John R. Houk
© August 27, 2012
I post on a few blogs. May central blog is SlantRight 2.0. One of the social blogs I posted “Get Over the Gaffe and STILL Support Akin for Senate”. I posted this title at several blogs including of course SlantRight 2.0; however the place I have received the most feedback via comments is at my AC2C blog.
At first the comments were somewhat split with differing opinions between men and women. The women wanted Akin to quit his bid for the Senate seat currently held by Left Wing Senator Claire McCaskill. The men tended to be more forgiving of Akin’s faux pas “legitimate rape” and were ready to move forward with Pro-Life Akin against pro-baby murder Claire McCaskill.
Republican Tea Party supporter Sarah Palin was not forgiving as a woman even noting that if it was possible she would support a Third Party candidate in the hope that both Akin and McCaskill would lose. I am thinking Palin was talking about her Tea Party endorsed GOP candidate Sarah Steelman who lost the GOP Primary to Todd Akin in Missouri.
I am a huge Sarah Palin supporter but I think she has gotten wrong on this one. Akins voting record from State Congress to the U.S. Congress has been one of Pro-Life and Conservative. I was with Palin on her endorsement of Sarah Steelman; however a majority of the Missouri GOP voters decided with Todd Akin. AND until Akin spoke in a public interview before engaging his brain was ahead in the poll predictions by 10 points. After the Leftist media and a number of prominent Republicans (including Governor Palin) went on the dump Akin train he sank to 10 points behind McCaskill.
Here’s what I am going to do: I am going to share the AC2C comments to date (more may be forth coming). Feel free to add your two-cents about Todd Akin continuing or bowing out of the Senate race. If I resided in Missouri at this point I would be an Akin supporter come Election Day 2012.
JRH 8/27/12
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Comments on ‘Get Over the Gaffe and STILL Support Akin for Senate’
Comment by Mark Currier on Thursday
This is exactly what I've been saying all week! The man is on the ballot. It's either him or McCaskill. The choice is obvious.
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Comment by Michael Trivisani on Thursday
I am a little conflicted...should he go or should he stay. Everyone says something stupid from time to time and most of the time it is not what the person really believes. When a republican, however, has a mishap of the tong, it is 'off with his head!' A democrat can actually be accused of rape and remain president. I am leaning that he should stay and fight to the death, instead of bowing to it. His battle could shed more light on the double standards of the Liberal MSM and the democrat party.
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Comment by Jamie Shafer on Thursday
Laura - please read this article that explains a great deal. Yes, women's bodies can render a REAL rape without pregnancy consequences. http://americanvision.org/6278/legitimate-political-gang-rape/#.UDZ...
Please inform yourself. I was going to share your remarks until I hit the comments that showed your lack of knowledge of the situation. Too bad.
And why drag in Crony Capitalism - a real non sequitur in my opinion.
What this whole Akin thing is about is the embarrassment on the part of the economics-only crowd that social issues discussions cause them. I hear this in my own family from good conservatives. I got news for them: I know people who will ONLY vote for Republicans based on social issues!
Respectfully,
Jamie Shafer
PS Of course I support Akin - and the sooner everyone shuts up the better. I think Republicans have a lot more to worry about in the upcoming days and weeks.
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Comment by Michael Trivisani on Thursday
Shuts up?! Is that the opposite of Blog up? I respectively disagree. The more talk there is the better. Like I said, his battle could shed more light on the double standards of the Liberal MSM and the democrat party.
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Comment by Mark Brocious on Thursday
Mr. Akin should STAND HIS GROUND. One honest mistake does NOT make him a bad person or mean that he should quit the race. He is a MUCH better candidate than Clare McCaskill who is a liberal and voted for ObamaCare. His winning in November is vital to taking control of the U.S. Senate and possibly giving Romney (if he wins) a sure majority (it is possible). Need I go on?????
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Comment by Michael Trivisani on Thursday
Mark, I am starting to believe if the GOP gets behind Akin, they just might score points.
