Rep. Todd Akin had no sooner won Missouri’s GOP Senate primary this month than he seemed eager to hand over the election to incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Akin instantly became a national sensation with a shocking statement about how “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy.
When confronted on his view regarding exceptions to a ban on abortions, Akin proceeded to show how to abort a Senate campaign in record time: “First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. 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. You know I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”
First there is the distinction between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” rape that is too twisted to contemplate. Then there is Akin’s rather bizarre view of the female body and the existence of some type of kill switch in cases of rape within every woman.
Akin is a six-term U.S. congressman who probably could have drifted to a win in Missouri. Polls showed him a heavy favorite against McCaskill who is unpopular with many in Missouri as well as Washington. Akin, 65, was backed by former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and supported by many in the Tea Party. Akin was able to secure 36 percent of the vote against businessman John G. Brunner with 30 percent and former state treasurer Sarah Steelman with 29 percent. Steelman was the favorite of Sarah Palin and many in the Tea Party. Despite the tough primary, Akin was leading McCaskill in the polls.
That changed in a flash and he succeeded in moving a state from an expected win for the GOP into the doubtful column — assuming he does not withdraw from the race. Both Romney and Ryan have publicly criticized the comment. McCaskill appears to relish the thought of becoming the second most unpopular candidate in a two-person race. She has refused to call for Akin to step down and said that it would be a radical step to replace a candidate who just won the primary. Republicans however have lined up to condemn the statements and call for Akin to withdraw from the race.
Akin’s attempt to walk back from the comments was almost as awkward — claiming that he “misspoke” about rape. Here is the statement:
“As a member of Congress, I believe that working to protect the most vulnerable in our society is one of my most important responsibilities, and that includes protecting both the unborn and victims of sexual assault. In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.
“I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election.”
Akin does not address the medical side of the comment or even explain what he meant about legitimate rape.
“Misspoke” is a remarkably flexible term to cover any statement where, according to Merriam-Webster, you can claim that you “expressed (oneself) imperfectly or incorrectly.” Of course, there remains the cause for such misspeak. It is one thing to get a date wrong or a country wrong or even a description of some past event. Here however Akin drew a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate rape and then proceeded to offer a medical claim that is almost medieval in character.
Here is the clip showing the “misspeech”:
Given the polarized situation in Missouri, this does not necessarily mean that McCaskill will win. However, with the GOP already struggling with the female vote, this is comment is likely to be played back in an endless loop. The question is the degree of pressure from the Romney campaign to get Akin to step aside given the possible drag on the ticket in November.
Source: CNN
This has been going on in the Republican Party since at least 1988:
March 23, 1988|By JOHN M. BAER, Daily News Staff Writer
HARRISBURG — The odds that a woman who is raped will get pregnant are “one in millions and millions and millions,” said state Rep. Stephen Freind, R-Delaware County, the Legislature’s leading abortion foe.
The reason, Freind said, is that the traumatic experience of rape causes a woman to “secrete a certain secretion” that tends to kill sperm.
Two Philadelphia doctors specializing in human reproduction characterized Freind’s contention as scientifically baseless.
Freind made the statement on a central Pennsylvania radio interview program earlier this month.”
So, they have to own this completely. this isn’t the only Republican to say these things.
As a man of the cloth I am a bit taken aback by this high forehead guy with first name Todd who claims to have graduated from a divinity school. I do believe that this is the same guy whom they made fun of by accenuating his first name on Saturday Night Live about 25 years ago. I recall that it was Roseann Roseann ODana who kept yelling: Hello Tooooodd!. Well, somehow the dumb schmuck, divinity background notwithstanding, resurrected himself in some state out there in the hinterlands which they call Mizzoura or Mizzou. I dont doubt that high forehead, foot in the mouth disease guy is ahead in the polls. That is the same state reference on this blog that outlaws the federal constitution in the review of criminal appeals. The case was State v. Freeman and was discussed on this blog. Unreconstructed was the word employed when a state supreme court says that the 14th Amendment does not apply.
Is this guy from a rural area of Mizzoura? As a man of the cloth from the hinterlands, I would rather have it be that he be from a city. How could Claire possibly be behind in the polls? Did she make some gaffe? I saw her on national television twice this year discussing important issues and she was very impressive. A guy like this would not pass a literacy test in the old south. If this schmuck wins then we will have to examine this state a little further and talk about seceding it from the union. They are unreconstructed already. I wish that they were geographically on the border with Mexico so that we would not have to drive through when we go west on I-70. Hotsie, totsie, I smell a Nazi (Three Stooges).
Pardon me Reverend….
and people wonder why I think that many on the right are Batsh*t crazy….
these people are astonishing….
so R & R have criticized Todd for this statement he made…
the irony being… Ryan wanted to pass a law giving Personhood protection to Fetus’s…..
and Romney once tried to block a woman from his church from having an abortion that was to save the life of the mother….
clip from article…
On the day of the abortion, the couple showed up at the hospital only to be greeted by their bishop, who had shown up, unannounced, to try to prevent her from going through with it, regardless of the fact that a church official with a higher rank than his had already given the okay. The bishop was determined to make his case against the life-saving surgery, and he was a total dick about it. According to a 2007 interview with Dushku, the following exchange occurred,
He said – What do you think you’re doing?
She said – Well, we have to abort the baby because I have these blood clots.
And he said something to the effect of – Well, why do you get off easy when other women have their babies?
And she said – What are you talking about? This is a life threatening situation.
And he said – Well what about the life of the baby?
And she said – I have four other children and I think it would be really irresponsible to continue the pregnancy.
The bishop who tried to block that selfish, selfish clotted up woman from saving her own life with a legal medical procedure was one Mitt Romney. The woman he attempted to block did go through with her abortion and lived to see her four teenage children grow up. Her family later left the church.
http://jezebel.com/5851050/the-curious-case-of-mitt-romney-an-abortion-and-eliza-dushkus-mom
Things like this make me EMBARRASSED to admit I am an American….
WOW!!
JAG…
I am amazed that a successful politician could be that out of touch to make those remarks. Not shocked that he thinks it; just shocked that he didn’t know not to say it.
But, I’m not so sure that this will be the end of him.
But, I’m not so sure that this will be the end of him.
UNFORTUNATELY Waldo… I think you are right….
Scary, isn’t it….
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/rep-todd-akin-wrong-not-alone
This is mainstream ‘Right to Life’ propaganda. They teach it to the kids in these religious home schools as well……imagine
As a Mormon Bishop, Romney tries to stop a woman from having a life saving abortion? wow, these people are nuts
http://jezebel.com/5851050/the-curious-case-of-mitt-romney-an-abortion-and-eliza-dushkus-mom
Akin’s district is wealthy and very conservative which fits his philosophy perfectly. He is not my choice for Senator but may end up being so. This latest statement may help change that and I’m hoping it does. He has deep anti-abortion roots and praised the 1st Missouri Volunteers (a militia that had its roots in the civil war) for their anti-abortion work. That work, including threats to abortion providers and illegal actions against them, got the leader of the militia put in prison. Akin is a threat to civil rights.
The two big cities vote Republican and ‘out-state’ vote’s Republican. That’s one of the reason the Republicans want to tighten up Missouri’s voter ID rules which are already photo ID with one exception that does not disenfranchise the elderly, handicapped, and poor etc. though it does have an negative impact on some voters among those groups.
As a preacher I must often speak to a flock that does not always like what I have to say about things like politics, as opposed to religion. I am legally blind, although I can see things to a large degree but not read signs smaller than billboards. I have a guide dog. I will admit here and now that my guide dog is very articulate and quite mouthy. She introduced me to this blog. You might all know her and she might have been a bit talkative for a dog. She speaks, barks, growls, grunts, into a Dogalogue Machine and it comes out in print, in English. She signs in as : itchinBayDog. She might be a bit mouthy. I listen to her all day. She keeps me alive.
I appologize for beratting Missouri. This Akin guy is annoying because he says he went to divinity school. Yet the high forehead makes me think that he might be of some sort of stock that is interbred. Like, too many second cousins once removed having married on the upstream of his genetics. With a guy like this in the Senate one must say Praise The Lord But Pass The Ammunition. By that I mean that we can not rely on the law to protect us, we need lawyers, guns and money. And there was a song with those lyrics and I think that the next phrase was Lord Get Me Out of This. So, I would, as a preacher, recommend such things to the folks from that State of Missouri. Oh, Why do they spell it “Mizzou” on those football jerseys? Is there some reference to animals like Todd Akin involved there?
Send Lawyers, Guns and Money,… Lord Get Me Out Of This!…. dun a dun dun dun done. etc (Music)
‘Scuse me- I erred in my above posting, the two big cities in MO. vote Democratic- not Republican, I meant to say ‘Democratic’.
We had a discussion about Akin’s comments on my Paul Ryan post last night. Someone explained to me what “legitimate rape” is:
Jim
August 19, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Elaine M.
A legitimate rape is one where a woman is attacked and did not lead the person on in anyway. If a woman begins foreplay with a man and at some point wants to stop then that is not being characterized as a legitimate rape because her mentality is not the same in both cases. In case one she doesn’t know the perpetrator and probably fears for her life where as in the second (it is rape) only fears of the sexual act but probably not for her life. Again, both are rape just in different degrees.
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/08/18/romney-vp-pick-paul-ryan-cosponsored-personhood-ultrasound-and-let-women-die-legislation/#comment-407245
*****
I guess legitimate rape would be considered “first degree” rape in the minds of some.
So, this astute, scientifically advanced fella thinks that rape is safe sex?
shano,
Thanks for those links.
Akin is a prime example of the American Taliban at work . It is also amazing that Romney and Ryan have tried to distance themselves from their own beliefs!
What a wonderful thing your First Amendment is. It makes it possible for these people to be smoked out as nutters or hang themselves out to dry all by themselves.
Then you guys go and vote for them ……..
Todd Akin, Paul Ryan, and Redefining Rape
By Nick Baumann
Sun Aug. 19, 2012
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/todd-akin-paul-ryan-redefining-rape
On Sunday, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who is challenging Sen. Claire McCaskill in the Missouri Senate race, used an interview with a local television station to defend his belief that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape: He claimed that women who are the victims of “legitimate rape” are unlikely to become pregnant. Akin said that the female body has “biological defenses” that prevent rape victims from getting pregnant. (That’s not true.) The implication of his position is that if you were raped and became pregnant, you must have actually wanted it—it wasn’t really rape.
This isn’t the first time Akin has expressed fringe views about rape in the context of the abortion debate. Last year, Akin, vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and most of the House GOP co-sponsored a bill that would have narrowed the already-narrow exceptions to the laws banning federal funding for abortion—from all cases of rape to cases of “forcible rape.”
