With him or against him (and why Romney still stands with Mourdock)

By Mustang Bobby

(Ed. note: Make sure to read the hilarious Onion article MB links to at the end of this post. To whet your appetite: "Responding to inflammatory remarks made by Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock during a debate Tuesday night, Our Lord God the Almighty Father sought today to distance Himself from both Mourdock and the entire right-wing fundamentalist Christian movement, sources confirmed." -- MJWS)

The backlash against Indiana senate candidate Richard Mourdock and his comments about God and rape continues. Some notable Republicans (John McCain and Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire) are distancing themselves while others (Mitch McConnell) are supporting him.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney, who cut a commercial endorsing Mr. Mourdock, is still with him. Via TPM:

[Wednesday] night the Romney campaign put out a statement disagreeing with Mourdock's comment but not denouncing him. And the campaign did not respond to questions about whether he was withdrawing his endorsement.

The key though is the ad. Democrats are pushing hard for him to ask Mourdock to take it down. And if the Mourdock story grows, I suspect he'll have to ask him to take it down, which would be devastating for Mourdock — not so much because of the ad not showing but because of the merciless press it could spawn so close to election day.

The fate of the ad is what I'd watch to see where this story is going over the course of the day.

Late Update: The Romney campaign has now said they have not asked Mourdock to take down the ad.

Later Update: Freshman GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte cancels trip to campaign with Mourdock. 

Even Later Update: Romney reaffirms support for Mourdock candidacy.

One reason might be is that Paul Ryan's view on abortion is basically the same as Mr. Mourdock's.

When Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin brought up the subject of "legitimate rape" back in August, the GOP couldn't run away fast enough. Now Mr. Mourdock has said something equally outrageous, and yet he's still got support from big names in the party. Why?

It may have something to do with the fact that Mr. Mourdock invoked God in his statement, whereas Mr. Akin only went with pseudo-science. It's far easier to distance yourself from someone who only offers what he thinks are scientific facts as proof rather than incur the wrath of the Almighty by seeming to contradict His Will. Scientific facts are debatable; God is not.

P.S.: According to The Onion, God is not pleased with these recent developments.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Mourdock: "More Dick"

By Carl 

I'm not sure what it is about rape that Republicans find so attractive.

No, I'm sure: rape is not about sex, it's about power, but Republicans want to pretend it's about sex: 

[Indiana Senate candidate Richard] Mourdock, who's been locked in one of the country's most expensive and closely watched Senate races, was asked during the final minutes of a debate Tuesday night whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. 

"I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen," Mourdock said.

You may remember Mourdock as the Teabagger who ousted Senator Richard Lugar from re-election mostly by painting Lugar as too moderate and too willing to compromise.

Compromise: after Teabaggers are gone from Congress, I think they'll realize a harsh lesson has been given to them. Governing and legislating 330 million people demands compromise because you can't have an army of goose-stepping sheep agreeing with every extremist position you pull out of the Koch brothers' asses.

Mourdock is the second Teabagging candidate to say something repulsive about rape and its consequences. You may recall Todd Akin and his comments about the impossibility of pregnancy during a "real rape."

It's an interesting trope to believe, to be frank: by allowing for degrees of rape, you immediately deflect any challenge from people who's feelings about abortion are more flexible and compassionate than yours. You basically take compassion out of the argument by claiming, in effect, "she had it coming."

It doesn't matter if she was pinned to the ground by a man twice her size, had a knife held to her throat and brutally assaulted, penetrated over and over again: if she got pregnant, she wanted to have sex.

I've never been much for bondage fantasies, and I can't imagine too many women would find this exciting and welcome. I wonder if Akin or Mourdock were in a prison shower and this happened to them, would they still believe in "illegitimate rape"?

Akin at least had the good timing to reveal his disgusting lunacy before the campaign geared up and allowed Romney the opportunity to decry him and to put distance from Akin. Mourdock, however, is currently running television and radio ads featuring both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Romney can't be sitting comfortably with this. The whole Akin affair took the entire Republican ticket down a peg in polls, and to re-energize the population of women is going to not only hurt Mourdock's chances, but the story will remind women across the nation of the GOP antipathy towards anything in heels.