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Comment by Laura J Alcorn National Director on Thursday
Jamie,
Man, you really told me, after all I'm a woman.
The problem is that he said 'legitimate rape'. Rape is rape. It is an act of violence and there are no varying degrees of rape.
It's not about how many women get pregnant from rape.
And yes, I agree with the stats from americanvision that you asked me to read. Most rapes do not result in pregnancy. Getting pregnant is determined by how sexually active the man has been. The more sex the more the sperm will swim and penetrate the egg.
Getting pregnant has nothing to do with rape, legitimate rape, first time sex, bad sex, or good sex.
There were 2 other people ready to step into Akin place to defeat McCaskill. Akin decided to stay in the race and now he's running 10 points behind. Until he make that 'gaffe' he it was 43 to 44.
He also lost about 10M in campaign funding and put the women's social issue in front that Obama is running on.
Here's the big thing: Like Mark said, If he loses to McCaskill, that will be one less Senator we have to take over the Senate and defeat Obamacare.
He's playing politics like he play with his genitalia.
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Comment by Van Scheurich on Friday
Looks like a Texas judge is on Akins's side also!
It is now time to defund Planned Parenthood:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/08/22/court_rules_ac...
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/08/22/court_rules_ac...
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Comment by Paul Schmehl on Friday
It was not a gaffe. It was a horrible choice of words that many found insulting to women - not just liberals were outraged. That should tell you something.
If Akin stays in, then certainly conservatives should vote for him rather than McCaskill. But Akin should never forget his stupid comments, nor should conservatives let him forget them.
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Comment by Jim Coles on Friday
I'm from Kansas City...still have much family up there...still own property there (I'd like to sell it...a big home on a private lake, two docks, now priced at $350K below the pre-crash value...) I vote in Alabama so I can't add my election day support to him...but the reality is we're better off with the stupid, clumsiest Republican who ever walked the face of the Earth than we are with Claire McCaskill on her best day.
The women in my family are pissed at him for his stupid word choice but they're still voting for him if he stays in.
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Comment by Sara James on Friday
It wasn't a gaffe, it illuminated the shallow thought process that goes on in this man's mind. He clearly elaborated on his belief that women's bodies will repel sperm that is not welcomed (you know, if you aren't lubed up enough it will die or something.)
Come on. He makes the Republican Party look like its members live in caves and believe in the Easter Bunny, too.
Come on. He makes the Republican Party look like its members live in caves and believe in the Easter Bunny, too.
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Comment by Michael Trivisani on Friday
I never heard of this guy...Akin, and now he is the hot topic...of the day? Of the week? How long? It sounds like it is McCaskill or Akin. How long has Akin been around? Would it be normal for him to talk that way? Just reading here there sure seems to be conflicting opinions. It is going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
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Comment by Sara James on Friday
Akin has a history of being very pro-life, his campaign is run by his campaign manager son and his wife is his closest adviser. He defeated Sarah Palin's choice for the seat, Sarah Steelman, and another primary contender. He's not so much a tea party type guy as he is known for being very pro-life. Why he is such a lightening rod right now is because Missouri was a seat that could have been a loss for the Democrats, and we need the Democrats to lose the Senate if we want to halt the march to emulate China. Missouri is trending red in recent elections so it looked to be a pick up for the GOP. All he had to do was not do anything stupid until November. But then he opened his mouth and his brains fell out.
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Comment by Laura J Alcorn National Director on Friday
He's a hot topic because he is COULD have taken out McCaskill in the Senate. We need seven seats and there are only nine slots open. With what he has said, he narrows the number of winning and taking over the Senate.
In our local GOP, we had a similar situation. Our candidate went crazy (he later committed suicide) and would not step aside. The Dem won.
These are races, we MUST win. It has nothing to do with abortion, or women's issues. That is what Obama is running on. We do not need to go there. We should not go there.
It is about winning the race, political strategy, and polling, Akin was tied with McCaskill. He is now 10 points below.
Sara is correct. Akins thought process demeans women and he does not understand sexual behavior or he would not have said woman can control pregnancies.