After I reported on the “forcible rape” language in January 2011, a wave of outcry from abortion-rights, progressive, and women’s groups led the Republicans to remove it. But a few months later, in a congressional committee report, Republicans wrote that they believed the bill would continue to have the same effect despite the absence of the “forcible” language.
So why was the “forcible” language so important? Pro-life advocates believed they needed to include the word “forcible” in the law to pre-empt what National Right to Life Committee lobbyist Doug Johnson called a “brazen” effort by Planned Parenthood and other groups to obtain federal funding for abortions for any teenager by (falsely) claiming statutory rape. Abortion rights groups, Johnson warned, wanted to “federally fund the abortion of tens of thousands of healthy babies of healthy moms, based solely on the age of their mothers.” Richard Doerflinger, the US Council of Catholic Bishops’ top anti-abortion lobbyist, echoed Johnson in congressional testimony, arguing that the “forcible” language was “an effort on the part of the sponsors to prevent the opening of a very broad loophole for federally funded abortions for any teenager.” Planned Parenthood flatly denied having a plan to open up such a loophole.
The idea that women who are “legitimate” rape victims can’t get pregnant has currency in some corners of the fringe right. Akin embraces it. Does he embrace the conspiracy theory about the need for the “forcible rape” language, too?
I suppose we now know the campaign is based on ill legitimate rational….
Really ?
House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Science ??????
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/w_akin/400005
Democrats Link Akin To Romney-Ryan: ‘The Real Issue’ Is The GOP
PEMA LEVY
AUGUST 20, 2012
TPM2012
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/dnc-akin-romney-ryan.php?ref=fpa
Excerpt:
Democrats are seizing on the firestorm started by Rep. Todd Akin, tying the Congressman’s controversial remarks about rape to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan by calling his outburst indicative of the Republican Party and its nominees’ stance on women’s health issues.
Akin, the Republican Senate nominee in Missouri, said that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely become pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
In an email, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz linked Akin’s comments to a larger trend of “backward statements from Republicans on issues affecting women’s health” and pointed to the anti-abortion bills that Akin and Paul Ryan have worked on together.
“Now, Akin’s choice of words isn’t the real issue here,” Wasserman Schultz said in the email. “The real issue is a Republican party — led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan — whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong.”
Well, Representative…… hope your wife and daughters, if you’ve been blessed to have any, are dressed in their Burkas….. to keep the rapists at bay…..
@ eniobob
Science you ask? No-one in Congress or the Senate knows what the word means.
The spinners and the spinerettes are going to be busy today trying to turn this lemon into lemonade.
Dredd
1, August 20, 2012 at 7:20 am
—————————————-
…that was excellent….
Akin Outburst Will Put Pressure On Romney-Ryan
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO
AUGUST 19, 2012
TPM2012
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/todd-akin-paul-ryan-mitt-romney.php
Excerpt:
Missouri Republican Senate nominee Todd Akin’s claim that women who are victims of “legitimate rape” have biological defenses to prevent pregnancy — and therefore don’t need the legal right to have an abortion — is already shaking up the Senate race in the Show Me State.
But it’s also perfectly timed to put heat on the Republican presidential ticket, given the recent selection of Rep. Paul Ryan and his especially conservative views on abortion.
Ryan’s abortion positions were already threatening to break out as a major issue in the campaign as Democrats seek to harness their advantage with women voters. Akin’s comments are likely to thrust a glaring spotlight onto Ryan’s views. (Hours after he made the comments, Akin said he “misspoke” amid a firestorm.)
Ryan and Akin largely agree when it comes to abortion rights. Both believe abortion should be illegal even in the case of rape and incest. Both were co-sponsors of H.R. 3, the 2011 bill that would have limited the federal abortion coverage exemption only to victims of “forcible rape” and women whose physical health was in danger from her pregnancy, closing a supposed loophole in health-of-the-mother exemptions conservatives have been crowing about for years.
After massive vocal protest from women’s rights advocates, the sponsors dropped the “forcible rape” language from the bill, giving up their quest to redefine rape in the federal code with little explanation.
The
RepublicanNincompoop Party.“First of all, from what I understand from doctors….’
*************************
To paraphrase Lewis Black, “What doctors? Where?”
“Misspoke” — Republican speak for “Damn, I told you what I really believe.”
Claire McCaskill won’t say Todd Akin must quit
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79879.html#ixzz245yGv67O
Elaine M.
I had to follow the link so as to read the comments you mentioned on the thread from August 19, 2012 at 9:03 pm.
It is no wonder these right wingers like their candidates so dumb.
I ain’t rape unless you penetrate.
Humpindog said so this morning. I read in a newspaper that Todd Akin is from some place called Saint Charles, MO.
I thought Claire McCaskill’s campaign might be dead in the water. Looks like it is afloat again, thanks to her opponent. He probably even believes what comes out of his mouth.
Todd Akin: Ban the morning-after pill “totally, for everyone”
The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says that Todd A___ is from a town called Wildwood. I figured he was some suburban guy but that place sounds like its out in the boonies. I wonder if he has any kids and what he tells them about humpin and all the things that lead up to penetration. Could you just imagine the scene where he discloses the facts of life to his sons and daughters. That would be a good show on Saturday Night Live this weekend. He could be the guest host. The Post Dispatch said that he is way ahead of the incumbent in the polling. It will be fitting when Boner swears him in. If he loses the election and Romney wins then they can appoint him to be the Secretary of Education.
Blouise
Three GOP Senate candidates–including Akin–in Missouri didn’t know that the minimum wage in their state is–$7.25. Some of these candidates are indeed dumb–or maybe ignorant.
The scary part of this is this guy is not an exception to his party, he is the rule. As Elaine detailed above, Paul Ryan co-sponsored a bill to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest! Very Taliban like.
Elaine,
Dumb (or stupid, if you will) … the info is there for the ignorant to learn … these candidates are incapable of learning thus … dumb. Dumb candidates make certain voters feel smart which is all illusion (or delusion, if you will).
In a scan of the news this morning, this guy has apparently sent the GOP into major damage control mode.
The Republican Party’s War on Women backfires big time.
McCaskill, who I wouldn’t support for dog-catcher, lucked out. She doesn’t deserve the break but life’s a b-word.
“Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.”
—————————————————-
because being forced to carry the pregnancy of a violent selfish self serving greedy disgusting pig is just.
Just retarded
rafflaw,
“As Elaine detailed above, Paul Ryan co-sponsored a bill to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest!”
And even in cases when a mother’s life may be in danger!
“Gene H.
1, August 20, 2012 at 11:22 am
In a scan of the news this morning, this guy has apparently sent the GOP into major damage control mode.”
“eniobob
1, August 20, 2012 at 9:08 am
The spinners and the spinerettes are going to be busy today trying to turn this lemon into lemonade.”
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blouise,
“Dumb (or stupid, if you will) … the info is there for the ignorant to learn … these candidates are incapable of learning thus … dumb. Dumb candidates make certain voters feel smart which is all illusion (or delusion, if you will).”
I believe that some of these candidates can’t be bothered to inform themselves. I think that some of them choose to be ignorant. I also think they don’t care what the minimum is in their state. They have decided that they are against the minimum wage…whatever it is.
You are right Elaine about the legislation.
You are also correct that these uber religious politicians usually do not care about the facts because their bosses have already given them their marching orders.
Alex Wagner on MSNBC her program is on Women in Congress,it’s on now.
Can anyone tell me how many kinds of rape there are?
So far, there are Republicans who have used the terms “forcible” rape and “legitimate” rape. Were they attempting to distinguish “real” rape from “maybe it wasn’t really rape” rape?
Maybe some of these fellas have in mind other types of sexual assault: “you asked for it” rape and “you know you wanted it” rape.
Good grief! What is wrong with these men?
Dave Catanese, Politico Reporter, Defends Todd Akin Rape Comments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/dave-catanese-politico-todd-akin-rape_n_1810222.html
Excerpt:
Politico reporter Dave Catanese took to Twitter to defend comments made by Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) about rape.
“Poor phrasing, but if you watch the intv @ToddAkin meant to convey that there’s less chance of getting pregnant if raped,” he said.
Akin told KTVI on Sunday that victims of “legimitate rape” don’t usually get pregnant because women’s bodies have “ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” He later said he “misspoke” but did not disavow the claims.
Catanese tweeted that Akin’s comments, while poorly phrased, were worth discussing.
“So perhaps some can agree that all rapes that are reported are not actually rapes? Or are we gonna really deny that for PC sake?” he said. “So looks like he meant to say — ‘If a woman was REALLY raped, it’s statistically less likely for her to get pregnant.’ What’s the science?”
Contrary to Akin’s claims, around 32,000 women get pregnant every year after being raped.
Rape Victim Reacts To Todd Akin’s Comment: Delivering ‘Baby Of A Rapist’ Is ‘Torture’
Posted: 08/20/2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/todd-akin-missouri_n_1811232.html
Excerpt:
Anita Law of Jacksonville, Fla., said that she was raped by an acquaintance when she was a 19-year-old student at the University of Maryland and that she got pregnant as a result of the incident. She was too traumatized to go through with the pregnancy, so she walked to a nearby abortion clinic, where she was heckled and verbally assaulted by protesters as she tried to get in the door.
“Rape is so isolating — it ruined my world for a long time,” Law, now 43, said in an interview with The Huffington Post. “If I had had to carry that rapist’s baby to term, quite honestly, I might have taken my life.”
Law said she couldn’t believe her eyes on Sunday when she read that Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri declare in an interview that pregnancy from “legitimate rape” is “really rare” because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
“First of all, what is legitimate rape?” she asked. “Whether it’s date rape, whether the woman was beaten to a pulp, whether it’s a 14 or 15-year old kid carrying her father’s child, it doesn’t matter. Having to deliver the baby of a rapist — that’s torture.”
Another rape survivor in Missouri was so incensed by Akin’s comment that she called into St. Louis television station KTVI to share her feelings. “It was like I had been slapped,” she told the anchor. “I heard that comment and I just began to shake. I was fit to be tied.”
legitimate rape v. illegitimate rape? wtf!!!
McCaskill doesn’t want him to step down b/c he’s the best opponent she could have. One that totally screwed himself (I hope) or was an illegitimate rape? or a legitimate rape?
Can’t wait to see what Jon Stewart does with this.
———————
clip re: minimum wage. They don’t know and they don’t care except that it’s high enough. Would love to see them live for a couple of months on minimum wage. If the minimum wage kept pace with CEO pay, it would be $23/hr. Some states have an even lower minimum wage, some having none. This means that retail employees, restaurant workers, trash workers, etc. have little to no protection.
Elaine,
“Can anyone tell me how many kinds of rape there are?”
After seconds of research I have concluded there are at least seven kinds of rape:
1) No means yes — she’s just being shy.
2) She should know that men just can’t be “friends.”
