Republican makes stupid statement … everyone swarm
The Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri , Todd Akin, made a stupid statement on a talk show today regarding abortion in cases of rape. I’m not going to defend the statement. It was similar to Whoppi Goldberg’s rape-rape comment. He now has apologized.
Yet the reaction not only from the left but also Republicans on Twitter was swift that he should be forced step down, be thrown overboard, summarily executed, etc.
Dana Loesch was almost alone is saying, hold on a second, give the guy some time to clarify and don’t hold him to a standard Democrats are not held to until that clarification comes. Which it has. Loesch also pointed out that making a stupid statement is not the same as Claire McCaskill tanking the economy and voting for Obamacare.
Now Loesch is the object of the left’s invective on Twitter, including from well-known execrable characters (also known as nutroots leading lights).
Really, I understand why the left seeks to take advanatge of screw-ups by our candidates, but can’t we give someone a little bit of time to apologize before we swarm too?
Must we form the circular firing squad within minutes without giving the candidate a chance to react himself, and hand the election to a woman who is a walking disaster for our nation?
Comments
Unfortunate. McCaskill has got so many skeletons in her closet, she should never have been elected Senator. When she was a prosecutor her first husband embarrassed her by getting himself arrested for smoking pot on a gambling boat. She later dirorced him, and he ended up murdered a few years later, presumably because of a drug deal gone bad. McCaskill herself was the subject of a Bill Clinton justice department investigation related to drugs (she was not charged).
Her second and current husband was arrested for beating his first wife. He has made millions from government cronyism, by constructing Section 8 housing and nursing homes whose patients dump off their Medicare and Social Security to him to pay the rent.
McCaskill and her husband were caught a year or two ago not paying a quarter million dollars in taxes on their private plane.
Her character is so lacking she is not fit to be a Senator. But Jim Talent refused to play hardball to win 6 years ago.
But Todd Akin made a dumb statement so let’s all demand he forfeit the election and put her back in office.
Republicans are stupid.
Exactly!
The fact is no matter how rare or biological mechanisms that can postpose ovulation due to stress, a woman can get pregnant from rape.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2828206/posts
“Woman meets child born out of rape, given up for adoption 77 years ago.”
The child, who was adopted, had six children one of them became an astronaut.
———-
I happen to be pro-life and I realize how unpopular the stance can be. I feel the heat and social isolation of it. Sorry I can’t be ok with abortion, just as I can’t be ok with rape.
This was a response to MAB, on the other page about perceptions.
Followed the freep link, went on to: http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/years-later-mother-daughter-reunion-is-a-surreal-amazing-experience/article_5dd0f21e-35c6-11e1-ac2f-0019bb2963f4.html
As I confessed elsewhere, I consider myself an atheist, although one that deeply respects those who are religious. Stories like this, however, make me wonder….. Is there such a thing as a wavering atheist?
Thanks; this is a perfect example of how apparently simple things often aren’t simple at all.
On “GOP bashing on Today” today, they are calling in the artillery, Mitchell & Todd, and making as big a mountain out of this, and the skinny dipping story, as possible, spreading it as widely as they can to tie in and tar, in classic guilt-by-association fashion, the entire GOP. You can see the twinkle in their eyes.
Substitute the name Ted Kennedy for any of the players in these trumped up dramas and tell me Today would devote a half hour to it.
This is the result of Echo-Chambering.
Akin got that goofy idea from somewhere and likely it was a few folks who are out of the main stream thinking.
I have seen the left do this time and again with their goofy ideas that wither in the full rays of public scrutiny.
I will guarantee you Akin is all the wiser for it.
The left needs no help in attacking Akin.
What I have seen is a classic circular firing squad.
Romney: Akin’s ‘Inexcusable’ Comment
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/314452/romney-akins-inexcusable-comment-robert-costa
In a phone interview this morning, Mitt Romney told National Review Online that Representative Todd Akin’s recent comment on rape is “inexcusable.”
“Congressman’s Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said. “Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive.”
Akin, the Republican Senate nominee from Missouri, controversially claimed on Sunday that a woman’s body can block an unwanted pregnancy.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down,” Akin said in an interview with KTVI-TV.
“I have an entirely different view,” Romney said. “What he said is entirely without merit and he should correct it.”
