Posted on 06/06/2003 8:56:20 AM PDT by doug from upland
Tuesday June 13, 2000; 12:30 AM EDT
Hillary: 'Rapists Should be Punished With Full Force of Law'
First lady Hillary Clinton has yet to say whether she believes Arkansas businesswoman Juanita Broaddrick, who leveled a rape accusation against the president last year.
But on Monday Mrs. Clinton said it should be a "national priority" to see that men who commit sexual assault, rape and other forms of domestic violence are tracked down and punished with the full force of the law.
The first lady spoke out in support of congressional reauthorization for the Violence Against Women Act at an event she hosted at the White House:
"One million women are stalked each year," said Mrs. Clinton. "And when women are still being raped and assaulted more than 300,000 times in 1998 alone, our job is far from done. I don't believe law enforcement yet has the resources needed to track down and to punish those who hurt women, with the full force of the law."
In a dramatic interview with NBC's Lisa Myers broadcast two weeks after the Senate acquitted the president on Sexgate impeachment charges, Broaddrick said Clinton accosted her in a Little Rock hotel room in April 1978, pushed her down on the bed, ripped her clothing and bit her lip until she submitted to the assault.
The Clinton rape accuser said she remained silent for 20 years because she thought no one would believe her.
Mrs. Clinton's remarks on Monday echoed that concern:
"For centuries of domestic violence, women suffered in silence. But now that is no longer the case. But we cannot permit our country to take s step back. We must reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act so the message goes out loudly and clearly:
"Make no mistake about it, this is still a national priority that we intend to keep focusing on and pushing until we see that every woman has the protection she needs and law enforcement has the resources they require, and protective orders actually protect women."
In Arkansas, Mrs. Clinton was among the country's earliest crusaders against gender-related violence and is credited with establishing the state's first rape crisis hotline.
Six women, including Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and flight attendant Cristy Zercher, have accused the president of making unwanted sexual advances. A Little Rock lawyer who asked Clinton biographer Roger Morris not to identify her said the president sexually attacked her in 1978, "biting and bruising her in the process."
A sixth victim, who also requested anonymity, told Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff that Clinton sexually assaulted her in the Oval Office. Isikoff documented the incident in his 1999 book, "Uncovering Clinton."
In the book Isikoff raised questions about a seventh possible assault victim, former Miss America Elizabeth Ward Gracen, who has acknowledged a consensual one-night stand with the then-Arkansas governor in 1983. But the Newsweek reporter revealed that Gracen was bitten during her Clinton encounter, which she described as "rough."
Gracen friend Judy Stokes has said the beauty queen came to her in tears immediately afterward, saying that the sex was "something I did not want to happen."
The very same act her husband signed with much fanfare and applause by the NOW crowd that allowed plaintiffs in sexual harassments cases to use the sexual history of defendants. Loud were the cries of outrage by the Clinton sycophants including NOW, though, when his sexual history was introduced in the Paula Jones case. Nevertheless, here she is doing a Khruschev with a comfortable shoe for its reauthorization.
She was 19 years old…I loved her English eyes
She was telling me no, that's a word I despise
So I took what I wanted, I'll take what I see
She cried like a child
But she's just a dumb woman to me
She was just 22…and at Yale we studied
Recollection's not clear…but she might have been bloodied
Though she talked to the police, they just let me go free
One more score I can count
And she's just a dumb woman to me
I always take what I want…I will never hear "no"
If they fail to comply
Don't they all know who I am…who do they think they are
They should not ask me why
She's a real beauty queen…Miss America winner
I used power and fear…and then I enjoyed dinner
I warned her not to talk…she'd be sorry, you see
I would blame it on her
'Cause she's just a dumb woman to me
(short musical interlude)
I always take what I want…I will never hear "no"
If they fail to comply
Don't they all know who I am…who do they think they are
They should not ask me why
One was really too kind…and no challenge at all
I got into her room…there was no one to call
I ripped clothing and hurt her…she couldn't get free
There were tears in each breath…as I scared her to death
But she's just a dumb woman to me
(musical exit)
"We do not believe that violence against women is 'simply cultural' -- we believe it is simply criminal... I am proud that my husband has stood up as President to confront the violence and to protect American women." - Hillary Clinton 10/20/97"
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