So Richard Mourdock? Thank you. Thank you for being a heartless dickless bastard.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Behind the Ad: Sen. Claire McCaskill goes after crazy Todd Akin

By Richard K. Barry

(Another installment in our extensive "Behind the Ad" series.) 

Who: Sen. Claire McCaskill's campaign.

Where: Missouri.

What's going on: Todd Akin, whom many Republicans want to just go away, has decided to stay in the race for the Missouri Senate seat. Now that the deadline has passed for him to get out, incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill is on the attack with a new ad.

It's a compendium of hardcore right-wing statements made by Akin, including reference to the "legitimate rape" comment.

Once upon a time, McCaskill would have been hard-pressed to keep this seat. But I can't imagine Akin could be competitive with so much of his party disowning him. All I can say is that if something goes terribly wrong and he wins this seat, it will be a sad day for the country.

By the way, I notice that the homepage on McCaskill's campaign website announces that "TODD AKIN IS OFFICIALLY CLAIRE'S OPPONENT," all in caps. Someone's happy.


(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Todd Akin makes it official. He's in to stay.

By Richard K. Barry

Pathetic. Just pathetic.

The crazy man running for Senate in Missouri under the GOP banner, Todd Akin, is staying in the race. You'll recall that Akin got in a heap of trouble by trying to distinguish between legitimate rape and that other kind. 

A bunch of media types showed up at an Akin's press conference in St. Louis yesterday thinking he might throw in the towel at the 11th hour, but that was simply not to be:

"I was given a trust" in the August Republican primary that put him on the ballot, Akin told about 200 enthusiastic supporters in a ballroom at the downtown Renaissance. "...A number of people have asked me, 'Are you quitting?'... I don't believe that is really my decision."

He added, to heavy cheering from the crowd: "I have a purpose going into November and that's to replace Claire McCaskill."

This won't make his own party very happy. Everyone from Mitt Romney on down pressed him to get out so he wouldn't do any more damage to the brand, but it seems old Todd is his own man. Stupid bastard.

How extreme do you have to be when this version of the GOP thinks you're too far out there?

It's a very conservative state, Missouri, and Akin could still win. That's true. But it won't do the rest of the Republican Party a lot of good to defend his Neanderthal views for the next several weeks, though I doubt it will have that much impact on the rest of the country.

Go, Claire, Go!

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Craziest Republican of the Day: Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Tom Smith

By Richard K. Barry

According to Think Progress, Tom Smith, the Republican challenging for Sen. Bob Casey's (D-PA) seat, "suggested that having a child out of wedlock was analogous to rape during an interview with a reporter at a press club this afternoon, claiming that it would have a 'similar' effect on a father":

MARK SCOLFORO, ASSOCIATED PRESS: How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will? Do you have a way to explain that?

SMITH: I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn't have to... she chose they way I thought. No don't get me wrong, it wasn't rape.

SCOLFORO: Similar how

SMITH: Uh, having a baby out of wedlock.

SCOLFORO: That's similar to rape?

SMITH: No, no, no, but... put yourself in a father's situation, yes. It is similar. But, back to the original, I'm pro-life, period.

In fairness, Smith knew he stepped in it as soon as he spoke, but he said what he said, which is disturbing.

I think Daily Kos had this one about right:

The hell? So if you're a father, having your daughter have sex out of wedlock or having her raped is pretty much the same thing?

And that's what you base your reactionary anti-abortion stance on? To hell with violence or consent or anything else, it's just some sort of father-daughter property rights thing?

There are Todd Akins everywhere in the GOP. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Here we go again -- more right-wing Republican obsession with sex, rape, and abortion

By Mustang Bobby

The Republicans got wailed within an inch of their lives last week over Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin's comment about "legitimate rape." So you would think that the last thing they'd want is another genius explaining what constitutes rape.

Wrong:

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith is the latest Republican to bungle a response to Missouri Rep. Todd Akin's controversial comment about rape and pregnancy.

"What that congressman said I do not agree with at all. He should have never said anything like that," Smith told reporters Monday, according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News, during a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg Monday — referring to Akin's suggestion that women’s bodies can block a pregnancy from rape.

"I lived something similar to that with my own family," Smith said. He then described his daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy — from consensual sex.

"She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views but fortunately for me... she chose the way I thought. Now don't get me wrong. It wasn't rape."

