The overbooked Airbus 319 Redeye flight from San Diego lifted off at 11:00 p.m. as scheduled with me wondering if he was still fixated on jumping off the Coronado Bridge. I could see it as we turned to establish our flight path to Washington D.C., all 200 vertical feet of it. The weekend before, three people contemplated suicide while staring 20 stories down into what must have seemed like the welcoming water of San Diego Bay. One jumped. She died. One of the other two, a man, I recently met after he was referred to me to help him prepare for Family Court mediation. After being talked down from the bridge he was placed in a facility for a three day psych evaluation… the Captain dimmed the cabin lights and the Airbus leveled out toward the east coast. I slept, head against cool cabin wall…

Washington D.C. was hot, real hot, over 100 degrees when we landed the next morning.  It was the beginning of a sizzle eggs-on-rocks heat wave that got progressively hotter each day I was there. And, I was there to help educate legislators about reforming the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), attend a False Allegation Summit and DVLP Conference, and do some business for NCFM. More heat I didn’t need.

My first night the storm of the century assaulted my hotel and several surrounding States with torrential rains, lightening, thunder, and hurricane winds. I slept through the whole thing with only a foggy recollection of hearing distant thunder. The storm uprooted, ripped apart and slammed into houses and cars huge trees that had survived the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.  The storm knocked out power lines. It stranded people without power for five days. No electricity, no ice in ice machines. No air conditioning.  Lines of cars at gas stations blocked traffic in adjacent streets, but there was no gas. Seventeen people died. And Washington was filling up with rubberneckers for the Fourth of July. Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell declared a state of emergency and called out the national guard to help clear roadways of trees and direct traffic. Go figure.

My trip was sponsored in large part by Michael Parrott of AGVSPORT. Michael has devoted considerable time, effort and resources educating members of Congress about the need to reform the Violence Against Women Act, especially deficient immigration provisions which encourage non residents to destroy the lives of their citizen spouses by falsely accusing them of domestic violence. AGVSPORT is an international producer of top quality motorcycle racing apparel. To my knowledge Michael is the only non legal related business owner to openly support our efforts to reform the VAWA. If you are into motorcycle racing show some appreciation, buy AGISPORT products.

Legal interns from AGVSPORT  and representatives from VOIF (Victims of Immigration Fraud), Female Victims Division, sweated through the next day, fallen trees and all, from one congressional office to another. The corrupt immigration provisions in the Violence Against Women Act adversely impact American men and women citizens. So, as a Men’s Rights activist, working with the Female Victims Division of VOIF balanced out.

My team worked the Senate, including meetings with an engaged, long term, assistant to Senator Grassley and Senator Hatch’s chief legal advisor. Both senators have critical roles in the re authorization of VAWA.

Afterward, we  met for debriefing, drinks and dinner. Our team agreed our efforts were worthwhile. I’m thankful members of VOIF and AGISPORT legal interns allowed me to tag along.

Men talking about increasing membership.

We convened the next morning for the False Allegation Month Summit and DVLP Conference. I gave a short seminar on how to increase an organization’s membership. Karen, my favorite NCFM girlwriteswhat member joined us from Canada, again thanks to the generosity of Michael Parrott. If you have not seen her videos you should.

NCFM members from several states helped educate legislators and attended this conference.  If you are reading this but not a member of NCFM, don’t forget to join  after reading this article. Or, as I told the group, I’m always recruiting. The join button is near the top right hand corner of every page on this website, just so you know…

This is what it looked like when we arrived late in the evening. The convention dance was in progress down the hall with perhaps 100 women hooking up and having a night of it.

girlwriteswhat Karen, “HELP, I don’t want to go.”

After the conference, Michael, Karen, and I drove to Baltimore where the 2012 National Organization of Women’s Annual Convention was being held at the new Baltimore Hilton BWI Airport Hotel. Karen was a registered conventioneer. Exhibitors sold or gave away jewelry, clothing that looked like it came from Woodstock, a variety of Down With Romney buttons, UP With Obama buttons,  and hundreds of pamphlets, flyers, newsletters, and magazines with titles like The Truth About Social Security;  The Bishops, Obama, and Religious Freedom, and Science, Religion and Public Education. Feminists for Obama*Biden offered a Timeline of Major Achievements for Women, Children, and Civil & Human Rights, of which there  are 40 from January 23, 2009 through August 1, 2012. To my knowledge there are none for boys or men. The Socialist Workers Party had a table with a variety of books for sale. I talked with Maura DeLuca, Vice President.  I signed up for their newsletter. She read my subscription and without cracking a smile asked if Harry Crouch was a real name. I’m guessing Home Land Security is now bugging my phones and I’ll soon receive a care package from Cuba.

