Posted on 08/20/2012 10:10:15 AM PDT by Bratch
Ugh.
Over the weekend, GOP Rep. Todd Akin — the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri — said some really, really stupid things. (Twitchy has comprehensive coverage. Click here and keep scrolling.)
There’s no sugar-coating or whitewashing this. It wasn’t a “gaffe.” It was ignorant, garbled nonsense. Asked about his views on abortion in the case of rape, he claimed that “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Akin’s opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (who is currently 11 points down in the polls), moved in quickly to capitalize on the comments by claiming that Akin was blaming the victims of rape. In the video clip above, however, you’ll note at the end that Akin makes clear that the rapists should be punished, not the victims.
It’s about the only clear, sensible thing he said.
The “legitimate rape” phrase may have been a short-hand way, a la Whoopi Goldberg, of distinguishing between forcible rape and other types of rape or between real and phony claims of rape. Whatever he meant, he made a mess of it.
The cringe-worthiest part of his statement is this: “…the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
I don’t know what kind of biology classes Akin took, but rape-related pregnancies occur with significant frequency. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
And here is something the feminists who are making great hay of Akin’s remarks won’t tell you: There is most likely significant undercounting of those rape-related pregnancy figures, given what we know about Planned Parenthood’s cover up of child rape and child sexual abuse and what we know from the invaluable investigative work of Lila Grace Rose and Live Action into Planned Parenthood’s advice to young clients to hide statutory rape cases.
I understand the outrage many of my friends and fellow conservatives feel about the double standards the Right faces when it comes to media/political treatment of other politicians’ stupidity (looking at you, Bozo the VP). But the question Akin faced wasn’t some obscure, gotcha question. It was basic abortion politics 101. His statement about the remarks issued yesterday doesn’t even acknowledge the worst part of his botched answer.
GOP candidates in critical races that could swing the balance of the U.S. Senate ought to be ready for prime time. Period.
The Left, unsurprisingly, is now trying to hang Paul Ryan for Akin’s idiocy. Pro-abortion groups are already fund-raising off of it and every last celebrity on the planet is tweeting about it.
The Senate race in Missouri is still winnable. Big-spending, Obamacare cheerleader Sen. McCaskill has been in peril for months before the GOP nominee was decided.
Remember:
No matter who wins the Missouri Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate on Aug. 7, Democrat Claire McCaskill is running from behind.
McCaskill, the first-term incumbent Democratic senator, trails all three of her likely Republican challengers, according to a new Post-Dispatch/News 4 poll. She would lose to GOP frontrunner John Brunner by 11 percentage points if they were matched up today, the poll found. She would fall to Sarah Steelman or Todd Akin as well, though by smaller margins.
Further, her “unfavorable” rating is higher than her “favorable,” and some of her worst numbers are among all-important independent voters.
The poll of 625 registered Missouri voters suggests a key source of McCaskill’s problems is her support of President Barack Obama. The Democratic president — who almost won Missouri in 2008, and once considered the state a 2012 tossup — now has a 51 percent negative rating here and a 9-point deficit against Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to the poll.
“A lot of people are going to hold her accountable for her close ties to the president,” said pollster J. Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, which conducted the poll.
On issues unpopular with Missourians, such as the Affordable Care Act and stimulus spending, ‘she’s sort of joined at the hip with him,” said Coker.
That, paired with a Missouri electorate that is moving rightward, makes her path to re-election a narrow one, he said. “She’s swimming upstream, and the current’s getting stronger.”
The question for Republicans in Missouri is whether sticking by self-inflicted-wounded Akin is more important than securing a U.S. Senate majority.
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.. a longstanding GoP tradition rears its ugly head .. or just so much kabibble over words.. which according to the DEms and complicit media, doesn’t really matter when they say stupid things.
Get rid of Akin and put the Tea Party guy who lost the primary in.
Akin is just the sort of target we don’t need to give to the Dems.
Cut the guy loose.
I still have no doubt the GOP will win back the Senate but things like this doesn't help. The Rats are almost guaranteed to overplay their hand on this one.
Yeah - cause Obama’s sock puppet McCaskill has never said anything stupid or offensive.
Well,at least he’s not a witch!
Does the Party have any ability to remove the winner of the primary if he does not resign?
How could he not have had a clear, rehearsed answer for this question?
He’s an idiot.
“Akin’s opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill “
Just a coincidence, I assure you.
Can folks please call and urge him to drop out?
I called the Republican Senatorial committee, the RNC, the MO GOP Party, Akins DC office (the local offices aren’t answering or taking messages). I also call the two co-chairs of the MO Republican Committee (different from the party and the ones who would actually chose a replacement).
This has the potential to hurt the ticket from top to bottom, it could be “maccacca” x infinity.
Malkin is right, the guy is not ready for prime time. He could have said he was opposed to abortion in all cases except life of the mother, he could have said that in a dignified way. But no, he uses the word “legitimate” and “rape” in the same sentence and acts like no woman ever got pregnant from being raped. Well, I guess he doesn’t go to too many pro-life rallies, because there are always women like that there, telling their courageous stories. Somehow this dolt managed to insult them too.
PLEASE CALL AND TELL HIM TO GET OUT! TODAY!
Thank you!
yet Elizabeth “Biggie HaHa” Warren, continues to be in her race......
It's not just that he's a complete and ignorant fool, he has betrayed his party and his country by handing a senate seat to the dark side.
Akin, listen up. There is no coming back from this.
Am-scray!
Now.
.
You have to wonder how many other republicans are in politics who are this stupid.
“…the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
That is without doubt the most stupid statement I ever heard, why didn’t the stupid basket just tell women to get out a coat hanger.,
He needs to get out of the way and let someone else run.
It’s another Macaca Moment - meaningless in itself, but with relentless media massaging it becomes a Tipping Point for making the GOP candidate Unacceptable.
Is Akin a RINO?
Obama made a surprise visit to WH press room(on now). First question from the presstitutes asked him if he thought all republicans thought like Akin. I just shook my head. Akin needs to go now.
Akin stepped into a trap here and I'll even go so far as to say he should quit for the sake of the GOP winning this election.
But he was not wrong. The 5% pregnant conclusion for rape-related pregnancies is total BS.
The most efficient way to achieve pregnancy is for the woman to lie on her back, buttocks elevated by pillows or rolled towels, legs spread wide apart. Her man enters from the top with gentle but repeated thrusting. This position is efficient for a number of reasons including the following:
My wife and I discovered this as our preferred position many years ago. Totally wonder and ecstatic for you younger people who haven't tried it. Definitely, give it a try as this country could use a lot more baby Freepers.
If we are at the national average for married couples who have intercourse roughly twice a week (and it was way closer to twice a day during our early years of marriage), this means we've had intercourse at least 3,000 times, most of it in the preferred position described.
This means Mrs. Vigilanteman should have been pregnant 3000 x 5% or 150 times. The actual result: three times or 0.1%. This is using the most efficient position most of the time with consensual and relaxed sexual intercourse.
The details may be different for other couples, but I doubt that the actual results are all that different. Do we really want to start a survey thread to check this math?
Akin has made a gaffe that no Republican candidate can ever recover from. Yes, if he was a Democrat he would get a pass. A Democrat can say just about anything and the lamestream media will provide cover. It isn’t fair, but life isn’t fair.
It doesn’t matter how good of a candidate Akin might have been. He is now toast. If he does not step down, then the Democrat will win the seat.
Plus, Akin will pull down conservative candidates all over the country. Every Democrat running for any office in the U.S. will be running ads with Akin as the poster child for the conservative “war on women.”
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