Monday, August 20, 2012

Congressman Todd Akin has opinions…


***trigger warning***

Let’s jump in, shall we?

Over the weekend Missouri Congressman and candidate for Senate, Todd Akin, indulged in another rancid moment of sharing.

Akin would like to spin it as a verbal malfunction, but…well, he meant what he said he just regrets saying it…and saying something you later regret is extremely different from saying something that inspires bipartisan condemnation because it is inaccurate, medically impossible, and insulting to rape survivors.

And the choir asked… “What did that fool say this time?”

And a bitch replied… Akin was discussing abortion with reporter Charles Jaco when he said…

“If it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Pause…collect thyself…continue.

Akin’s statement inspires so many questions.

How does he define “legitimate rape”? 

Does a survivor have to be roughed up…would bruises be helpful? 

Is he a Phyllis Schlafly-ite on the subject…does he agree with her that a married woman can’t be raped?

How exactly does the female body expel a pregnancy resulting from rape?

Is this a spontaneous act or something triggered after a successful conviction?

I’m dying to hear the answers.

Ugh.

This, my friends, is a public example of what Missouri reproductive justice activists encounter often from folks opposed to women having access to the full range of reproductive health care including abortion.

Inaccuracy.

Medically impossible information they then swear they got from a doctor.

And regular insults followed by callous disregard.

Akin didn’t misspeak.

He just said in public what these conservative fiends say behind closed doors after refusing to allow a vote on legislation that would establish a consistent standard of care in emergency rooms that includes information about emergency contraception.

So don’t give Akin’s presidential wanna-be buddies a pass cause they rebuke his statement.

Until the GOP condemns the policy behind his statement…policies that attempt to block access to emergency contraception…they might as well add an Akin seminar on “legitimate rape” to the GOP convention agenda and own that disgusting shit.

13 comments:

D. said...

1. The mask slipped and the gargoyle peeked out.

2. Any doctor he's citing came from the 16th century and probably used leeches for everything.

Peterr said...

Outside of your St. Louis and my KC, Akin's got a lot of support for his views. The 36% of the GOP primary voters who chose him to be their standardbearer knew what they were getting, even if they hadn't heard him make these kind of remarks.

Think on this: the areas of the state that gave Akin the biggest amount of support were his own district (north and west of St. Louis), John Ashcroft territory in the southwestern part of the state, and Rush Limbaugh's southeast corner of Missouri.

It's folks like these in an earlier generation that set Samuel Clemons on his path as the political and social satirist known as Mark Twain. I can only imagine what Akin & Co. will inspire in today's young people. See here for more.

Raven Onthill said...

It turns out that this garbage has a history and Akin is not the first to say it. Gag me.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/akin-not-the-first-a-short-history-of-the-false-no-pregnancy-from-rape-theory.php
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/08/illegitimate_rape.php

alma said...

I'm not from Missouri and maybe you already know the answer to this question.
Are all Mr. Science's political eggs in the Senate basket right now? Is he restricted from running for the House if he's the Senate candidate? If he is pressured to resign the candidacy and his House term expires in January, would he be out of politics until a future election?

Shark-Fu said...

Great question, Alma!

Congressman Akin is not running for the House and, should he drop out, would no longer be in office.

I do not want him to drop out.

I want him to stay in and run on this rancid pile of hate...just like I want Congressman Ryan to stay on for VP even though he pretty much has the same views on rape.

This is what they really believe and voters here in Missouri deserve to see what is really lurking behind door #2!

Alma said...

Thanks,Pamela. I read that Paul Ryan is simultaneously running for VP and his current house seat. I just tried to confirm this on the Wisconsin gov site but no luck there. Thanks again!

NancyP said...

Maybe the retrograde Missouri voter doesn't mind, but Akin's statement can't play well with the middle-of-the-road soccer moms. Furthermore, Akin just lost the 5 million dollars he was slated to receive from the Republican National Senate Campaign folks. Akin has just been through an expensive primary, and now he has to try to persuade major campaign donors to fund him despite the official party brush-off.

I doubt that Akin will step down before the Tuesday 5 PM deadline for withdrawal from the general election. He has been polling well up to now, and his ego is still going strong. I dearly hope that he will stay in the race. Sarah Steelman (the also ran in the primary) might have a better chance of attracting Republican money at this point.

Antonia said...

Unfortunately, many of his supporters don't care what he says. He could say that the world is flat and they wouldn't bat an eye. They say to themselves "Is he a Republican? Is he prolife? Is he male and white? Good, then I'll vote for him".

NancyP said...

Akin is in the race until the end. He is in his mid-60s and won't have another shot at higher political office. His base is energized by Akin's straightforward statement of "no abortion for any reason" and his use of the anti-abortion meme that "good women can't get pregnant from rape", in other words, God will take care of His (no gender issues here) faithful women voters. Any withdrawal of funds from the race can be interpreted by Akin's campaign as "anti-Christian" and the campaign can milk the conservative Protestant Christian love for posing as martyrs. Akin undoubtedly regards Romney as a non-Christian, and is not likely to listen to any Mormon.

Hattie said...

Exactly. And it's about everything that's going on: what is said in public and what's said behind closed doors. As someone up the comments thread put it so well, the gargoyle peeked out.

the bewilderness said...

He got it from a Dr of Theology at seminary. They teach it and they preach it. Now they are going to try to codify it into law, fer crying out loud.

Anonymous said...

I just this morning made another donation to Food Outreach in your honor.

Thank you for everything you do.

Shark-Fu said...

Thank you for supporting a great organization in my honor!!

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