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Republican Senate Nominee: Victims Of ‘Legitimate Rape’ Don’t Get Pregnant

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LordCanti said:
Why avoid it? This upstanding American patriot explained himself already. He misspoke. Any effort to say otherwise is the librul media elite trying to drag his name through the mud.
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That's the thing. How do you misspeak by making shit up and citing something as fact? It's not like he confused a date or someone's name. He didn't misspeak.
 
Todd Akin moves to save candidacy

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79889.html?hp=t1_3

Senior Republicans in Missouri and Washington are pressuring Rep. Todd Akin to withdraw from his Senate race against Sen. Claire McCaskill after his explosive remarks that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant. But Akin is resisting the calls, issuing an apology but vowing to stay in the race.

“I recognize this is a difficult time for him, but over the next 24 hours, Congressman Akin should carefully consider what is best for him, his family, the Republican party, and the values that he cares about and has fought for throughout his career in public service,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.

Under Missouri law, the latest Akin could quit voluntarily and allow the party to nominate someone else is Tuesday at 5 p.m.

In Missouri, one GOP source said that John Brunner, who finished second in the Republican primary this month, is positioning himself as a potential replacement if Akin gets out.
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It would be pretty delicious if he doesn't step down because the Republican party would have a real hard time continuing to support this guy and the proxy damage that he could do to the Presidential ticket.
 
Devolution said:
Oh awesome a new rape qualifier from the republicans. Because rape isn't rape unless it's legitimate rape. What happened to forcible?
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It is not new:

But while Akin is wrong in his assertion about rape and pregnancy, he certainly isn’t alone. His remarks tapped into a strain of thinking that dates back to at least the 1980s, with anti-abortion politicians from Pennsylvania to Arkansas making the case that the trauma of rape can often prevent pregnancy. The argument does not come up frequently, but when it does, it nearly always leads to political controversy.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephen Freind (R) was an ardent abortion opponent. He authored legislation that included one of the the nation’s first abortion waiting periods, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.

He also looks to be the first legislator to make the argument that rape prevents pregnancy, arguing in the late 1980s that the odds of a pregnancy resulting from rape were “one in millions and millions and millions.”

His explanation? The trauma of rape causes women to “secrete a certain secretion which has the tendency to kill sperm.” Reproductive health experts immediately denounced those remarks. One told the Philadelphia Inquirer, ”Boy, if I could find out what that [secretion] was, I’d use it as a contraceptive.”

The argument was dormant for about a decade, until the late 1990s. That’s when a North Carolina legislator, whom Garance Franke-Ruta points to, extended the argument to question whether there should actually be a rape exception from abortion restrictions, given that ”The facts show that people who are raped – truly raped – the juices don’t flow.”

Arkansas politician Fay Boozman followed up during during his 1998 Senate campaign by arguing that “fear-induced hormonal changes could block a rape victim’s ability to conceive.” Those remarks lead to a backlash when then-Gov. Mike Huckabee tapped Boozman to run the state’s health department.

The argument was most recently – and perhaps most fully – articulated by National Right to Life president John Wilke in a 1999 essay titled “Rape Pregnancies Are Rare.” Wilke made a pretty similar case to Akin: That the “physical trauma” of rape has a way of preventing pregnancy.

“To get and stay pregnant a woman’s body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones,” Wilke wrote. “There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy.”

The scientific evidence for this proposition is, unsurprisingly, shaky. Freind later backed off his theory about secretions, switching to an argument that rape would instead “delay, disrupt or prohibit ovulation by preventing the release of hormone-triggering factors.”​

And regarding the doctors he has talked to, they probably are Physicians for Life, who I have never heard of until today but are apparently known for arguing that the "psychic trauma" of rape prevents pregnancies, as well as making up arguments about a connection between breast cancer and abortions.

Funky Papa said:
You know, Mumei, this is one of those threads were no lady would feel insulted for using the C word as descriptor.

Because Todd Akin is one blubbering vagina.
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How did you know I would eventually read this topic?

kame-sennin said:
It's a good example of rape culture in America. He's trying to distinguish between the rapist who jumps out of the bushes to attack a victim and the rapist who takes his victim on a date and waits until she's passed out. He's creating a distinction between rape that requires physical violence and rape where the victim knows the rapist. By his logic, a husband can never rape his wife, a woman can't be raped when she is too drunk to consent, and a rape can not occur if the woman agreed to be intimate with the rapist but at some point decided she wanted to stop. In the latter circumstances, the rape is "illegitimate" and it is actually the victim's fault - or so the repugnant line of thinking goes.
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Thanks for explaining this so I don't have to.
 
