If you missed it last night, my colleague Kent Jones posted the video of Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), a U.S. Senate candidate, explaining his unique perspective on biology and sexual health.
"[F]rom what I understand from doctors, [pregnancy from rape] is really rare," Akin told a St. Louis TV station. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child."
So, as Akin sees it, forcing a woman to carry her rapist's baby to term is fine, but it doesn't much matter because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" -- if it's a "legitimate" rape. What's more, contrary to the congressman's claims, rape-related pregnancies occur "with significant frequency."
Akin has a record of saying some remarkably dumb things, but this takes his troubles to new depths. (Why did Sen. Claire McCaskill and the DSCC make an aggressive effort to help Akin win his primary? This is why.)
There's a broader national significance to this, so let's flesh this out in more detail. As Kent noted, for example, Akin issued a statement arguing that he "misspoke," but he didn't apologize, it's not clear which part he didn't intend to say, and Akin didn't renounce any of his specific claims.
In the bigger picture, if Republicans are going to retake the U.S. Senate, they're almost certainly going to need to defeat McCaskill in Missouri, and unless GOP officials have a plan to disenfranchise women over the next 11 weeks, Akin's odds of victory just collapsed. Republicans are starting to panic, but under state law, Akin would have to withdraw by tomorrow, and even that would be difficult.
And what about Romney/Ryan? Akin's scandal matters more to the Republican ticket than you might think.
President Obama's re-election team has been hammering both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for being so extreme on reproductive rights, so Akin's timing certainly doesn't help the national GOP candidates, and it's one of the reasons Romney/Ryan was quick to say late yesterday that the ticket "disagrees" with Akin's comments, adding that "a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."
But even that's problematic -- this new stated position appears to contradict Ryan's previous position on the rape and incest exception.
And then there's the legislative problem. Remember the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act"?
In January 2011, one of the very first bills pushed by House Republicans, launched almost immediately after they took the majority, was something called the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." While existing law already restricts public funding for abortions, the law makes exceptions for impregnated rape victims -- and GOP lawmakers decided it was time to limit what can legally be considered "rape."
Specifically, Republican proponents said the exception would only apply to "forcible" rape. If the law had passed, for example, a 13-year-old girl who was impregnated by a 24-year-old man would not be able to use Medicaid funds to terminate the pregnancy, unless she could prove she'd been "forcibly" raped.
The idea that Republicans would try to redefine rape became so controversial that the effort was quietly scuttled. But who were among the original cosponsors of the legislation? Todd Akin and his good pal, Paul Ryan.
So, here's the question for the Republican ticket: "Paul Ryan and Todd Akin teamed up on a bill to redefine rape. Looking back, was that a good idea? And if Romney/Ryan is elected, will the Republican administration support similar efforts in the future?"
Update: Akin is a member of the House Science committee. I just thought I'd mention that.
Leave a Comment:
Akin is the typical man who cannot accept responsibility of the things he has done. Akin’s typical excuse is to use women as the escape goats for the evil deeds that certain men do. Just as we have seen many of these types of men do these things in America and the world. These men really possess no love, compassion, and/or understanding of the good things in our human nature or even to the very statements of what Jesus has said. These men only possess what matters only to their own selfish needs and no one else’s. These men are so rooted in craving power, greedy, corrupt, arrogant, hypocrites, and deceivers, they cannot even get beyond their own desires to see what it would be to have a better world. How many times in history must women have to suffer for the misdeeds of these men? How many times do women have to be held in or put in bondage from these narrow-minded men and their falsehoods? People do not realize that when you abuse and bondage women, you also do it to yourselves and your children.
I like your response Deb.
How many times do you have to put up with this? For as long as Republican women help keep electing tools like this to Congress.
I cannot imagine what it is like to be a woman in this political nightmare. These men are shameful. Women voters outnumber men now. Please vote. Please vote these Neanderthals out of office.
I saw the video. What I want to know is why he characterized his remarks as being "off the cuff". Sounded like a straight forward, honest (aka gaffe), answer to me.
Deb: I would very much appreciate it if you would not carelessly tar all men with that brush. To say that Akin is "the typical man" is unacceptably inflammatory. Typical teabagger? Typical GOP politician? Sure. Typical man? No.
Romney, Ryan, and Akin, oh my!
http://whateverworks4you.blogspot.com/2012/08/romney-ryan-and-akin-oh-my.html
ShadeTail: Thinking you should reread the statement, especially when it says certain men. If your not that certain man, then there is no problem. Usually, when men want to dig out further excuses to justify certain mens behavior there is just something wrong with that.