AGVSport’s photo shoot room and sign.

Coincidentally, AGVSPORT was staging a photo shoot in a meeting room right next to NOW’s meeting rooms. Most conventioneers had to pass by – several times – AGVSPORT photographers, grips, motorcycles, and models, including one of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy centerfolds (…sorry, no picture of her).

At lunch, Michael noticed two men wearing black t-shirts with STOP MEN’S VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN in bold white letters. Michael waived for one of them to join us. He asked, “Why not wear a shirt with something like STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST EVERYONE?”  Mr. T-shirt puffed up like an angry goose on steroids, spit out something about free speech, that it’s America, and he could say whatever he wants. Then he told Michael to go fuck himself and goose-stepped off ruffled feathers and all.

Nonplused, Michael went to check on his photo shoot. While gone Mr. T-shirt came back to apologize. Since Michael was gone, Mr. T-shirt asked me to extend his apologies when Michael returned. Mr. T-shirt, is Ben Atherton.

Some of you who read this know of Ben. For those of you who don’t you should take a look at his website and download the article he wrote titled Father’s Wrongs, more aptly Father’s Wronged. Notice that the references he uses to substantiate his ideological regurgitations are generally from non scientific, highly gender biased, anti-male sources, typical radical feminist invention.

I handed Atherton my business card as I introduced myself. Somewhat chagrined, he remembered when we met in San Diego several years earlier. He bills himself as an entertainer. He was in San Diego performing at a DV conference where NCFM members and friends rallied against the event and man-hating. And here we were, in a bar at the new BWI Hilton hosting the 2012 annual convention of the National Organization of Women, just after Atherton told a high profile international business owner to go fuck himself. Heat wave and scrambled brains.

One of the NOW’s objectives at the convention was to re invent itself. When modifying their bylaws they introduced the phrase “war on women” wherever possible, which you can confirm by reading 2012 NOW Conference Sends Attendees Home Inspired to Defeat War on Women .  The article also says, “…more than 500 women’s rights activists descended on Baltimore, Md., for the 2012 National NOW Conference.” If there were more than a couple hundred I didn’t see them, neither did Karen or Michael. Maybe the imaginary war on women is taking its toll on NOW’s membership.

All in all it was a productive trip thanks to Michael Parrott, girlwriteswhat, AGISPORT legal interns, Victims of Immigration Fraud lobbyists, old friends, new acquaintances, other NCFM members, Congressional staffers with whom we met, road crews clearing the fallen trees, and a wonderful attorney who prefers to remain anonymous and lent us his offices for the False Allegation Summit and DVLP Conference (Domestic Violence Legislative Project, DVLP).

While I was gone, he jumped.  His estranged wife and her attorney had threatened to file a civil action against him for allegedly sexually assaulting and battering his wife when she was under the age of consent.  Subsequently, they married and had children. To avoid being sued the man would have had to quick claim to his estranged wife his pre marital rental properties, give her half his retirement benefits from all and any source pre marital and later, pay whatever child support the court ordered, and give her sole custody of their children. He would have been financially ruined and dragged dirty through the Family Court system and public court of ill opinions.

I wonder how the widow will explain the death of their father to their children. For sure neither she nor her attorney will be held accountable for the death? Disbarment, prison, a peek over the bridge maybe might be appropriate.

Water in the Bay is cold, even in San Diego summer. I hope He’s is at peace. I’m hopeful He’ll never again be haunted by the terrifying personal storm that tormented him over the Coronado Bridge. At least he won’t be bothered again by disgusting political tempests in Washington D.C., tempests which may have contributed to his death, like Hurricane VAWA.

We need to work toward stopping violence against all of us, including the violence perpetuated by the legal community and our elected officials. Don’t support or vote for people who don’t understand and accept that…

Tags: agvsport, airbus, american socialist party, ben atherton, bwi hilton, girlwriteswhat, michael parrott, national organization of women, obama, romney, san diego, san diego bay, stop abusive and violence environments, suicide, victims of immigration fraud, voif, washington d.c.