Question: So how does Akin go about “correcting” a statement that the de-facto leader of the party find is “insulting,” “inexcusable,” “wrong,” “offensive” and “entirely without merit?”
Hmm … seems to me that is very polite way of saying to Akin it is time to walk the plank and withdraw.
Can’t happen soon enough for me.
This is why the left wins, they circle the wagons when one of their own steps in it. Republicans wring their hands and concede to the left’s rules of double standards.
Obama doesn’t condemn Biden telling blacks they’ll be put “back in chains” (which if said by a republican VP would have been the most horrific quote of the new millenium), but Republicans pounce en masse on Akin for saying “legitimate rape”, and gift the media w/added material to prolong the story. Dem pols make more offensive comments on a daily basis.
When your enemy protects fools and criminals within his ranks and you do not, your own ranks grow stronger, wiser, more ethical, less corrupt. Ideally, that is.
The problem here was vetting. Did no one from the RNC screen this guy’s beliefs on abortion, contraception, etc.? Isn’t that a standard procedure for a US Senate seat nomination?
Do you advocate that Republicans ought to lower their standards to those of Democrats? Can we see no other way to compete? Is our vision that small, that limited?
Can you imagine what would happen if Romney chose to defend Akin, if only as a party unity issue?
Any party that places party over principles can count me out.
I hope Akin survives this, but no way should any other Republican apologize or endorse what he said. That is poison.
He’s got a Divinity degree (he’s also a former Marine Corp. commissioned officer). His staunch pro life position is no secret.
He’s well liked by the voters in his district, who have re-elected him 5 times with about 65% of the vote each time. He has one of the most conservative voting records in Congress, with a 97.5 lifetime ACU voting record.
He’s been vetted. Just because someone has been vetted does not prevent them from making a stupid remark. And if he’s a staunch conservative, the media will hype it and try to disqualify him for making it.
“He’s been vetted. Just because someone has been vetted does not prevent them from making a stupid remark.”
If he’s been pre-race vetted by the RNC or GOP senate committee it means he was asked precisely what his position on abortion was, including in the case of pregnancy by rape. If he said to his vetters what he said yesterday, he would have been counseled not to repeat anything so incredibly stupid. Either he was never vetted for this race or he was vetted but ignored counsel on this claptrap belief of his and said it anyway.
This is not how professional politics is done and now what sounds like a good man will likely be sidelined, that seat is in jeopardy, the GOP takeover of the Senate has been needlessly made more difficult, and he’s supplied the media slimeballers with a pile of volatile ammunition.
Final Score:
Duke 88
Akin 0
The sooner Akin leaves the race, the better. That was a reprehensible comment and I’m surprised that some of you wouldn’t completely condemn what he said. I have no patience for people who say things like that. No way should we give him our votes.
I wanted also to add that I really like Dana Loesch but she is out of her mind if she thinks this is not a dealkiller. Who cares if Democrats are hypocritical. That is not germane. This is a “tweet a photo of your private parts” level offense.
I’m steaming mad that a senatorial candidate would say something that dumb and hurtful.
I’m having trouble seeing what was so reprehensible about it. Can someone explain it to me? I am being serious.
To me it’s apparent that he used the term “legitimate” to mean “obvious”, so he made no suggestion that some rapes are legal. There are indeed cases where rape unquestionably occurred. Unfortunately, there are other cases where a woman changes her mind after consensual sex and calls it “rape.” I don’t think it happens very often. I expect it happens in cases where a woman has engaged in a one-night extramarital affair, got caught, and didn’t want to accept responsibility for her actions. I expect men would behave the same way in the same shoes. Then there are cases like the Duke Lacrosse team, where the “victim” was looking for financial gain.
I know that some people on the left would like us to never question a woman’s word. But the truth is that all men and women lie.
As for his claim that women who are obviously raped will not conceive, I have no medical knowledge. I have heard this claim advanced before (by a woman), but I cannot attest to its veracity. Perhaps his statement was made out of ignorance, but it’s hard to see how it was misogynistic or truly offensive.
If someone can better explain his crime to me, I would appreciate it. Again, I am being serious.
Willy, what Akin said was that the female physiology shuts down the fertilization process when rape occurs, making pregnancy impossible, therefore there should be no allowance for abortion on the basis of the pregnancy being caused by rape. For this to be true means that women who get abortions due to getting pregnant from a rape must be lying. I know, I know, it’s crazy, but some rape victims take it all personal when they’re called liars for no reason whatsoever.
