The White House’s ‘It’s on Us’ PR Stunt
Jonah Goldberg: “Last Friday, the White House announced its ‘It’s On Us’ initiative aimed at combating sexual assaults on college campuses. I’m all in favor of combating sexual assault, but the first priority in combating a problem is understanding it. That’s not the White House’s first priority. Roughly six weeks before Election Day, its chief concern is to translate an exciting social media campaign into a get-out-the-vote operation. … [The Left’s claim of a rape epidemic] comes from tendentious Department of Justice surveys that count ‘attempted forced kissing’ and other potentially caddish acts that even the DOJ admits ‘are not criminal.’ According to one Department of Justice survey, more than half the respondents said they didn’t report the assault because they didn’t think ‘the incident was serious enough to report.’ More than a third said they weren’t clear on whether the incident was a crime or even if harm was intended. … And yet those who question the alleged rape epidemic are the ones who don’t take rape seriously? I would think conflating a boorish attempt at an undesired kiss with forcible rape is an example of not taking rape seriously.”
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