Will Harry Reid become a wife-beater in November?
By Taskr36
@Taskr36 (13963)
United States
February 25, 2010 9:28am CST
I'm surprised nobody's started a thread discussing Harry Reid's latest comments. He claims that men, when out of work, become abusive towards their wives. Many men have objected to this ridiculous and insulting claim and yet he's stood by it and refused to retract the statement or apologize. Well Fred Thompson sure had a great response to it all on his Twitter page.
"Reid: Jobless men = domestic abuse. Is he saying we should be worried about Mrs. Reid after the November elections?"
So first off, what do you think about Reid's claim that men become abusive towards their wives when out of work? And second, do you feel we need to worry about Harry Reid being abusive to HIS wife since it looks like he'll be out of work in November?
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/25/thompson-tweet-takes-on-reid-comment-2/?fbid=8NrWFjQmL-J
3 people like this
12 responses
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
25 Feb 10
Lol! Thanks to you I'm now seeing that in my head too! I also had a flashback of the SNL skit where they did COPS: Little Rock, AK and they had the cops responding to a domestic disturbance call where Bill Clinton was wearing a wife beater and had a black eye while Hillary was holding a bottle of whiskey. I can't find a video of it but the transcript is here.
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/93/93spatrol.phtml
Officer #1: Nothing! It doesn't look like nothing to me! She beat you up pretty good, didn't she?
Bill Clinton: No one beat me up.
Officer #1: No one beat you up, huh? Hmm. Then, what happened, then?
Bill Clinton: [ hesitant ] Fell down.
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
25 Feb 10
Sadly it really is as stupid as it sounds. You don't even have to take it out of context for it to sound stupid. Here is the exact quote.
"I have met with some people at home, dealing with domestic abuse," Reid said on Monday. "It has gotten out of hand. Why? Men don't have jobs. Women don't have jobs either but women aren't abusive, most of the time. Men, when they are out of work, tend to become abusive."
He later defended his arguments saying this.
"There is no question that more people being out of work causes more people to be involved in domestic violence," said Reid. "I mean I didn't make that up, I was told that by two people who run domestic violence shelters."
Both are in the article I linked to above.
1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
•
25 Feb 10
sorry, in the middle of other things right now so didn't go to the links. anyway he's an idiot. that sounds like he is saying all men become abusive when unemployed rather than abusive men have more opportunities to be abusive, and stress might set them off which i imagine is the point the two people at the shelters were trying to make. which is rather different.
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
26 Feb 10
Call me evil, but every time I see Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi together I swear those two are up to something, other than political intrigue that is.. Ok, forget I said anything.. (And imagine, I consider myself a little bit psychic..)
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
26 Feb 10
Dude, she despises him. Seriously, look at her face when they're together. He tries to put his arm around her, and she sidles away, then when he fails to take the hint she rolls her eyes. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen her do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=Tju5Z8ZTWF0&v=IXSMfGGVWds
@livewyre (2450)
•
25 Feb 10
It's like when Government puts rising crime down to unemployment... I was unemployed once for two weeks, the first thing I did was break into an old grannies house and beat her senseless...NOT!
Crime whether it be theft or wife-beating is down to individual values, nothing to do with their current state - I can see that some people could be pushed 'over the edge' by adverse circumstances, but don't for goodness sake allow these morons the excuse that being out of work was a direct influence on them beating their wife
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
25 Feb 10
Well he's one of those idiots that just jumps on statistics without thinking. Domestic abuse may rise as unemployment does, but there's a simple explanation. The men who do that are already beating their wives. They just beat their wives MORE when they spend more time at home. Men who don't beat their wives don't suddenly start after they lose their job.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
25 Feb 10
I agree with lil, that's complete bs. Being out of work is stressful and, yes, prolonged stress can be hard on a relationship, but that doesn't automatically translate into men being abusive as a result. Reid's comment was very insulting...and stupid. Mrs. Reid might want to line up that divorce lawyer now because, oftentimes, opinions expressed are beliefs held.
1 person likes this
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
25 Feb 10
I think it is complete BS. Yes being out of a job is stressful. yes it can cause a lot of problems or fights in a marriage. It can probly lead to a divorce by all the strain it puts on a marriage..but turn a loving husband into a mean wife beater? No.
Does this now give men an excuse to beat his wife? I am out of a job right now so it is ok if I smack my wife around? Stupid stupid stupid.
There is NO EXCUSE for phycially beating anyone (unless it is self defense).
1 person likes this
@missybal (4490)
• United States
25 Feb 10
No I do not believe that is true at all but I will say this. When times are tough the weaknesses and the strengths in a relationship are exposed. Is Reid going to become a wife beater come November??? Well I would be more inclined to believe he would be on the receiving end, not to offend his wife but could you imagine living with that man???
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
27 Feb 10
Well, it sure does look like Reid will be unemployed soon, but at least he will have that fat government pension to fall back on so his wife should be fine.
Being jobless does cause a lot of stress, however, how well one handles stress is the determining factor to how one reacts to it.
There are people who engage in domestic abuse for no reason other than lack of self control and self discipline.
Fred Thompson saw an opportunity to score, and he hit his target well.
Reid had it coming...
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
26 Feb 10
I think Reid is competing with Biden for the job of court jester. When I heard this, I did laugh and wondered if it wasn't time for Harry to retire. It is one thing to excuse some of his remarks by saying "he's from different time" and making some considerations for the changes in society's language and attitudes over the years, but for goodness sake - he's not living in a cave, he knows what is politically correct and what isn't. Why does he keep saying such ludicrous things?
Maybe the voters will be doing him a favor by sending him home next November.
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
25 Feb 10
I believe that men who abuse their wives when they are out of work are abusive men, period. Has nothing to do with being out of work! What does that say for all the men who are retirees? My husband retired at 55 early, out of the work force for 6 years before deciding to go back to work and he never raised a hand to me or said a mean word! I think Harry Reid just talks too much and wants people to think he's a powerhouse of knowledge. He's silly for saying such a thing! Kudos to Fred Thompson for his comment!! Perhaps we might have to worry about Mrs. Reid when he's OUT of a job in November. 
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
26 Feb 10
Aren't liberals suppose to be, well...liberal? That sounds like a pretty biased statement for a Democrat. Aren't they the ones calling everyone racist and Nazis? Sounds to me like he's got some hard core prejudices lurking in his psyche, ya think?
