Amanda Marcotte writes:
When Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks, was targeted for arrest by Interpol in late November, the right-wing British tabloid the Daily Mail was first on the scene with a widely linked but error-ridden article about the charges. The Daily Mail characterized Sweden’s rape laws as those of a radical feminist dystopia, where men can be thrown in jail for consensual sex that doesn’t involve a condom, and the police file rape charges on behalf of women upset that a phone call didn’t follow a one-night stand.
The falsehoods quickly spread in part because many liberals invested in protecting WikiLeaks were eager to find ways to discredit the allegations, even if that meant characterizing the female accusers as hysterics and liars. Michael Moore went on Keith Olbermann’s show and claimed, falsely, that Sweden would charge a man for sexual assault for consensual sex involving an accidentally broken condom. Feminist writer Naomi Wolf mocked the accusers, claiming that Assange’s “crime” was merely dating multiple women at once.
In the initial days after Assange’s arrest, when there was little solid information beyond the tabloids about what exactly the Swedish government may charge him with, some of the reaction was perhaps understandable. To a degree, even Slate’s DoubleX podcast repeated the Daily Mail’s misinformation. But as of Dec. 17, there has been no excuse. At that point, the Guardian obtained the depositions taken by Swedish police from the alleged victims. In these documents, one of the women alleges that Assange behaved threateningly with her and held her down to prevent her from reaching for a condom. He did end up wearing one, but she thinks he ripped it and deliberately ejaculated inside her. He also later rubbed up against her with his pants off, she says, against her will. The other alleged victim claims that she struggled with Assange over the condom all night, had consensual sex with him when he finally put it on, and then woke up later in the night to find Assange having sex with her, without her consent and without a condom. In my personal and professional experience with rape, these kinds of allegations are both credible and common. It’s a bad idea to forget that, even when the alleged bad guy is a leftist hero.
At the extradition hearing, the Swedish authorities were asked to produce some evidence to support their claims. They were unable to do so, so Assange was given bail. Then miraculously, the police notes were leaked to the press. If this information is legitmate, it implies that either the Swedish authorities lied or do not know what evidence they have got regarding the case. If the information is not legitimate, then … Bear in mind that the forged Niger yellow cake papers were released by the state to advance their agenda for regime change in Iraq.
It should be noted that one or more of the women have attempted to destroy evidence – see
http://rixstep.com/1/20101001,01.shtml
Marcotte is a well known feminnazi and has a agenda, Moore has an agenda, everyone yaking on this has an agenda.
My question is this, cause I don’t know and haven’t paid that much atttention to it…..Did these women come forward with their accusations ‘before’ or ‘after’ the Assange shit hit the fan?
If it was before they knew Wilikeaks would take world center stage then I would be inclined to think their might be some abuse involved.
If not then I have my doubts.
In this circus society age half the world would do anything to get their name in a paper so they could write a book and appear on talk shows..
Jesus, this issue is indeed important to the ladies at stake, if true. But the fact is that now ALL media outlets are using the Wikileaks as scoops while exploiting Assange’s issues with Sweedish police without a word about American extra-legal actions against him. Meanwhile, dumb journalists are presenting stupid and vapid rumor mongering sent from embassies to DoS as FACT!!! If our intel were so good we wouldn’t be the dying monster America is now, ever since 9/11, at the hands of a bunch of crazies. How about more discussion about how America is being sold to the Chinese for trinkets…shades of Indians selling Manhattan Island for $24 worth of junk!!!!
Who can believe anything that is being call leaks to the Guardian as coming from the Swedish Police investigators? This appears to be just smear, or tell a story enough, especially if isn’t true, then eventually it takes on the truth. All this is “KABUKI”, to hide the fact that the U.S. really is inept at being the worlds cop, let alone know what it’s doing.
Anyone who believes a man can penetrate a woman (or a man) without waking them, is naive in the extreme. The only possible exception is if there is drugs or alcohol involved, at which point the culpability of both parties comes into question. If a drunk man cannot be prosecuted for murder as the result of drunk driving, why should a drunk man be held to account for “raping” a woman who is already in bed with him? If a woman can be held accountable for manslaughter as the result of drunk driving, why should she not also be held accountable for her own actions in getting into bed with a man (drunk or otherwise) while drunk herself? It strikes me that feminists are trying to have it both ways here while being willing tools of fascist state aggression against freedom of the press and speech. Not sure that deserves any respect.