Obama camp: Romney, Ryan share Akin views

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/08/obama-camp-romney-ryan-share-akin-views-132570.html

As Mitt Romney rapidly backs away from Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, the Obama campaign is seizing on the Republican congressman's remarks about rape to blast both Romney's and Paul Ryan's views on abortion. Here's the statement just in from spokeswoman Lis Smith:

While Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are working overtime to distance themselves from Rep. Todd Akin’s comments on rape, they are contradicting their own records. Mr. Romney supports the Human Life Amendment, which would ban abortion in all instances, even in the case of rape and incest. In fact, that amendment is a central part of the Republican Party’s platform that is being voted on tomorrow.

And, as a Republican leader in the House, Mr. Ryan worked with Mr. Akin to try to pass laws that would ban abortion in all cases, and even narrow the definition of ‘rape.’ Every day, women across America grapple with difficult and intensely personal health decisions — decisions that should ultimately be between a woman and her doctor. These decisions are not made any easier when Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan treat women’s health as a matter of partisan politics.​
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Wow, so this particular brand of stupid/insane seems to pop up every 20 years or so. I wonder if the Mayans built a calendar around this, they've got one for everything else.

Seriously though, it is hard to believe that people could be this dumb.
 
B-Dubs said:
It is?! Oh thank you based comedy gods!
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Yeah I don't know what PhoenixDark was thinking. He just posted a tweet of some random guy making a prediction. I don't know if Akin will withdraw or not but he's stated he won't and there would be news outlet confirmation if he did.
 
Jackben said:
Yeah I don't know what PhoenixDark was thinking. He just posted a tweet of some random guy making a prediction. I don't know if Akin will withdraw or not but he's stated he won't and there would be news outlet confirmation if he did.
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Honestly, him dropping out would make sense. I think that's why we were so ready to accept it.
 
B-Dubs said:
Honestly, him dropping out would make sense. I think that's why we were so ready to accept it.
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True, but he was dumb enough to say this in the first place and THEN relate it to Romney's VP...

It's like in the animal kingdom when a pack abandons a sick/crazed animal. I except when the powers that be truly weigh down on him he will bow out to great shame.

Funky Papa said:
I wish my country's politicians could put up some comparable drama. If they are going to fuck my ass for the next 4 years I deserve at least a little bit of entertainment before they go all forcible on my sweet cheeks.
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That is one thing you can say about American politics. But after the circus is over, realising the clowns are the people running our country is a terrifying.
PhoenixDark said:
Some guy? He's one of the most connected republican bloggers/media people. We shall see
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Like I said about, I wouldn'tbe surprised with that outcome. I agree, we shall see. But a prediction is still a prediction.
 
Jackben said:
True, but he was dumb enough to say this in the first place and THEN relate it to Romney's VP...

It's like in the animal kingdom when a pack abandons a sick/crazed animal. I except when the powers that be truly weigh down on him he will bow out to great shame.



That is one thing you can say about American politics. But after the circus is over, realising the clowns are the people running our country is a terrifying.Like I said about, I wouldn'tbe surprised with that outcome. I agree, we shall see. But a prediction is still a prediction.
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He's only got 24 hours, so by tomorrow we'll know.
 
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He says he's not backing down and going on.

McCaskell wants him to stick around, saying the national party should come in and invalidate a state's choice. But, she probably got a big boost from it.
 
McCaskil benefits either way. Either he stays and gives her a chance to win due to female vote, or he gets ousted and the religious right revolts
 
CharlieDigital said:
Still head-scratchingly stupid. "Forcible" rape? As opposed to "consensual" rape?
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Forcible rape. As opposed to rape where she was drunk and taken advantage of, or rape where she wanted to say no but was scared or intimidated. A good window into these people's mindsets:

"A real life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated."

- Bill Napoli, former South Dakota Senator

He was explaining the sort of situation he would allow an abortion in. The point of these things is to redefine what is really rape and who are acceptable victims to an almost unobtainable standard. This is why feminists on GAF push back so hard when people on try to demarcate between "rape" and "rape rape". We weren't joking when we said this was actually a thing people believe or that the attempts to separate "rape" and "rape-rape" were done for a reason.

And note the Catch-22: Only real rape victims, narrowly construed, are allowed to have abortions. But in the case of real rape, women don't get pregnant.

So no woman can have abortions.
 
An interesting look at what's happening:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/08/republicans-see-few-ways-avoid-loss-todd-akin/55954/

Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin said women who got pregnant from a rape weren't really raped, and all kinds of Republicans have condemned him for it: Mitt Romney, Scott Brown, Karl Rove, Michelle Malkin, and Sarah Steelman, who came in third in the primary against Akin. (Update: Brown has called on Akin to quit the race.) But is there anything the party can do about it?

