Government-Sponsored Rape

From the Of Course the Call Wasn’t Returned Files:

Scores of convicted rapists and other high-risk sex offenders in New York have been getting Viagra paid by Medicaid for the last five years, the state's comptroller said Sunday.

Audits by Comptroller Alan Hevesi's office showed that between January 2000 and March 2005, 198 sex offenders in New York received Medicaid-reimbursed Viagra after their convictions. Those included crimes against children as young as 2 years old, he said.

Hevesi asked Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a letter Sunday to "take immediate action to ensure that sex offenders do not receive erectile dysfunction medication paid for by taxpayers."

A call to Leavitt's office was not immediately returned Sunday.

[…]

While the auditors didn't review the situation on Viagra reimbursement by Medicaid in other states, he said they have no indication that the policies are different elsewhere.

Superb. This is exactly the kind of shit that I’m talking about when I suggest that the government ought to do everything possible to prevent sex crime recidivism before they start tracking sex offenders for life. And those who disagree with me can chalk it up to bleeding heart liberalism all they want; that’s partly correct—I am loathe to affix GPS systems to any felon, even in spite of the fact that sex offenders are the most likely reoffenders. But the other part of this is just simple pragmatism from the point of someone who has been the victim of a (badly mishandled) sex crime. Tracking systems are not preventative; at best, they will help authorities catch someone after they’ve already committed another crime, because very few offenders being tracked are going to be stupid enough to hang around schools if they know it will raise a red flag. Tracking systems will only make sex offenders smarter and sneakier, and they’re often pretty damn smart and sneaky to start.

On the other hand, keeping boner pills out of the hands of sex offenders is a really good idea! In fact, given the option between having my rapist tracked for life, or making sure he never got a hold of Viagra, I’d choose the later, because the last thing we need is a bunch of violent sexual deviants walking around with their hormones raging and their equivalent of a loaded gun.

And for the love of God, can we please never ever ever ever never hear anything else ever again about how much the Bush administration is doing for women? W is for Won’t Call Back, Won’t Take Responsibility, and Won’t Apologize. It ain’t for “women.”