Smith affirmed that he believed his daughter's pregnancy from consensual sex was similar to a rape. "Put yourself in a father's position, yes, I mean it is similar."

So, rape is just like consensual sex, huh?

And Mr. Smith is not alone. Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan sees rape as just another method of conception.

I realize I've asked this question before, but it bears repeating: What the hell is wrong with these people? And why the hell do they keep bringing up things like this?

On the other hand, if this is the way they see their way to victory by alienating women and anyone with half a brain regarding rape and abortion, far be it from me to stop them. 

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

The Ryan Bump

By Carl 

It turned into little more than a pimple:

Mr. Romney was given a 28.0 percent chance of winning the Electoral College on Aug. 10, the day before he officially announced Mr. Ryan as his pick. The forecast then moved somewhat toward Mr. Romney after a series of improved polling in swing states for the newly minted Republican ticket, achieving a peak of 33.3 percent on Wednesday. It has since receded slightly to 30.6 percent, however, as Mr. Obama held leads in a number of swing state polls late last week.

These shifts could be consistent with a small vice-presidential "bounce" for Mr. Romney which has since faded — perhaps as less favorable stories for Republicans, like the comments on abortion and rape made by Representative Todd Akin of Missouri, have come to dominate the news cycle.

But these are only very minor differences — the model estimates that Mr. Romney gained a net of perhaps one percentage point in the popular vote after his selection of Mr. Ryan, and has lost perhaps half a percentage point since then. Changes of that magnitude could potentially be caused by statistical noise, as well as by real shifts of opinion. 

This, coupled with another interesting Veep story in the news today, tells you really all you need to know about Mitt Romney's chances this November.

He stands none. When a choice as intriguing and polarizing as Paul Ryan practically loses you votes (I claim margin of error in that pronouncement), there's something seriously wrong with your ticket, and it ain't your vice presidential choice.

Romney suffers from some of the same problems that John Kerry did in 2004: he's a likable enough guy but it's because he's worked so hard at being likable that's got him in deep trouble.

I mean, really, when your position on global climate change flip-flops inside of six months because polling says it should, you've doubled down on confusion. I think voters, even Republicans, can respect a man who stands on at least one principle that disagrees with them. He had such a magnificent financing advantage that he could have suffered on an issue that even FOX has backpedalled from.

Add to that image the whole Bain background, and Romney now comes across as a snake-oil salesman, a man who wants to build a monorail for no other reason than Shelbyville is going to get one.

Still, it's sad that even before a single word has been uttered in Tampa to frighten away the sane folks of America, Romney has already seen his chances of winning the presidency dwindle to next to nothing, or slightly higher than the Mets' chances of winning this year's World Series.

This country is due for a good talk about the future and issues, and it would be nice to hear some Republican input, rather than a "Don't Blame Me! I Voted For Kolob" chant.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Talk to the hand

By Mustang Bobby

The Romney campaign told Shaun Boyd, a reporter for a TV station in Denver, that she could not ask him certain questions:

"They said, you know, 'the only stipulation is we don't want you talking about the Akin issue,'" Boyd recalled. She also said the Romney staffer told her the campaign didn't want questions for Romney about "the whole abortion controversy."

Boyd said she resisted.

"I said to them, 'Look everybody's talking about this. It's going to seem awkward if I don't ask about it,'" she said. "And they said, 'Well he's said all he's going to say about it. He doesn't have anything more to say, you won't be getting any new information so we don't want to talk about that.'"

"It was pretty clear: 'Here's our one stipulation,'" she recalled.

Okay, so Mitt Romney doesn't want to talk about abortion and Todd Akin, Bain Capital, his tax returns, his investments, his term as governor of Massachusetts and his healthcare reform, immigration, marriage equality, or Seamus the Irish setter.

What does that leave us with? His vacation pictures from Europe?

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

A cure for the GOP fixation on rape and sex and women's bodies

By Ramona

So I guess you heard what House Science Committee member Todd Akin (R-MO) said when asked whether rape would be reason enough for abortion:

People always want to try and make that as one of those things, well, how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. 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 on the rapist and not attacking the child.

To which even the most thoughtless of the thinking people have to be going, What in the pluperfect HELL???

