Going to War Pt. II

Going to War Pt. II
Rachel Birdsell

Rachel Birdsell

This week’s column is a continuation of last week’s, so in order for this to make even the slightest bit of sense, you probably want to start there.

War Machine’s jail time has given him a lot of time to reflect on his actions. And he’s reflected so hard that he’s decided that he’ll accept the assault charges, but is totally pissed over the audacity of the powers that be who dared to charge him with rape, attempted murder, kidnapping and burglary, totally over 30 different charges. I guess War Machine doesn’t equate rape with forcibly making a woman have sex with him if he considers her to be his property. And, beating her so severely that she had 18 broken bones around her eyes, her nose broken in two places, broken and missing teeth, a fractured rib and a ruptured liver from him kicking her didn’t equate to attempted murder. He also grabbed a knife and cut off most of her hair. She escaped when he went to look in the kitchen for a sharper knife. Doesn’t sound like attempted murder at all, does it? He even had the gonads to say that if he would have been in Texas, he could have shot her and not been convicted due to that “passion crime shit.”

Texas, you’re the reason we can’t have nice things.

War Machine has since decided that he’s always had crap luck, and part of that may be because he’s always looked for revenge instead of forgiving those who’ve wronged him. That may all be well and good, but it doesn’t address the fact that his ex-girlfriend didn’t do anything that needed forgiveness. Hell, I don’t care if she cheated on every man from here to Tenerife, she didn’t deserve to be assaulted, and anyone who thinks she was asking for it is an ass-wipe.

So, what are we supposed to do with guys like War Machine who think that women are property and that not only do they deserve to be assaulted, but that it’s the man’s right to do so? I mean, I realize what we’re supposed to do with them after the fact, but how do we stop men like War Machine from assaulting people? I think a good place to start with him would have been the first time he threatened to assault someone. Maybe some kind of intervention could have been made that would have stopped him from getting so out of control. And maybe our society could stop being so damn bloodthirsty, so that sports like MMA fighting aren’t a thing anymore. What would be really cool is if we could learn to treat each other with so much respect that laying a hand on another person in anger would seem like one of the worse things we could do.

Rachel Birdsell is a freelance writer and graphic artist. You can reach her at rairdsell@gmail.com

Categories: Commentary