by Emil Guillermo
Men as well as women can be susceptible to rape. So when rape becomes a central issue in a confirmation hearing, it’s a serious matter.
To me, the lesson for Matt Gaetz and even Pete Hegseth–the Trump bro nominees with sex on their resume–is simple.
Whenever rape comes up, it’s ultimately disqualifying for anyone in public life.
If you don’t think so, just look at the stats at the end of this column.
Of course, the accused don’t take rape seriously. They look to avoid justice. Or pay off the victims.
Unfortunately, it satisfies the perps more than the victims.
If Gaetz wanted to feel good about his situation, all he needed to do was look at President Trump.
Too easy?
Then I hope he was watching November 21’s Thursday Night Football game on Amazon.
Thursday night’s rape history coincidence
On Thursday, November 21, the Cleveland Browns, one of the worst teams this season, upset the favored Pittsburgh Steelers in a messy game in the snow.
Emerging from it all was the Browns quarterback, Jameis Winston, good enough to put the Browns on his back and will them to victory.
Charissa Thompson, who made the news last year for admitting she made things up as a sideline reporter, fawned over Winston in the post-game. “You’re the best,” she proclaimed again and again. She even had Winston doing snow angels on the field.
And all I could think of was this is the formerly disgraced Jameis Winston who was accused of rape while a star player at Florida State in 2012, and the subject of a New York Times investigation on how the local police and the school never took the case seriously.
Winston, of course, denied any wrongdoing but settled with the victim, Erica Kinsman, a former student at Florida State for an undisclosed amount. Kinsman sued Florida State and received a settlement for nearly a million dollars. Kinsman has been outspoken on the matter and is in the documentary, “The Hunting Ground.”
And now more than a decade after the initial indiscretion, Winston gives hope to Gaetz, on the same day he “withdraws.” It may even give hope to Hegseth.
Trump bros believe there is life after rape in America.
But maybe there shouldn’t be.
These days, Winston is no pariah. The former Heisman winner will always be a sports hero. He got to win a meaningless football game on Amazon and get praised to death by an admitted liar.
So the chances are good even Gaetz will be back.
This is why it’s essential that the Ethics Committee report – featuring women who testified under oath that they witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at least once – must be released to the public.
It’s also important that the Senate fully investigate the Hegseth matter. The details of the Monterey, Calif. police report are out. Hegseth claims it was consensual sex with a married GOP operative.
The report said the woman said, “No,” multiple times. What did she mean? The woman has been silenced because Hegseth had her sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Right out of the Trump playbook.
Rape is meaningless to men to whom “No” does not mean no.
Bro world values Trump rape
Of course, the bros are just following the leader. Trump was found liable for sexual assault in the E.Jean Carroll case.
Trump bros say, “How bad can it be when Trump’s now the president of everything?!”
He’s a bad moral example, period.
Women who voted for the man who took away your federal right to reproductive freedom should consider what he thinks about guys like Gaetz, who didn’t admit to any wrongdoing.
He merely admitted to being “a distraction.”
Trump would say on social media in response: “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do.”
That’s what you have to be scared about.
He’s only going away temporarily. He has a “wonderful future.”
If he watched fellow Floridian Jameis Winston praised in victory on Thursday night, Gaetz knows, it’s not just the Trump bros, but most of America, that doesn’t take rape very seriously.
And they should.
Trump isn’t mourning the loss of Gaetz. Acting swiftly and politically, he put up a woman to replace Gaetz, fellow Floridian Pam Bondi. She was an ardent 2020 election denier. Is she a rape denier? She was the Florida attorney general during the Jameis Winston case.
Now she’s Trump’s pick.
Rape in America
The stats are pretty surprising when you look at the total numbers but then look at the “rate of rape” in the U.S., according to rape statistics from the World Population Review.
Alaska is the worst with a 148.7 rating, or 148.7 rapes per 100,000 people. So the total number of rapes is relatively low at 1,088. But when comparing to other states, you see how Alaska is actually worse than the biggest states out there.
Hawaii for example is mid-pack among all states with a 54 rapes per 100,000 rate. But the Aloha state has just 765 rapes.
After Hawaii comes Texas, with a rape rate of 51 (rapes per 100,000). But a big state like Texas has 14,824 rapes. Nearly 15,000 rapes, the most in the country.
California is next at 14,799 rapes, but it’s larger so the rapes per 100,000 are only 37.5.
Ranking the states gives you a sense. But one rape is too many in 2024. And no matter where you are in the nation, not even in Hawaii, we are so far from that.
As the report cites: In the United States, about 43.6% of women and 24.8% of men experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS).
About 21.3% of women surveyed reported completed or attempted rape at some point in their lives, with 1.2% reporting completed or attempted rape in the 12 months preceding the survey.
About 2.6% of men reported experiencing completed or attempted rape at some point in their lives.
About 81.3% of female victims and 70.8% of male victims experienced their first completed or attempted rape before the age of 25.
Think of all that as the Pete Hegseth confirmation evolves, or as Gaetz tries to hide the details of his past. Or as the president-elect tries to shrug it off as a nothing burger.
NOTE: To all the readers of the Filipino Chronicle, I am so grateful for you checking out my columns through the years in this space. Despite the politics of the day, we still have much for which to be thankful. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
EMIL GUILLERMO is a journalist and commentator who has covered politics from Hawaii to California to Washington, D.C., where was at NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He was the first Filipino American to host a national news show. See his Emil Amok’s Takeout on www.patreon.com/emilamok
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