3) After spending hundreds of dollars on a date, and with the cost of gas today, what does she expect?
4) She wanted it — why else wear spandex and go jogging, alone?
5) She smiled at me.
6) All women secretly fantasize about being “taken.”
7) If she would just stay in the kitchen things like this wouldn’t happen.
gbk,
and they are all versions of “I need to get my power back and she’s going to give it to me.”
While I disagree with Rep. Akin’s statement, let’s be honest and acknowledge that not all claims of rape are “legitimate”. Need an example?
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/05/25/woman-admits-that-she-falsely-accused-convicted-high-school-student-of-rape-after-he-serves-his-time-in-jail-woman-keeps-1-5-million-award-as-rape-victim/
A misogynistic group of middle-aged, white men dedicated to the adoration of a unseen, divine being with dubious origins and whose main purpose is to return to a time in the past when their values held sway against a heretical progressive movement from the West: The Taliban? No, todays Republican Party.
Or the House either:
Mespo,
That was an amazing video clip. The look on the face of the Senator right after he stated that you don’t have to pass an IQ test to be a Senator is priceless! In my country, I would like to think that Senators have enough knowledge and intelligence to be able to understand when science is actually correct.
Good ol boys from ol Mizzou… Went in dumb, come out dumb too.. shufflin round Columbia in their alligator shoes.. We’re keepin the women down..
We’re Rednecks, Rednecks,, We dont know are arse from a hole in the ground….
mespo,
Thanks for that clip.
rafflaw,
The look on the Senator’s face was definitely priceless.
More from Religulous:
Reverse Greasing of the skids IMHO:
Democrats spent $1.5 mil to help Akin win GOP primary
August 20, 2012 | 10:52 am
http://washingtonexaminer.com/democrats-spent-1.5-mil-to-help-akin-win-gop-primary/article/2505373#.UDJ6o92PUqg
David Axelrod: Todd Akin’s Comments Are ‘Inconvenient’ For Romney-Ryan, ‘Not Inconsistent’
By Sam Stein
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/david-axelrod-todd-akin_n_1811693.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — The Obama campaign is, not surprisingly, unwilling to accept Mitt Romney’s condemnation of Rep. Todd Akin’s controversial remarks and move on.
Akin, a Missouri Republican who is running for Senate, said Sunday that women who are the victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant. In an interview with The Huffington Post on Monday, chief Obama strategist David Axelrod said the comments reflected the larger philosophy of the GOP presidential ticket.
He predicted that the public would find the remarks even more distasteful once it became widely known that Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), teamed up with Akin on strict anti-abortion measures.
“When you look at who Akin’s partner was on all the anti-choice legislation, it was Paul Ryan,” said Axelrod. “When you look at the legislation that would limit a women’s right to choose, even for victims of rape and incest, that is the Akin-Ryan position. And frankly, by endorsing personhood amendments … Romney has gone there too. This is the prevailing position of the Republican Party.”
“I think they find Todd Akin’s comment terribly inconvenient,” Axelrod said. “It is very inopportune. But they are certainly not inconsistent, when Ryan joined with him and tried to limit the definition of rape to forcible rape. What does that mean? They are trying to run away from what has been their own position and yet, while Akin’s proposition was particularly egregious and outrageous, on the underlining principle of whether you are going to limit a woman’s right to choose, and how rape victims are dealt with and how they would approach this issue, they are very much in line with him.”
Akin Bad: Paul Ryan’s ‘Forcible Rape’ Bill Co-Sponsor Drags Him Into Daylight
by Tommy Christopher
August 20th, 2012
http://www.mediaite.com/online/akin-bad-paul-ryans-forcible-rape-bill-co-sponsor-drags-him-into-daylight/
Excerpt:
As reprehensible as they are, current US Congressman and possible US Senator Rep. Todd Akin‘s (R-MO) remarks on the medical effects of “legitimate rape” are a gift to voters, who will now be exposed to the truth about vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who co-sponsored a bill that insisted on an abortion exception only in cases of “forcible rape.”
The remarks also shine a light on the Romney/Ryan ticket’s competing views on rape and reproductive freedom, issues that might otherwise have been overlooked.
In case you missed it, Akin told an interviewer that pregnancy resulting from rape is “really rare” because “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
The medical basis for Akin’s statement appears to be a recently-published study from The New England Journal of Todd Akin’s Ass, but the subtext is that not all rapes are created equal, an idea that was nearly codified into law by Akin and Rep. Paul Ryan, along with 216 other Republicans (and 10 Democrats!).
H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, originally contained language restricting the exception for federally-funded abortions to “an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest,” and offered no further clarification of the term. On its face, the law would have eliminated statutory rape (on the premise that, what? That ten year-old clearly was into it?), but also left open the possibility that rapes involving drugging, or even rapes that did not result in serious enough injuries to the victim, would fail to fit the definition. He held a gun to your head? Where’s the gun? Did you check to see if it was loaded?
Mitt Romney’s run from Todd Akin at odds with Paul Ryan
By JONATHAN ALLEN | 8/20/12
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79887.html
Paul Ryan’s rape reversal
Romney says he would not oppose abortion in instances of rape; but Paul Ryan’s record looks a lot like Todd Akin’s
By Alex Seitz-Wald
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/20/paul_ryans_rape_reversal/
This does bring up an unsolvable issue with regard to both sides of the abortion issue that the candidate here did a deplorable job of addressing.
The anti-abortion faction declares that life begins at conception. But following their own logic what is to be of the child to be born resulting from a rape or incest. Many in this faction make exceptions to allow the abortion of a child from these circumstances.
To me that is supremely hypocritical. When they present that all life is sacred from the moment of conception, it inferrs the innocence of the child and each child has the right to life. But when result of a rape or incest, it harks upon outdated thinking Akin to society scorning those born out of wedlock were unfit for society, and in this example those born to rape or incest are even unfit for life.
So as the result of abortion, despite being for or against, a life dies in the process. The debate is whether or not personhood is achieved as to whether this life can be expendable.
Mr Akin’s approach is an embarassment. But in looking through the fog, he does bring up the point that regardless of the all the contention in the issue and both sides certainly have their argument and truths, often it is ignored that the life inside the womb really has no vote in whether they should live or not.
Darren, do you remember being a Zygote or a blastocyst?
Of course not- so the result of abortion is not that a “life” dies. It is the potential for life being interrupted.
Much like eggs that get fertilized but do not get implanted in the uterus. this very thing happens all the time, perhaps even more that an actual implantation.
This is why the notion that “life” begins at conception is ridiculous- should women have to submit the products of menstruation each month for analysis to see if they discarded a fertilized egg?
Should these women be punished if they had a glass of wine or exercised if they had a failed implantation?
The potential for life is everywhere, and Nature is unbelievably fecund. It does not mean that all this potential for life must be nurtured to fruition! ridiculous.
blahblahblah…
———————————————
After God formed man in Genesis 2:7, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after taking his first breath.
In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
http://joeschwartz.net/life.htm
Again, to quote Ezekiel 37:5&6, “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
———————————-
“Thank goodness you can’t get pregnant from ‘legitimate rape’, because holding that aspirin between your knees can be pretty difficult during a prolonged sexual assault.” ~ Randi Rhodes
Darren:
Life, in some form, may begin at conception but not independent life or personhood. A 150 cell blastocyst is not a person in any meaningful sense, or even any sense at all. It’s a potential person like an acorn is a potential oak tree. This anti-abortion argument is theocracy dressed up as ethics. There is no scientific basis for affording civil rights to a non-viable fetus. We’ve known that for centuries and hence fetus cannot inherit, or vote, or do most anything a person can legally do.
Early churchmen struggled with the notion of abortion. Pope Innocent III believed life began at animation. The “quickening” he called it when the mother feels the child. Augustine and Aquinas also believed that a soul inhabits only an “animated” fetus or one that has human shape. Jerome said a fetus wasn’t human until the emergence of limbs.
If you want to read about Christianity’s struggle with the notion of abortion see here. it’s not a clear cut as they would have you believe:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_hist.htm
Darren,
“But in looking through the fog, he does bring up the point that regardless of the all the contention in the issue and both sides certainly have their argument and truths, often it is ignored that the life inside the womb really has no vote in whether they should live or not.”
*****
Men like Akin and Ryan are trying to pass legislation that would give the people with wombs no vote in what happens to them in certain situations. These men don’t seem to care if women die because of a problem pregnancy. They would give more rights to a zygote than to a woman. They cosponsored the Sanctity of Life bill. The sanctity of a fertilized egg seems to be more important to them than the sanctity of a pregnant woman’s life. That doesn’t seem right to me.
If Romney wins and schmuko doesnt, he will be made the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
So, Darren, what about a tubal pregnancy?
Does that blastocyst or Zygote have the inalienable RIGHT to endanger the mothers life?
Or would you rather the mother die trying to bring this “life” to term?
The most likely result if she even tries to do so.
Jack, Mizzou is a pretty good school that has both math and science in its curriculum. Akin didn’t attend Mizzou, below is his educational background from Wikipedia:
“Akin was born in New York City, the son of Nancy Perry (née Bigelow) and Rev. Paul Bigelow Akin.[1] He moved to St. Louis and attended John Burroughs School. After graduating, he attended the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts where he earned a degree in management engineering, and in 1984 he earned a Master of Divinity degree at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. During college he was member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.”
———-
Your comment regarding an appointment for Akin only looks snarky, I recall with horror that after Missouri voters defeated John Ashcroft’s bid for another Senate term by VOTING FOR A DEAD GUY (emphasis to indicate the poor regard we had for Ashcroft) that he was appointed Attorney General by G H W Bush. And G H W Bush is regarded as the good Bush President- how soon they forget…
Akin is also for making the morning after pill illegal.
So if you are raped, you must just sit it out & hope and pray that you do not get pregnant.
and if you do end up pregnant, he will force you to carry your rapists baby to term.
See how that works? Rapists get to choose which women they want to carry their child.
Todd Akin and Paul Ryan thinks that is just fine and dandy. They obviously think rapists have more rights than women.
People like Akin make be believe in retroactive birth control.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/48727898#48727898
Woosty’s still a Cat 1, August 20, 2012 at 9:09 am
Dredd
1, August 20, 2012 at 7:20 am
—————————————-
…that was excellent….
==========================================
Others are saying this dood is the norm in the GOP, even as one of their own for 28 years says they are crazy.
But I detect that there is a widespread crazy ongoing that is not limited to any one party, because the authorities just put a sane ex-Marine in the psycho ward because he does not believe the official 9/11 story.
When a girl says she was raped but actually never said no and gave no indication that she didn’t want to but after the act regrets it and believes he should have stopped, is that legitimate rape?
