Let me say at the outset of this post that I have an agenda: to raise awareness of South Dakota Senator Bill Napoli's sick and twisted inner fantasy life.
Have you heard of the good Senator? Allow me to introduce him. He's a Republican State Senator for South Dakota. He's a big fan of the state's recent abortion ban, which permits an abortion only where the mother's life is endangered, and makes no exception for cases of rape or incest. He thinks most abortions are performed for "convenience."
But hey. He's a compassionate guy, and he can even think of a circumstance under which he'd make an exception. I mean, he's really thought about it, clearly often and in great detail:
"A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life."
This scarily specific, fully-formed rape fantasy has been outraging the blogosphere since March 3, 2006; as Salon's Rebecca Traister said: "I want to scrub my eyeballs with bleach in the hopes that I can erase the memory of having read those words coming from the mouth of an elected official." With profound apologies to your eyeballs, I've posted Napoli's scary scary screed because I think it's important that people know that there's a Senator out there passing off his disturbing sadomasochistic fantasies as "policy." I know, I'm funny that way.
I'm glad that Wonkette and Molly Ivins and Daily Kos and yes, HuffPo are funny that way, too. Why I'm bringing this up again now: three weeks later, why isn't the rest of the media? Why aren't they on this guy? Searches in the New York Times and Washington Post turn up nothing, same with Newsweek and Time (and what, nothing on Fox? Shocking!). Yes, I have an agenda, but it seems to me that when an elected official makes this kind of statement, he must be called on it -- especially when that statement is made in support of a Draconian law that is on the march in Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. C'mon, NYT. Give it up, Newsweek. Let this skeevy toad know that people are paying attention.
Actually, why wait? Let him know yourself, via this handy online form where you can send him a note that says "Dear Senator Napoli, please stay away from my daughter." That's kind of funny, too.