talk about hitting the nail right on the head. jeeez.

http://theinterrobang.com/2013/03/onion-foreshadowed-cnn-sympathet ic-rapist-slant/

The Onion is friggin' pheonomenal, thanks for that link!!

I mailed that link to CNN.

I hope a lot of people mail it to them. And I hope everyone involved in this segment is forced to reevaluate their lives.

The first thing I thought when I saw this had a CNN and not an ONN tag.. was that it really should have had an ONN tag. This is horrifyingly evil reporting.

It is better to have raped and lost than to never have raped at all.

Oh shit, guys. Jeez. Stop making me go to hell.

Counterpoint: It's better to have not raped at all.

What is rape? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more.

They're never gonna rape again,
guilty verdict, got no freedom,
they're never gonna rape again,
the way they raped at Steubenville...

*rapey sax solo*

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
You the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and rape are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is rape

I suspect they still have a lot of rapes ahead of them.

in prison? oh yeah

They will probably rape a lot of nonviolent drug offenders in prison.

They will no longer be able to get a job in a women's prison and repeatedly rape the nonviolent drug offenders in there, though.

They will rape the world, and our hearts.

Blue you must be pretty naive about prisons to think these lily white high school kids are going to be raping anybody else. Football team or no, that says a lot about your naivete towards how the world operates.

Bet you're glad we're living in a country full of heavily armed vigilantes.

Youre dumb if you think this country really is filled with heavily armed vigilantes. It must be exhausting to be scared of every single person who owns a gun.

Zoinks! A G-G-G-Gun Owner!!!!

*scrambling away sound effect*

Wait, I'm "scared of"... but I thought I was a gun nut this season?? Don't tell me I've done another heel turn, it's hard to keep things straight!

sorry, it's Canadians this month

Damn, Dick Cheney, the quail's over here, chief!

:D

I admit to totally assuming what your opinion is. Whoops.

No apologies. We're all thinking it.

Alright, see, fuck those two guys and fuck you too.

I'm sorry bro. You play the foosball too?

Fuck you. You are the assholes in Steubenville joking about the rape victim.

The policy of allowing rape in our prisons is a terrible atrocity. It happens in male and female facilities (which I should remind you, have male guards).

The typical prison rape victim is usually the kind of person that shouldn't be in prison in the first place. The typical perpetrator is a fucking rapist because that's what fucking rapists are and do. It's not just fucking rape, either, it's HIV.

We have a policy of letting these people rape and rape again both outside and inside prison without consequence. Seriously, if you're going to prison for rape, you're doing it wrong. It's not that fucking hard to learn how to rape people without consequence, keep in mind the only reason these kids aren't running that girl out of town on a rail or making fun of her to her face while she tries to pretend to be a good sport about getting raped is because they went viral on the internet.

My first time having sex and only my second date ever was with a guy that raped me. I got a call from his roommate a few days later warning me about him - he was a rapist and he had HIV. I don't know where he got it, but he had done time prior to meeting me. No, it's not at all comforting to me to imagine him getting that same fucking news. I can't even begin to describe how fucking horrible it was to take that test. I couldn't talk to anyone about the rape for fear of losing my home and my family. It took me four tries before I actually stayed long enough to get the results. I shouldn't have had to deal with that. That you would inflict that and worse on other rape victims makes you a fucking monster.

I don't wish horrible things on you, I just wish you fucking people would stop treating this like a fucking joke. There's no law or policy to overturn here. The only difference between prisons that allow prison rape and prisons that don't is whether or not they have this cavalier attitude toward prison rape.

No, he's probably just aware of the idea that our country is having a pretty fucking terrible problem with the concept of "legitimate rape," and you are taking that idea and doing backflips into the endzone with it for your own cutesy bullshit.

oh shi -- too slow, and Blue's response is way better than mine. read that one, and just pretend that I'm glowering at you.

I love it how everybody assumes that rapists in prison are somehow better people than the assholes at CNN and will choose to exact some sort of poetic punishment instead of just violently raping the most powerless minorities they can.

It's like if everybody was cool with lynchings because they just assumed the KKK was lynching people for being rich white racists.

I actually admire you Blue. No sarcasm, I really do.

But if wishing rape or worse on rapists makes me a monster, I'm absolutely a monster. Rape is probably the worst thing you can do to another human being, possibly in some instances even worse than simply killing them.

Those two guys in Steubenville aren't sorry they raped her, they're sorry they got caught. I don't believe for a second they're legitimately sorry. Their lives are ruined and I'm glad about that.

Personally speaking though, I could put a bullet in the head of every rapist on the planet and sleep peacefully that night. I've seen what rape is. I've seen what it does to people and I'm very much of the opinion that this planet can do without them.