Akin’s photos on some of the other news shows makes him really look dorky. I suppose he is bald and flops that hair out over the bald spot. One of the commenters above said that he went to John Burroughs High School in Saint Louis. Years ago I knew a realy preppy snot that had gone there. It is one of those protestant, all boys, private prep schools– so the kids dont have the pedophile priests working them over. Wildwood, where he lives now is a rich suburb. So, he does not live out in the sticks. He sure looks like he does.
How bad is the Ryan-Akin anti-abortion bill?
By Greg Sargent
8/20/12
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/how-bad-is-the-ryan-akin-anti-abortion-bill/2012/08/20/c7e37e04-eafe-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_blog.html
Excerpt:
The national battle over Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape” has shed light on a “personhood” bill, co-sponsored by Akin and Paul Ryan, called the Sanctity of Life Act. Much of the chatter today has focused on whether Ryan opposes abortion in cases of rape. The Romney campaign confirmed today that Ryan does personally oppose it, while clarifying that a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose it.
But what about the other legal implications of the bill Ryan and Akin co-sponsored? In an interview just now, Dem Rep. Louise Slaughter, one of the leading pro-choice voices in Congress, raised two startling possibilities.
“One of the questions around this legislation is, Could a rapist who impregnated a victim sue that victim if she decided not to carry that baby and to have an abortion?” Slaughter said. “Another question: Could in vitro fertilization be outlawed?”
It’s unclear how this legislation would work. The bill affirms that from the moment of fertilization onward, “every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” It then says that Congress and the states have the “authority” to protect all human beings — again, defined as human life from fertilization onward — residing in their juristictions.
Slaughter’s suggestion is that this affirms the authority of Congress or the states to pass laws outlawing IVF, since that procedure requires the destruction of embryos, or that it could give legal weight to a rapist’s insistence that his victim not abort her baby — though again, it’s unclear how this would work.
“What it says is that a single cell can achieve all the protections the Constitution of the United States bestows on persons,” Slaughter said of the bill. “Scientifically the law is crazy.”
Jim, look, that is so rare as to be statistically negligible. False charges can be filed for almost any cooperative action, but that is not what we are talking about, are we?
How about a mentally diminished woman, or a child raped by a relative, or statutory rape? There are many rapes that are not physically forced but coherced by others.
Elaine M
All of this rhetoric is really about nothing. The SCOTUS has ruled and until an amendment is passed or the SCOTUS reverses itself, the issue of abortion is settled. As for moving the needle to an all out assault on those of us against abortion by making it legal all the time with no restrictions is not going to happen.
“First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare.”
I’ve found the mispeaking, what he meant to say is “first of all, when I understand doctors, it is really rare.”
Interview with Tim Russert on NBC News’ “Meet the Press”
December 16, 2007
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=77749
Excerpt:
RUSSERT: Do you believe life begins at conception?
ROMNEY: I do. I believe, I believe from a, from a, a political perspective that life begins at conception. I, I don’t, I don’t pretend to know, if you will, from a theological standpoint when life begins. But…
shano
Agreed! But, Akin made a bad comment without thinking first. I do not believe he used the appropriate words but it is sad when it happens that we crucify the individual. This is not civil discourse and I am tired of that language only being one-sided—-the Republicans always have to apologize while the Democrats get a free pass. Actually we should be willing to forgive
and move on As Christ has forgiven all of us.
“When a girl says she was raped but actually never said no and gave no indication that she didn’t want to but after the act regrets it and believes he should have stopped, is that legitimate rape?”
When you bring up as a hypothetical a vanishingly rare event is that a legitimate point?
Psalm 139:13–16.
For You formed my inward parts:
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
Jeremiah 1:4–5
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Psalm 51:5
This verse is frequently used to make the case for human life beginning at conception. It reads:
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
These are 3 reasons why we Christians can’t and won’t budge on our stance on abortion. For if we are willing to compromise our values and beliefs then how can anyone believe what we say for we would be like the wind.
“While I disagree with Rep. Akin’s statement, let’s be honest and acknowledge that not all claims of rape are “legitimate”.”
Sure, not every claim of rape is true. I don’t think that was what Akin was saying however. If you read or listen to his entire statement, based on his claim about how a woman’s body “shuts it down” in cases of “legitimate” rape he seems to be equating “legitimate” rape with forcible rape. Otherwise, his statement doesn’t make any sense if you include consensual statutory rape or rape of an incapacitated woman in his category of “legitimate” rape. The implication is that anything other than forcible rape, and not just rapes where the woman is making it up, is not really rape. The more violent the rape, the more it is “legitimate” rape and conversely, the less violent the rape, the less legitimate it is seems to be the message from Akin. That seems incredibly cavalier in attitude toward any rape victim where force or the threat of force was not involved.
Gyges,
Under properly framed and factual circumstances? Maybe. But as it is presented here you can argue that it is making the base rate fallacy or the conjunction fallacy, and possibly the fallacy of many questions. It’s certainly an appeal to emotion.
Jim,
“All of this rhetoric is really about nothing. The SCOTUS has ruled and until an amendment is passed or the SCOTUS reverses itself, the issue of abortion is settled. As for moving the needle to an all out assault on those of us against abortion by making it legal all the time with no restrictions is not going to happen.”
*****
Having a discussion about abortion and whether a zygote’s rights trump a pregnant’s woman’s right to life or her right to choose to have an abortion if impregnated by her rapist may seem to be “rhetoric” about “nothing”to you. I happen to disagree.
I understand the feelings of those who are anti-abortion. What I can’t abide is treating women as if they are second-class citizens, trying to pass legislation that would allow hospitals not to treat pregnant women who are experiencing a life-threatening condition, or forcing women to carry a pregnancy to term after they have been raped. Why do some people feel that a fertilized egg should have more rights than a pregnant woman? It sounds like misogyny to me.
The issue is whether or not personhood is involved.
Rather than jump to conclusions can anybody really articulate there was a point where there was a dead part of the process? You could say that a sperm is a living organism. I don’t see how this could be contested.
If you look for a definition as to what constitutes a living organism you would be hard pressed to articulate that a blastocyst is not living.
When an abortion is performed a living organism dies. Whether or not one considers it a person or not is up for the abortion debate. One could look at the blastocyst or the underdeveloped fetus as a parasite to be removed from the body, or as a baby. I am not making a position either way other than it is a living organism. And yes, an amoeba is a living organism.
Saving the mother from life threatening pregnancy is as any other life or death issue, one organism is killed so that the other may live. It really is a matter of what society values more or detests least.
From a legal standpoint there is the notion, named something to the effect of “Negligent Birth” where the child or her regent files a damage claim in that due to negligence on behalf of the doctor, the person was born to great suffering or disability. I suspect there could be considered a converse to that where an action is taken upon behalf of the child / fetus aborted that the mother denied that fetus the right to be born. Maybe this might be brought by a father who objected to the abortion consented to by the mother.
While I agree this would be a horrible legal affair especially for the mother, but given the society we live in, I suspect is possible.
The abortion issue is certainly one that has no fully ethical singular solution.
For my view on abortion, my opinion is that nobody should be forced to have one, that is all. But in reading the majority opinion of Roe v. Wade, I am in agreement for the reasons dictated therein. I don’t see how the state can argue a compelling need to become involved in regulating the non-viable fetus. But it is still my position it still involves killing a living organism.
Jim,
“These are 3 reasons why we Christians can’t and won’t budge on our stance on abortion. For if we are willing to compromise our values and beliefs then how can anyone believe what we say for we would be like the wind.”
Good thing the laws of the country are secular and don’t force anyone to have abortions then isn’t it? I mean, that way women who don’t believe what you do can have abortions, and women who do, don’t have to. It’s a win win
Gene,
“Under properly framed and factual circumstances? Maybe.”
Like the one I gave?
Darren,
Do you have a position on birth control pills, IUD’s, and the morning after pill?
Elaine M
How come many conservative women do not feel second class? Could it be that’s the phrase Democrats want to promote so the uneducated will believe it?
Gyges,
No. Jim’s example assumes both probabilities and conjunctive events all on the assumption that silence equates to consent when it may not depending upon the circumstances.
Jim,
Many people do not consider the christian bible to be a source of wisdom due to its many contradictions. You need to accept this and find other ways to buttress your argument.
A case in point: you bring up the Calvinistic perspective of preordination with your reference to Jeremiah 1:4–5. So I have to ask, if all is preordained, and your god is omnipotent then might your god not have anticipated each and every abortion since creation?
Jim,
Have you asked those “many” conservative women how they would feel if they were pregnant and their pregnancies threatened their lives and they were not allowed to make the decision to have an abortion in order to save their lives? Which uneducated people are you speaking of–uneducated Democrats…Republicans…Independents?
gbk
Understand this: As a teacher I tell my students their will be a test on Friday. Before the test I know who will pass and who will fail because I know the students. I still give the test to be fair. This is God. He knows everything but he still has let things play out.
Jim,
Then let other people’s lives play out.
Elaine M.
Who am I to interfere in a woman’s decision. She will have to live as will her doctor with that and stand before God one day for every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Perhaps Akin withdrew.
Too late: His father should have!
Jim,
Then you should find comfort in your belief that your god is, “letting things play out.” Is it not audacious of you disrupt your god’s plans?
gbk,
Now we know who Jim is–a minor god!
*****
Jim,
I was a teacher for many years. I always had high expectations for my students. Many times they surprised me with their efforts and accomplishments–even those who had learning/academic problems. They understood that I had faith in them. That gave many of them more confidence and hope that they could achieve. They tried harder.
If you KNOW which children are going to fail on the test why don’t you provide them with extra help or tutoring? Isn’t that what teachers are supposed to do? I didn’t let things “play out.” I helped my students.
should be:
Is it not audacious of you to disrupt your god’s plans?
Jim:
The scariest thing you’ve ever said is that you are a teacher. You have absolutely no idea if that poor woman or her doctor will stand before God. None. You don’t even know which God that will be if there is one. What you think you know is that you know. You are not merely telling others to be like you — you are commanding it by either fiat, guilt, or intimidation. That is the arrogance of Christians like you — and your ultimate undoing. Why not teach your students that “only the fool and the fanatic are certain.”
mespo727272,
“only the fool and the fanatic are certain.”
That pretty much wraps it up!!
Darren:
“When an abortion is performed a living organism dies. Whether or not one considers it a person or not is up for the abortion debate. One could look at the blastocyst or the underdeveloped fetus as a parasite to be removed from the body, or as a baby. I am not making a position either way other than it is a living organism. And yes, an amoeba is a living organism.”
**********************
Sure you are Darren. You are a sentient creature. Everything you have mentioned and every cell in our body is a living organism and they are capable of reproduction. Thus every time we scratch our nose we are committing an untold holocaust against living organisms of our own body. Oh, the horror!
mespo727272
August 20, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Jim:
The scariest thing you’ve ever said is that you are a teacher.
