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.”
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.
Yeah, how dare she frame things with facts.