Deb: Thinking *YOU* need to rethink what "the typical man" actually means. Regardless of how you meant it, your word choice was sloppy and offensive.
Also thinking you shouldn't make baseless assumptions on my gender.
Akin did not misspeak; he expressed his actual priorities and beliefs, then wished he hadn't when the tsunami of anger hit him.
"Misspeak"is a made up word the Nixon Watergaters used when they said something awful and got caught at it. It's a phony euphemism used to make a lie or a terrible gaff sound like a mistake.
In this case, Akin wasn't mistaken and didn't lie. The so called "Right To Lifer," the "Pro-Life" zealot, told the truth(!) The rights of a zygote are more important to him and his theology than the rights of a living breathing rape victim, and he used the "real rape-no pregnancy" lie to justify his need to force his theology down everyone else's throats.
Deb: I understand your rage, but this isn't a male thing. There are enough female forced birth zealots to keep Congressmen/women like him elected in too many states. Yes, it's a male-dominated theology, and it exploits independent, modern women, but enough women have these values to keep guys like Akin elected and re-elected. The annual anti Roe v. Wade march on Washington was organized by a woman who believed in no exceptions for rape or incest.
Sofferclese: That I agree with you on these women who apparently really do not know the plights of oppressed women and too easily accept this narrow-minded mens view. But still this has been a long time falsehood of holding women in despair, misery, and bondage just so these certain men can justify their misdeeds and that can never be accepted. Of course, not all men are like this, since fortunately there is many men these days that do know that by accepting such a false theology also puts themselves in bondage a long with their children. And from my experiences of this, it is pure misery, despair, and bondage that no one should be placed in. If you have actually lived in a situation like that you understand too well, we can never go back to such an awful thing.
Bravo!
"and unless GOP officials have a plan to disenfranchise women over the next 11 weeks"
Don't give them ideas ...I can see the gears turning in their heads now.
Unless Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers withdraw their support, Akin has the financing to bury Claire in negative campaign adds, so I wouldn't conclude her reelection is assured. We all have to keep up the pressure. I am going to send Claire a few dollars more.
Akin misspoke because he said exactly what the Republicans believe on the issue of reproductive rights. Until yesterday, Ryan was against abortion in all circumstances, just like Akin, and Romney (being Romney) had made statements on both sides of the issue. Notice what I said. All Akin did was artlessly restate Republican canon on the issue. Boys and girls do you want to live in a Republican world?
Republican world Taliban world, same difference, different "imaginary G-d".....Cause NO real believer in a sane, just, & loving G-d could actually act like this!
Please support Claire McCaskill
http://clairemccaskill.com/
Very well said, thank you!
I think I heard on MSNBC last night that Karl Rove's group, among others, had withdrawn financial support for Akin's campaign. Evidently, Akin is using the moment as a reason to do additional fundraising.
Todd Akin must know what he's talking about, He sits on the House committee on Science, Space and Technology. Clearly Republicans don't hate America enough to not only run people for office who don't know what they're talking about, but then let them oversee committees where knowledge and intelligence...
Or do they?
See, you say he's awful, he seems awful, and yet he's been given such power...
I guess both sides are equally to blame. I'm not going to vote.
And that's how Republicans win.
Don't vote then. But DO stop commenting because you've taken yourself out of the process.
Pretty sure the "not voting" part of that comment was sarcasm on Magoo's part.
not voting is part of the right of voting. you get to not cast your vote and that does not limit your other rights - like your first amendment rights - it does give others the right to not take you seriously - but having the right to do something means you have the right not to as well.
i have the right to bear arms. i don't but that doesn't mean i don't have a view on it.
I used to wonder how these ignoramuses ever got elected in the first place. Not anymore. They get elected by ignoramuses.
I remember hearing about the "forcible rape" bill. Rape, by definition, is a forced act. That anyone would attempt to redefine it so they could force women to bear their rapist's child is MIND-BLOWING to me.
"forcible rape"
In the GOTP mind (much like the Taliban) women go from their father's house to their "husbands house" - women living on their own, working single mothers - they're "asking for it" by not having the "protection" of a husband. So no in the GOTP mind "rape" is a choice.....
I'm convinced that the best part of all of the GOTP, dribbled down Momma's legs after Papa was down.
"Forcible" or "legitimate" rape - as opposed to what, consensual rape? Akin is a complete moron. Rape is rape - no qualifying words needed.
