Associated Press
Richard Mourdock, Todd Akin, and Phil Gingrey
The problem isn't the wisdom of this advice; the problem is that this advice is necessary.
It's way past time: House Republicans need to stop talking about rape. That's the message GOP lawmakers got here Wednesday evening from Kellyanne Conway, a top GOP pollster.
Conway dispensed the stern advice as part of a polling presentation she made alongside pollster David Winsten -- an adviser to House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) -- and Dave Sackett. The comment was described by several sources in the room.
Conway added that House Republicans consider rape a "four-letter word."
The advice certainly makes sense, given recent inflammatory remarks from Phil Gingrey, Todd Akin, and Richard Mourdock, among others. Indeed, it shouldn't have taken a professional pollster trained in measuring public attitudes to remind Republicans about this -- I've been telling the party the same thing for months, and I didn't charge them a dime.
The problem, though, is that there's a catch, which makes this painfully obvious advice difficult to follow. Republicans really do believe impregnated rape victims should not have any choices when it comes to reproductive rights and they really will continue to pursue a policy agenda that codifies that belief in law.
Unless GOP policymakers are prepared to give up on this aspect of their culture-war agenda -- that seems unlikely -- they're going to keep facing questions that will require answers.
When a reporter says, "Congressman, under your proposal, women impregnated by a rapist would be required to carry their pregnancy to term, even if they don't want to," Republicans cannot just sit there, staring blankly into the camera. "Stop talking about rape" is reasonable advice, but here's an even better tip: stop proposing legislation that says rape victims shouldn't have any choices when it comes to reproductive rights.
Rhetoric matters. Policy matters more.
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"Hobson's Choice" involves a horse (use teh Google) and these morons rode it into office, so they are saddled with their Republican rape mantra.
Ahh, me loves de smell of Schadenfreude in de mo'nin'.
The gop/tp's are still putting All of their efforts toward avoiding the Jobs situation in America ! S.O.S. !
Does it occur to them that DICK, TODD and PHIL are also four letter words?
here's an even better tip: stop proposing legislation that says "anyone" shouldn't have choices when it comes to reproductive rights.
In a similar vein, here's a great post today from Slate by one of my favorite commenters, a guy named "Malone." He was posting in response to a Dave Weigel piece about the agenda for the Republican "retreat" being held in Williamsburg. It's so freaking funny (and spot-on) that I had to share:
"I have the list of panels left out of Dave's post:
(1) WHY DO THE NEGROES HATE US? Moderator: David Duke. An in-depth analysis of why the Party of Lincoln has been largely abandoned by Negroes, who, our research has shown, mostly drive Lincolns when they head off to spend their welfare checks.
(2) MAKE THEM FEEL SPECIAL: GETTING THE GIRL VOTE. Moderator: Phyllis Schlafly. As everyone knows, girls want to feel cherished and protected by men who are strong enough to control them but smart enough to know milk chocolate from dark chocolate. A discussion of how to leverage these facts electorally. Also: break-out sessions on chocolate.
(3) WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE POLLS? Co-Moderators: Dick Morris and Karl Rove. A look at why polls failed to predict the ubiquitous voter fraud that cost Mitt Romney the election. Members of the RNC team tasked with this problem will discuss their preliminary results, "The Black Panther Recursive Intimidation Algorithm" and "The Acorn Multiplier."
(4) PROBLEMS WITH EDUCATION. Co-Moderators: Todd Akin and Richard Murdock. Why it's a problem for Republicans when people get educated.
(5) POLITICAL SCIENCE. Moderator: Pat Robertson. An examination of how Republicans can use cutting-edge science to build better policies. Leading authorities (including Nobel laureates) in physics, climatology, and biology will discuss the many implications of their research for the profound challenges our nation faces today. Emphasis will be on the creation of knowledge-driven, scientifically literate solutions. PLEASE NOTE: THIS SESSION CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST."
The Republican party as Basil Fawlty: "Whatever you do, don't talk about the war on women!'
"I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it." :)
It's a crime that there are only 12 episodes of that show.
OR should I say "Aborting that show WAS a crime." *rimshot*
"War on women? No such thing. Now let's talk about jobs."
Peggy Noonan on Meet the Press, playing "deny and deflect".
."
Lisa, I agree with your every wor... your every ... your... period, annnd... your end quote.
Well said.
There's something seriously wrong with Republicans when they spend an incredible amount of their time thinking about other people's naughty bits. It's almost like they behave like 13 year old boys who giggle while watching Skinamax.
Have you ever met a Republican who wasn't a "permanent 13 year old"?
The issue is not going to go away just because conservatives don't want to talk about it. At some point, the question is going to be asked. Conservatives can't help themselves when they are pandering to their base so they will continue make stupid statements. Even if they evade the question, their previous statements will come back on them. But in the end the conservatives will not change their policy and they will continue to lose the women's vote and/or women will replace them in the elected offices.
You nailed it . "They can't help themselves"
The pander coupled with those new-fangled recording machines always spells trouble
"...it shouldn't have taken a professional pollster trained in measuring public attitudes to remind Republicans about this..."
You're right, it shouldn't have, but then again WE aren't in a time of reasonable, well thought, logical, empathetic times. No, the GOTP have reverted to "Cro-magnon" man, where "woman stay put" or is "knocked over the head and dragged by her har, back to the cave where she belongs". Sadly, I doubt that the admonishing to stop is going to do anything, after all - it was a woman that told them to shut up.....
