It wasn't rape, just "bad manners," George Galloway said regarding the charges facing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The former columnist for the Scottish political magazine Holyrood has been under fire for his remarks recently, and now has been terminated from his position with Holyrood because of them. Editor of Holyrood was quoted as saying that Galloway's remarks left her "frankly gobsmacked."
The founding member of the respect party, and former MP of the labour party was a controversial columnist to be sure, and Rhodes said that she had appreciated his being "an effective thorn in the side of the establishment" as well as his position on the Iraq war, which got him thrown out of the labour party. Strange Scottish colloquialisms like "gobsmacked" aside, it seems that the magazine only wanted Galloway to be controversial on some topics, and not others.
But, she could not agree with Galloway's remarks that Assange allegedly having sex with a sleeping woman wasn't "rape as anyone with any sense can possibly recognize it", but just bad manners, if the two had previously had sex. Rhodes added "there is no excuse, ever, for sex without consent," and called Galloway's remarks "alarming." This is probably something that happens more often than people think, especially with married couples or when alcohol is involved.
The magazine did give George Galloway time to apologize for his remarks, but when they did not see an apology appear, they sent an email to Galloway and his press advisor, Ron McKay asking him to no longer write his column for the magazine. Galloway was in Indonesia and might not even know that he has been fired. Isn't a pink slip by email sort of like breaking up with someone in a text message?
Galloway's remarks were posted in a video blog last week and included some statements that brought backlash from even members of his own party like:
"Some people believe that when you go to bed with somebody, take off your clothes, and have sex with them and then fall asleep, you're already in the sex game with them."
"It might be really bad manners not to have tapped her on the shoulder and said, 'do you mind if I do it again?'
"It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape, or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning."
Your opinion matters! Do you think that Galloway had a point, or do you agree that his remarks were completely inappropriate? Do you think people should be fired for opinions they post on their blogs, video or otherwise?
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Comments: 2
Even though you've given me permission - to lose my job too.
In her statement SW said that she had been captivated by Mr Assange when she had seen him in a TV interview. She had attended a lunch with him and others on 14 August 2010. He had flirted with her over lunch and they had gone out together ending up in cinema where they kissed and fondled. She contacted him on 16 August 2010 and invited him to her house. In the bedroom he took her clothes off; they were naked together on the bed and engaged in sexual foreplay on the bed. He rubbed his penis against her. She closed her legs because she did not want to have intercourse with him unless he used a condom. After a period of some hours, he went to sleep. For a long time she had lain awake, but then she also fell asleep. They then had sexual intercourse with him using a condom. They fell asleep and woke and had sex again. They had breakfast. They had sex again with a condom only on the glans of his penis.
Her statement then describes in some detail the conduct that forms the basis of Offence 4. She fell asleep, but was woken up by his penetration of her. She immediately asked if he was wearing anything. He answered to the effect that he was not. She felt it was too late and, as he was already inside her, she let him continue. She had never had unprotected sex. He then ejaculated inside her.
In fact, she was not asleep, but had changed her story. The English High Court references emails she sent and said they weren’t relevant--
In one sent by her she described herself as "half asleep" and she accepted in a further interview that she was not fast asleep.
So how many people in this nation have sex three times and then have sex a fourth time when one is “half asleep?” It doesn’t matter if there was a condom or not. She didn’t say no and this isn't rape by any measure. And this is the strongest claim. The others are even more ridiculous, and anyone who reads it, in spite of the government's attempt to make it sound sleazy, can come away feeling all the sleaziness is on the part of the Swedish government (and now the UK government).