Department of Unfortunate Quotations

Suppose that a father wished to advise his son against taking liberties with young ladies, lest the boy be unfairly accused of a crime. Now, suppose that the boy grew up to be a Republican state legislator in Wisconsin, and decided that his dear old Dad’s advice would be worth sharing with the press. Prepare to be horrified and embarrassed, dear friends:

When a Chetek Alert reporter asked state Rep. Roger Rivard in December to comment on the case in which a 14-year-old girl accused a 17-year-old boy of sexually assaulting her, the Rice Lake lawmaker said his father told him: “Some girls, they rape so easy.” Rivard said last week the comment was his father’s way of warning him that a woman could agree to sex but then later claim the act wasn’t consensual.
He said later that same day that his comments could be misconstrued and that he viewed rape as a horrible crime.

Dear old Dad might have added, along with his words of wisdom, “You probably never want to have to explain this to the media.”

Perhaps the Republican Party should send out a memo to its officials and candidates: The minute a reporter says the word “rape,” terminate the interview immediately.