And "the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child." What about the woman, Akin? How about not punishing her? Or does she deserve punishment for "allowing herself to be raped"?
If Akin gets a single vote from any woman, I fear for the future of womankind.
Focus on the use of the word "legitimate." If a guy didn't jump out of a bush and beat the woman (who is a stranger) half to deal and then rape her, it's not "legitimate." He's trying to disqualify date rape, all the military rapes, and blame these promiscuous women for the rape. And there's a bit of "she's claiming rape so she can get a free abortion for retroactive birth control." It's the worst kind of attack on women. We thought racism was over until they came after Obama for {[insert claim here] and now they're trying to move the clock back on women. Next time a woman is raped, they're going to pull out a ruler and measure how long her skirt was and decide if she was really "asking for it."
I posted something similar to this in the previous thread, but it deserves a repeat.
Ron Paul has used this "legitimate rape" line before, too, in a slightly different context. It seems that, to Republicans, sex is just a sin, nothing more, that people try to get away with however they can, but for women it's harder to get away with it (and that is how conservatives think of it) if they get pregnant. So if you legalize abortion only in the cases of rape and incest, every woman who wants an abortion is just going to lie and claim she was raped.
Until we attack the idea that women having sex is somehow a bad thing, this issue's not actually going to be solved in any meaningful way.
But let's call Akin's remarks what they were: they were sincere on his part. He honestly believes that women who don't want to have sex won't get pregnant when they're raped. Why? Because that would mean there's a legitimate argument for abortion, and that would mean his opponents are right about something... And oh no, that can't be true. This is, at one level, sexist pro-life dishonesty reflective of larger and more complex (and important) societal problems. On another level, it's no more complicated than wishful thinking, straight from the files of, "I reject your reality and insert my own!"
Well said!
I would qualify your last quote to "I reject reality and insert my own!"
Today, there will be a lot of conservative voices who call for Akin to withdraw from the US Senate race...but if they seriously thought Akin's words disqualify him from public office, they'd ask him to resign his house seat.
But they won't, of course, because all they want is to win an election, not do right by women.
Hopefully, Akin, by running for Senate, is not running for re-election to the House of Representatives. If he resigns from the nomination, then he won't be running for any office. I wonder who is running to replace Akin in the House?
I don't have a problem with anyone disagreeing with my pro-choice position. I do have a problem with this level of sheer stupidity. Being that stupid should hurt.
Being that stupid is mind numbing and they don't feel a thing.
He is not stupid..hes a @!$%#ing pig..What he seems to be saying that if a women becomes pregnant as a result of rape, it means she enjoyed being raped, accordingly the rape is not legitimate. Amongst the most disgusting comments i have ever heard coming out of a politicians mouth,which is saying quite a lot .Furthermore, this belief is more common than you think, amongst the anti choice movement.
On the playground, in fifth grade, we learned that Ladyparts have Teeth!
Perhaps that is also where Akin learned "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down"
LOL, this made my day! Thank you!
I just realized a chilling direction this could take. If women cant get pregnant from rape, (which of course is stupid and not true) then all the pregnant rape victims are lying about the rape. There was no rape. That piece of crap is trying to help rapists get away with rape. Wow, what a sick twisted excuse for a human.
That is the whole, unstated, point of these assertions, and they are not limited to Akin.
Yup. I sort of admire your innocence on the subject, though -- it's been pretty obvious to those of us closer to the front for a while.
And, yes, the next conclusion is that those nine-year-olds with swelling tummies really wanted a roll in the sack with Daddy.
And then there's Jaycee Dugard ...
And, don't forget too, that this implies that a woman who CAN'T get pregnant is actively trying NOT to, so it is entirely HER fault if a couple can't conceive. She is unnatural, see, and against GOD, and not doing what nature intended. This way women get blamed for everything -- it's her fault she got raped, it's her fault she got pregnant, it's her fault she can't get pregnant!
All excellent comments...but you're all missing one thing...From his language..(and also his looks)...I would guess that he's never actually 'known' a woman. Not that that is an excuse...just sad for him.
1. Willard has said he backs PERSONHOOD, which would ban ALL ABORTIONS and eliminate most BIRTH CONTROL.
2. Willard hasn't spoken with his Vice-Presidential Nominee, who is:
a) against abortion in all cases, including RAPE AND INCEST
b) part of the group, along with Akin, that tried to REDEFINE RAPE
c) is the sponsor of the FEDERAL PERSONHOOD AMENDMENT
d) is the sponsor of the FEDERAL INVASIVE ULTRASOUND for women (see Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas for reference)
So, no, Willard has no credibility.