In the information age, this makes him look out of touch and he doesn't represent the majority of people, who know better.
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Comment by Michael Trivisani on Friday
OK, ummmm, it sounds like Akin is a winner in everything up to the point he said what he said? Is there no chance for him to win now? He won against two others in the primary and that say a lot. Is it a problem in Missouri that he is pro-life? This can't be fixed? There is no way for Akin to fix it himself? If it were a democrat that made that slip, the democrat party would have promoted the person.
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Comment by Laura J Alcorn National Director on Friday
FOX 2 News in St. Louis just reported an ongoing investigation to a threat against MO Senate Candidate Akin
ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – The FBI and US Capitol police are investigating a reported threat against Congressman Akin. This is an active investigation.
Police are not willing to release more details. At this time authorities are keeping security operations and procedures confidential.
FOX 2 is working on gathering more details in this threat. They will be posted as this story develops.
Updated:
“Capitol police are working with an outside law enforcement agency regarding threatening contact with our official office. The office of Congressman Akin has received threats of rape of his official staff, family and the Congressman himself along with suggestions that individuals should die.”
Akin has been in the national spotlight this week. His comments on FOX 2′s Jaco Report last Sunday have had some calling for him to bow out of the race for US Senate. During the program he was asked if rape could ever be a reason to have an abortion. He said, “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”
MO GOP heavyweights Blunt, Ashcroft, Bond, Talent & Danforth have also asked Akin to quit the race. Even Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has asked Akin to bow out.
Despite calls from fellow Republicans for him to withdraw, the deadline for him to drop out passed on Tuesday. In a radio show Tuesday, Akin said he’s staying in the race because “there are people who fe...
The cynic in me says that it will be 20-something year old vet and he'll be taken into custody for mental health issues.
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Comment by Sara James on Friday
Michael, yes, he was a winner in the primary. But now it is the general election and more people will vote in November. The pro-life contingent comes out heavy in primaries, and he rode that wave of support. It won't be the same electorate in November.
His comment makes him look like the neanderthal that Democrats love to paint older white men as. Frankly, as the mother of three sons, and wife to a middle aged white male, I am tired of society painting them as caricatures: stupid and bumbling or arrogant and selfish.
He basically opens himself up to all those caricatures. He has no chance of winning in November.
His comment makes him look like the neanderthal that Democrats love to paint older white men as. Frankly, as the mother of three sons, and wife to a middle aged white male, I am tired of society painting them as caricatures: stupid and bumbling or arrogant and selfish.
He basically opens himself up to all those caricatures. He has no chance of winning in November.
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Comment by Michael Trivisani on Friday
Sara, Well, as much as he could have helped with taking over the Senate, if he is inclined talk first and think second, maybe it is just time he retire, but from what I am reading, he in it to the end. Maybe it is time to just chalk this one in the lost column and move on. It must sting a little, so close and all. We can still pull it off....I think.
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I've noticed the comments here on whether Akin should stay in or get out are somewhat divided between male and female including AC2C National Director Laura J. Alcorn. The gals went Akin out and the guys say it was stupid but forgive him.
I tend to still believe he should stand his ground especially since has apologized and has humbled himself publicly.
One thing to keep in mind is that Akin has been a career politician. Now a lot of tried and true Tea Party Conservatives would say that is all the more reason to get rid of Akin; however I view the career politician that has marketed himself as a pro-life candidate has a history of not screwing up in public or he would not be an oft reelected politician. He screws up publicly as a pro-life candidate and the entire Republican Party wants to sack him. I guess the "sack'em" attitude seems to be over the top.
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Comment by Laura J Alcorn National Director 12 hours ago
Missouri Voters Like Mitt’s Small Gov’t, Lower Taxes BUT Akin Loses 9 for Not Wanting to Abort a Child of Rape
August 25, 2012
By Maggie
Like most Conservatives, I wanted US Congressman Todd Akin to step out of the US Senate race for Missouri when he abhorrently used the “L” word (“legitimate”) about the act of rape. At the time Akin had a nine-point lead over one of the most incompetent Senators in the country, Claire McCaskill. I’m skipping over the details of Akin refusing to bow out, and the shunning given him by the GOP. My opinion: IF Akin is the candidate, we MUST get onboard and support him.