*****
Ditto that!
Elaine,
“Now we know who Jim is–a minor god!”
Maybe he’s a demigod?
mespo:
when you perform an abortion late term, you are definitely killing human life. Unquestionably. Actually you are killing human life at conception. Granted at that point it is only potential human life and you could make the case that a 34 week old fetus is potential life as well. But that is pretty hard to do seeing as how a 34 week old fetus could live outside the womb at that age.
Skin cells dont have a chance of naturally becoming a human organism. If left alone in a uterus they have no potential to become a human being even if they [skin cells] are inseminated with your wit and wisdom.
Be pro-abortion just dont call it non-potential human life.
What Mespo said!
Bron,
You might want to read my comment on an old thread concerning this.
http://jonathanturley.org/2011/04/07/idaho-passes-strict-anti-abortion-measure-after-sponsor-invokes-hand-of-god/#comment-219415
Elaine M.
No! I know my students and their study habits as well as those who do homework. I can’t change any of that only they can. That doesn’t mean I don’t give the test. I have already given tutoring.
Darren, No, an ‘organism’ does not die. these cells have NOT become organized into a living being. Most of the time in first trimester abortions the cells are not even starting to diferentiate, in the case of the morning after pill- not at all as would be the case with birth control or the RU- 486.
these are not organized cells. They are stem cells. And who is to say that this particular Zygote will carry to term anyway?
Your stance would ban all fertility clinics, you know. All the left over products of IV fertilization would no longer be turned back into basic carbon elements.
In fact, life is not lost, only transformed back into these elements.
Dust. Potato peels.
Jim,
I’ll ask again: is it not audacious of you to disrupt your god’s plans?
Everyone knows every sperm is sacred: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8
Elaine.
I don’t care either way if someone uses contraception. It’s their choice not mine.
Mark:
Again, whether it is skin cells, blastocysts, viruses, or fetuses it is still killing a living thing to end its existence. And it is whether society values these under the circumstances or not that makes it acceptable or outrageous or indifferent.
Some cultures value living things more than others. Call it what you will but that is the reality of human thought presently.
Whether any of us want to call a particular living organism worthwhile or not is not something I am going to get into. I am explaining the evidence here. How others interpret this is up to them.
“Again, whether it is skin cells, blastocysts, viruses, or fetuses it is still killing a living thing to end its existence. ”
Which assumes everyone uses the same definitions of life, thing, and existence. Which is a very bad assumption.
Darren,
The morning after pill and some otehr forms of birth control are considered to be abortifacients.
Jim,
I wrote;
“If you KNOW which children are going to fail on the test why don’t you provide them with extra help or tutoring? Isn’t that what teachers are supposed to do? I didn’t let things “play out.” I helped my students.”
You responded: “No!”
***
No what? Which question of mine were you answering with that one word?
Darren, you know you have trillions of cells that die every day. they end up in the toilet. this is true.
gbk:
I did not say I was against abortion although I am personally. I also said potential life. I recognize that many terrible things can go wrong between conception and birth.
I am certainly in no position to cast moral condemnation about what another person does in regard to this very hard subject. I personally think the government has no business one way or the other.
People who want to make abortion illegal dont seem to understand that a government which can outlaw abortion can also force abortions for the public good.
Akin might have mis-spoke….. It’s hard to talk when your tongue is jammed up the Pope’s Butt…….
Akin’s Spiritual Mentor: Women Occasionally Invite Rape, Victims Are ‘Hysterical’
By Zack Beauchamp on Aug 20, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/08/20/713571/akins-spiritual-mentor-women-occasionally-invite-rape-victims-are-hysterical/
Reverend D. James Kennedy (Left) and Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO).
Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) spiritual mentor Reverend D. James Kennedy harbored extreme and sometimes flatly misogynistic views about rape and abortion, according to a ThinkProgress review of Kennedy’s sermons on the topic. The Senate candidate, who set off a massive controversy by claiming this weekend that victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant, has deep ties to Reverend Kennedy, having cited some of his sermons as key intellectual influences and having been named in Kennedy’s book How Would Jesus Vote? as one of the Reverend’s “favorite statesman.”
Kennedy, who the Anti-Defamation League has termed a “Christian supremacist,” repeatedly railed against legalized abortion, calling it the “American Holocaust” and suggesting that it would lead inevitably to genocide in the United States. But Kennedy’s discussions of rape and abortion in particular betray extraordinarily disturbing views about rape victims:
1. Kennedy believed that rape victims who chose abortion are “hysterical.” In “Abortion: Myths and Realities,” Kennedy labels victims of rape who chose unsafe abortions when safer procedures are illegal “hysterical,” saying “We are told by some of the radical feminists that the women will become hysterical, that they will abort themselves with coat hanger.” Abortion rates are, in fact, higher in nations where the procedure is criminalized, and men describing women whose choices they disapprove of as “hysterical” has a storied sexist history.
2. Kennedy suggests rape victims can be responsible for being raped. In “Life: An Inalienable Right,” Kennedy expresses concern that rape victims who chose to get an abortion are occasionally responsible for their own rape, saying that “Even if they want to say the woman had some part in it—which in most cases they probably don’t—surely the baby did nothing wrong, so the only innocent party is killed and the rapist often goes free.” He doesn’t elaborate on how this might be true, but another Kennedy sermon says “the immodest woman is contributing to the lust of other people” by wearing revealing clothing.
3. Kennedy held that the Bible should set our laws about rape and abortion. Kennedy is very explicit on this point, saying “In the Bible, the child of rape was allowed to live and the rapist was put to death. Today, we find that the penalties against rape have become more and more lenient, whereas the child is now the subject of capital punishment. Justice has been totally destroyed and perverted in that the guilty are practically allowed to go free and the innocent are killed.” This fits with Kennedy’s general view that we should “rebuild America based on the Bible.”
4. Kennedy thought husbands should determine if their wives can have abortions. Though not specifically addressing rape, Kennedy approvingly cited a Roman prohibition on abortion motivated by the husbands should have control over women’s reproductive choice, saying “That newly created life is as much the husband’s as it is the wife’s. Historically, it is interesting to note that when the Roman Empire did away with laws that allowed abortion, it was done not because of the woman or the harm that abortions were doing to women (and indeed they do vastly more harm than most people are aware of), but because the husband was being defrauded of his progeny.” Interestingly, Akin has worried that criminalizing marital rape provides women “a legal weapon to beat up on the husband.”
Given that Akin’s rhetoric and policy views bear clear marks of Kennedy’s influence, it’s perhaps no surprise that Akin co-sponsored (with Paul Ryan) a bill that could, by limiting federal funding of abortion to cases of “forcible rape,” make rape survivors give birth to their rapist’s child.
Paul Ryan and Todd Akin Partnered On Radical ‘Personhood’ Bill Outlawing Abortion And Many Birth Control Pills
By Adam Peck and Ian Millhiser on Aug 20, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/20/712501/paul-ryan-and-todd-akin-partnered-on-radical-personhood-bill-outlawing-abortion-and-many-birth-control-pills/
Fox News Institutes Virtual Blackout Of Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comments
By Igor Volsky on Aug 20, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/08/20/715151/fox-news-institutes-virtual-blackout-of-todd-akins-legitimate-rape-comments/
Jim
1, August 20, 2012 at 5:00 pm
When a girl says she was raped but actually never said no and gave no indication that she didn’t want to but after the act regrets it and believes he should have stopped, is that legitimate rape?
=================================
gosh Jim, I would think there would be big flags, arrows and questions about whether she actually ever said YES….you know, prior to the blessed event…..
I know the attempt made me speechless….
Jim,
I’ll ask again: is it not audacious of you to disrupt your god’s plans?
Bron,
“I personally think the government has no business one way or the other.”
But zealots do? Now maybe you recognize the need of government, at least on this issue?
These are 3 reasons why we Christians can’t and won’t budge on our stance on abortion. For if we are willing to compromise our values and beliefs then how can anyone believe what we say for we would be like the wind.~Jim
——————————————————
Dear Jim, I channeled G*d and filled out the verse….he said oh yeah! to the wind part….
Psalm 139:13–16.
For You formed my inward parts:
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
And so I came into this world
to flesh out the army, to hold a gun
to blow away that which I crave to master
to ruin your Earth
to bloody your flowered fields
to kill as many as I am told to kill
because I know your only Sacred Space
Is the defiled womb
by hook by crook
by deceit
ain’t that neat
Thank You JESUS!!!!! Holy Hannah pass the basket!!!!!!!!
That I was born in sin gives me permission …..Amen
Jeremiah 1:4–5
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Go forth and forcibly multiply….but deny every deed…..
Psalm 51:5
This verse is frequently used to make the case for human life beginning at conception. It reads:
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me….(Dad wasn’t involved at all btw…..)
ps; I’m a Christian
No comment on such ridiculousness and a Christian would not change God’s word.
Jim,
I’ll ask again: is it not audacious of you to disrupt your god’s plans?
I’d really like to know.
gbk:
I am not against government at all. I just want limited government as constrained by our Constitution.
I dont think government has a place in the abortion debate, except to protect actual human’s rights.
I’ve reread the whole thread again and what comes to mind is a Sci-Fi story I read decades ago. I forget the name. The Earth in its galactic journey passes through the path of some unusual, directionally focused radiation from a pulse or some similar cosmic item. We move out of the beam and we immediately become more smart. The radiation impairs the brain. We move back into the beam and then become stupider. It accounts for the boom and bust in evolution and civilization.
Srsly, 40 years ago the ‘all cells are alive so abortion at any time is murder’ was a popular a argument. The ‘classic’ response was ‘then ban the treatment for cancer too.’ It was just that primitive and ignorant on a debate and knowledge level. It was the first tentative step in the right trying to recast a religious argument as a scientific debate. It was ridiculous then and is now. We are still, as a society, at square one. Square one because I don’t do math and can’t use negative numbers properly.
I am greatly disheartened that I will undoubtedly die before we move beyond the Stupid Ray.
______________
Obviously the problem with the House is that ignorant men rule- they apparently slept through their 5th grade ‘ personal hygiene’ class.
“Bryan Fischer: Todd Akin right about ‘real, genuine rape’”
“Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association on Monday insisted that Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) was right to claim women could not become pregnant from “legitimate rape.” …. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) told Raw Story that Akin’s point of view was “consistent” with that of other House Republicans, including vice presidential candidate Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI).”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/20/bryan-fischer-todd-akin-right-about-real-genuine-rape/
No comment on such ridiculousness and a Christian would not change God’s word.~Jim
—————————–
Oh puleeeeese!
Republicans do it all the time…..oh…..right…..nevermind.