Paul Ryan is not a foot soldier in the GOP WAR ON WOMEN.
Paul Ryan is a GENERAL.
The new Republican campaign slogan: "Rape, It's a Gift."
What is even more reprehensible to me is that this idiot creates aconcept where rape can be legitimate or not by shifting responsibility for a violent crime not onto the perpetrator but on to the victim, victimizing the woman again.
That's been the idea (stated or not) for a very, very long time.
"She was asking for it."
Step back for a minute and just really take it in that this man is a candidate for the United States Senate. Let that sink in. If that doesn't scare the living shhit out of you, I don't know what will. Republicans chose this guy as their man to run for the Senate.
Here's the latest polls:
RCP Average
5/24 - 8/12 -- 48.0 43.0 Akin +5.0
SurveyUSA*
8/9 - 8/12 585 LV 51 40 Akin +11
Rasmussen Reports
7/30 - 7/30 500 LV 47 44 Akin +3
Post-Dispatch/Mason-Dixon
7/23 - 7/25 625 LV 49 44 Akin +5
PPP (D)
5/24 - 5/27 602 RV 45 44 Akin +1
America: Too stupid for democracy .
They had this guy on NPR this morning who says he is undecided (Wisconsin - explains a lot). He explained , and I am not making this up, that he "Googles the candidates the night before and then makes up his mind "
There is limited hope for this country.
There are people who vote based on a name and a picture. Hopefully there are enough of us to balance them out.
Every day I despair of the typical American's ignorance, irresponsible citizenship, and insouciant disregard for being aware of just what the hell is going on. It's why the continued refusal of Democrats to defend their ideas and policies for so long has hurt so much. The Republican propaganda nonsense seeps down into the core of the public where it isn't even questioned and then when attention needs to be paid, the irresponsibly inattentive typically revert to the general zeitgeist that has been sown by the Right Wing Noise Machine which consists of the easiest believed nonsense. It is extremely difficult to remove myths from a person's worldview.
I still simply can't believe we REALLY are fighting to avoid erasing the 20th century in this election. It didn't have to be this way. But it is.
I bet if you check U.S. Rep Todd Akins record it will show voting down sex education courses for teens in high school. Rush Limbaugh to much sex with Todd Akins took sex Ed together in high school and cheated of each other.
He is also such a kind soul and he cares soo much for the fetii when they arrive that he voted against school lunches!
Probably voted against the pregnancy and early infancy medical care, education, and nutrition program called Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) under the other Teathuglicant meme -- women who can't afford to feed their children adequately shouldn't have sex or get pregnant.
A very handsome man asked me out recently, I asked him if he was a Republican, he said yes, I said no....just shut them out ladies......they will be begging us to let them give us our right to make our own decisions about our bodies and stop saying such stupid things.
You are worth your weight in gold! Well done and well said...ladies, you can control this election ..... come on now!
Hahahahahaha... The no-nookie-for-wingnuts election!
I'm 100% for this!!
Peggy - well played! :)
A little-remembered fact of the 60s and 70s was that there was a significant correlation between the sexual availability of college women and their politics.
And of the men they chose, too. We're heading back into a cycle where there's a serious gender/political correlation, so I'm not exactly shocked to see Phase Two showing up. Face it, men come with these very convenient handles that can be used to lead them around when their skulls are too thick for other means.
This guy is on their science committee? They gonna get that revisionist historian (the one with no degree except for christian studies) to head their education program? It's like they are still in the 16th century... pathetic.
Paul Ryan Sponsored a Bill that Would Allow Rapists to Stop their Victims from Aborting
http://jezebel.com/5934975/paul-ryan-sponsored-a-bill-that-would-allow-rapists-to-stop-their-victims-from-aborting
this need to added to the convo when talking abour PAUL RYAN/romney
I don't want to jump on the Ryan defense train, but that headline is way sensationalized. Trust. I read Jez on the regular and I love it, but that headline is not accurate and that isn't quite the way the bill worked.
Yes, get the information out there, but make sure it is ACCURATE information or we're no better than the morons who think woman can prevent pregnancy by willing it so.
Members of Congress are given seats on "committees" based on the number of terms they have served and favor they have "earned" from the Speaker of the House, not on any knowledge they have of the specific subject the committee is about. If they had to know anything about the subject of the committee, Michelle Bachmann, for instance, wouldn't be anywhere near an "intelligence" committee privy to any kind of national security concerns.
