Because there is…. https://t.co/uIDPRp7i7n
— Jim Steineke (@jimsteineke) May 20, 2015
Wisconsin State Representative Jim Steineke, a Republican, insists there’s a double standard when it comes to what members of each political party can say and get away with. Exhibit A: Wisconsin State Senator Lena C. Taylor, a Democrat, who raised a few eyebrows at a meeting of the Joint Finance Committee Tuesday night when she likened Republican educational policies to the rape of Milwaukee Public School children.
“For years, individuals who sit on this committee and in this building have known that they have been raping the children of MPS,” she said.
https://twitter.com/gneumann_wkow/status/601090182654353408
The real War on Women. @SenTaylor needs to apologize for trivializing what too many women have suffered #Wiright https://t.co/IPZs2EBymm
— Jim Steineke (@jimsteineke) May 20, 2015
If Sen Taylor were a male Republican she'd be on MSNBC tomorrow & drummed out of legislature by week's end #Wiright https://t.co/IPZs2EBymm
— Jim Steineke (@jimsteineke) May 20, 2015
Steineke would like to know if Taylor’s fellow Democrat Sen. Jennifer Shilling would like to comment on the state GOP raping school kids.
When is @SenShilling going to denounce these comments? https://t.co/bwJ2yd08jZ
— Jim Steineke (@jimsteineke) May 20, 2015
Shilling’s office did respond, not denouncing but essentially repeating Taylor’s comments, simply without the colorful rape metaphor.
https://twitter.com/gneumann_wkow/status/601113829376950272
https://twitter.com/gneumann_wkow/status/601107163126300673
https://twitter.com/gneumann_wkow/status/601107571047542785
With pressure rising for an apology, Taylor instead revealed publicly that she herself is a sexual assault survivor, and, as WKOW reports, “said the pain associated with school budget cuts are a reminder of the pain she suffered as a victim.”
“As a survivor, I understand the cumulative effect of their policies,” Taylor told WKOW. “Our children deserve the very best. It was painful for me, yesterday. It was painful. It was painful for me. I understand that pain. That pain equates for me.”
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Right Wisconsin notes that school funding has managed to evoke the pain of sexual assault for Taylor before.
.@jimsteineke Worth noting, this is not the first time she's used rape to describe budget cuts. She did so in Feb http://t.co/tUP4Fbudk8
— RightWisconsin (@RightWisconsin) May 20, 2015
In February, Taylor reportedly said, “But neither am I going to be dishonest with people that suggest that the funding mechanism that was put into place – that people KNEW they did – and I hate to use this word, but it’s how strongly I feel – that raped our children of dollars that were designated.”
Good news: If you hate to use the word, you can stop using it at any time.
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