Senator Claire McCaskill rebukes columnist over sexual assault article
Source: The Guardian
Senator Claire McCaskill rebukes columnist over sexual assault article
Karen McVeigh in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 27 June 2013 20.25 BST
A US senator has delivered a rebuke to a Wall Street Journal columnist who accused her of waging a crusade to criminalise male sexuality and of being "histrionic" about sexual assault in the military.
Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, was responding to a piece in the Wall Street Journal last week by James Taranto about McCaskill's blocking of the Obama-backed nomination of Lt Susan Helms to the position of vice commander of air force space command.
McAskill, a member of the Senate armed services committee, is holding up the nomination because Helms overturned the conviction for Capt Matthew Herrera, an officer under her command who was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a female lieutenant.
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In his piece, Taranto describes McCaskill's hold on Helms as "an effort to criminalise male sexuality", calls Herrera's sexual assault "hanky panky" and suggests that the victim was blameworthy by "acting recklessly".
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Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/27/senator-claire-mccaskill-wsj-columnist