It was just after 2 a.m. on a pitch-black Friday morning when Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s life changed. The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 strolled across a parking lot to repair a damaged campaign sign. It was a routine she’d followed all summer. This time, she only made it a few yards.
An attacker smashed her over the head. She blacked out. She woke up to find a strange man on top of her.
Greene-Placentia struggled to open her eyes. She felt a sharp pain below her waist. The attacker was pulling his penis out of her.
She heard him mumble something like, “-ic bitch, not a very good fuck,” which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.
One leg was out of her jean capris. She wore brand-new tennis shoes and a campaign t-shirt. Another man came over. Greene-Placentia felt his weight nudging her left leg further apart. She began swinging her foot at him. “Not even worth it,” she heard the man say as he moved away. He wore black boots and had small feet, she recalled.
The two men left Greene-Placentia face down in the parking lot. The hatch of her silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was still open. The car was still running. She heard music.
She doesn’t remember pulling up her pants or picking herself off the asphalt parking lot. She doesn’t remember closing her Jeep’s hatch and putting her foot on the gas. She doesn’t remember pulling her car into the driveway and collapsing into her bed.
“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” Greene-Placentia said in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”
if you actually read it, you will know that i directly admit that people in trauma make bad decisions. and i struggle with the decisions she made but it would all have been chalked up to it being a shame she destroyed any chance in finding justice.
but the point is that using it to score political points, and implying that the fault lies with an entire political group, when her case is horrible, invites a right wing rally, and does the opposite of validating victims of rape.
like i said, it’s as if her story was constructed by a right wing shock jock specifically to attack her campaign. if she would have said something on a interview separated from her campaign, AND didn’t attempt to imply it was done by republicans with such weak reasoning, then it couldn’t be seen as a political cudgel.
also you didn’t stop your self from saying fuck you. you don’t get to abstract your insult and maintain you moral high horse.
Jesus fucking christ this is a vile thing to say. I guess women should not speak out about their experiences under a systemic rape culture because it might be perceived as political /s
Do better.
you twisted what i said to miscaracterize me, you are self righteous, and dishonest. i did not say women should not speak out. i have a problem using rape as political game pieces, and with too with little justification, using it to attack your political rivals. if she has spoken out in an interview about the rape and not tied republicans in, my only thought would have been “i wish the evidence of the crime was preserved so the rapeist could be caught”
You are making a distinction without a difference. The fact of the matter is there is a political context to what happened to her. You give her permission to only comment on parts of what happened to her but not the entirety - that is self-righteous.
at no time did i say ‘because she made bad choices, it’s her own fault she was raped’
i said ‘she made bad choices because of trama, and because of that there is no hope of justice, and it’s gross that this is used to imply republicans are to blame. and because she used the rape for political gain she invited critique. because her case is weak, this is going to back fire’
if you are saying there is no functional difference you are dishonest.
that is what the people did to HER, they used rape for political gain. You are blaming the victim, sure not for getting raped, but for her talking about the facts on the matter. That is what I mean by a distinction without a difference because the function is to restrict her speaking out.
it was her admitted decision to fill the blank in her memory of “…ic bitch” with “democratic bitch” using her platform as a candidate. democratic is what democrats think them selves as, not republicans. even if she believes they said that, it was a mistake to say that. it turned what could have been a call for solidarity for victims, into an accusation levied against all republicans. and because her case is weak she is going to be dragged through the mud for the implication. every point i brought up? fodder for her enemies. improper venue, irresponsible comment. and using a tragedy as a weapon in politics is gross, unless it’s a direct accusation.
Where did she say it was a republican that raped her? I agree it was likely the case but her report was one of stating facts, not leveling an accusation against all Republicans.
she framed the attack as politically motivated, on campaign, targeted because she attempted to fix campaign sign. so unless your argument is actually ‘she meant that she was raped by stanch monarchist voting in the election’ your argument is weak as is her implication.
Rape victims don’t have to be perfect to be believed.
I don’t give a single fuck that you are struggling with the decisions she made.
i can totally believe that a rape happened. and we both agree she made bad choices, we disagree as to what point that gets difficult, but normally would not invite criticism.
but when the platform of public announcement is through a political announcement where you implicate your rival is in some way responsible, that opens door to criticism. and justifies why my premise of “i don’t like it” is valid. it muddies the waters for victims of rape using a rape as political ammunition, and i think will back fire against her candidacy
Don’t put words in my mouth.
then make your arguments about what i am acting saying so i don’t have to guess.
You’re under the mistaken impression that I respect you enough to have a fruitful discussion on this topic with you.
I don’t.
so then you never had any substance, and were only looking to stir hate. you invented a person and post to hate and to virtue signal for internet points. you have not said anything respectable in any of your posts
Cry harder.
about what?
I don’t give a fuck. I’m already on a higher moral high horse than you because I don’t defend rapists.
and neither did i. i do not defend rapeists by pointing out the victim made terrible decisions that will cost themselves justice, especially since this seems like a targeted attack.
that alone can make some one go “i don’t like this story”
using it to attack political rivals cheapens all of it, and will back fire, which i don’t like.
You should look into trauma responses, educate yourself, and do better.
you have brought nothing but unjustified ad hominem attacks, and now thought terminating cliches. you have a problem with my understanding of victim responses to harm, but you are going to have to actually deal with what i said, instead of making up your own, because i don’t get to put words in your mouth to find out
I don’t have to actually deal with what you said.
You can deal with how unpopular your comments rightfully are though.
that is an open admission to everything i accused you of, and you fall back on to an appeal to mob rule, it’s lazy and dishonest. and quite frankly i can live with negative votes. it does not invalidate my core argument of, i don’t like this whole thing.
You’re mistaken if you think that I have an obligation to feed into your victim blaming in order to maintain some sort of integrity here.
“ok”
-velma
oh i thought you were done, but you[‘re] back with the exact same dishonesty on repeat. hoping a slight change in venue would get a different result?