Sen. Biden’s VAWA Cover-Up

2008-08-25 at 2:30 pm · Amidst the hoopla surrounding Sen. Joseph Biden’s ascendancy to the right hand of Barack Obama, something was curiously missing. Over the last 15 years, Biden has repeatedly bragged to his friends and colleagues, “What I’m most proud of in my entire career is the Violence Against Women Act.” So why no mention of his legislative pride-and-joy amidst the flurry of text messages, press releases, and staged public appearances?

The answer is, VAWA has become something of an embarrassment to the good senator.

The Violence Against Women Act and related laws extract $1 billion from the federal purse and dispense the money to law enforcement agencies, legal aid programs, and abuse shelters. So what’s wrong with that?

Over the last two months I have documented a series of scandals at the nation’s abuse shelters. These articles have reported instances of drug abuse, dating parties for shelter residents, gross mistreatment of disabled residents, and assaults on shelter residents. And the eye-opener that the great majority of shelter residents are there for reasons that have nothing to do with domestic violence.

The investigation also reveals a broader pattern of managerial incompetence, lack of accountability, and a man-hating ideological agenda.

Most disturbing are reports of widespread child neglect and abuse, including physical and sexual assaults, many of these incidents going unreported to local authorities. And the shameful refusal of shelters to accept adolescent boys.

While many rue the struggles of our nation’s abuse shelters, these pale in comparison to VAWA’s effects on our nation’s legal system.

Forget everything you learned in your high school civics class about due process, innocent until proven guilty, and equal treatment under law. VAWA-inspired laws have carved out an Alice-in-Wonderland world in our legal system in which any partner disagreement qualifies as domestic “violence,” in which persons never qualify “offender” with the word “alleged,” and in which a person so accused can seldom restore his good name.

Consider the case of Mr. General Parker from Illinois. He and his wife were in the middle of a contentious divorce when she had a bright idea: If she accused him of partner violence, getting custody of their son would be a sure bet. And no doubt the local abuse shelter would be willing to provide free legal help, as well – what a deal!

But rather than accept a plea bargain and lose any hope of seeing his son, Parker decided to fight the accusation. On August 20, 2003, the judge dismissed the charges against him. But that didn’t stop the woman from filing a new round of allegations stemming from the same incident.

The goal, of course, was to keep a little boy from seeing his dad. Even though Parker was awarded weekend visitation with his son, his ex refuses to honor the judge’s decision. And the St. Louis County police have been no help. After all, compelling a woman to respect a visitation order could be seen as harassment and abuse.

This week Mr. Parker is in Denver, talking up his fellow Democratic delegates about the need for a make-over of VAWA.

Despite recurring accounts like this, Sen. Biden has shown no interest in reforming the law. Incredibly, he wants to expand it.

This last year he introduced two new bills, the International Violence Against Women Act and the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Act. The second bill would farm out $55 million to the American Bar Association to sign up legal “volunteers” so they can chase more low-income dads away from their children.

I know, it all seems incredible — welcome to the wacky and wonderful world of VAWA, where a woman’s word is proof enough.

There’s more to Biden’s VAWA cover-up. Because Mr. Biden is a victim himself of domestic violence. Here’s Biden’s testimony during Senate hearings on December 11, 1990 where he revealed the abuse meted out by his older sister, Valerie:

“In my house, being raised with a sister and three brothers, there was an absolute – it was a nuclear sanction, if under any circumstances, for any reason, no matter how justified, even self-defense – if you ever touched your sister, not figuratively, literally. My sister, who is my best friend, my campaign manager, my confidante, grew up with absolute impunity in our household.”

And this was Sen. Biden’s bell-ringer: “And I have the bruises to prove it. I mean that sincerely. I am not exaggerating when I say that.”

Valerie Biden Owens continues to this day to serve as one of the senator’s closest political confidantes.

I won’t pretend to fathom the psychology of a man who was severely abused by his older sister, and then later went on to champion an unconstitutional law designed, by name, to only protect women.

It’s too bad tort reform has fallen into the sea from the Republican party platform. Just about every complaint the democrats have about America can be closely linked to lawyers meddling in it and Joe Biden has fought harder to increase that meddling for decades.

