The world is full of Kenneth Clarkes. Just do a google search and you'll find plenty of them. Short ones. Tall ones. Black ones. Bearded ones. Fat tory ones that flog cigarettes to third world nations.
I think I can say, pretty unequivocoally, I do not want to be raped by any of them.
Actually, some rapes are worse than others, and those aiming a big hefty kick at Clarke are making cheap political capital.
Certainly the "justice" system will give out sentences of varying lengths according to the circumstances surrounding each case. Someone that drags a woman into the bushes and holds a knife to her throat will rightly get a longer sentense than someone who couldn't take "no" for an answer after a night spent drinking with his victim.
There are plenty of reasons for wanting to see Clarke removed from a position of power - reasons that apply to a whole lot of other MPs, but stating the bleeding obvious isn't one of them.
The "All rape is rape" mantra doesn't sit comfortably with me. It has the effect of placing any discussion of the subject out of bounds.
Also in the news today, Film Director, Lars Von Trierhas been kicked out of the Cannes film festival for saying he could understand Hitler. He struggled to coherently elaborate on this statement.
Again, I find the assumption that certain things must not be said to be unhealthy.
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