Dana Loesch seems to be the only person in America who has Rep. Todd Akin’s back on this whole legitimate rape dustup. I suppose that’s a good thing. Even Michelle Malkin is unwilling to defend Akin’s comments in any way. And it appears the GOP is doing its best to persuade Rep. Akin to withdraw from the race. Funny that they didn’t ask George Allen to withdraw after his ‘Macaca’ comment or Sharron Angle after her “Second Amendment solutions” comment or Ken Buck after his “vote for me cuz I don’t wear hi-heels comment.” Somehow, this particular stupid set of remarks has crossed a line those previous statements did not. At least we now know there is a line with these folks. On the other hand, I’d very much like Rep. Akin to stay in the race. I think he’s probably beatable at this point, and we can’t lose too many Senate seats. With six-year terms, every Senate seat is very important. So, I hope Akin soldiers on. I don’t need to see John Ashcroft back in the U.S. Senate.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Somehow, this particular stupid set of remarks has crossed a line those previous statements did not.
The line it crossed was that now the Teahadists realize that Akin’s comments could stand in the way of Mitch McConnell becoming Senate Majority Leader. Someone was paying attention to the lesson of 2010(meaning nominating Angle and that witch lady for seats a sane candidate would have won).
I think Akin has to quit by 5pm tomorrow for the Missouri GOP to replace him on the ballot with someone else. Otherwise, I believe, Akin is on the ballot for November.
“Akin said he’s “not a quitter” on Mike Huckabee’s radio show.
He probably meant the booze.
her husband has akin’s back too. was arguing on twitter last night that akin was actually CORRECT.
Wow.
Stockholm Syndrome?
The only line is the CYA line. There are no Republicans who are truly upset with Akin’s formulation. I think the Line Event occurred because the GOP is in the midst of feigning outrage over the “War on Women” meme, so this bit of truthtelling came at an inconvenient moment.
I want him to stand his ground, too, but am not sure he’s such a sure loser. He’s consistently won his House seat with 60+ percent of the vote. So I wonder if the spectacle of the “mealy-mouth GOP establishment” forcing him off the ballot might do more to keep the teabagger/Christianist crazies home than keeping him on would turn off the “moderates”. Best case scenario: they kick him out and he runs indie. In which case it’s too bad we can’t replace McCaskill with somebody.
Denigrating someone because of the color of their skin or suggesting that it might be necessary to contemplate putting bullets into Democrats earns Republican’s their highest merit badge in the tribe. And it really doesn’t cost them any votes they could expect to get in the first place.
But telling women, all women, that sometimes rape is just what you have to expect. And that sometimes you just have to suck it up and live with the consequences. Those things are, of course, politically radioactive. So they have to distance themselves from it as quickly as they can, even though the very policies they propose pretty much express the same view, only it’s not in words that have been captured in video or on tape. They don’t give a crap about any of this, except in the context of the political cost.
sure, but what about women’s contraception and voucherizing Medicare. Those are radioactive, too.
Yes, but I think they find it’s a lot easier to fool people into thinking there is something inherently beneficial with a pseudo-“free market” mentality regarding Medicare. And they can always couch contraception as some sort of religious oppression to gin up ignorant support. Not so easy with rape. For the most part our society, unlike some other parts of the world, has come down on the side of the idea that rape is NEVER morally acceptable. There’s not 100% agreement on that. But I think it’s pretty damn close.+
What is it about this particular thing that crossed whatever faint dashed line those folks have?
Obviously it’s not the fact that it’s total bullshit. It’s not the fact that the whole line of argument is offensive to women, or really to anyone who knows that rape is an actual crime. Clearly those things haven’t made any difference in other circumstances.
Is it Akin himself? Was the Repub leadership hoping for an excuse to replace him before the Tuesday deadline?
Called OUTRAGE!!
… and each seat counts. Missouri should have been a shoo in for Todd Akin, now there is uncertainty.
He is such a real representative – Missouri is the most backward state I’ve ever visited. Never spent any time in Alabama or Mississipi, though.
I’m beginning to wonder how come I never heard of this whole “shut the process down” thing. How much money could I have saved over the years?
Akin is a mathematician of sorts as he sits in the Committee on Science, Space and Technology in Congress. He is also christian and goes to church in Westwood and is a member of Mission Gate Prison Ministry. This is what Christian Life Resources teaches: Rape Pregnancies Are Rare. Of course this was a vision from the year 1999, god moves in strange ways and may have amended his scientific opinion. Not Todd Akin though!
Oh dear, thanks for introducing me to this bizarre committee.
Just when you think things can’t get any weirder….
He has been named as a prospect Secretary of Defense under Mitt Romney, Jim Talent could be the Republican lifesaver for the 2nd congressional district of Missouri.
didn’t Ashcroft lose to a dead guy the last time he was up for an election?
The late Gov. Mel Carnahan collected enough votes to beat out incumbent Republican Sen. John Ashcroft for the U.S. Senate seat from Missouri. No one had ever posthumously won election to the Senate, though voters on at least three occasions chose deceased candidates for the House.
Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson moved up to succeed Carnahan. Wilson said he would appoint Carnahan’s widow, Jean, to the Senate seat should the deceased husband get more votes than Ashcroft.
I was so hoping Christine “I am not a witch” O’donnell would loan him her script.
The only plausible explanation that I’ve seen that Akin crossed the line is his similar voting record on these issues with Ryan. As long as Akin is in the news, questions are going to be asked of Ryan.
They are trying to protect the Prez-VP ticket.
Yes, I agree. This is all about protecting Ryan who co-signed the “forcible rape” bill with Akin.
Paul Ryan is NOT a foot soldier in the GOP WAR ON WOMEN.
Ryan is a GENERAL of the GOP War on Women.
Yes, Ryan was a sponsor of the HR3.
Yes, Ryan tried to REDEFINE RAPE.
Yes, Ryan is a sponsor of the Personhood Amendment
Yes, Ryan believes in NO EXCEPTIONS with abortion.
Yes, Ryan is a sponsor of the FEDERAL attempt to invade women’s bodies with forced ultrasounds.
Paul Ryan – a GENERAL in the GOP WAR ON WOMEN.
Not that we generally expect logical consistency from politicians, but Akin’s (and Ryan’s) position is the only logical position that a right-to-life advocate can take.
If a fetus is a person, it is no less of a person if it came into existence as a result of a rape, and would have no less of a right to life than any other fetus. The fetus can’t be blamed for the actions of its father.
As for the odd expression “legitimate rape”, I think what Akin was thinking was that if abortions were prohibited except in cases of rape (or to save the mother’s life), then you would get women claiming to have been raped in order to get an abortion. The instances of “legitimate rape” to which Akin is referring would then be women who are legitimately claiming to have been raped. That’s the only way I can make sense of the statement. I think we can assume Akin doesn’t really believe that some rapes are legitimate.