(I was CHANNELing….not changing…. )
Isn’t it odd that so many Republican Christians interpret the ‘Sacred’ of God to be so surrounded by violence? Violence to get into the womb…violence once you get out from it…. and Democrats just get so pissed off by the absurdities that their arguments devolve into violent verbal abuses…somehow I don’t think anyone is doing much to preserve any sacredness, certainly not in the political arena….
Bron,
“I dont think government has a place in the abortion debate, except to protect actual human’s rights.”
And there’s the rub; especially given your prior statement of:
“Actually you are killing human life at conception.”
What is “actual human rights,” Bron?
Keep talking, Bron. It is very illuminating.
It might help, though, if you could seperate your disdain for government while you offer a solution on complex subjects such as this one.
Here’s something to consider: can corportations now have abortions?
Where’s Jim?
Calvin’s theology is a mind-warp, isn’t it, Jim?
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/08/semens-secret-ingredient.html?ref=hp
——————————————
Illegitimate rape scene;
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOFgFAcGHQc&w=560&h=315%5D
lottakatz,
I read the same sci-fi story, and coincidentally, I was just thinking about it a couple of days ago for some reason. I can’t remember the name of it either, but now we both will be trying to remember it for the next foreseeable future.
Currently the stupid beam only affects about half the population right now. It is the only thing I can think of to explain current polling figures.
gbk:
do you know the difference between an actual human and a potential human? You dont subordinate an actual to a potential.
You don’t subordinate an actual to a fictional either.
Bron,
Yeah, I do.
This thread exactly points to the need of arbitration in complex cultures.
This subject encompasses the tension between sexes and the propensity of zealotry in wanting to control cultural perspective to their advantage.
I thought you were, “quite cosmopolitan in [your] views,” and were a, “live and let live individual except when I am forced to do something which is against my personal belief.”
From: http://jonathanturley.org/2012/08/03/all-demand-no-supply-adam-smith-spotted-at-chick-fil-a-and-promptly-fired/#comment-400899
Should the free market determine whether a woman has a right to an abortion? How do you think a woman might feel when she is forced to do something which is against her personal beliefs?
OS, early senility on my part, I’ve reached the point that an old bit of data gets kicked out to make space for a new bit of info- I need an upgrade
_______
Woosty at 9:35, excellent observation.
This is the political environment the Republican party chose to build 40 years ago (the southern strategy) and have worked diligently to bring to fruition. It is racist at its core and fundamentalist in execution, classist in benefits. Its a wavefront of hatred, and ignorance that tsunami-like may just completely swamp America’s politics. Its masters hardly even bother to conceal themselves. 0% taxes for wealthy people living off investment income (Ryan’s 2010 plan, the real Ryan Plan) is pretty blatant. They believe this is their time. It’s a war.
Bron,
“do you know the difference between an actual human and a potential human?”
You clarify this distinction with every one of your posts.
Akin bailed on an interview with notorious softball player Piers Morgan tonight. Morgan’s reaction? Surprisingly hardball: “Congressman, you have an open invitation to join me in that chair whenever you feel up to it, because if you don’t keep your promise to be on the show, then you are what we would call in Britain a gutless little twerp.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/todd-akin-piers-morgan-interview_n_1814683.html
That there is SOME evidence that SOME women’s reproductive systems MAY reject sperm or even a embryo conceived under periods of high stress (like being forcibly raped), it is NOT definitive at all as it is impossible to obtain data under controlled circumstances.
What kind of sauce do you like on your SHOE, Rep. Akin? I suggest a heavy dose of tenderizer first.
Uh, exactly what is a “legitimate” rape? Is this some odd lawyerese use of the term? Did you perhaps mean a “real” rape rather than a “rape” that isn’t really a rape? Where she really didn’t want to have sex with the varmint instead of just pretending that she didn’t wanna?
LK:
“Its masters hardly even bother to conceal themselves. 0% taxes for wealthy people living off investment income (Ryan’s 2010 plan, the real Ryan Plan) is pretty blatant. They believe this is their time. It’s a war.”
***********************
Then I deem them the “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”
Republicans: Test Your Knowledge of Women!
Jessica Valenti on August 20, 2012
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169461/republicans-test-your-knowledge-women
Excerpt:
Republicans: Do your friends make fun of you for your shameful lack of awareness on women’s issues? Have to vote on a bill that will legislate uteruses but not quite sure you know what that word means? Well, look no further—this quiz will help hone your lady-legislating skills with expert knowledge from your peers. Remember to use a number-two pencil, and no looking at your neighbor’s paper.
1. What is rape?
a. A “forcible” assault. Minors, incest victims and date-rape victims need not apply.
b. A figment of women’s imagination.
c. “The violation of a chaste woman, against her will, by some party not her spouse.”
d. Something that happens to drunk sluts.
2. What do we know about pregnancy that occurs after a rape?
a. It’s a God-given gift. Enjoy!
b. No such thing. The vagina employs bio-bouncers that will “shut that whole thing down.”
c. Impossible, because “the juices don’t flow.”
d. Trick question. There’s no such thing as rape. Duh.
3. How does emergency contraception work?
a. Melts snowflake babies.
b. Turns women into wanton harlots. Proceed with caution.
c. As an abortifacient.
d. The cause of teen sex cults—distribute widely!
Hilarious “test” Elaine!
I love multiple choice, it takes all the pressure off of having to actually think.
Here are my answers:
Question 1: the answer is d, obviously.
Question 2: given my answer to (1) I have no choice but to answer d again.
Question 3: Jeez, like I didn’t read the book. The answer is b.
Where’s Jim?
Had he not heard of Calvin and is now scouring the web educating himself post hoc? The mysteries of faith leave me befuddled.
Mespo, that’s the danger you run when you aim for the lowest common denominator and draw your candidates from the same class. Still, Akin had a very, very good chance of winning before he opened his mouth. That’s why McCaskill doesn’t want him to drop out. She may not be able to win even with a second-choice Republican on the ticket against her.
The problem is, with the dissatisfaction on the left, a rabidly energized right, huge numbers of voters being disenfranchised, stay at homes/protest votes and machines that seem to make errors generally in the favor of Republicans, they could win nationally too. The number of votes cast in 2008 was extraordinary, It’s not the baseline number to expect in 2010. Even without the factors I listed the number of votes cast in general would have been smaller this year IMO. I hope I’m wrong but its a worry for me.
LottaKatz:
I still believe we (meaning reagular people) would be much better off if we did not elevate any politicians to the role of being the saviors of the world. Whether it be in response to what we individually consider to be the opposition or those who politically profess to support our beliefs.
Often times when one faction is in power that we disagree with, we believe that the answer is in another politician. While this might work in the short term or to remove some real despots, it has the effect of perpetuating the political class of any nation.
For what it’s worth, I believe in a more organic approach to issues. that is an approach where we strive to make the world better despite, or inspite of the politicians. Waiting for them to act in the best interests of society is rather passive and leaves us to be dependant and in some respects vulnerable.
We will be much better served to collectively aspire to provide ourselves with the best outcome based upon our own initiatives and advancements. We can do this be being better in our occupations, supporting social progress, and advancing medical and technoligical advancements. To me a stellar example of this is wikipedia. A shining realm of ordinary folks contributing to the general knowledge of everyone, without waiting for the gov’t to supply the information to us. Not perfect but surely better than a state run affair.
Why do I use the term organic? It is because I believe it is folly to assume the 500 or so politicians elected or appointed to our government can arrive at a better solution than collectively the 300 million who are the people of the United States. This sets itself up for single point of failure situations.
Imagine an organism where the brain dictates everything. I know this is an analogy but for time saving purposes I must use it. If the consciousness of the brain had to control every metabolic function the organism would probably fail. If the imune system controlled immunity, the heart circulation, and the liver filtration of blood, the brain does not have to manage everything, leaving it for higher order functions required of consciousness and would be more successful. Assuming that gov’t has the answer assumes the gov’t is omnipotent and omnipresent and is capable running the entire body. But it doesn’t work that way. But collectively each organ with the brain (for lack of better words) guides the organs that are responsible for their own area, it seems to work.
What my convoluted analogy tries to bring to light is if we individually worked hard to better that with which we are involved, perhaps with some guidance, and common goals for the improvement of the whole of humanity we would be much stronger as a people if we work for the common good, and not expect the so called brain or government to handle everything.
Just a fleeting thought.
Wake up: It’s not just Akin
By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
August 21, 2012
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/opinion/granderson-gop-rape-abortion/index.html
Excerpt:
(CNN) — They will say this is about one person.
It is not.
They will attempt to distance themselves from the controversy.
But they can’t.
They will even try to claim the whole conversation is a distraction from the “real issues.”
And yet they never shy away from using this same conversation to fire up their base, or hurl attack ads or raise funds.
The truth is the “legitimate rape” comment made by U.S. Rep. Todd Akin — as in pregnancy from “legitimate rape” is rare — is not a GOP anomaly, but rather another disturbing glimpse into the viewpoint too many social conservatives have about women’s health and reproductive rights. And if abortion is not among the “real issues,” why is the GOP platform committee considering adding a ban, with no mention of exceptions, to this year’s to-do list?
Last March, in a discussion in the Kansas House about whether women purchase separate abortion-only policies, Republican state Rep. Pete DeGraaf suggested women should plan ahead for rape the way he keeps a spare tire. A few weeks later, Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner, a Republican, said some women might fake being raped in order to get free abortions.
Former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum suggested doctors who perform an abortion on a woman who becomes pregnant from an attack should be thrown in jail and this year suggested rape victims who become pregnant from an attack should be forced to keep the baby and “make the best out of a bad situation.”
More than 200 Republican members of Congress joined him in co-sponsoring House Resolution 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, when it contained language restricting the exception for federally funded abortions to “an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest.”
Forcible rape.
That’s not too far from “legitimate rape”
So vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan can try to backpedal away from Akin as fast as he can, but his name is still on the record in support of that bill, with that language. He can say he’s in line with Mitt Romney and would not ban abortions in the case of rape, but it’s his name attached to House Resolution 212: Sanctity of Human Life Act, which would have done just that.
No wonder Romney chose Ryan as his running mate; he admires the speed with which the congressman from Wisconsin flip-flops.
Pathological Hypocrisy: Todd Akin, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan
Oh please PLEASE forgive me!
For what? Showing your innate stupidity or your innate misogyny or revealing just how theocratic, intellectually retrograde and scientifically ignorant the GOP and their candidates have become? Or forgive you getting called on it?
It’s a funny thing about about what one says “accidentally”. It usually is simply indicative of how they really feel without a filter. It’s also a funny thing about first impressions. You don’t get to make them twice. Too little, too late. Welcome to the national spotlight!
Gene,
OOOPS! Akin is only sorry for the words he used–not for what he holds in his heart.