I understand that “Independents” are thought to rule the day, but if Independents want smaller government, lower taxes and less spending, why would they shift to McCaskill?
It’s the same thing as saying:
I want to fix America’s financial crisis and would have voted for Aiken for that reason, but now that I know he believes a child of rape should not be aborted, I will vote for McCaskill and let our economic freedom go to hell. I will support continuing Democrat-control of Congress
Abortion is legal in this country and that is not going to change. Most doctors and hospitals will immediately give a rape victim the “morning after pill,” if wanted, and all the other longstanding procedures are available to allow a woman to do what she thinks is right – so why would a once-Akin-supporter give up the economy and a chance to gain control of the Senate for something that will change nothing about our economic freedom?
He proposed H.R. 6000 to validate the immigration status of aliens receiving federal benefits, voted for the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (passed House), for the repeal of Obamacare (passed), for the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act (passed), against Project Labor Agreements (passed), for Ryan Budget (passed), for returning water to California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Act – to heck with the Delta Smelt act (passed), for the development of Shale Oil Resources (passed), for prohibiting Insider Trading by Government Officials (passed), for amending the budget baseline (passed), against the President’s authority to raise the debt limit (passed), for limiting regulation on Farm Dust (passed), for Congressional approval of regulations (passed).
On the slim chance that some of these may or did make it to the Senate floor, do you think McCaskill would support any one of them? She will not. I don’t agree with a few of Akins votes, but I agree with all of the above and anyone wanting smaller government and U.S. sovereignty should agree with them as well, and reward Aikin for them, because most are lying in a drawer somewhere in the Senate where Claire McCaskill, agreeing with Harry Reid, thinks it is just swell not to bring them up for a vote and allow The People to exercise their full power through their elected officials.
A vote for Claire McCaskill is a vote for Obama’s sponsored infanticide. As an Illinois State Senator, BO was the only legislator to vote NOT to give life saving measures to an aborted child born alive. A vote for Claire McCaskill is a vote for EPA regulations, illegal Presidential Executive Orders and Signing Statements. A vote for Claire McCaskill is a vote for continual downgrades and dumbing-down of education, the DREAM Act and no American energy independence.
Why would a true small government voter abandon Akin at a time when our future hangs on making smart, Constitutional decisions?
If the GOP can get Akin out and come up with a candidate that has a chance of beating McCaskill, that’s well and good. If not, get behind the voting record of Todd Akin. We have everything to lose. Don’t be a part of a continuing nightmare by voting for Claire McCaskill. See details of the Mason Dixon poll at Hot Air where Romney leads, but a Rasmussen Poll tells a different story.
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Comment by Jim Coles 10 hours ago
I kind of think Akin will pull it out ... or rather, McCaskill will tank because the folks are just tired of her insanity...either way, I think Akin wins...and when he does I hope he makes the RNC/congressional GOP leadership pay a price for each vote he casts to support the agenda...Akin a lump of not-smart on legs but he's our lump of not-smart...and on his worst day he's better for us than the Dems' lump of really stupid all the time is for anyone...
Of course we have to support Akin and we should thump on the career pols who turned on his so quickly...but not so hard that it stops our road to victory.
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Comment by Sara James 8 hours ago
There are a LOT of people who would have good voting records if they got into the Senate. However, they will never get there because of one reason or another, mistakes they have made in the past will haunt them and no amount of mea culpas is going to change that.
Akin's "gaffe" was in fact, a window to his thought processes. You do NOT make such an egregious statement if you don't believe it....it's not something that just sits on the tongue waiting to be said. It has to be thought first. It wasn't made off-handedly.
