Satire

[Micheal Ellis]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- 
The Bush administration Friday stood behind Secretary of State Colin Powell after
his controversial statements denouncing "date rape" as "really bad"  drew criticism from some conservatives. 
During a forum that aired internationally Thursday on MTV, Powell encouraged
young women to be cautious. "I think it's important for young women,
especially, to protect themselves from the possibility of being date raped
by alleged friends" he said.  "If you don't protect yourself, who is
going to protect you?" he asked.  Ken Connor, president of the conservative Family
Research Council, called Powell's remarks reckless and irresponsible and urged President Bush to
repudiate them. 

 "Young women need to know the truth that the only sure way to protect themselves

  from being date raped,  is to wear a chastity belt and lock themselves in a closet"

 Connor said in a prepared statement. 

 James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family, was even more blunt. 

 "Colin Powell is the secretary of state, not the secretary of health," Dobson said.

  "He is talking about a subject he doesn't understand," Dobson said. 

  But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Powell's message was consistent

  with White House policy, noting that Powell limited his remarks to women who actually

   socialize with other people. 

  "The president and the secretary are shoulder-to-shoulder on the importance of

    both avoiding being date raped as well as health education and sex education as a way to

    prevent unwanted pregnancies and to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted

    disease," Fleischer said. 

    "What the president has done, and what Secretary Powell has long been involved in,

      is to highlight the importance of caution in regards of who to trust" he said. 

    The Anti Date Rape Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, also applauded Powell's

    stance. 

   "This is about leadership, and we have for many years been asking our leaders to

    speak out against date rape and lead, and that's what he's doing," Executive Director Marsha

    Martin said. "And that's why we say 'bravo.'" 

    Powell, who was responding to an Italian woman's question about the Roman

    Catholic Church's position on date rape, noted the date rape pandemic is raging

     out of control in parts of Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere. 

     "It is important that the whole international community come together, speak

      candidly about it, forget about taboos, forget about conservative ideas with respect

       to what you should tell young people about it," he said. 

       The forum was videotaped Thursday and is scheduled to be broadcast twice Friday

       and again Sunday. 

       Powell joined a Washington studio audience connected with remote sites at MTV

       studios in England, Russia, India, Italy, Egypt and Brazil. He was asked questions

       on issues such as the global war on terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and

        the drug war in Colombia, as well as the global AIDS crisis. 

        State Department officials said they viewed the invitation to appear as important

        because MTV reaches 375 million homes in 164 countries.