I hope this story calls attention to Paul Ryan’s far-right positions on abortion, contraception, the sanctity of a pregnant woman’s life. He did, after all, cosponsor a number of pieces of anti-woman legislation with Todd Akin–including the “Let Women Die” bill.
Todd Akin’s comment brings ‘war on women’ back to prominence
By Eugene Robinson
8/20/12
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-todd-akin-comment-brings-war-on-women-back-to-prominence/2012/08/20/c4570fae-eafd-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_story.html
Excerpt:
At least until Election Day, Republicans were supposed to pretend that their party’s alleged “war on women” was nothing but a paranoid fantasy stoked by desperate Democrats. Obviously, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) didn’t get the memo.
Akin, campaigning to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in November, was trying to explain his stance against abortion Sunday when he committed what cannot be dismissed as a mere gaffe. It was an abomination that could only stem from benighted ignorance — and it brings the whole “war on women” thing back into scary focus.
If you think I’m exaggerating, let me quote Akin in full. He was explaining why he opposes abortion even in cases of rape — and how pregnancy as a result of rape, in any event, isn’t something that should overly concern us:
“It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. 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. You know, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”
Whoa.
Let’s begin with the ignorant and offensive distinction Akin tries to draw between “legitimate rape” and some other kind of rape. He did not elaborate, but I’m pretty sure I know what he means.
He’s obviously talking about what Republicans call “forcible rape.” Last year, Akin co-sponsored a bill in the House that would have narrowed the exception that allows Medicaid funds to pay for abortions for women who are raped. The proposed measure would have permitted the use of funds only to end pregnancies resulting from “forcible rape.” Paul Ryan, now Mitt Romney’s running mate, was another co-sponsor of the measure, which ultimately failed.
The statutory rape of a child by an adult would not fit the definition the House Republicans tried to impose; nor would the rape of a woman who was drugged, say, or who had limited mental capacity. Never mind the fact that, as far as criminal law is concerned, rape is rape. Never mind the fact that all rape, by its very nature, is “forcible.”
Akin’s assertion about “legitimate” rape is really nothing but an attempt to blame the victim. It stems from the view that the only true victim is a woman who is raped while violently resisting a ski-masked assailant who came in through the bedroom window. Anything short of that, she must have been asking for it.
Hello Toooodddd. You are still ahead in the polls in Mizzoura today. Dumb and Dumber just doesnt offend in Mizzoura.
Todd Akin: It’s Not a War on Women, It’s a War on Critical Thinking and Democracy
Soraya Chemaly
8/20/12
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/todd-akin-rape_b_1810928.html
Excerpt:
In case you’ve been deep-sea diving in the Mariana Trench, yet another Republican Congressman unwittingly revealed his party’s contempt for and distrust of women. And he did it by illustrating how the “war on women” is part of a larger issue. What Todd Akin said and believes doesn’t just play into a media-catchy, election year “war on women” narrative. It’s part of a reactionary, fundamentalist backlash to modernity. It’s a war on science. It’s a war on facts. It’s a war on critical thinking. But, really, consider it a war on democracy. Statements like Akin’s reflect the degree to which some men, steeped in all sorts of dangerous denialism, will go to protect their power and how they undermine equality and democracy to do it. Mitt Romney’s smart, he gets how Akin made this obvious, which is why he’s distancing himself so fast and furiously from this incident. But, Romney deep down inside agrees with the ideas that reside under the surface of such an obvious mistake. That’s why he will not renounce his rights-stripping-for-women-personhood-for-fetuses happy running mate Paul Ryan, who shares the ideas expressed by Akin, even if he expresses himself less offensively.
When asked about exceptions for abortions of pregnancies resulting from rape Missouri Representative Todd Akin of the Primacy of the Father Cult (formerly known as the GOP) had this to say:
” First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. 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.”
The amount that this man doesn’t understand is staggering. He shouldn’t even try putting the words “doctors” and “understand” in the same sentence. It just confuses him. But, the problem is, he’s not an exception.
Although the six term Congressman, who is running against Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in the November 6 election, won’t apologize, he has graciously come forward to join a long line of rape apologists who “misspoke.” He did not “misspeak.” Misspeaking is defined as “Express oneself imperfectly or inaccurately.” He was very clear: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
He wittingly regurgitated common misogynistic lies about women, their bodies, rape, pregnancy and abortion. Like Chloe Angel, at Feministing who wrote a thank you note to Akin earlier today, I am loathe to engage in uncivil discourse. I, too, believe that people who disagree should be able to do so with respect and without resorting to personal assault. However, these lies are so blatant and result in so much harm that they have to be named for what they are and challenged loudly and repeatedly and persistently.
His statements reveal several ideas about women, who bear the immediate and obvious brunt of this type of assault on reason:
1.That women lie about their rapes — those would be, I assume, “illegitimate rapes.” Either that, or he implied like other conservative Republican legislators, that women don’t actually understand when they have been raped. Or better yet, that they are sluts and somehow “want it.” OR, not to be ignored, that women who are raped by their husbands aren’t “really” raped. OR… yes… there is another one… that women will claim they’ve been raped to gain the upper hand in divorce. These ideas are really important to Akin and others, like Paul Ryan, both of whom co-sponsored a bill to change the word “rape” to “forcible rape” in legislation about federal funding to abortion.
2.That even if women do get raped their bodies somehow “take care of it.” Akin’s comments reveal the shocking level of scientific illiteracy and denialism embraced by Republican legislators when they deal with “women’s issues.” Even if some benighted predatory rapist repeated “I have legitimately raped you” three times while waving their weaponized dicks in the air, women do not emit some mystical, magical hormone “to shut that whole thing down.” Is it too much to ask that people suggesting, making and enforcing our laws know how to spell “biology”?
3.That women who are raped don’t get pregnant much so we shouldn’t worry our pretty heads about maybe getting pregnant and needing an abortion. It turns out that some women’s bodies don’t take care of it. The Washington Post cited a study that revealed that at least 5 percent of rape victims end up pregnant. Mr. Akin, who has explained that he is empathetic to their plights, might want to personally explain to one of the 32,000 women forced to be pregnant against their will that it is “rare.”
Akin’s “gaff” is not harmless. It is not just “out of touch.” It’s DANGEROUS AND CAUSES PAIN and OPPRESSION. And, it’s not a “November” issue. It’s a “just world” issue. It’s a “think for yourself” issue. These people aren’t pro-life. They’re pro-pain. Pain central to redemption.
gbk:
“Should the free market determine whether a woman has a right to an abortion? How do you think a woman might feel when she is forced to do something which is against her personal beliefs?”
what does that mean? I think you are really confused. Freedom means both political and economic freedom.
GOP Platform To Call For Constitutional Ban On Abortion: Report
Posted: 08/21/2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/gop-platform-abortion_n_1815021.html
Excerpt:
Draft language for the 2012 Republican Party platform includes support for a constitutional ban on abortion without specifying exclusions in the cases of rape or incest, according to CNN.
The news comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-Mo.) suggestion that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant. The GOP Senate candidate running against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has faced calls to abandon his campaign from both parties despite attempting to walk back his remarks.
Details on the party’s position also come with the Republican National Convention just one week away.
“Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” the GOP platform states, according to CNN. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
Legitimate Rape: The Ryan-Akin Connection
Lotta and OS,
That sounds an awful lot like Brainwave by Poul Anderson, but I don’t think the earth goes back into the field, instead humanity as a whole decides to go through the universe doing good stuff, except for a small portion who elect to have their brain surgically restored to it’s original level of functioning.
Rep. Todd Akin’s Rape Remark At Odds With Science Of Pregnancy
By: Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Posted: 08/20/2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/akin-rape-remark-science-pregnancy_n_1811642.html
Excerpt:
When a viable sperm penetrates a viable egg inside a woman’s reproductive tract, the result is a fertilized egg that can then implant in the uterus. That fact of life is consistent regardless of how that sperm and egg met up, including whether or not the sperm was ejaculated during rape.
That may be news to Rep. Todd Akin from Missouri who told a local television station, in explaining his stance that abortion should not be allowed even in the case of rape: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
“Physiologically, if the sperm is in the vagina, a pregnancy can occur, regardless of the circumstances of how that sperm got there,” said Dr. Melisa Holmes, an ob-gyn and founder of Girlology, an organization that promotes healthy sexuality and communication in families.
And though the anti-abortion Republican says he “misspoke,” Holmes says that Akin’s remark also suggests that some rapes are not “legitimate,” and this continues a harmful misconception about violence against women.
“A rape is a rape, and a woman has the same physical and emotional consequences whether she’s raped by a stranger in a dark alley or someone she’s known for five years,” Holmes told LiveScience. “That’s one of those misperceptions that gets perpetuated and unfortunately affects women in a bad way — ‘Were you really raped, or were you at fault for part of it?’”
Perhaps Akin is correct in thinking it’s not the easiest of tasks to get pregnant; that’s why men don’t ejaculate just one sperm and instead release nearly 100 million sperm. (Men who have fewer than 20 million sperm per milliliter of semen may have difficulty conceiving, according to a WebMD article.) That’s because few sperm survive the grueling journey from the vagina to the fallopian tubes where they can meet up with an egg. Even for those that make it, only the healthiest will penetrate, and fertilize, the egg. [11 Odd Facts About the Pregnant Body]
Still, of the 6.7 million pregnancies in the United States every year, about half are unintended, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
The chance of getting pregnant from one event of unprotected sexual intercourse is 5 percent on average, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
And according to research by Holmes and her colleagues published in 1996 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, that same rate applies to rape victims, though it’s tricky to compare these different populations.
Todd Akin: The man who said too much
The Republican Party turned on Todd Akin because he made plain their creeping extremism and political strategy
By Sally Kohn
8/21/12
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/21/todd_akin_the_man_who_knew_too_much/
Excerpt:
When Missouri’s Republican candidate for the Senate said that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy, not only was Todd Akin echoing the extreme anti-abortion positions held by many in his party, he was exemplifying the creeping extremism within the Republican Party on women’s issues and far more. In the new, extremist Republican Party, Akin is not an aberration. He is merely the latest canary in a coalmine of crazy.
Along with Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Akin was an original co-sponsor of the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” — which, originally, narrowed the federal definition of rape to restrict the ability of women and girls to use Medicaid dollars and tax-exempt health spending accounts to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape. Akin has since said he “misspoke” in his “legitimate rape” remarks, but the legislation he and Paul Ryan sponsored similarly re-labeled rape as “forcible rape” — creepily suggesting there are other, more acceptable versions. What’s more creepy? These are not fringe opinions expressed by powerless lunatics at teeny right-wing organizations. These are the opinions of over 200 Republican members of Congress, one of whom is the party’s candidate for the United States Senate in Missouri and one of whom is the party’s candidate for Vice President.