These people are the death of American society. They've ruined education by injecting it with Bronze Age myths. They've ruined civil society by bringing back corruption unheard of since the Gilded Age. They've ruined the civil services by cutting funding to the bone and imposing draconian restrictions on who's eligible for services.
American Conservatives simply aren't conservative. They're actually neoliberal, theocratic revolutionaries, and any pandering about wanting to make this country "great again" is just that: meaningless pandering.
We need to shut these people down, get them out of the government, and excise the taint that they've left all over our system. Before we do that, we're simply treating the symptoms, and letting the cancer spread. Sometimes I'm afraid that we might actually be too late.
There are so many despicable things about what Rep. Akin said, but I think what's most telling is that he said the rapist should be punished, not the child. In no way, shape or form does he consider the woman, the victim, in his equation. Just pathetic.
And, no matter how she tries to hide it, there will be times where the mother will look at the child and remember how he was conceived, or see his father in him or her. And the child, maybe ten years old, or only five -- whose parentage may have been hidden to 'protect' him or her -- sees the look in the mother's face, and always imagines it is her sight of him that causes it.
Then imagine the mother's pain at seeing the child's face responding to her.
I think it is the "maybe that didn't work or something" part of Akin's comment that describes his universe.
Don't see that in print much but that's the crux of the biscuit as far as I'm concerned. And yes, I am a survivor of a particularly malicious rape. And yes, I've worked with other survivors extensively.
The guy is legitimately abhorrent.
I think that his words are about as dumb as what we hear weekly from Bidden and others like the ones that have invested time thus far on this forum. I find it amazingly hypocritical to suggest that pro-life supporters in general are against women. That is like saying that Pro-choice folks are against babies. Sure some nut jobs state outlandish things on both sides but in general this isn't the case. Most pro-life folks are women. Most pro-life folks have a religious conviction and simply do not want the government to infringe on such matters. That really is the debate that most pro-life folks have. They just don't want to pay for your abortion nor do they think it is the governments position to endorse. The rights and luxuries that are being debated even today mean nothing if our country is weak. There is not a President or administration, ever in the history of the US, that has been as shady, corrupt and just flat out horrible as the current Chief. Seriously, if this forum is any indication of the way that "open minded" Democrats think... then it is obvious that an intelligent discussion is not in the near future. I am not even a Republican but I certainly do not want to be lumped in with the kind of absence of gray matter indicated in this garbage of a forum.
Liar. You're obviously not only a Republican, but an ill-informed troll of one. Your misunderstanding, or perhaps willful ignorance, of the actual positions being advocated by pro life members of Congress, and equating of those extremist positions and statements, in this case made by an actual candidate for the U.S. Senate, out you. This isn't both sides do it. Akin's not some jagoff on the internet.
And in what way, specifically, is the current President "shady, corrupt and just flat out horrible?" And what does that have to do with this conversation? Yeah, "not even a Republican," my rear.
I know, as a "liberal", I'm supposed to intellectualize and tell you that you have a right to your opinion, etc.etc.etc., but I'm tired of that BS, so I am going to tell you like it is!
What you have said is a BOATLOAD of CRAP!!!
The HELL they don't - they want an ultrasound up every vagina and a cop monitoring every woman's menstrual cycles. They also want every miscarriage investigated.
And they don't want to pay to take care of the unwanted child that is born either! Do you REALLY think an abortion is a "luxury"??
And the rest of your post condemns you for what you are!!! Thank you for sharing!!
Boodroo-
Excuse me? If pro-lifers do not want the government to infringe on such matters, why in the world are they trying to pass dozens of laws redefining "personhood" and outlawing various forms of contraception? If they live by their own convictions, they have nothing to worry about. Nobody is going to make them use contraception or have an abortion. They are trying to impose their views on everyone else, which is creating the government infringement you claim they don't want.
Please, give us examples of the shadiness and corruption you speak of. If this administration is the worst, there must be dozens of examples you can provide. I'm serious here - what are you talking about?
Are you defending Akin? And Ryan? Are you defending all the laws, etc etc, put into place, being voted on, being written and presented about eggs, pregnancies, eggs, personhood of eggs, being pregnant before conception, miscarriages, eggs having more rights than women and so forth as a good thing? And that whole pro-life people dribble about not wanting government infringement...wow. Did you write that with a straight face? And...gosh, isn't there something called, the oh, Hyde Amendment?
Whatever stumbles Biden has made, he never vilified a group of victims or said that their victimization was not legitimate. Once again -- false equivalencies.