I'm sorry you had to go through it and I wish no one had to deal with it at all but that is the dream of a perfect world and we do not live there and never will. Crimes turned against the perpetrators is my own idea of sweet justice. Murderers put to death. Theives repaying their victims. People committing assault having their asses kicked. Then again, a civilization can be judged by how it treats its prisoners, right?

How about how about judging it by how the people in it treat each other? I see your point, Blue. I retract my statement that they should be raped in return by giant bareback HIV dicks in prison.

At least we're past that point of Leviticus where the victim is forced to marry the rapist, right?

Except Fox News kinda outed her name to the world tonight and so she's sort of bound in fame to them.

This world sucks. I wish there was an easy solution.

I wish that in Prison their dicks get chopped into tiny little pieces by the fat katana kid and then they get their dicks fed to them by Prince. Afterwards, they will be forced to copulate with live crocodiles, if they survive they shall be thrown into a vat of acid.

As long as I'm making little revenge fantasies in my head I like to go all out with the crazy shit.

Well, seeing as how no small number of rapists are survivors of sexual abuse, there's a chance your vengeance-based social policy has probably already absolved the Stuebenville crew! Great job!

Most people don't like seeing young people convicted of serious crimes because, after all is said and done, they are also victims of their own crime. I get that. But I think this concern trolling here goes a little beyond that and into this weird territory of forgetting who the real victim is in all of this.

I would also suggest reading up on the case, which is pretty fucking awful.
(it's only a notch or two less-worse than the infamous "raised her leg in defiance of gravity" rape case and only because, in this case, the police department actually bothered pursuing the case instead of conspiring en masse to cover up the crime and slut-shame the victim)

Jesus I just googled 'raised her leg in defiance of gravity'. Holy shit.

There's been a lot of slut-shaming in this case. It's pretty bad. "It's her fault for getting drunk." I mean how do you even respond to that?

She's not supposed to talk about the victim, right? Her job is talk about the event she's reporting on, and make it sound interesting. She may have miscalculated.

Well, I know I'm just a bleeding heart liberal. but I hope that they don't get raped in prison, and I hope they don't rape anyone else, and I also hope that the victim doesn't get raped anymore. If that works out, I don't care about the light sentence or the stupid CNN reporter.

sort the following according to your own moral compass;

a) girl got passed out drunk at a party

b) 2 boys sexually assaulted her

c) other boys took pictures of the assault and shared them

d) the powers that be in the town initially tried to interfere with the investigation because it could hurt a valued institution

this is a dreadful story from all perspectives

Well, I hope they get raped in prison.

Also, didn't they drug her? It was my understanding that the rapists slipped something into her drink. Getting black out drunk isn't an open invitation to be raped, of course, but "mutually attracted couple gets drunk and has sex without clearly enunciated consent from both parties" is a good deal more defensible than "gang of dudes intentionally slips girl some roofies for the express purpose of gang raping her, as they've done at least a dozen time before".

Yeah I remember the d) part.

I hope the d) part leads to jail time for like 8 dozen people.

Yes that's right, I hope they throw in dozens of innocent co-conspirators just for good measure. I need scapegoats.

Also, I don't feel even a little bad for the rapists as "products of their environment". I doubt that the two rapists raped their way through some PTSD that they were already suffering. Psychopaths are psychopaths at 16.

Rape everyone, for good measure.

@ asian hick

"There's been a lot of slut-shaming in this case. It's pretty bad. "It's her fault for getting drunk." I mean how do you even respond to that?"

I'd say, "They took advantage of someone who couldn't defend themselves. Hope they enjoy their size 11 assholes by the time they're released."

Also, I hope that girl can get the hell out of Ohio.

I mean it's not like this is going to un-rape the victim, it's just going to ensure that these kids are themselves subjected to years of systematic abuse and rape, then put out on the streets as registered sex offenders, practically ensuring that they will live out their lives underemployed and socially ostracized at best, and making the chances of them raping again vastly greater. That's assuming they make it through their sentences without being murdered or killing themselves, which would be a feat in and of itself.

The way the media has handled the case is, from what I've seen, pretty shameful of course, but when was the last time the media handled something in a way that WASN'T shameful? Watergate?

I'm with That guy. There are a people that are products of the similar (or exact same) environment and don't rape other people.

I'm all for taking a more holistic approach to crime and tragedy, and I hve my own concerns and issues with the punitive nature of the law, but at some level a person still has to take some responsibility for their decisions. I'm on the fence about the whole sex offender pariah thing in cases of non-violent rape, but abso-fucking-lutely send these guys to juvie or worse.