Healthcare too expensive? Sure, thanks to malpractice insurance and class action lawsuits against drug companies. Renewable energy development coming too slow? Try getting legal permission to build the needed transmission lines through a state park. The list could continue, but I would rather hit ‘post’ than keep typing.

This is exactly why Biden was selected as VP.

Obammy thought he could shore up is Hillary! votes with the VAWA King.

As Roberts points out, a man of any means should seriously reconsider marriage. Thanks to VAWA a man can, and will, on the flimsiest of accusations, be dispossessed of his entire net worth and children, with no recourse to clear his reputation. VAWA can and will void any prenuptual agreement. It will show a man the street with only the clothes on his back, and that’s it.

In all cases the marital bank accounts are frozen, and in many cases the dispossessed spouse by court order, cannot modify his direct deposit arrangement to a joint checking account. Leaving him pennyless for months at a time.

There was a thread on FR a couple of weeks ago about "Battered Women's Shelters" I gave an account of my experience in one of the shelters as a volunteer for about three years.

A lot of what I related is reiterated in my comments on that thread. What is not brought up in this article is the fact that many women use these shelters as "flop houses". IOW--there has been no abuse, they just make up a story to get a few weeks room and board, plus childcare. That's a pretty big expense for the tax payer, and this is repeated many times throughout the country.

In the years that I daily volunteered in that shelter, I saw one woman who had actually been abused, and she had been beaten so badly that I called an ambulance to get her to the hospital. She never spent a night in the shelter.

Well, feminist bias, taxpayer abuse, discrimination against men, unequal justice, breakup of marriages, harm to children. It bothers us conservatives, but does it bother the average voter? I’m not so sure.

Men who have been bitten by VAWA are much like liberals who have been mugged by reality. Until it happens to them personally, a lot of people probably feel that shelters for abused woman and children are a good idea.

Thanks to VAWA a man can, and will, on the flimsiest of accusations, be dispossessed of his entire net worth and children, with no recourse to clear his reputation.

And, because of this, men will actually avoid any sort of relationship with women, because they might end up parenting with one. I went on an outing this past weekend, and there were 7 or 8 guys, early to mid 20's, all fairly good looking, not that I care if men are good looking, mind you, but they were pretty good specimens of manhood. I didn't think anything of it until they started kissing each other. And I thought to myself, this is the backlash of the women's rights movement, where men will gain all of their sexual satisfaction from each other rather than risk being fathers with predatory women.

I have been rather lucky, on my third marriage for 12 years now, and none of them were evil. The second one was a little nutty, but not evil. I have 4 kids, and 3 are now grown, and I wasn't taken to the cleaners or anything. But I feel like an exception. I know men who are divorced and paying alimony, for God's sake. Alimony! What outright theft alimony is. Child support is one thing, but alimony?

So it doesn't surprise me when men become gay. (Not that there's anything wrong with it.) (Seinfeld) Women are driving them to it.

I can appreciate the idea of not getting hooked up with these women. There certainly are plenty of them out there.

First wife was same age as myself (now 46) and we were mid 20’s when we married. When many of her friends started to divorce years later, I could see that there was going to be a problem with us too. It was inevitable. I watched as one by one her girlfriends had their husbands removed from their homes on not so pleasant terms. It was an escalating procedure, as one found success, the next would capitalize on the experience of the others. To where the one before me got taken to jail, and then the cleaners. When she gave me the “we should separate” business, I went straight for divorce.

I had the foresight to start squirrleing away cash into a safe deposit box in a bank that I did not normally do business with and got a P.O. Box in a different zip code. Started moving things that mattered to me (guns, keepsakes, family jewelry, etc) into private storage. Nothing overt and bit by bit. When the day came and the bomb, dropped, I was ready. Spent a few days in a flea bag hotel, and found a furnished apartment quickly.

Saw the ex’s freind’s husband a few years afterwards and he was basically dispossessed of everything. It was almost impossible for him to stop his paycheck from going into what was a joint account that was frozen by the courts. He had to move in with his parents and get another job to get his salary back. His ex’wife accused him of verbally abusing her and later said she was afraid of him when he blew a gasket about her new loser boyfriend moving into his house with his kids.

He had a pretty rough few years and we have been good friends ever since that day I ran into him.

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