Rethinking "Sex Offenses"

According to the definition of sex offender used in the Florida case of the young woman, Kaitlyn Hunt, having a consensual relationship with another young woman, my boyfriend when I was sixteen, would have been seen as sex offender.  He was a 19 year old college student, when I was in between my sophomore and junior years of high school.

He was a very kind, gentle young man. He never "took advantage" of me; in fact, we never did anything I didn't do the next year with a boy my own age. His friend, also a 19 year old college student, dated my friend from high school.

This did not seem wrong or in any way weird.

So imagine my shock when I read about the 18 year old girl now facing felony prosecution for having a 15 year old girlfriend. And the best her lawyer thinks she can do is get it reduced to a misdemeanor, which would at least spare the young woman the lifelong humiliation and loss of liberty of being labeled a sex offender.  Even that will force her on probation, into counseling and never to see her girlfriend again, at least until she turns 18 herself.

The latest news is she will not take the deal but will courageously fight the charges in court. Go Kaitlyn!

What nonsense! There is something wrong with a society that lumps consensual teenage relationships into the same category as rapists and pedophiles.  Let's be real.  Lots of young men and women have girl or boy friends younger than themselves. If the girl in question was 17, no problem, but crossing that mythical line into "adulthood" has made her into a predator. Never mind the relationship was consensual. Never mind her parents had no problems with it. (The other girl's parents did, and that's all it takes.)

Now a teenager is labeled a victim and another one is labeled a sex-offender. Wrong wrong wrong.

It should not be assumed just because you are under 18, you are powerless to control yourself and your body, that you are nothing but prey.  Last year you two could date and this year, you cannot.

The prosecutors in this case are hellbent for blood.   They seem to want to make an example of the 18 year old, a pariah of the 15 year old. Could their being two females have anything to do with it?

When we talk about sex offenders, let's get our priorities straight.  (Urinating in public can be seen as sex offense requiring registration.)

And all sex offenders, whether their crime involved children or not, are forced into exile, because they cannot live within some ridiculous distance from a school or playground.  That leaves many homeless, camping in the woods, moving to Montana with the cows (Watch out cows!)

In this case, a petition has been started through Change,org asking to free Kaitlyn.  There are currently 168,357 names on it and growing.

How you can Run and Win your Race for Election - Women's Power Strategy Conference

The Women's Power Strategy Conference is coming right up! I am talking about running for office. How you can do it and win! Tips for women considering a run in the near future. Come on by. Full schedule here: http://womenspowerstrategyconference.com/schedule-2013/

Saturday June 15th in Santa Rosa, California. My presentation is at 10 AM. Bring your questions and your concerns about running for office.  Strategies for winning your race. 

Train Democratic Women - Get Bumped by IRS

So the IRS just investigated the Tea Party, who - come on, we all know it - are dedicated to the overthrow and takedown of all things Democratic or not right of Atilla the Hun, and they actually deny non-profit status to a group of Democratic women in Maine, of all places, for training Democratic women.

Where's that story?

Right here, right now: (From Salon.com)

Meet the group the IRS actually denied: Democrats!

Although Tea Party applicants got unfair IRS scrutiny, only one known group had status revoked. They’re Democrats

By Joan Walsh

Topics: IRS, Scandal, Democrats, Republicans, Editor's Picks, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Progressives, Business News, News, Politics News

Emerge America (Credit: Flickr)

Everyone agrees that the IRS shouldn’t have targeted groups with “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names for special scrutiny in awarding tax-exempt status. NBC News reports two agents have been disciplined for doing so, and the Justice Department announced a criminal probe. But so far no one has identified a single conservative group that was denied status in the controversial review, though some faced bureaucratic hurdles and had their tax-exempt status delayed.

In fact, the only known 501(c)(4) applicant to have its status denied happens to be a progressive group: the Maine chapter of Emerge America, which trains Democratic women to run for office. Although the group did no electoral work, and didn’t participate in independent expenditure campaign activity either, its partisan status apparently disqualified it from being categorized as working for the “common good.”

Ironically, the national organization and its earlier chapters had gotten tax-exempt status by the IRS during the Bush administration in 2006. But it appears as though the Maine group’s rejection triggered a review of the entire organization, and Emerge America and all of its chapters had their tax-exempt status revoked. Emerge reincorporated with 527 status, which requires it to report its donors. 

Here’s what director Karen Middleton has to say:

Emerge America and its initial state programs were granted 501(c)(4) status by the IRS several years ago. Later, when a new state program applied for the same status, it was denied because Emerge works only with women who are in the Democratic Party, so the IRS determined this did not meet the definition of “social welfare” for the common good. We believed this denial triggered a review of the Emerge programs that had already been granted c4 status, and consequently those statuses were revoked. Becoming 527 organizations has not hurt our fundraising or organizational expansion – we report our donors and continue our work fully transparently.