I can see where JHM would be sympathetic with people who drugged and fucked a 16 year old, tho.

Oooooooooow!

Oh no he didn't!

Oh, Hooker. That was sublime.

I'm in the middle of writing another Downton Abbey/ Sailor Moon crossover fanfic, and I was wondering if you'd mind me penning in you and Holmes as the "bitter enemies from different social worlds turned passionate lovers" OC couple?

All I said was that I hope they don't get raped. I know it's pretty controversial, but I don't think fantasizing about teenage boys getting slammed in the ass is the best possible way to show support and sympathy for the girl's suffering. I didn't mean to spoil Hooker's fun, though.

They are going to juvie, not regular prison.
They are giant kids, I doubt they will be raped.
It is not "just" going to do bad things to them, it is also going to remove them from society, punish them, and keep tabs on them.

Homeskillet, they publicily revenge-raped a girl for breaking up with their friend, and I think pissed on her, joked about it and blamed her for it in social media. Who do you think we're talking about here? A couple of drunk kids ice-blocking on a golf course?

Name the worst thing you did as a teenager, go:
[I egged someone's car]

I stole my dormmates towel and clothes while he was showering. Then I went in his room and stole all the clothes from his chest of drawers. I left him a single baseball cap. Threw everything else on the roof.

Also poured some rancid milk through the sunroof of a Porsche once.

When I was a teenager I asked my dad if I could borrow his motorcycle, but he wouldn't let me drive it, he just downright refused. However, I knew where he kept the keys, so one night, I waited until he fell asleep, and then I raped him.

>>Homeskillet, they publicily revenge-raped a girl for breaking up with their friend, and I think pissed on her, joked about it and blamed her for it in social media. Who do you think we're talking about here? A couple of drunk kids ice-blocking on a golf course?

Are you talking to me? I don't even know what "ice-blocking" means.

It doesn't surprise me that the more I learn about this crime, the more horrible it becomes, and I knew it was horrible to start with.

What the fuck are we talking about? If we're talking about how the kids should have gotten a longer sentence, I think I'd agree with that. But this is about how compassion for convicted criminals is immoral, and acknowledging the humanity of a rapist makes you "an apologist for rape".

I'm glad the kids got caught, I'm glad they were convicted, and I would have supported them getting more time than they did. I'm not really feeling all that compassionate toward these particular offenders

but I'm not going to condemn anyone who does, and I'm not going to rage about how these stupid kids should be raped in the ass, just to convince you all that I'm not a fan of rape. I'm going to assume that everyone other than Hooker is intelligent enough to comprehend a little nuance.

I know that there are murderers who deserve to die, but I don't support capital punishment. I don't think dispensing violence as justice will make a less violent society. There's a time and a place for being compassionate toward offenders, not always because they deserve it, but because it's the best thing for society, because it will save us all lot of expense and suffering.

When is the time for compassion toward rapists? I don't know exactly when, but certainly AFTER PUNISHMENT. Make no mistake.

I was referring to a few homeskillets here, I guess; you being one.
Some here have wished rape on them, I have not.
I might out of facetiousness, but not in sincerity.

Ice blocking is a fun, juvenile thing to do that tears up a golf course hill. You ride a block of ice down the hill after breaking into the course. It is technically a crime a la breaking and entering & destruction of property. No adolescence is complete without doing something stupid like this while not raping someone.

When I was a teenager, I stole Adham Nu'man's dad's car.

You bastard!

I don't think that video was of one of the perpetrators. I believe it was just one of their shitty friends.

You really missed the point of that novel completely, didn't you?

I'm not talking about free will vs order in society right now.

Spirit bulb for Zircon.

I think you missed the point of the quote.

For me, Clockwork Orange is a well-imagined, well-written novel that makes a trifling point or two [especially on this side of the pond in 2013]. The Brits have a strain of societal over-programming that they occasionally have to beat back. We don't have that here.

The last chapter is key, not appearing in the movie, and basic to understanding the whole work.

Check your mail tomorrow. I just ordered you a few, plus a pretty good sized "what the flying fuck?" net.

Much obliged. Was there a tracking number for those "fuck you" bags?

I have it around here somewhere.
If I can't find it, I think the tracking number was exactly the same as the Steubenvillian co-conspirators that need to be thrown in jail whether they did anything or not.

The same number, that is. I was too overjoyed with rage to formitate that sendence.

MUST.... FIND... MORE....
MORE.... TO... JAIL....

Whoa, man, whoa. I don't think you realize the severity of this situation for these poor rapist-kids. Juvenile prisons typically only have free weights, and the ones with machines barely have 20% of the selection that a school with a high-end football program has.