They really should start by examining the "Platform" of their last convention
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/28/us/politics/20120812-gop-platform.html
Seriously
Republican Party platform? Make up any lie, but cut taxes for the rich.
I don't want Republicans ducking and dodging topics like this. I want them to be honest and to state their views openly.
Nobody is talking about their being more enlightened and holding policy positions on reproductive issues that make real sense. The whole message from people like Conway and Frank Luntz is that Republicans need to obfuscate better when stating their toxic opinions.
Women have spoken, many of their husbands and fathers have spoken too. The GOP is so far out of step with this country, it's amazing there are still people supporting it. Make note those people are a minority, and without women the GOP is finished.
Make no mistake ..this is not about gaffes made in the heat of the moment. This is the underlying view of an increasing number of Republicans and conservatives. The sane conservatives are increasingly rare
Many Republicans love to talk about rape. They must think about rape day and night and never seems to stop thinking about rape. It has come to where and when I hear a Republican talk about rape I think to myself, "Now there is a real pervert". The GOP have proven time and time again they can't stop thinking about rape nor can they stop talking about rape. Those weird old men talk about rape and they speak of rape in a strange, perverted ways. It is a sickness they have and we need to see these men as in being sick people who neeed help from having thise wild fantasies in their heads consurning rape. It has something to do with C Street and all those crazy old men living together and being loveless? I bet you I am right about this one.
It could also be that they're NOT getting any when they are home, so they have these "rape fantasies"......Doesn't Obamacare cover "pre-existing" conditions?
Great advice,,, now if they would get a man to deliver it instead of a woman...
Sigh. There are at least two basic assumptions we can no longer expect to be true:
(1) Interviewers and journalists seek to ask the straightforward, honest questions or necessary, obvious follow-ups
(2) RWNJs answer the rare straightforward, honest questions with answers in lieu of RW talking-point non sequiturs
When was the last time you could reasonably expect those things to happen? Back in the 1970s? Ever??
Those of you with strong stomachs and unimagineable patience watch the Sunday morning talking-points storms and yell at the screen when a simple question goes unanswered. That's the rule, not the exception. And it's not just a Fixed Noise problem. Very Serious People who occupy the Beltway Village are found prating on MSNBC, too.
When was the last time you wrote your congresscritter and received an answer that was not just a list of banal tallking points? Steny isn't like that, but Cardin certainly is.
Sorry. Just listened to Megan McArdle (Daily Beast) compare NRA hysteria to pro-choice advocacy. Let's all do False Equivalence, folks! Got a very bad taste in my mouth just now.
The vile language and ideology of conservative neanderthals like Akin and Mourdouck have managed to blow open the burgeoning schism that has rapidly developed within the Republican Party, revealing the party as a hotbed of the extreme and the fanatical. Women and rape are just jokes to the increasingly older white male GOP, a position that is quickly killing the party off by simple demographics. The new GOP core has ditched the establishment and taken out on the low road of revolutionary conservatism and religious theology, seeking to radically change the country as we know it, women and their rights be damned. - progressive
GOP: From now on, rape should be called "unexpected sexual encounter."
I'm sure they'll come up with some handy phrase. I don't have quite the knack with words that they do.
They've already tried and failed with "forcible" rape and "legitimate" rape. They're not going to be able to Luntz their way out of this one!
better not...
I guess by that definition I've been raped several times now! I'm so lucky!
I like "stop talking" better. I wonder if they can picture their wife or their own offspring in such a debacle (raped and pregnant from a rape) and even better, what would they do about it? Enforce the status party platform? I wouldn't put it past most of them to..
Most of them, when in this position, take the hypocrite's way out and have an abortion. But when sitting in the waiting room at the clinic, their mindset is "I am NOT a slut like the rest of these women. I have a legitimate reason for being here." (See Pandagon, I forget which blog entry.)
Like all conservatives I have ever met, including relatives and friends, the rules don't apply to them. They also have NO empathy for the plight of another. It isn't until it hits close to home that they suddenly see the need for choice/Medicaid/Medicare/ACA's provision for pre-existing conditions/unemployment insur/union representation/workmen's comp ins/ etc.etc. They go through life blinkered and arrogant.
I'm all right Jack, keep your hands off my stack.
"Hey, let's just pretend rape doesn't happen!" Yet another way in which this party (not just Romney) wants to return to the 1950's.
True... Never saw it on Leave It To Beaver...
Although, come to think of it, that WOULD make for the title of a good porno...
The pictures say that one of them is Todd Aking.
Is that a new guy with a similar sounding name that said stupid stuff?
Given that most of them are clueless morons whose existence proves that white southern American males are lower on the evolutionary scale than amoebas, and that most of them come from a culture (southern) that reinforces their craziness, how can one expect them to listen to anyone sane and reasonable? All this does is make them double down on the crazy.
People should really stop expecting Republicans to act like they care about or respect women.
ok policy makers, do something to show your support for women
Well at least we know they understand what a letter is and can count to four. That's a start.
My body, my choice.
We should always be fair by all means. We all know that rape is a crime so the person being involved should pay for what he did. We should let justice speaks for itself and do for itself. I admire the people who really pursue providing justice for the victims of the unsafe world. But things like this could merely be avoided if we are just fair within our co-leagues, employees and to others being involved in our work place. Being a victim in this type of case is really hard to beat but this could be avoided somehow. I read about this smart phone application, wherein they can immediately respond to you whenever you're in trouble. With a single press of a panic button the emergency responders and you family will be notified even an escalation to 911 will be done if needed.