For now, probably not. Akin has until Tuesday to voluntarily quit the race and let Republicans pick a different nominee to run against Sen. Claire McCaskill, the most vulnerable Senate Democrat this year. That probably won't happen. NBC News' First Read reports that Akin will probably stick with it because:

Akin believes this race is 'providential' and even if Akin was ready to get out, his wife would never let him quit. The person with knowledge of Akin’s political operation adds: 'She makes him seem like the reasonable one.'

Akin's campaign is being run by his son, and his wife is his "most influential adviser," Politico's David Catanese reports. That's why some Republicans think the statement he put out saying he "misspoke" didn't really address his most offensive claim. Catanese reports that Missouri Republicans made calls to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Romney's campaign to figure out what to do. One suggested Akin just hide in a closet until the election. "Asked to assess the level of worry, one Republican elected official replied, 'Most have moved past worrying to conceding,'" Politico reports.

But they have a little more time to convince Akin to quit. Akin has until September 25 to ask for a court order to be removed from the ballot if he agrees to pay the cost of printing new ballots, First Read notes. It's possible Akin could still beat McCaskill, but that could be a loss in its own way. "Even if Akin hangs on to win, [it] means GOP will be stuck with a moron in Senate who will embarrass party for 6 years," the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein tweets.
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Nothing the GOP does surprises me anymore. I'm convinced they're just trying to see what they can get away with at this point. Trying to see just how batshit insane can they be and still get their brainwashed / clueless support base to still vote for them.
 
XiaNaphryz said:
Also, wasn't their philosophies/platforms pretty much reversed back then compared to now?
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Yes, at the time of Lincoln the republicans were the more big government liberals while democrats were states rights southern based conservatives.

In fact Teddy Roosevelt, a republican was one of the most liberal presidents in American history.
 
Demon Ice said:
Nothing the GOP does surprises me anymore. I'm convinced they're just trying to see what they can get away with at this point. Trying to see just how batshit insane can they be and still get their brainwashed / clueless support base to still vote for them.
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Absolutely, this one candidate expresses the view of every member of the GOP. All the other republicans that came out condeming the statement are just trying to cover up their true motives.

</end sarcasm>

I am embarrased that this idiot was even in the race. It is uninformed, insensitive, and a million other bad adjectives.
 
If Akin stays in the race, the GOP will not be spending the $5 million per-race that they have set aside to advertise for him.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/20120820source_funding_drying_up_for_missouri_candidate/srvc=home&position=recent

WASHINGTON &#8212; A Missouri Republican Senate candidate under pressure to abandon his campaign after saying that women&#8217;s bodies can prevent pregnancy when they are victims of "legitimate rape" is running into money trouble.

A National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee official tells The Associated Press that the group&#8217;s head, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, called Rep. Todd Akin on Monday. The official says that Cornyn told Akin that $5 million in advertising the committee had set aside for the Missouri race would be spent elsewhere.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversation was private.

Akin is running against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. He has apologized for the comments, but said Monday he is refusing to leave the race. A message seeking comment on fundraising was left with Akin&#8217;s campaign.
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Tex117 said:
Absolutely, this one candidate expresses the view of every member of the GOP. All the other republicans that came out condeming the statement are just trying to cover up their true motives.

</end sarcasm>

That said, as a independent who leans Republican, I am embarrased that this idiot was even in the race. It is uninformed, insensitive, and a million other bad adjectives.
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It seems to me it's a Republican agenda to limit abortion though. So how is he different from the party in this regard?
 
Tex117 said:
Absolutely, this one candidate expresses the view of every member of the GOP. All the other republicans that came out condeming the statement are just trying to cover up their true motives.

</end sarcasm>

I am embarrased that this idiot was even in the race. It is uninformed, insensitive, and a million other bad adjectives.
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You should be embarrassed he's a US Representative then too.
 
Tex117 said:
Absolutely, this one candidate expresses the view of every member of the GOP. All the other republicans that came out condeming the statement are just trying to cover up their true motives.

</end sarcasm>

I am embarrased that this idiot was even in the race. It is uninformed, insensitive, and a million other bad adjectives.
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You lean Republican. The same party in 2012 of no?

I'd love to hear your rationale for having such a view.
 
STAYING IN:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/todd-akin-were-going-to-stay-in

Todd Akin told Sean Hannity on Monday that he will not drop out of the Missouri Senate race, despite pressure from Republican officals.

"I'm announcing today that we're going to stay in," he said. He added that he was aware of Tuesday's 5 PM deadline for him to drop out in order for the state party to replace him on the ballot.
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Welp, we're going to have divided government no matter what now.
 
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