Yes, the Republican establishment is condemning Akin’s remarks and distancing itself from his candidacy. But let’s be clear: Akin is only guilty of saying out loud what many Republican leaders think and legislate on the basis of. Talking Points Memo has detailed other Republican leaders throughout the years who have questioned that rape can lead to pregnancy and prominent Republican leaders like Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal oppose abortions under all circumstances, including rape. Both will be speaking at the Republican National Convention next week. Moreover, the many Republicans pushing back against Akin seem more concerned with preserving the dignity of the Republican Party than protecting the dignity and rights of women who have been raped.
Post-Akin, I propose a Sir Bedevere litmus test for all GOP candidates; just demonstrate a basic understanding and acceptance of general post-Enlightenment scientific knowledge.
“This new learning amazes me Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep’s bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.”
Going forward, we really need to do a better job of weeding out candidates inclined to go on television and spew medievalism all over themselves and the rest of the party.
http://senatorjohnblutarsky.blogspot.com/2012/08/post-akin-lets-have-sir-bedevere-litmus.html
Akin vowing to fight on in God’s war on the godless:
“I want to make things absolutely clear,” [Akin} told Huckabee. “And that is, we’re going to continue with this race for the U.S. Senate. We’ve given it a lot of thought, and the first thing we thought we had to do — we had some offended some people, we tried to respond to that and let people know that we didn’t mean anybody or to take rape in any way less than very, very seriously.”
“But following that, I’ve had a chance now to run through a primary and the [Republican] Party people said when you win the primary, we’ll be with you. Well, they were with us and then I said one word in one sentence in one day and everything changed.”
Akin added that the “defense of the unborn” was as important to talk about as “the Obama-McCaskill-induced crisis of jobs and the economy.”
“It’s also appropriate to recognize a creator God, whose blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the very source of American freedom,” the Republican congressman asserted. “And that part of the message, I feel, is missing. And I think that’s something that we need to encourage people and to let people remember in their hearts what it is that makes America such a great nation. And life is very much a part of that whole thing.”
Another crusader on a suicide mission — either his or ours.
mespo,
It may not be a suicide mission for Akin. The last I heard is that he is still ahead of McCaskill in the polls…by a slim margin.
Lol: the female anatomy according to Todd Akin
http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/328/757/original.jpg
shano,
Thanks for that!
I’m a little surprised by all the calls from conservatives for him to drop out given the last poll we’ve seen shows no difference in voting. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to distance themselves from him regardless of whether you want him to drop out or not. And, he may not have a lot of true friends among the country club/corporate conservatives that I think have the real power.
Gyges: “That sounds an awful lot like Brainwave by Poul Anderson,”
YES! !!!!!! Thank you, I’m going to re-read that book. It was among the first Sci-Fi I read back in the day when you could order books from Ballentine (?) at .25 and .35 @ and they would send you a box of them via the mail- I LOVED those boxes hitting the porch. Wow, good times for a 10 year old in the late 50′s.
Yes, I had the plot wrong in how it played out; now I’m going to have to find another old Sci-Fi plot to explain, as mental short-hand, what’s wrong with the world, LOL.
ThankYou/ThankYou/ThankYou
Yes, thank you, Gyges. That question has been eating a hole in my brain since it was posed. I thought the title was “Brainwave” but I was totally drawing a blank on the author. I was wanting to think it was Theodore Sturgeon, but I went back to banging my head on my desk after checking his bibliography. So I thank you and so does my desk.
shano,
Hilarious Akin diagram!
Darren,
What are you, some kind of hippie collectivist? 
Thanks for the response. The problem I see is that within the spheres of influence you mention I think most people do attempt to attain some level of control and ‘excellence’, it’s in our immediate, best interest to do so. The big picture though is left to the politicians because that’s the system we have for the big picture items, state and national policy.
I agree that politicians aren’t saviours, it’s more a question of which devil you can sup with without losing your sole entirely because they all will take their cut, their bit of it.
shano,
What raff said. lol@sin button
While we are on the subject of sci-fi, Harry Harrison died last week in Ireland. His book, “Make Room! Make Room!” was the basis for “Soylent Green.”
He was best known for “Bill: the Galactic Hero.”
OS,
If I was going to pick one of Harry’s most beloved characters? Bill isn’t bad, but I’d have to go with “Slippery Jim” James Bolivar DiGriz a.k.a. the Stainless Steel Rat. A con man, thief and general miscreant, he was Han Solo far better and long before Han Solo.
Gene, Harry Harrison created some of the most unlikely characters ever to grace the pages of a novel. The weird thing is, we all know versions of them in real life.
Shano, thank you! WOW, I sent this everywhere! Brilliant!
Here is an article by columnist Kevin Horrigan in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch:Now that the bigfeet in the national political media have discovered Todd Akin, longtime Akinmaniacs are bereft.
For nearly a quarter of a century, we had him mostly to ourselves. He was that little barbecue joint that nobody else had discovered. He was a secret fishing hole we didn’t have to share. We never knew what he would say next, but whatever it was, we knew that there was a good chance it would be ridiculous.
There was never anything as outrageous as the magical women-don’t-often-get pregnant during “legitimate rape” claim that now has him in hot water. But if he started talking about Sunday blue laws or the evils of sex education or the dangers of the state licenses for day-care centers or any of the other social issues that came before the Missouri Legislature in the 1990s, Todd would safely go off the deep end and only the Akinmaniacs would notice.
He was kept pretty well bottled-up during his 12 years in the Missouri House. In those days, Democrats still controlled the House and moderation wasn’t yet a sin within the GOP. Todd’s views were so extreme that most mainstream Republicans rolled their eyes when he got up to talk.
He didn’t care. He was a man on a mission.
Todd had come to politics after working briefly for IBM and then for Laclede Steel, founded by his great-grandfather in 1911. In 1984, he’d attended divinity school, emerging with the idea that God had a special plan for the United States and that he was supposed to be part of it.
In 2000, when Republican Jim Talent decided to run for governor, people giggled when Akin filed for Talent’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Four other Republicans wanted it, none of them wacky.
Then it rained. Some of Todd’s supporters saw the hand of God at work.
More than three-quarters of an inch of rain fell on primary day, Aug. 8, 2000. Turnout was 17 percent; only 57,621 people voted in the GOP congressional primary. Akin got 26 percent of the vote, beating former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary, the runner-up, by 56 votes.
Akin knew something that none of the other candidates had yet figured out. West St. Louis County and St. Charles County had become chock-a-block with evangelical churches, many of whose congregants were home-schoolers. Todd and Lulli Akin home-schooled their six kids. Lulli Akin was a home-school activist and organizer. Home-schoolers had a network. Home-schoolers were not afraid of a little rain.
The 2nd District was — and still is — solidly Republican, so Todd won the general election by 14 points over Democratic state Sen. Ted House of St. Charles. Off he went to Washington. He brought home earmarks. He voted to raise the debt ceiling. He voted for off-budget wars. He voted to expand Medicare to include prescription drugs.
Todd’s big issue was the Pledge of Allegiance. The only bill he ever passed was the Protect the Pledge Act, which in its various incarnations would have (a) made darned sure nobody ever took the phrase “under God” out of it and (b) forbade any court from mucking around with the pledge. The House eventually passed it. The Senate didn’t.
Akin did diligent work on the Armed Services Committee, where seniority eventually brought him chairmanship of a Navy subcommittee. Todd was an Army veteran, but he liked the Navy. Three of his sons had attended the Naval Academy — home schooling worked! — and become Marine officers. And because all Missouri politicians pledge allegiance to Boeing, he especially liked aircraft carriers because St. Louis-built F/A-18 Super Hornets fly off their decks.
It was on social issues that Todd really shined. He voted against the school lunch program. He voted against the school breakfast program. He called the morning-after pill a “form of abortion.” He voted against funding autism research (evil vaccines!). He voted against the minimum wage. He called student loans “a stage-three cancer of socialism.” He questioned the need for the Voting Rights Act. He said “the heart of liberalism is really a hatred for God.”
From time to time, somebody in the national press would notice him, but the voters in the 2nd District returned him to office time and again. Meanwhile, the rest of the Republican Party was moving his way on social issues and Akin was moving their way on spending issues. So when he announced he would run for the Senate, nobody blinked an eye.
God help us, Todd Akin had become the norm.
The secret spilled Sunday, when KTVI-Channel 2 aired the interview during which he’d unburdened himself to the estimable C.D. Jaco on the subject of rape and pregnancy. Jaco, a confirmed Akinmaniac, didn’t press him on the issue, admitting that after years of interviewing Akin, he might have been “inoculated to odd things that might have been said.”
But Democrats pounced, followed by nervous Republicans. The U.S. Senate is a lot bigger deal than the Missouri House. Now every pundit in America has discovered our little barbecue joint. Rats.
-end
Well, do any of you remember Roseann, Roseann O’Dana on Saturday Night Live, going back about 25 years: “Helloooo Todd!”
The doctor who told Akin about magic teflon vagina juice was a Romney surrogate during the 2007 Romney campaign.
Ryan co-sponsored bills that have been made a plank in the official 2012 platform: no women’s choice even in cases of rape or incest.
“YES! !!!!!! Thank you,”
No problem, it’s in this two volume anthology that my Dad had that somehow got mixed in with my books when I moved out years ago (unfortunately, his omnibus version of “Cities in Flight” didn’t suffer the same fate, it took me years to find a copy). It’s one of the best anthologies I’ve come across (if you’re looking for a good recent one, both Vandermeers put out great anthologies, but Ann’s are phenomenal). Also in there are: “The Stars My Destination,” The Gunshops of Isher,” “Waldo,” “The Man who Sold the Moon,” “The [Widget], the [Wadget] and [Boff],” and a several other equally good ones that I’m forgetting.
has anyone mentioned that God is apparently a libertarian?
“10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day. ””
Bron,
Actually, God was being a Theocrat. The King was going to replace rule by the priests.
Gyges:
Sounds like God was giving a better deal plus He throws in eternal life as a bonus.
Bron,
Not really, The priests were corrupt, and at the time eternal life was a special treat. Most people just died and that was the end.
Plus, look what he did to Job on a dare.
Gyges:
Job made out all right in the end. And it just goes to show that only Satan is after your money.
Legitimate Rape by the Renegade Raging Grannies (warning: NSFW and do not try to watch with your mouth full)
OH MY GOD!!!! That is the funniest thing I have seen in AGES!!!!! hahahaha….
I am so glad I had swallowed my tea by the end of this video…. It would have ruined my computer….
can;t find the post i anted but Romney used to be prochoice: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/23/1123430/-How-the-newly-pro-life-Romney-betrayed-a-dear-close-family-relative
“I have my own beliefs, and those beliefs are very dear to me. One of them is that I do not impose my beliefs on other people. Many, many years ago, I had a dear, close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion. It is since that time that my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter. And you will not see me wavering on that.”