It was just after 2 a.m. on a pitch-black Friday morning when Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s life changed. The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 strolled across a parking lot to repair a damaged campaign sign. It was a routine she’d followed all summer. This time, she only made it a few yards.
An attacker smashed her over the head. She blacked out. She woke up to find a strange man on top of her.
Greene-Placentia struggled to open her eyes. She felt a sharp pain below her waist. The attacker was pulling his penis out of her.
She heard him mumble something like, “-ic bitch, not a very good fuck,” which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.
One leg was out of her jean capris. She wore brand-new tennis shoes and a campaign t-shirt. Another man came over. Greene-Placentia felt his weight nudging her left leg further apart. She began swinging her foot at him. “Not even worth it,” she heard the man say as he moved away. He wore black boots and had small feet, she recalled.
The two men left Greene-Placentia face down in the parking lot. The hatch of her silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was still open. The car was still running. She heard music.
She doesn’t remember pulling up her pants or picking herself off the asphalt parking lot. She doesn’t remember closing her Jeep’s hatch and putting her foot on the gas. She doesn’t remember pulling her car into the driveway and collapsing into her bed.
“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” Greene-Placentia said in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”
i don’t like this story. i mean other then it’s a rape case.
first of all, while a woman should be able to go any where and do anything without the fear of this happening… her story about going to a secluded location at 2am to fix a campaign sign, in a remote unrecorded parking lot, alone is absurd. “it’s not hot at 2am” is a WILD reasoning. her campaign has staffers that do this work, and road side work alone is dangerously for many reasons. but sure, if there was evidence that this was a habitual action then fine.
second, she was targeted and attacked within…YARDS!? of leaving her running vehicle…. in a parking lot… at 2am. ok? that is impressive distance coverage, or a straight up ambush.
she did not see the attack coming and was hit hard enough to concuss immediately, when she started to come too she did not see anything identifiable even when in direct contact. ok, maybe the memory is fuzzy, she has more important things to think about at the time.
what she does remember is that they said “…ic bitch” and pointed at this being a political motivated attack and pointing at republican assailants… except ingrained in the republican lexicon, they specifically do not use the word “democratic” to refer to people of the dnc. they say “democrat bitch” because they are trying to decouple the power of the name from the democratic process. it is an open strategy of their culture war. listen to their shock jocks, they will ONLY refer to democrats as democrats even in situations were saying the full title is warranted. well maybe she miss heard?
this is aperently a two man ambush, no identifiable characteristics other then republican.
they then left her there, and left, apparently confident they could not be identified by her or surveillance.
she then drives concussed back home, and when safe collapsed. that was irresponsible and dangerous to her self and others, she needs an ambulance right away! But she was running on adrenaline and people do not make the same choices as from hind sight from someone not facing such terror.
she then wakes up, AND DESTROYS ALL THE EVIDENCE OF THE ATTACK AFTER REGAINING HER WITS! excuse me!? what the fuck? …maybe she somehow didn’t know that they could get primary evidence from her clothes?
well at least she went to the police so they can search the scene. SHE WAITED TWO WEEKS BEFORE INFORMING THE POLICE WHICH GUARANTEED THAT THERE COULD BE NO USABLE EVIDENCE RECOVERABLE AT THE SCENE?!?!?!?!?!? … ok um well… maybe she was so distraught that she had to convince her self to not cover up the attack?
… expect she openly reported the attack right after telling police, using the platform of her candidacy? and implying it was because of republicans?!
i don’t understand this, like this reads as if a republican AM radio host invented the details of the attack to build a straw man to spend the next few days attacking before the truth comes to light. this makes her look bad, if i was on her campaign, i would SERIOUSLY PUSH to keep the matter private, unless she was going to outright accuse her opponent as the one who raped her. because at no point, not a SINGLE action she took, before, during, after, the medium she used, and the means she accused a political ideology, did her ANY favors.
so please tell me this is a warped story by a lieing republican shock jock. if this is true then… well she won’t have to worry about having an instigation or a court case interrupt her campaign
That’s a lot of words to confess you have no knowledge of trauma responses.
I really, really wanted to tell you to go fuck yourself, but I really shouldn’t stoop to the disgusting level that you’ve shown here.
if you actually read it, you will know that i directly admit that people in trauma make bad decisions. and i struggle with the decisions she made but it would all have been chalked up to it being a shame she destroyed any chance in finding justice.
but the point is that using it to score political points, and implying that the fault lies with an entire political group, when her case is horrible, invites a right wing rally, and does the opposite of validating victims of rape.
like i said, it’s as if her story was constructed by a right wing shock jock specifically to attack her campaign. if she would have said something on a interview separated from her campaign, AND didn’t attempt to imply it was done by republicans with such weak reasoning, then it couldn’t be seen as a political cudgel.
also you didn’t stop your self from saying fuck you. you don’t get to abstract your insult and maintain you moral high horse.
