That said, having none of the insight of a rapist, I think the insistence that rape is only about power or violence is some misplaced anxiety from feminist opponents of rape.  If it was purely and only and solely about sex, it would still be completely wrong.  But I get the impression that if anyone acknowledges it is about sex to any degree, opponents of rape are worried it will somehow justify rape.

I also think that the question of rape: violence or sex has a legacy from radical feminists that portray all penetrative sexual acts as acts of violence committed against women, that assume an oppressive man and a submissive woman.

I suspect rape behavior falls along a spectrum, a combination of power/violence and sex.

So, on one hand Jeralyn had the stronger presence of the 2, and maybe I heard a bit of envy of TL traffic?

She kept insisting that Hillary in her self was unpopular figure.  Well, what she fails to realize is that Hillary did not have a chance before running for Senate of being just her.  All the other things before were irrelevant cause they were filters through Bill.  She earned her credentials in all the work she did and in the Senate, it' was not Bill.  

all cases? I don't believe it, myself.

but that won't make you correct. rape is about domination, the "i have such power over you, i can do anything i want, and you can do nothing to stop me!" deal.

while in many instances, there is probably an element of sex involved, the predominant point is domination, total power over that individual.

ms. althouse is schtick, much like maureen dowd and wonkette, her legal background notwithstanding. as such, i tend to ignore her.

Then there's this:

You all remember how Ann Althouse revealed herself unwittingly last year as a world-class phony when she decided to make fun of Jessica Valenti for her breasts. Of course, most of us have moved on, having relegated Althouse to the intellectual rubbish heap where she belongs.

But not Althouse. Just ask the misfortunate Garance Franke-Ruta, who conversed at Bloggingheads with Althouse. Her eruption about 50 minutes into the interview has to be seen to be believed.

Most of the discussion leading up to the eruption involved Althouse's unremitting whine about the liberal blogosphere, particularly regarding how it has been "unbelievably nasty" to her, touting her liberal bona fides and claiming that while the right side of the blogosphere, strangely, has treated her warmly, the left side has just declared her a "heretic": "They're just much nastier, and they're trying to enforce a conformity that I just find really ugly."

Franke-Ruta largely did her best to play along, but Althouse finally forced her hand. And then erupted:

    Althouse: Well, that's been my experience, and I know you know some of the people who do this. So why don't you ask some of them why they treat me so badly, and come back and tell me what the problem is?

    Franke-Ruta: I'm not really aware of anything until this whole Jessica Valenti breast controversy, um ... so, I know that there was some grudges and hostility that came out of that ...

    Althouse: Well, um ...

    Franke-Ruta: I mean, that's the blogosphere. It's a tough place. Apparently, it's an extremely tough place. You know, one of the best things I --

    Althouse: I'm not complaining about the fact that I have to be tough and fight back, because I will, I will stand my ground, I don't accept your -- [crosstalk] -- wait a minute, wait a minute [pointing] -- I don't accept your saying the Jessica Valenti breast controversy. I consider that an insult. -- You know, I'm on the verge of hanging up with you for bringing it up that way.

    Franke-Ruta: Really? I'm sorry --

    Althouse: It was character assassinating to talk about it like that. There's a whole controversy that could be explained if it was one of our subjects, it could be explained in a way that would make sense to people. But you just throw out a term, that's character assassination toward me, and I don't like it.

    Franke-Ruta: I didn't mean to --

    Althouse: [shouting and pointing] There's a whole story there! You want to talk to me personally about it, why don't you find out what the story is, and raise it in a way that has a factual context that makes sense to people, instead of throwing out a term like that that's just an assault on me! I find it very offensive.

    Franke-Ruta: That certainly wasn't my intention. I had just watched this segment where you and Glenn Reynolds were talking about it, and it was a phrase that used within that discussion, so I just -- I certainly didn't mean to --

    Althouse: Well, you were raising it within a context of people who are trying to assassinate me on frequent occasions, who say the most nasty things about me with no cause, or just any context -- they take things out of context -- It's a very nasty, ugly thing and I don't like it at all and I don't like just glancing references to it in a way that makes me look bad like that. It's not part of what we're talking about, we had developed the context, and to just throw out a label like that, which is the label from the side of the people who attack me, in the way I'm trying to talk about, in saying that your side of the blogosphere is ugly -- you know, I just consider that undermining and against the whole context of trying to have a conversation here.

    Franke-Ruta: I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was such a sensitive topic. Because really, I haven't followed it that closely. It was just -- there was a controversy, right? I mean, we can talk about it, but it sounds like you don't want to and I'd frankly rather not, because --

    Althouse: It would take a long time to explain, and I don't even think it's interesting to listeners, because it's just --

    Franke-Ruta: I don't either!

    Althouse: -- a blogosphere flame war, in which I've been mistreated -- [crosstalk] - wait a minute -- I've been mistreated consistently --

    Franke-Ruta: It's just part of this controversy that I'm aware of, and if there are other ones, I just -- I don't follow some of these interblog controversies --

    Althouse: Well, I don't either, and I don't think they're appropriate subjects for Bloggingheads --

    Franke-Ruta: I don't either.

    Althouse: ---- these are flame wars, and what I'm trying to say on the overarching point, is that the left side of the blogosphere is vicious and unfair and nasty to me, and I don't like it, and I'm trying to ask you why that's the way they treat me when I support most of what they're for. Meanwhile, on the right side of the blogosphere, where there's much less overlap, I think, I am treated in a very warm and connecting kind of way. And you're really just kind of undermining my point, uh, by bringing that up like that.