Marco Rubio Among 22 Male Republican Senators to Vote Against VAWA

     I think it's notable that he was among the Infamous 22, as was Lindsay Graham another Republican who is seen as a voice of reason in the party these days. Rubio has Presidential ambitions and he has been discussing the ways in which the GOP needs to go forward.

      His profile could not be higher as he gave the party's official response to the President's SOTU address the other night and he has been on the front lines of Republican proposals for immigration. Yet, he voted against the Violence Against Women Act? I know there will be those who argue that somehow you can be opposed to violence against women and oppose a particular piece of legalization regarding it.

      Nevertheless, it becomes a tougher sell when the name of the legislation is the Violence Against Women Act . One reason that had been given for opposition to VAWA is that it adds gays and illegal immigrants to those protected.

       So these critics want us to believe that:

       1). They are totally and completely opposed to all violence against women.

       2). Still they are not as opposed to it as they are against gay rights or doing anything positive for illegal immigrants.

        It makes as much sense as the GOP saying-as Lindsay Graham has said-that

       1.) the sequester military cuts will embolden our enemies in Iran and al Qaeda and lead to an uptick in recruitment at the al Qaeda training camps.

       2.) Nevertheless if the only way to avoid the cuts is to take away a tax credit from Chevron, then it's not worth avoiding them.

       In fact there are Republican opponents of VAWA who give their reason that VAWA is unfair to men or that its unconstittuional for the government to outlaw domestic violence.

       "VAWA expired during the previous Congress, and because of Republican opposition to provisions for Native American, undocumented, and LGBT victims of domestic violence, the different versions approved by the House and by the Senate were never reconciled, and the bill died without final passage at the end of 2012."

        "Since its inception in 1994, VAWA has established a system for helping women in danger. The law created the National Domestic Violence Hotline, made stalking illegal, and helped drive down the number of partner homicides."

          "Two Senators — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) — also offered significant amendments to the VAWA bill. Grassley’s amendment stripped all Native American, LGBT, and undocumented victim protections. It was voted down on Thursday of last week. Cornyn’s, aimed exclusively on the bill’s language relating to tribal lands, failed on Monday."

          "Last week, eight Senators voted against even moving to debate on the revived legislation, and they are among those who voted against its passage. Four of them did so because their radical interpretation of the constitution precludes federal protection for domestic violence victims.
The version passed by the Senate today will next go to the House for a vote, where it is expected to encounter some difficulties, particularly over the protections of tribal women included in the bill."

            I'm sure some feel that the title of my blog is too much-how can I hate anyone even Republicans? I'd say that while I don't hate individuals I do hate certain ideas and ideology. I'd say that an ideology that leads to rejection of even the most simples common sense protection against something like domestic violence is worthy of hatred.