Joe Biden compares GOP to rape apologists

Now WAIT JUST A MINUTE: People still blame rape victims?!

Joe. What are you doing, Joe?:

The vice president, known for speaking his mind and at times putting his foot in his mouth, said that Republicans who want to cut spending while at the same time cutting taxes for the wealthy are similar to rape apologists.

In setting up his comparison, the vice president explained to the audience that before the Violence Against Women Act that he championed was passed into law, “there was this attitude in our society of blaming the victim,” according to a press pool account of the event.

“When a woman got raped, blame her because she was wearing a skirt too short, she looked the wrong way or she wasn’t home in time to make the dinner,” Biden said.

“We’ve gotten by that,” he said. “But it’s amazing how these Republicans, the right wing of this party – whose philosophy threw us into this God-awful hole we’re in, gave us the tremendous deficit we’ve inherited – that they’re  now using, now attempting to use, the very economic condition they have created to blame the victim – whether it’s organized labor or ordinary middle-class working men and women. It’s bizarre. It’s bizarre.”

Of course right-wingers are jumping all over the inappropriateness of this comparison – but I’m actually disturbed by the fact that he talks about victim-blaming as some sort of pastime, especially considering the most recent, very public example by the New York Times and Rep. Kathleen Passidomo. Yes, we love you for leading the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but um, you didn’t eliminate victim-blaming or rape apologizing. Sorry, dude – wish ya did!

Secondly, no need for a comparison; many GOP folks are rape apologists – remember their attempts to redefine rape in anti-choice bill HR3? Would have loved to hear from you on that gem of victim-blaming bullshit. But this…this is just bad, Joe.