Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

Just as I thought I’d have nothing but the presidential race to write about, our friends at the State Republican Party have decided to help me out by sending out a poorly thought out press release attacking Gabrielle Giffords on, of all issues, domestic violence.

It doesn’t start out as an attack. If you were just to read the two paragraphs of the release, you would think that the folks on 24th Street were congratulating Senator Tim Bee for sponsoring a bill strengthening the laws against domestic violence. Hey, from what I’ve seen of it, worthy bill.

Of course, we could not count on this being about domestic violence victims. Here’s Sean McCaffrey, State Republican Chair Randy Pullen’s assistant mahout, as quoted in the release:

Has Congresswoman Giffords done anything for domestic violence victims recently? Highly doubtful. She has been spending more time in Texas than in her district. President Bee actually has his finger on the pulse of his district, she’s quickly losing touch.

Nice touch including that bit about Texas there. I suppose the Republicans want to make the fact that Giffords married an astronaut an issue in the campaign. Apparently, they checked and her middle name is not Hussein, so it’s the best they can do. Aside from that, it is silly because Giffords has spent a great deal of time in the district. How many “congress on your corner” events is she supposed to hold, exactly? Aside from his snotty comment, he provides no evidence that she has been neglectful. But, an attack based on actual facts would be a violation of core conservative principles. And, I’ll leave y’all to see the irony of an attack like this made in defense of a guy who ditched budget discussions to hobnob at a conference in DC.

But, back to McCaffrey’s main point, what exactly has Giffords done for domestic violence lately? The press flack that wrote the release probably thought he managed to hit Giffords in a soft spot, since domestic violence is traditionally seen as a state and local issue and a member of congress would have little to say about it. However, Giffords has done quite a bit.

She was, for example, a co-sponsor of two important bills. One was the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act, which mandates that hospitals aid domesic violence victims. There is also the Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act that does much the same thing at military hospitals. She also serves on the Sexual Assault Violence Elimination Taskforce, where many ideas for domestic violence legislation originate. She pressured leadership to fully fund the Violence Against Women Act as well as put pressure on the Secretary of Defense to take action in the case of Jaime Leigh Jones, who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by employees of Halliburton, a Department of Defense contractor.

Interestingly, she made a request last year for $1,000,000 for Catholic Community Services of Arizona for the upkeep and construction of domestic violence shelters in Cochise County. These are, by the way, the only such facilities in Cochise County. This would include a big chunk of Bee’s legislative district. I made a quick perusal of Bee’s bills, and I failed to find a similar appropriation. Sauce for the goose, fellas.