After thinking about this overnight, what’s wrong with Republicans swarming one of their own when he says something like this? If the only thing that matters is whether someone has a “-D” or an “-R” after their name, then I don’t want to be either one.
Here we go!
“Akin’s ‘Macaca Moment’ Could Flip the Senate Race.”
Shouldn’t that headline be more relevant and up to date and say something like:
“Akin’s ‘Put Y’all Back in Chains Moment’ Could Flip the Senate Race.”
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/signal/akin-macaca-moment-could-flip-senate-150018315.html
First-I am an atheist, so have no religious dogma in this fight. Second, I think that the standard of judging a society by how it cares for its weakest members is a good measure. The weakest of all are the unborn–and newly born.
Third–this is a really, really, tough one. If you believe, as I do, that a fetus is a person, then the only justification (and it is a perfectly acceptable one) for abortion is to protect the LIFE of the mother. It is a Self Defense argument and accepted by even the most orthodox of religions. OTOH, forcing a woman to bear a rapist’s child is awful to contemplate. Can’t think of much worse.
So–on one hand, no one is asking the fetus; I suspect he or she would prefer to live. OTOH, what about the woman?
My point is this: I respect the doctrinaire anti-abortion person that wants the child to live. With limitations, I can respect those that would permit abortions in the case of rape. I can see how bearing the child is just too much to ask.
My limitations come in when the “exception” is a bit too automatic. A life is being taken. It is adding another tragedy. In effect, you are telling the unborn child that, because of the circumstances of its conception, it will not be permitted to life.
For once I have to say that I think the professor is wrong. This guy put his foot in his mouth – up to about the knee- which tells me he is too stupid to be in the Senate. He is apparently the candidate that McCaskill wanted to run against, and Missouri dems ran ads about how he was ” too conservative”, which helped him win. According to John Podhoretz at Commentary, if he withdraws by tomorrow, they can put someone else on the ticket to replace him. We can’t risk control of the Senate to stand by this dope – he has got to go. This election is too important. We can gripe about media bias all we like – and we would be right – but the guy still has to go.
It just occurred to me that Obama got elected U.S. Senator in part because his Republican opponent decided to drop out at the last minute after Axelrod somehow managed to get his sealed divorce records made public. The Republicans was too embarrassed by the details to continue the race.
The replacement candidate was Allen Keyes. He had no money and no organiztion. It was a disaster and Obama won in a landslide (Keyes only got 27% of the vote).
It is a dead certainty that some skeleton in Mitt &/or Ryan’s closet will be revealed about a week before the election.
We all have them.
“If it ain’t close, they can’t cheat”.
I just heard a news report in Kansas City. Apparently, if Akin steps down before midnight tomorrow, the Republicans have two weeks to get someone else on the ballot. The report was silent about the process for determining the replacement candidate (Special primary election? State Republican Party committee appointment? The person who came in 2nd in the primary? I do not know).
If he does step down and we get someone else on the ballot, it may be a blessing in disguise. McCaskill, the DNC, and the DSCC have been killing him with ads painting him as an out of touch extremist. The ads began even before he won the primary. All that money will have been wasted.
So if the new report I just heard is accurate and the Republican establishment is determined to force him out, they better make him do it before midnight tomorrow.
Just heard a follow up report as I was about to hit the “submit” button. They say Akin has apologized and is vowing to stay in the race.
Obama has weighed in. The Democrats think they have a national issue.
His remarks as reported were relatively restrained. I recently suggested that that’s the Democrats’ right move—until the Akin candidacy is set in stone. At that point, for starters they will hit Akin, and all Republicans, harder than Limbaugh was hit about Fluke.
Akin says he will not step down. We are screwed.
If he doesn’t step down, he’s going to be thrown to the sharks. I guarantee it.
But how much damage do we sustain before he finally finds religion?
This was no “gaffe” and it should not matter to conservatives that Democrats are hypocritical and the media have a double standard. Akin’s remark reveals him to be, at best, a massively ignorant fool. His remarks were deeply offensive, reprehensible and, in my view, unforgivable. They do not represent the compelling view of abortion held by the pro-life movement, the conservative movement, the Republican party, or, I’ll bet, mosf GOP-inclined voters in Missouri. This is not a case of a candidate who may lose because he refuses to compromise on first principles. There are no principles involved and defending him — or ignoring the matter — is a fool’s errand.