This is the Tea Party-backed guy who just recently won the Republican Senate primary and will go against Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in November. Maybe. McCaskill wasted no time jumping in, saying, in effect, Uh-uh, morons, you chose him, now you better let him run -- I hope, I hope, I hope. 

But her reaction was nothing compared to the scrambling, the fumbling, the hasty word salads coming out of the Republicans who, bless 'em, saw immediately how this could royally screw things up come November if people kept linking that idiot Akin to their almost-main guy, Paul Ryan.

That same Paul Ryan who calls himself the most pro-life person in government.

That same Paul Ryan whose views on personhood -- the belief that the life of each human being begins with fertilization -- meshed so thoroughly with Todd Akin's they co-sponsored a bill calling for the legitimization of that loony theory.

That same Paul Ryan who, along with Akin and a couple hundred other GOP House members, actually tried to make laws about the degrees of rape, defining "forcible rape" as the only violation worth noting -- as if, in fact, "forcible" could be defined; as if, in fact, there was any other kind.

So, because Akin reminds them too much of Ryan and all that's unholy about him, the rest of the Republicans would like nothing better than to see Akin just fall in a hole, his name erased from any future historical references to the Great Race of 2012. 

On Hardball, Cynthia Tucker told Chris Matthews that this notion about a woman's body protecting her from a rapist's sperm -- in a "legitimate" rape -- is nothing new. She said Georgia Representative Don Thomas, a physician, said much the same thing -- in 2003.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jim Galloway quotes Thomas as saying, "Relying on my personal experience in my home county of 90,000 people, we don't have rape cases resulting in pregnancy."

Galloway found another instance of the same crazy theory, this time by a North Carolina legislator (Republican) in 1995:

"The facts show that people who are raped -- who are truly raped -- the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work and they don't get pregnant," said [Henry] Aldridge, a 71-year-old periodontist. "Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever... [t]o get pregnant, it takes a little cooperation. And there ain't much cooperation in a rape," he said.

Rachel Maddow found even more instances of Republican office-holders using the same loopy rape reasoning. (They're always Republicans. I mean it. Always.)

How long before Republicans finally have to admit that they've encouraged and nurtured this craziness long enough? If they get skunked in November, will they finally come to their senses? I doubt it. Their fixation on rape and sex and women's bodies is a powerful habit. It won't go away overnight.

But what if the craziness continues and they don't get skunked? What if Romney wins and the Republicans take both the House and the Senate, and Paul Ryan, entrenched as the second most powerful man in the country, comes out of his shell, no longer having to pretend that there are any circumstances where women have any rights over their own bodies? 

It's our job to keep reminding potential Romney-Ryan voters that Todd Akin is not an anomaly, he is a symptom. Five minutes before he gave that interview his loony beliefs about women's bodies were right there with him, and five minutes afterward he was feeling no pain about what he said. He is who he is, and Paul Ryan and his fellow sex-masters are right there in the peapod with him.

There is no cure for what ails them, but there is a cure for us.

We quit them, pronto.

 

(Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices.)

OMG! Do I agree with Ann Coulter?

By Capt. Fogg

Could it be that Ann Coulter just said something I agree with? I think I need to wash out my brain with Lysol.

But I guess it's not quite that bad. Yes, I do believe that the oh-so-typical Tea Twit Todd Akin is a swine, but I would stop short of using nuclear weapons on him as she demands (rather messy at best), and I don't think he's not a real Republican as she asserts, and I certainly don't, as most of my saner readers will agree, think the Democratic Party financed his campaign just to make the Republicans look ridiculous. Hell. they've looked ridiculous for over 30 years.

"What he cares about is his own ego," said Arrogant Ann of the Thousand-Ton Ego on Insanity Hannity's Fox News show. She complained about his lack of knowledge of medical facts, as well one should expect of a propagandist who carefully researches and checks her facts to be sure none of her assertions actually corresponds with any.

I probably should rephrase that to use the word "whined" in ironic emulation of her favorite phraseology: Ann went wah -- she went wah-wah-wah.

(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)

A new poll has Todd Akin way behind

By Richard K. Barry

If you haven't seen it, a Rasmussen poll just came out showing Sen. Claire McCaskill in front of disgraced GOP challenger Todd Akin in the Missouri Senate race by a margin of 48 to 38 percent. In fact, most Missourians simply want Akin to quit the race, although most Democrats want him to stay in.