Jesus fucking christ this is a vile thing to say. I guess women should not speak out about their experiences under a systemic rape culture because it might be perceived as political /s
Do better.
you twisted what i said to miscaracterize me, you are self righteous, and dishonest. i did not say women should not speak out. i have a problem using rape as political game pieces, and with too with little justification, using it to attack your political rivals. if she has spoken out in an interview about the rape and not tied republicans in, my only thought would have been “i wish the evidence of the crime was preserved so the rapeist could be caught”
You are making a distinction without a difference. The fact of the matter is there is a political context to what happened to her. You give her permission to only comment on parts of what happened to her but not the entirety - that is self-righteous.
at no time did i say ‘because she made bad choices, it’s her own fault she was raped’
i said ‘she made bad choices because of trama, and because of that there is no hope of justice, and it’s gross that this is used to imply republicans are to blame. and because she used the rape for political gain she invited critique. because her case is weak, this is going to back fire’
if you are saying there is no functional difference you are dishonest.
that is what the people did to HER, they used rape for political gain. You are blaming the victim, sure not for getting raped, but for her talking about the facts on the matter. That is what I mean by a distinction without a difference because the function is to restrict her speaking out.
it was her admitted decision to fill the blank in her memory of “…ic bitch” with “democratic bitch” using her platform as a candidate. democratic is what democrats think them selves as, not republicans. even if she believes they said that, it was a mistake to say that. it turned what could have been a call for solidarity for victims, into an accusation levied against all republicans. and because her case is weak she is going to be dragged through the mud for the implication. every point i brought up? fodder for her enemies. improper venue, irresponsible comment. and using a tragedy as a weapon in politics is gross, unless it’s a direct accusation.
Rape victims don’t have to be perfect to be believed.
I don’t give a single fuck that you are struggling with the decisions she made.
i can totally believe that a rape happened. and we both agree she made bad choices, we disagree as to what point that gets difficult, but normally would not invite criticism.
but when the platform of public announcement is through a political announcement where you implicate your rival is in some way responsible, that opens door to criticism. and justifies why my premise of “i don’t like it” is valid. it muddies the waters for victims of rape using a rape as political ammunition, and i think will back fire against her candidacy
Don’t put words in my mouth.
then make your arguments about what i am acting saying so i don’t have to guess.
You’re under the mistaken impression that I respect you enough to have a fruitful discussion on this topic with you.
I don’t.
so then you never had any substance, and were only looking to stir hate. you invented a person and post to hate and to virtue signal for internet points. you have not said anything respectable in any of your posts
I don’t give a fuck. I’m already on a higher moral high horse than you because I don’t defend rapists.
and neither did i. i do not defend rapeists by pointing out the victim made terrible decisions that will cost themselves justice, especially since this seems like a targeted attack.
that alone can make some one go “i don’t like this story”
using it to attack political rivals cheapens all of it, and will back fire, which i don’t like.
You should look into trauma responses, educate yourself, and do better.
you have brought nothing but unjustified ad hominem attacks, and now thought terminating cliches. you have a problem with my understanding of victim responses to harm, but you are going to have to actually deal with what i said, instead of making up your own, because i don’t get to put words in your mouth to find out
I don’t have to actually deal with what you said.
You can deal with how unpopular your comments rightfully are though.
that is an open admission to everything i accused you of, and you fall back on to an appeal to mob rule, it’s lazy and dishonest. and quite frankly i can live with negative votes. it does not invalidate my core argument of, i don’t like this whole thing.
Your novel comes off as a defense for the rapists.
Don’t defend rapists.
i can see that. and know that i was not going to win any friends with it. I take it that these points are also problems to you, just that it should not be said out loud lest it silences victims of rape.
it’s a shame that she harmed her ability to get justice. but i have an issue when such a case is used as political ammunition when her case is weak, and she implicates republicans. it’s going to back fire on her
Stop speaking for other people in order to defend your disgusting views.
it was intended as a question for confirmation. it directly asked them if they agree with the framing, because i am having to do most of the leg work here amid ad hominem attacks.
you in particular have been straw manning my posts because you have not actually said anything of substance.
You came into this post blaming this woman for being raped and want me to treat you like you’ve come with some insightful knowledge or some shit?
I’m not straw-manning your post when it’s on display for everyone to read how you’ve cut down this victim in multiple ways.
Educate yourself and do better.
“You’re under the mistaken impression that I respect you enough to have a fruitful discussion on this topic with you.
I don’t. “ -velma
why should i take you seriously? you still lie about the meaning of my post and you never had any intention to say anything meaningful, and have resorted to thought ending cliches and straw mans”
Ok.
Could the -ic comment have been Hispanic rather than Democratic perhaps?
that is more believable, i can see that happening. but then you take that, it narrows that accused to like, racists, and not republicans. but she used the rape to instead call out republicans on politics, and that feels cheap, and a bad move when the perpetrators will not be able to be found