Posted on 08/23/2012 8:42:36 AM PDT by Perseverando
WASHINGTON – So, let me get this straight.
A worthy Republican challenger to Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri made one dumb comment to an interviewer and the entire Republican establishment is pulling the rug out from under him, essentially conceding the race to a very vulnerable Democrat.
Here’s the entirety of Rep. Todd Akin’s comment defending his pro-life position that has caused such a massive furor: “From what I understand from doctors, that’s (conception as a result of rape) 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 of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”
Now let’s take this statement apart word for word and see where Akin went wrong.
“From what I understand from doctors, that’s (conception as a result of rape) really rare.” So far, he is absolutely, 100 percent right. It’s exceedingly rare. Some feminist sources claim as many as 5 percent of women raped get pregnant. Though you will find studies placing the percentage at 1 percent to 5 percent, many of them are politically loaded. The fact of the matter is that women can only get pregnant when they are fertile. One-third of women are either too young or too old to get pregnant. A woman is capable of being fertilized only 3 days out of 30 every month. A fourth of all women in the U.S. of childbearing years have been sterilized. Only half of all rapists deposit sperm in the victim’s vagina. Many sexual attackers are impotent or ejaculate prematurely. But, at the end of the day, it’s very rare for a rape victim to become pregnant
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Approximately 20,000 women who are raped every year... Carry their children to term. Akin insulted them and did a lot of damage to the pro-life movement with his stupidity.
If he weren’t a selfish fool he would have stepped aside.
Then let the libs run as the people who think 10-year-old girls have the right to choose to have sex with 34-year-old men. That’s not “legitimate rape”.... so Planned Parenthood just offers the 10-year-old an abortion to cover up for the Sandusky-like “friend” she wants to have sex with...
If boys could get pregnant, would Planned Parenthood have covered for Jerry Sandusky, when the young boys who “chose” to be with him got pregnant? If what Sandusky did was wrong and morally repulsive, then how does Planned Parenthood get off on their rape-covering crapola - on the taxpayer dime, in full view of everybody?
Somebody needs to say this stuff out loud to Claire McCaskill and the whole stinking rabble.
butterdezillion ... had Akin cited this case and nothing else regarding ‘legitimate rape’ and how the ‘female body prevents conception’ NONE of the insanity would be on parade. His words gave what liberals lacked something to run on.
“No, we ALL need to read it right now, and be ready to respond at the grass roots level, this Labor Day weekend at family gatherings, or any other time the liberals in our respective families are first to bring up the issue, from now until November 6th:
If the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (Kennedy v. Louisiana - 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_v._Louisiana ) that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment for rapists, why then is the death penalty acceptable for the innocent unborn child? It’s not the baby’s fault.
http://www.rebeccakiessling.com/index.html
147 posted on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 7:42:52 AM by golas1964”
Have called for Akin to step down for the sake of the country:
Rush Limbaugh
Sarah Palin
Sean Hannity
Mark Levin
Bill Bennett
Tea Party Express
Charles Krauthammer
Dennis Prager
Ann Coulter
National Review editorial board
Hugh Hewitt
Scott Walker
etc etc etc
If he wanted to defend a child's right to life under these circumstances he should have said so. Instead, he blubbered up a bizarre theory that was at once insulting and without scientific backing.
“He’s got to leave. He’s toxic. Nobody will touch him. Republicans aren’t going to support him. He’s not going to get any money.
“They’ve tossed away a seat that they could easily have won. It isn’t only that it was offensive and toxic; it was unbelievably stupid.
“And there is enough stupidity in Congress that we don’t need to add to it in this large amount. The guy’s got to leave.”
— Charles Krauthammer
How did he insult them? By saying they are rare? By saying that stress can lower fertility? Or were his comments misconstrued as saying that if you got pregnant it must not have been a “legitimate rape” (which is not what he said at all)?
The insult is in the hype, not in what he actually said, as far as I can tell.
There was an article posted a few days ago, about a lesbian couple in Nevada that went to the hospital when the pregnant one developed complications. The hospital wasn’t going to let the other make medical decisions because they weren’t married, although they had a certificate of a civil union. The article said the woman was distraught about that and then she lost the baby.
Did that article insult me, since I have lost 2 children (one to miscarriage and another to stillbirth) and they seem to be implying that stress kills babies? Are the authors of that article - by hinting that stress can cause miscarriage - insulting me by saying if I had just chilled out my babies would have lived?
If I wanted to make this into a political crusade I could claim that. I could “community organize” (agitate) to try to get that reporter destroyed. I wouldn’t be successful because I don’t have a whole political and media machine at my disposal, but it would be the same thing as is going on here.
His comments were not politically smart. They may have been insensitive. But the agitators are blowing this whole thing way out of proportion, and folks on our side are so afraid of the agitprop that we’re playing right along with it.
theres a lot of work left to do and just 70+ days to do it...come on folks, lets stay focused and busy !.