What's the best indicator that it might be time for Akin to get out? Could that be when voters who want him to lose are thrilled he might be staying in?

To put things in perspective, Rasmussen had McCaskill behind in early August by 3 points.

One anomaly, though, is that Akin has seen a fundraising surge due to the controversy. Of course, being a national media lightening rod may help with the fundraising, but not actually at the polls.

As for how this could impact the top of the ticket in Missouri come November, Nate Silver had an interesting piece that suggested Republican voters might sit out the election altogether. Unfortunately, Mitt Romney has a large enough cushion in the state pretty much to guarantee he'll take it anyway.

Too bad this didn't happen in Florida, Virginia, or Ohio. But don't get me wrong, this has been a nice gift all the same.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Craziest Republican of the day: Mike Huckabee and Rep. Steve King -- it's a tie!

By Richard K. Barry

(Ed. note: I would just like to note that this is Rep. King's ninth appearance as CRD. Congratulations, King Krazy! No one else is even close. And when your craziness stands out in today's Republican Party, you know you've accomplished something truly special. For the last two, with links to the others, see here and here. -- MJWS)

You know you're in trouble as a Republican when the only conservative media personality who will give you a friendly interview is Mike Huckabee. Yes, disgraced Rep. Todd Akin went to Mike to explain himself over his "legitimate rape" comments and Mike responded with some massive stupidity of his own, suggesting that rapes, though "horrible tragedies," had produced admirable human beings.

And then Rep. Steve King, one of the more conservative members of Congress, told an Iowa reporter  that he had "never heard of a girl getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest." Now, King may think that he's a bit more clever than Akin because he added this little bit of a disclaimer:

Well I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way and I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter.

Glad he cleared that up.

I just can't decide who is crazier or dumber, so I'll have to call it a draw. 

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Akin's in it to win it

By Mustang Bobby

(Ed. note: Of course, this Republican opposition to Akin is just posturing. They're doing it because he's made himself toxic and is polluting the Republican brand. (Akin is, or at least was, well up in the polls and might still win this thing, though it will be more difficult without overt party support.) And of course all these Republicans want him to win. And if he does, he'll just move his extremism from one house to the other, settling in comfortably with his new senatorial colleagues. And this will all be a thing of the past, one more example of Republican craziness blending in with all the rest. -- MJWS)

Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) is staying in the Missouri Senate race despite calls from every Republican in and out of office to get the hell out for speaking plainly about the party's stand on life and women:

Mitt Romney, the GOP's presidential standard-bearer, joined a broad chorus of Republicans urging Akin to step aside for the good of his party. "Todd Akin's comments were offensive and wrong, and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country," Romney said.

But after two days of apologizing, Akin grew angry Tuesday, allowing a deadline to pass on an easier way to withdraw from the contest. The congressman made clear that he would not apologize for his belief that abortion should be illegal, even in cases of rape.

"I misspoke one word in one sentence in one day," he said on a radio talk show hosted by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. "I haven't done anything that's morally and ethically wrong."

[...]

Immediately after his appearance on Huckabee's show, party leaders who had been sending Akin signals to quit the race left no doubt about where they stood.

"When the future of our country is at stake, sorry is not sufficient. To continue serving his country in the honorable way he has served throughout his career, it is time for Congressman Akin to step aside," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

A few hours later, Romney issued his statement calling on Akin to drop out. He was followed by Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who reaffirmed plans to abandon a $5 million campaign for Akin. "If he continues with this misguided campaign, it will be without the support and resources of the NRSC," said Brian Walsh, an NRSC spokesman.

And he blamed the liberal media for all of his troubles, of course. That would include Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

The real liberal media would much rather Mr. Akin stay in the race; he's the poster child for the Republican Party's pro-life stand. After all, they've just adopted a plank in their platform that calls for a constitutional amendment to grant personhood status to a one-celled organism and no abortions at all ever.

As far as I can tell, Mr. Akin is the most honest spokesman the GOP has. 

