go back home an speechify about their noble support to end domestic violence.

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395 Yes to 0 No. Not one No vote.
How much more clear does it need to be that RADAR is so totally out of step with the legislative process.
Not one No Vote.
Go back to the drawing board.
Not to be critial of those in the trenches trying to make a difference, but when you come up totally zip, you need a new general.

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I looked mine up -- Ed Pastor (D-AZ) voted for it. What a complete weasel Ed Pastor is!

Anyway, everyone knows the drill. Vote against the bastards, educate the public about the bastards, donate money against the bastards oppostion...

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