“[A board member] also said that constituents who called him were in agreement, including a lawyer who seems to agree about the gimmicky nature of domestic violence. It doesn”t seem to have occurred to the selectmen that the calls they got from guys complaining about Starting Point were actually from perpetrators of domestic violence…
“The Conway Selectmen probably didn”t intend to tacitly condone wife beating, but they did.”
I’d like to believe that New Hampshire newspaper columnist/blogger Susan Bruce doesn’t want to label those who believe women sometimes make false domestic violence claims as “perpetrators of domestic violence,” but that’s what it sounds like. I suggest readers write Letters to the Editor opposing Bruce by clicking here.
In a story recently reported by the Associated Press in hundreds of news outlets, embattled politician Crow Dickinson of Conway, New Hampshire pointed to the problem of women using false domestic violence accusations to gain leverage in divorce. He is being crucified by misguided women’s advocates.
In response, Fathers & Families supporters deluged the Conway town council (“Board of Selectmen”) with letters in support of Dickinson. Today the local newspaper group, which includes the Laconia Daily Sun, Conway Daily Sun, and others, wrote a series of articles about our protests and the controversy.
Bruce’s “The Slap Heard ‘Round the World” (2/27/09), published in the local newspaper and on her blog, contains these gems:
This year, however, the Conway selectmen opted for controversy, thanks to Crow Dickinson”s commentary on domestic violence…That”s the trouble with some of the dinosaurs currently holding public office. They don”t understand or even consider global communications. A stupid, insensitive comment that suggests women aren”t really beaten, they”re just gold-digging harpies can travel around the world in less than 24 hours. In less than a day, the Conway selectmen were being reviled around the world as being a bunch of morons…
At the Selectmen”s Meeting on Tuesday…Crow Dickinson and Bob Drinkhall said they would not change their votes. Drinkhall did a lengthy song and dance routine about how he believes in fiscal responsibility because the country is going down the drain. He believes that Starting Point gets money on the federal and state level, plus a tax abatement, and frankly, they don”t serve enough of the population. He also said that constituents who called him were in agreement, including a lawyer who seems to agree about the gimmicky nature of domestic violence. It doesn”t seem to have occurred to the selectmen that the calls they got from guys complaining about Starting Point were actually from perpetrators of domestic violence. Lawyers beat their wives, too…
The Conway Selectmen probably didn”t intend to tacitly condone wife beating, but they did. The selectmen probably didn”t intend to make the town the subject of mockery around the world – but they did. Thanks to the internet, people research the areas they are traveling to. They can, and do, take the politics of an area into consideration. The kind of gooberish, good ole boy, slap on the back, haw haw haw, gotta keep the little woman in line behavior of the past was retired in most places, a long time ago. One hopes the Conway Selectmen will join the rest of us who are living in the present.
Bruce’s full column can be seen beginning on page 6 here.
For more background on the issue, click here. We are not familiar with the details of the funding dispute involving Starting Point, and we take no position on the matter. However, we oppose Starting Point’s supporters’ vilification of Dickinson and their apparent refusal to discuss the very real issue of false allegations.