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

New Republican reality show: Real World GOP Agenda 2012

By tmcbpatriot

I never thought I would see this day, but it's beautiful. Sadly, I am sure it will pass without so much as a memory of the amazing opportunity that has fallen into the laps of Democrats. Of course, I am referring to the monstrous comments by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) about "legitimate rape." If ever there was a reality show for the GOP, this is it.

Will Democrats f**k this up? Of course they will. Why? Because somehow Dems have become known as the party of civility. Why is this? And why do we embrace it? Why can't we just be the party of facts and intelligence and leave civility at the f**king door? This is politics, is it not? When has politics known civility?

Let's face facts: Republicans are falling over themselves to kick this Akin monster to the curb. FOX tried to deflect and deflate, and even doubled down:

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate, opined that although rapes are "horrible tragedies," they sometimes produce amazing people.

Seriously, that's a real quote. Problem is Mike, everyone is looking at Akin, and perhaps you too, as a monster. So much so that Republicans are running from this guy faster than Sean Hannity after receiving a draft notice in the mail. Even Rush Limbaugh, RUSH F**king LIMBAUGH!, is running away from his comments. Meanwhile, Democrats are begging Akin to stay in the race.

This is big! Really big! Akin exposed the real Republican agenda and it was broadcast across the airwaves for all to hear, and goddamn, it was horrific!

Make no mistake, what we all heard Todd Akin say about rape, and his definition of it therein, was just another day in the life of a Republican in today's GOP. These are extreme people who will do anything to get elected, people with views so extreme they may actually be fascist, as opposed to the lip service paid to President Obama about his being some kind of socialist. It is manipulation of the highest order, where up is down, welfare is for lazy people, guns are for our own good, and the government should get out of our lives – except in cases of rape, gays marrying, blacks voting, and making sure Mexicans don't shovel our shit, pick our fruit, or mow our lawns.

The bottom line is that Todd Akin went way off message with the real agenda of the GOP in 2012 and it has threatened their whole plan to re-take the Senate and, god forbid, the White House.

Jobs? LOL!

Abortion has been the GOP's agenda even since taking back the House in 2010. Is anyone still dumb enough to believe that Republicans want to help, that they want to give people a decent wage, that they want to keep our taxes low or put us back to work with affordable health care? Did eight years of W. even happen in these people's universe? Did the last four years, with its record obstructionism by this Congress?

Is ignorance bliss or is it just plain ignorance?

Republicans don't want a minimum wage, they don't want to pay for infrastructure projects or green initiatives, they don't want public schools, and they don’t want the EPA. Last I checked, these were places where jobs existed and people benefitted from them.

So what do they want? They want private schools, private prisons, war with Iran, fracking, and lower taxes for themselves while the rest of us pick up the slack. Republicans care nothing for "we the people." Todd Akin and the collective Republican freakout that is happening right now proves it.

If Akin stays in the race, they have to support a crazy man. They have to take 100% claim of the Tea Party as nothing more than the GOP's insane cousin on steroids. They have to take responsibility for a man who blatantly spilled the beans about how the GOP feels about women's rights and their disdain for separation of church and state. And they claim the Constitution actually means something. Ha!

Republicans are not shocked by what Akin said. They support it! But it's less than three months before the election and this is supposed to be about the economy and imaginary jobs. That is what their talking points dictate. No diversions!

You think Republicans are surprised by Todd Akin, as if they didn't know his extreme views? Don't make me come over there and slap you. You can't be that dumb!

Media, Democrats, Tweeters, anyone out there who can help get the message out... please... Todd Akin is the Republican Party and they want him out because he pulled the curtain away and the rug out from under them and both have been blown away in his sh*t storm. He said rape when he should have said jobs, economy, and evil Obama. He let slip what Republicans are really all about and all they will focus on if re-elected.

So please, before their Death Star is operational again, before independents go back to not paying attention, get in there with your star fighters and let's blow this thing and go home. There is a very, very small window to do this and the response must be spot on or it will ricochet off the side. And don't be expecting the Millennium Falcon to swoop in at the last minute, because it ain't coming. It's all you.

Surely we must have a Luke Skywalker with the force to get this done. Is it Obama? Lando? He may be the best we have. To that I say, Mr. President, you may fire when ready. Just don't turn off your targeting computer just yet. Obi Wan may be one of them.

(Cross-posted at Take My Country Back.)