I mean, granted, they'll have more time to focus on training now, but by the time they get out their football-specific skills could have decayed to the point where they won't even get into college with a top-tier sports program, and could end up being third, even fourth round draft picks! That's potentially millions of dollars they've now lost in contracts and endorsements.

-_- I posted that by freak accident, ultrabooks track pads suck. Why don't we have a delete button yet?

To discourage the use of ultrabooks.

*****
that got me laughing for a good half-minute

This was a status shared by an author I follow on Facebook. It's from a 'Janet Hardy:'

"Hey, folks: It is entirely possible to feel deep sympathy for a young woman who was horribly abused and violated, AND to feel deep sympathy for the very stupid, very young men who got drunk, did something horrific and ruined her life and their own. They of course deserve to be punished, but it is possible to punish them while at the same time holding the understanding of how young they are and what they might become someday with proper teaching and support. There are no winners in a situation like this, just several different flavors of tragedy."

What follows is a massive thread. Many agree with her, others think the two don't deserve compassion. One of the last posts was this:

"I am verklempt at some of these responses...I. want to read through them all before saying much except wow..are you really that far removed? These are kids. These are all kids and all of their lives have been altered. Really..you would feel you had failed if your daughter got drunk but not if tour son had sex with her while she was incoherent? Pardon me while I collect my thoughts."

Fuck. I REALLY gotta start my mornings better.

Oh Christ.

Are they really trying to make this out like some sort of, I dunno, non-premeditated rape? Some kids went out, got a little drunk, and hey, woops! Alcohol sure makes you do weird things, haha!

I'd point out these kids meticulously planned the whole thing while sober, got the entire town (including a coach who'd been egging them on in return for regular jailbait/ CP deliveries) to cover for them, and that this wasn't even the first girl they raped, but fuck me why should that be necessary?!

Well, you know... Rape is a victimless crime.





Oh no wait it totally isn't what the fuck is wrong with people?!?

This is what I ended up leaving as my final word:

"Last thing I will post in this thread.

Yeah, maybe if I were the parents of one of these little monsters, I'd be heartbroken that I failed my son if he went out and did something this terrible. But I am not their parents. I am not related to them. They did an awful thing, they bragged about it on Twitter, and they hid behind a town obsessed with its football team until they were finally thrown in the pen where they belong. I see no merit to the argument "Oh, those poor boys are too young to sign on a dotted line!" when they have a minimum sentence of one year and a maximum of up to their 21st birthdays. They'll be getting out LONG before their youth leaves them. Take it from somebody who's almost 30.

There are young girls in my family and in my life whom I have sworn to protect, even if the cost was my life. If I found out that ANYTHING resembling what happened to the Steubenville victim happened to THEM, you can rest assured that the word 'compassion' would be the furthest from my vocabulary when discussing the perpetrators. And that's a promise I will look you in the eye and tell you.

These boys are not victims. I will not treat them like victims. I will treat them like boys who left a victim in their wake. And until they prove there's a conscience and soul somewhere in there, my stance will not change."

Done. Now I am going to quietly unfollow that thread and never look at it again.

Where is this thread? It sounds like a perfect place for my Facebook alter-ego, The Honorable Viscount Rapington, Rape-Lord of Gor.

Is this Prime Directive sensitive? The thread is on a Facebook profile that's open to public viewing.

I don't know if this counts as posting public information, but...search Janet Hardy of Eugene, Oregon. I followed an author's page last night and the thread was shared on my feed. I have no idea who Janet Hardy is or if she's done anything really significant. All I know is that Janet Hardy is making me angry. The thread was posted 19 hours ago.

Well, I agree with Janet Hardy that sympathy is possible, but I've seen the video now, and I'm not feeling it.

This is a chickenshit controversy. If Janet Hardy of Eugene Oregon thinks the rapists should be set free/ass raped, that's an actual thing that's conceivably worth getting angry about. I don't care what she's feeling in her bleeding heart liberal heart.

This is why I deleted my Facebook account. It's just a big youtube comments page without as many videos.

They're winners. Winners are better than losers.

When it comes down to this sort of knee-jerk irrationality, it's difficult not to overthink it.

This.

Yeah, the youth-hero-worship is gross.

And also this.

I'm delighted to read that they're going after the parents and coaches who covered this up, and that girls who threatened the victim online are already being charged. Now that the rapists have been sentenced, this is what I care about.

I just read the tumblr page in the description, It really clarifies the issue for me. Or maybe it obscures it, I don't know. I wish that we'd been talking about the tumblr page and not CNN.

And a lifetime of being nationally known as a rapist.

Which is fine with me, though the guy that got 11 years for marijuana possession is probably wondering WTF.