Domestic Abusers Win again in SC, and Legislators show their ignorance

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 11:07pm

Once again South Carolina has given me a reason to desperately want to leave. Please read the story on the link.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3233130&nav=0RaMYral

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 11:15pm

My god, Altman doesn't even have the shrewdness to pretend he cares about this issue? Sickening. Sickening.

Rep. Altman spoke about domestic violence, "There ought not to be a second offense. The woman ought to not be around the man. I mean you women want it one way and not another. Women want to punish the men, and I do not understand why women continue to go back around men who abuse them. And I've asked women that and they all tell me the same answer, John Graham you don't understand. And I say you're right, I don't understand."

Gormley, "So it's their fault for going back?"

Altman, "Now there you go, trying to twist that too. And I don't mind you trying. It's not the woman's fault, it's not blaming the victim, but tell me what self respecting person is going back around someone who beats them?"

Bourus says there a number of reasons, "She may have children with that person, and she may fear that it will harm them to live without their dad, or she is majorly financially dependent on his check to feed her children."

Bourus adds another reason women sometimes stay, "After an incident a violent incident, quite often the batterer will say I'm so sorry, it will never happen again."

Rep. Altman has worked with abused women, and in a second interview with a lowcountry station he said he tells them not to go back, and when he does, "They listen to me, they don't don't go back."

When asked whether he was sure, he said, "At least not while I'm representing her."

During the same interview, he responded to the reporter's question, "You seem to be drawn to this fixation that women have to go back. I don't think that speaks highly of women. I think women can think and be responsible for their own actions. Woman are not some toys out there, drawn back to the magnet of the man a lot of these men are bums and creatons and they have to be punished but I think women are independent enough to not go back to the men who beat them. And we have a lot of men who are abused by women, but they are too ashamed to admit it."

I'm terrified to think of his views on rape and sexual assault.

Updated On: 4/20/05 at 11:15 PM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 11:57pm

yet another reason why the South will never rise again

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:21am

Another reason why I am glad I am apolitical & I say a pox on all their houses

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 9:43am

All I can say is, who wrote this? Did they spell things out the way they were said phonetically? What the HECK is a "creatons"? Did they mean cretins?
Spellcheck; it's your friend!

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 11:36am

...and i thought they were referring to the little things you sprinkle on your salad...

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 12:45pm

I love that Altman can refer to people as not bright and ignorant and yet does not even have mastery of the English language himself.

What an arrogant, yet ignorant, asshole!

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 3:02pm

I'm always amazed at how much difficulty otherwise intelligent people have with this issue. In Women's Studies in college Domestic Abuse sparked the singlemost heated debate of the semester.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 3:13pm

I wonder if Rep. Altman will ever know exactly how stupid and chauvenistic he made himself look.

Probably not.

Kudos for WISTV for pointing out the obvious!

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 4:00pm

Just to let everyone know, the wonderful Ladies of Columbia College (my school!) marched to the South Carolina statehouse and held a rally against Rep. Altman and the tabling of the bill. We will not let this rest!

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 5:18pm

Okay, sweetdarlinmia, as Rep. Altman would say "You girls are askin' for trouble"

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 5:18pm

oops..double Updated On: 4/21/05 at 05:18 PM

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:16pm

We ask for trouble all the time... We protest a lot. There's a lot to protest about around here.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:21pm

I'm sort of disheartened that there's so few views and responses on here.

How did the protest go? How many people turned up?

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 9:24pm

The protest went very well. All the local news media appeared. No dissenters present. About 200 people apparently showed up, from our school and others. We also had people who just saw our signs and joined in the march. We had a lot of car honks in support. Some dirty looks from construction workers though. Rep. Altman was on MSNBC today talking about his comments and basically making a bigger a$$ of himself. It's important for us to keep in mind that the decision to table the decision was a unanimous decision, accompanied with some snide remarks from members of the Judiciary committee. According to a tape of the session, Altman also made a comment on a possible change of the bill's name to POPER or Protecting Our People in Every Relationship. His comment? "Pop Her," with another Legislator saying "Pop her again." It's no wonder that the county he represents, Charleston County, is #1 in SC for domestic violence and SC is #6 in the nation.

This isn't the first time he has made offensive remarks. His previous remarks were insults against Martin Luther King, Jr, African Americans in general, and the gay community:

Altman said a hate crimes bill would make "white heterosexuals second-class citizens."

In January 1997, state lawmakers battled over the Confederate flag. At a meeting of the House Judiciary committee, Charleston Representative John Graham Altman took aim at flag opponents, "Quit looking at the symbols. Get out and get a job. Quit shooting each other. Quit having illegitimate babies. Let's move on from here."

It's just one of many times Altman's comments have enraged his critics. Later he wrote to the state's Education Superintendent, who supported removing the flag from the State House dome, "The kindest help I can offer you on any level is to try to get you quickly qualified for the Federal Witness Protection program."

During and after the debate over establishing a Martin Luther King Holiday, Altman repeatedly referred to King as a womanizer and claimed King had cheated his way through college.
-comments courtesy of Wistv.com


For more info, check out both WIStv.com and Thestate.com

[grownupgroupie]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 9:59pm

I haven't responded to this all day b/c it just sickened me too much. Rep. Altman, welcome to the 19th century.

I went to college in NC and used to drive down to SC (with my CA plates and pro-choice bumper sticker) every other weekend to see my then-boyfriend. As scary as that sometimes felt (hearing the theme to Deliverance in my head as I drove down the country highways) I can't imagine being there now--the political climate is far more oppressive and dire NOW than it was when I was there 10 years ago. Thank God I don't live anywhere near this part of the country anymore, I think my head would implode.

SCARY AS HELL!!

I love the fact that this neanderthal's reaction to a reasonable question re: the value of a woman's life vs. that of a gamecock is that the [female] reporter must not be too bright. And to that end, why isn't the FIRST offense of DV a felony?? I mean, there's no reasoning with people like this.

MARCH, Sweetiedarlingmia, MARCH!!!! It was this time 10 years ago that my girlfriends and I marched on the Capitol with NOW against Domestic Violence ("the Mobilize for Women's Lives" march) and it is SO SHOCKING to me that there is even an issue like this. This man--and his ilk (pop her again indeed!) need to be driven from office in SHAME.

Un-freaking-believeble. I believe in karma, and this fool's got it coming.