Akin pains

By Mustang Bobby

According to reports reaching TPM, Missouri Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R) has been making preparations to withdraw from the race. He's getting pressure from all over the Republican party, a major right-wing PAC, and leading lights of the right-wing punditry and commentariat to get out. The notable exception is, of course, the Family Research Council, who stands by him, but then, they make their living supporting junk science.

Mr. Akin says he plans to stay in the race, and the polls are showing that he's still leading Sen. Claire McCaskill.

The Romney-Ryan campaign came out with the boilerplate condemnation of the remarks, but since Mr. Akin's stated points of view regarding the sanctity of personhood for a zygote pretty much parallel the position of Mr. Ryan and -- at least lately -- that of Mr. Romney, they're kind of on thin ice when it comes to damning someone else for repeating their own views.

A lot of people have pointed out that Mr. Akin's stand on abortion in the case of rape without adjectives (as President Obama noted yesterday, "rape is rape") is not new to the anti-choice crowd. This "you can't get pregnant from rape" meme has been with them for a good long while, too. Rick Santorum, when he wasn't obsessing about gay sex, basically ran his entire presidential campaign on the issue of the sanctity of one-celled organisms over the life and health of the woman serving as host. As for bearing the child of a rapist, he said the woman should "make the best out of a bad situation."

So what Mr. Akin said was not really an outlier from the thinking of the mainstream of the Republican party. It's just that he put it in a way that was blunt enough to prick up the ears of the blogosphere.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

The Family Research Council is "helping" Todd Akin

By Richard K. Barry

Yes, Mr. Perkins. Let's make this election about
social conservatism. Smile!

I'll bet Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan didn't need their good friends over at the Family Research Council (FRC) coming to the defence of disgraced GOP Missouri Senate nominee Todd Akin, now infamous for his comments about "legitimate rape" and abortion. Too bad, because that's what they've done. According to CNN, the group, one of the most prominent conservative organizations in the country, has said this whole thing is nothing but a Democratic smear.

According to Connie Mackay, head of the group's political action committee:

We feel this is a case of gotcha politics. [Akin] has been elected five times in that community in Missouri. They know who Todd Akin is. We know who Todd Akin is. We've worked with him up on the hill. He's a defender of life.

Todd Akin is getting a really bad break here. I don't know anything about the science or the legal implications of his statement. I do know politics, and I know gotcha politics when I see it.

Why am I not surprised that a spokesperson for a conservative Christian group admits to knowing nothing about science? Sorry, but Todd Akin is getting the break he deserves.

Interesting that the Family Research Council has chosen their targets carefully. On the one hand, they've blasted Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown for saying Akin should step down, and, on the other, have shied away from criticizing Mitt Romney, who has also denounced Akin, calling his comments "inexcusable."

According to FRC President Tony Perkins:

The Romney campaign as well as now Paul Ryan have made very clear where they stand in the issue of life. We are not going to allow people to divide conservative voters in this process. We are going to keep our eye on the big picture.

I guess Brown, a Republican in a very liberal state, who sometimes acts like it, is not allowed to criticize Akin, but Romney and Ryan are. Yep, that's keeping your eye on the big picture.

Please, by all means, keep on "helping" Republicans.

Craziest Republican of the Day: Todd Akin, Missouri GOP Senate candidate

By Richard K. Barry

No, you can't fix stupid. But you really don't
have to vote him in. 

If you are like me and you do a lot of casual scanning of websites and blog aggregators, it sometimes happens that you are sure you read something wrong, that what you thought you saw couldn't possibly be what was said. But there it was, a TPM headline that read: "Republican Senate Nominee: Victims of 'Legitimate Rape' Don't Get Pregnant": 

Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of "legitimate rape" have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy. 

"First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare," Akin told KTVI-TV in an interview posted Sunday. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

That's what he said. I know. I had to read it over a few times myself. TPM added this little bit of information, just because some of us actually believe in science:

A 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found "rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency" and is "a cause of many unwanted pregnancies" — an estimated "32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year."

The scariest part is that the PollTracker Average shows Akin ahead of McCaskill by a margin of 49.7 percent to 41.3 percent.

Come on you Missouri Republicans, this isn't about one's personal beliefs about reproductive rights. This is about the fact that you have yourselves one monumentally stupid candidate.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)