General: April 2005 Archives

Lawmakers were taped joking “Pop her ... pop her again” at a committee meeting when they tabled a bill aimed at strengthening state law against domestic violence. [...]

“And they wonder why we rank in the bottom on women in office and we lead in women getting killed by men,” Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said. House leaders said they plan to reintroduce the bill.

At Tuesday’s meeting, according to the newspaper account, Rep. John Graham Altman asked why the bill’s title “Protect Our Women in Every Relationship (POWER)” just mentioned protecting women.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison suggested calling the bill the “Protecting Our People in Every Relationship Act,” or “POPER,” the newspaper reported.

A voice on the tape is heard pronouncing it “Pop her.” Then another says “Pop her again,” followed by laughter.

“I do not understand why women continue to go back around men who abuse them,” Altman told WIS-TV later. “I mean, you women want it one way and not another,” he told the female reporter. (source)

As someone who grew up in a home where my mother and I were beaten on several occasions by my step father, this article really pissed me off. Domestic violence is no laughing matter. Usually you hear about comments like this coming from abusive husbands or partners. It’s especially an issue coming from a state representative. Perhaps Rep. Graham has some issues going on in his own household?

I hope he loses his office over this. To dismiss an issue such as this as a joke is unforgivable.