Akin should step down to make way for a conservative who can win this crucial seat — and he will if he hears that message from conservatives.
Mum got assaulted, so kill the kid. That’ll make it OK….
Why do we hear nothing about information he received that led him to this statement?
It is not about the dumb statement itself or republicans eating their own.
It is about the fact that this unfortunate gaffe has offended so many people who will now not come out and vote for him, resulting in a democrat win.
For the good of the country we need this woman to be gone and another seat in the repub senate count.
This is why he needs to be replaced.
This.
I posted this on the Tip Line because there’s a chock-full of links. You all better take heed.
“I’m sorry, Professor, but Akin stepped in it big time. He says he is remaining, but I bet you that he’s going to be out before late Tuesday. The evidence?
Romney/Ryan have strongly condemned him.
Scott Brown (MA) (the father of two young adult daughters, don’t forget) has called for Akin to withdraw.
So has John Cornyn (TX).
Ron Johnson (WI) Twittered also, calling for Akin to get out.
And it gets worse: If Akin Remains In, the NRSC Will Spend Nothing on MO Senate Race. BTW: John Cornyn runs the NRSC.
Karl Rove’s Crossroads took MO ads off the air at once.
As I said before, Akin is an idiot. Akin may have apologized, but the damage is done, and it’s very damaging, and he’s damaged goods. What do you do to damaged goods? You throw them away and get a good replacement.
And MO GOP: before picking candidates for such an important seat, make sure your primaries are CLOSED – as in, NO DEMOCRATS voting in.
And do yourselves an even bigger favor. Listen to Sarah Palin. There was a reason why she supported Silverman. Now you know. This kind of SNAFU is what happens when you stab in the back what probably could be the best thing that ever happened to the GOP.”
You rock.
Akin said to be withdrawing from race:
http://quickhits.tumblr.com/post/29841250464/report-missouri-representative-todd-akin-to-withdraw
Local talk radio here in Kansas City (who are often favorable to Republicans) are absolutely skewering Akin. I don’t see how he survives.
The talk radio personalities are now reporting that the second and third place finishers in the primary, John Brunner and Sarah Steelman, are working behind the scenes to get their campaigns re-activated. They answered my question above about how the new candidate is determined whould Akin step down by tomorrow. If Akin steps down by 5:00 tomorrow (it was originally reported as midnight tomorrow – so who knows which is correct), the State Republican Party committee can name Akin’s replacement on the ballot. Since Brunner only beat Steelman by about 1%, it’s going to be contentious. Brunner is a wealthy businessman wiht no prior political experience, while Steelman has been a state legislator and the state treasurer, so she’s got better politcal connections.
What a mess.
Thanks for the local take, Maggot!
If the man is that ignorant, bordering stupid–
Not only on the subject matter, but his inclination to lay it all out for the world to see–
I wonder what else…
It’s been a day.
He’s been weighed and measured.
He’s toast, fair or not.
Atkins of Hannity radio show NOW
Certainly didn’t sound like he was going to budge from the ticket.
If he stays in the race, they’ll beat him to death on the general stupidity of his comment, then try to smear all Republicans with guilt by association. When that plays out, they’ll beat him to death on one particular within his dumb comment: “You say you got this medical info from doctors.. which doctors, Mr. Akin? Can you name them, please?” and then try to smear all Republicans with guilt by association. When THAT plays out, they’ll beat him to death on another particular, his use of the phrase “cases of legitimate rape”. “Mr. Akin, what did you mean by ‘legitimate rape’? Are you insinuating that many reported rapes are not legitimate? Why do you and your party hate women, sir?” – and again smear all Republicans with guilt by association.
How long could the liberal media drag this out if Akin stays in? Oh, I’d say till about Novemeber 6th or so.
Replace Akin now and by late September people will have to be reminded of that Akin scandal back last month. The Missouri voters clearly want McCaskill gone. Any half-decent Republican will do.
Sarah Palin … listen to her, Republicans. Are you even capable of listening?
Apparently Silverman is not on the top of the list being considered to replace Todd “I am not a witch” Akin.
Silverman.
Silverman? Steelman? Someone help me out here.
Apparently it’s State Treasurer Sarah Steelman. Oops.
Ahem . It is around the globe.
WTF.