Yes, pregnancy owing to rape is rare, but it does happen. That is why the Texas law overthown by Roe.V. Wade allowed abortion in case of rape and incest. It was the most restrictive law in the country. So if Akin thinks that a more restrictive law is possible in this nation, he is naive.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2921973/posts?page=15#15
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brilliant post!
...and sometimes, doing what is right,
is better strategy in the long run,
than doing what is cowardly.
(especially when Ryan co-authored that Bill with Akin.
if you throw Akin under the bus, eventually,
you do the same to Ryan.)
His remarks were not only not politically smart, they were half-informed and he still seems unable to grasp that he did not know what he was talking about.
The trouble is that there is a paradox at work.
Most pollsters are biased left, but while Rasmussen is said by some to be biased right, does this mean conservative right or Republican establishment right?
So while before I asked for polling results, truthfully, I’m not sure we can get honest polling results right now. And add to that, will those poll results stay fixed?
The Democrats only rarely cut a candidate loose for any gross thing they do as long as it is left-leaning. But the Republicans are quick to do so, often without further consideration of what that means.
Since I do not believe there is any way to put up a replacement, even in a write in campaign, by Missouri law, its Republicans are stuck with Akin or nobody.
So it boils down to this: like him or not, is it better to have a critical seat in the US senate or not?
Akin is NOT worthy at all, now that we understand that he was bought and paid for by the Democrats - who spent a staggering $1.5 million in ads to ensure his victory. without that cash, John Brunner or Sarah Steelman would right now be the nominee.
Are you sure you know what you’re talking about?
I’ve known of quite a few people who had trouble conceiving until they gave up hope. The stress of anxiety had an impact on their fertility. That’s anecdotal evidence and there could be other explanations, obviously, but these claims can be found in literature all over the place. Somebody posted about a study that found that stress can impact the implantation process. I would imagine that studies regarding the impact of fight-or-flight chemistry - adrenaline, etc - would come into play here too.
Is everybody basing their claim that his comment was uninformed on the scholarly studies, or on emotional politics and agitprop? That’s my concern.
People are not abandoning him because he simply misspoke, people are abandoning him because what he said was so utterly stupid and ridiculous that he just committed the equivalent of political suicide
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baloney!
...what he said, is TRUE.
even the NY TIMES said so, in old articles.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2921226/posts
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‘’Last year, when the Pennsylvania Legislature modified the law to say it only covered rape or incest reported to law-enforcement authorities, the number of publicly funded abortions dropped from 35 a month to 3.’’
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...just as it is truth, that there are 10’s of thousands,
of FALSE accusations each year. (according the the FBI!).
...NOTHING he said was false.
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2921787/posts
Akin: Hyenas in the GOP ignore medical science, eat their own
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2921703/posts
I say Akin was right; and AIN’T I A WOMAN?**
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2921973/posts?page=15
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...Ryan CO-AUTHORED that bill with Akin, that attempted to define “legitimate” rape. if you throw Akin under the bus, eventually, Ryan will go too!
=
WHY do you attack Akin so hard, instead of Ryan, or “legitimate” rapists, like BILL CLINTON ?
Cicero’s comment in #15, was brilliant.
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...if the libs take Akin down now,
conservatives will NEVER be able to raise these issues again.
(and, it’s odd... how even good FReepers,
who KNOW not to believe liberal polls,
are RELIGIOUSLY citing the new poll showing Akins down by 10.)
Oh yes, I’m aware of that list. And there is no doubt in my mind Akin WILL eventually back down and quit. After all, he is a Republican. He might even cry on camera. We can’t have the likes of Bill Clinton mouthing off about what Akin said at the Democratic Convention. It might make Republicans look bad. By getting rid of Akin we will finally gain the respect of the Democrats. Akin will eventually realize this and quit for the good of the country. That’s what most of our Republican presidential candidates did, and we now look up to all of them all as heroes, not quitters. Be patient, Akin will eventually be replaced by a mush mouth Republican who won’t embarrass us.
Most victims of rape are younger women who are much less likely to have problems with conception whereby “stress” is going to be a major factor.
Many thousands of children are conceived due to rape every year - make an argument that they should not be aborted (as 50% of them are) - don't try to make an argument that they don't exist or shouldn't exist based upon the idea that if the rape was “legitimate” and a real stress then the woman should have miscarried - that is idiotic.
Even Akin abandoned that line of reasoning - but the “shut the whole thing down” gang goes on in self righteous and self serving ignorance.
Why bother to have primaries at all. Just let Rove and company name our candidate and conservatives just shut up about it.
The problem is the way he expressed himself both in his original statement and in his later remarks. His oxymoron “legitimate rape.” really takes the cake. That’s a bit like “ lawful murder.”
One has to distinguish between statutory rape and other sorts of rape.
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