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October 16, 2009

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Schmoopie

Gotta love the contrast between Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh. One stands up against rape protectionists while the other does battle with people who don't like his racism.

Mr. Kruger

Those senate floor statements should make for some great campaign fodder. What scumfuckers would protect gang rapists besides the GOP. Oh yea, the "liberal" media.

bethany

Fucking outrageous. I hope there are 30 new senators come the next election.

Jack Klompus

"What scumfuckers would protect gang rapists besides the GOP."

This amendment isn't really about rape. It's about forced arbitration clauses in contracts. Such clauses are not uncommon and are not only used by defense contractors. They are often used in contracts with consumers as well. The main purpose behind these clauses obviously has to do with saving litigation costs and limiting exposure to the public. Congress has been arguing the general practice of these clauses for some time now. There are even two bills currently in limbo that would specifically outlaw any use of forced arbitration in contracts. Even still, the arbitration clause was overruled in the Jones case. The court ruled that the woman's rape claims were not directly related to her employment and were beyond the scope of arbitration -- so the arbitration clause could not prevent the criminal and civil cases from going to court.

So it wasn't even the practice of forced arbitration that was the problem. What there should be is further investigation into KBR/Halliburton's handling of this (and all other past rape claims). I don't know every single factual detail, but by all appearances Halliburton/KBR's modus seems to be shady cover-up whenever such claims are made. Addressing that would seem to have more to do with helping past rape victims and (preventing future ones) than by denying funding based solely on a practice that is widely used (not just by defense contractors).

I think automatically labelling these 30 Senators as "protecting gang rapists" is a bit extreme considering what the actual amendment addresses.

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