Again, the focus on Tea Party groups is wrong, but two-thirds of the groups reviewed had no Tea Party ties — and only a Democratic group had its status denied. This story is more politically complicated than the right lets on.

Campaign Slut Culture Moment

Some Culture for You

            Thanks to adreyopoetry for letting me print her poem and perceptions.

The Campaign Slut

by adreyopoetry

Here’s to Justice
She was loved
Or at the very least
Held
To many bosoms
Even when she
Took fright
At their smell
We all stood on her
As upon a platform
Never noticing when she overdosed on
Lies
Under the trampling influence
Of our feet
And died.

We are thinking of resurrecting her
Put some blusher on her cheeks
And the old girl will be of use
In all our campaigns
She’s got game in her!

Are the Dems Eating their Own in California?

This top-two primary thing has us all in a quandry.  Two easily winnable races by Dem incumbents in the California State Assembly were lost last year due to a combination of redistricting (they had to move into s newly created district, which encompassed only a small proportion of the District they were currently serving), top-two primary (in predominantly Dem Districts this means two Dems squaring off against each other), heavy hitting Chamber of Commerce and agri-biz interests, with hidden donors, out to get the more moderate and "business friendly" Dem elected, and just possibly lack of smart targeting in their campaign messages.

An article in Cal Buzz highlights the role of big business and power brokering back room Democrats in the defeat of the two incumbents, "by working through shell vendors, sharing valuable data and personnel and failing to report their spending until they were exposed months later."

The right is aligning itself with moderate Blue Dog Dems to sneak its agenda in a now two-thirds Dem majority Legislature. Not good for labor, consumers or, in this case especially, farmworkers, whose cause was championed by the two ousted incumbents, causing Big Ag to hit them hard in nasty independent expenditure ads.

Still, the lesson may be that local trumps all, and that is what we hope to see more of in the future.  Campaigns that micro-target to show the connections between the newly redistricted legislator and the District s/he know serves.

In the case of the10th AD, where progressive Michael Allen had to woo Marin County voters, it should have been an easy sell.  His progressive bills, and long history of working for workers' rights, small business, and consumers' interests were a good fit for the new portions of the District, but the message wasn't clear. The newbie moderate Dem who touted his "local" cred as well as wooing Reps, hit the target big time.  It just shouldn't have happened that way.

Honing that laser-sharp focus is the path of the future. Getting into the District early and often, holding events, and highlighting your achievements for their benefit. Use testimonials from locals and graphically illustrate your commitment and connection with all parts of the District.This, to my admittedly biased view point, is the right way to make friends and influence voters. If they never get to know you, why should they vote for you?

Otherwise, watch out California, you may soon have a legislature full of DINOs, and a two-thirds majority that is Democratic in name only.

My Pink Pet Peeve

One of my favorite websites about women and politics is called Elect Women. It is run by a feisty women named Kathy Groob who once ran for Senator in Kentucky and has a great book called Pink Politics.

That's what makes me crabby. The whole site is pink, pink pink, and a Pepto Bismol  pink at that.  Why?

Why are women pink? It's like the pink booties and the blue booties.  Women are no color and all colors. And why, Kathy, have a red, white and blue high heel shoe as an illustration on your home page?

I know women have to work harder and still be seen as "feminine" to make it in politics, or they used to.  Now, the trend is changing. Women are taken seriously. Yes, when women run, they do win.  It's getting them to run in the first place that's hard.  The perception is they'll be eaten alive. And politics is a contact sport, no doubt about it.

So forget the high heels, and pink suits.  Get out your running shoes and wear any color you like.  OK, I've had my rant. Now read the site. It's got excellent advice, is up to date and pulls no punches (I even have several articles published there, myself.)

Just think about losing the pink, please!

Interview with Matt Connerton Unleashed

So, the Campaign Slut got a chance to be live on a we broadcast from Manchester New Hampshire, Saturday night.  A fellow named Matt Connerton talks politics with guests, and plays some heavy metal rock while he's at it. I have to give him credit; he does his homework. He knew about our work and the politics of the great state of California.  Unfortunately, the phone feed was poor, so I sound like I'm down the well, waiting for Lassie, or talking over a string and tin can contraption. Maybe I'll figure out a Google methodology for transcribing the whole thing.

They seem to be taking over the world, so surely they can do that. They do it with phone messages, anyway.

We talked about working with progressive Dems, the budget problems, how fun was Schwarzenegger? (not so much actually, especially if you were Maria Shriver), and then someone in the chat room asked about North Korea. if I had the answer to that, I'd be a Presidential adviser, with a much better pay scale and more benefits!

Oh, yeah, negative campaigning.  I explained my rules: Keep it fair, relevant, honest and document everything. You're running against an incumbent? Well, you better be prepare to tell the voters why to fire him/her and hire you. And humor. Using humor gets you farther than nasty sniping. Try it. It works.

It was fun, and I am always open to more conversations on campaigning.  Here is the link. Look for the broadcast from 5/4/13. And That's moi!