On the Subject of Violence

Congress continues to nitpick the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.  They apparently don't want to go overboard in protecting women.

On Sunday's Up with Chris (Hayes), there was a discussion about this Act and the nitpicking.  Sarah Deer, a tribal law specialist, explained that as the law currently stands, violence against women on a reservation can only be pursued and prosecuted by the tribal government if the accused is a member of the reservation.  And, unsurprisingly, when he is not a member of the reservation, federal prosecutors rarely follow up.  Or he gets what is known around here as a free pass.

Imagine the absurd logic:  if you invite someone into your home who happens to be from another state (or country) and he beats you up, your police force cannot arrest him, your prosecutors cannot try him, and his state of origin ignores the complaint.

Words fail me.

Who Says They Don't Listen to Us?

In response to attacks due to the fact that not one of the 113th House of Representatives committees chair appointments went to a woman, John Boehner made the bold move of changing his mind.

According to the Huffington Post, Boehner found his binderful of women, and after great thought and research, appointed Candace Miller to chair the House Administration Committee.  It looks like Representative Miller will hold the important task of chairing the committee responsible for such tasks as "statuary and pictures," "disposition of useless executive papers," and House food services and parking.  She had been looking at chairing the House Homeland Security Committee, but apparently Boehner didn't want to give the little lady more than she could handle.

I would like to let Jon Stewart take it from here:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

So it goes -- another small step for Republican women.