Thankfully I don't live in Missouri so I won't have to pull a lever or push a button for Akin. But there is no way on earth I would send him a dollar. I disagree that "of course we have to support Akin" -- oh really? I'm tired of being manipulated - back and forth - someone says "do this" and then, the next day, it's "no, do that". I don't look to Mike Huckabee to tell me how I should think. I'm an adult and I come to my own decisions. Sometimes I just get a sense of a person, and that's enough. God gives us intuition for a reason.
I'm still very much hoping that he lets someone else who actually passed Biology 101 take his place on the ticket.
Akin's "gaffe" was in fact, a window to his thought processes. You do NOT make such an egregious statement if you don't believe it....it's not something that just sits on the tongue waiting to be said. It has to be thought first. It wasn't made off-handedly.
Thankfully I don't live in Missouri so I won't have to pull a lever or push a button for Akin. But there is no way on earth I would send him a dollar. I disagree that "of course we have to support Akin" -- oh really? I'm tired of being manipulated - back and forth - someone says "do this" and then, the next day, it's "no, do that". I don't look to Mike Huckabee to tell me how I should think. I'm an adult and I come to my own decisions. Sometimes I just get a sense of a person, and that's enough. God gives us intuition for a reason.
I'm still very much hoping that he lets someone else who actually passed Biology 101 take his place on the ticket.
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Comment by Laura J Alcorn National Director 2 hours ago
The Left’s Version of ‘Legitimate Rape’
The progressives have picked a spectacularly bad time to attack Republicans over insensitivity to rape. While the left continues its obsession with Todd Akin, its own hero, Julian Assange, is doing his best to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face rape charges.
The leading lights of the left have contributed to Assange’s defense fund and paid for his bail; which enabled him to flee prosecution and seek asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London. Assange’s escape was made possible by bail money from leftist director Ken Loach, leftist socialite Jemima Khan and Maxim publisher Felix Dennis.
With the Assange case, the left has shown that it has its own version of legitimate rape. Prominent progressives have ridiculed Assange’s victims and claimed that the assaults on them did not constitute legitimate rape. Or as Whoopi Goldberg once put it, “rape-rape.”
Michael Moore, discussing the case where Assange raped a sleeping woman, told the BBC that the assault was only a “so-called crime” and suggested that it “wouldn’t actually be a crime if it was committed in Britain.” Moore has shown his faith in Assange’s legitimate rape by donating $20,000 to Assange’s defense fund.
Recently Michael Moore teamed up with Oliver “Hitler was misunderstood” Stone to write a New York Times editorial that claimed Ecuador’s refusal to hand over a rape suspect was “in accordance with important principles of international human rights” and ladled on conspiracy theories to avoid dealing with the fact that the left had chosen to back a progressive rapist over his victims.
Keith Olbermann went even further than Moore, retweeting a link from Bianca Jagger to an article written by a neo-Nazi Holocaust denier that named Assange’s victims and accused them of working for the CIA. UK Left-wing activist Craig Murray named one of the victims, prefacing his statement by saying, “Let us look at the conduct of these women.”
Daniel Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame, branded the rape charges false and slanderous. Naomi Wolf suggested that Assange’s accusers don’t deserve to have their anonymity protected by rape shield laws and accused them of “using feminist-inspired rhetoric and law to assuage what appears to be personal injured feelings.”
George Galloway, who became a hero to the American left for his defense of Saddam Hussein, said that even if the two women were telling the truth, the only thing that Assange was really guilty of was “bad sexual etiquette.” Galloway is currently a part-time Muslim and it is hard to say whether his notion that rape is just “bad sexual etiquette” is rooted in him being a bad human being or in the pages of the Koran.
Ecuador’s leftist leader Rafael Correa echoed Galloway, saying that “the case would not in his view constitute criminal behavior in Latin America.” That might explain why over half of Ecuador’s schoolgirls have reported experiencing sexual abuse in schools. It might also explain why Daniel Camargo Barbosa, one of the worst rapists and serial killers in history, chose, like Assange, to escape to Ecuador and was able to kill 71 girls there in two years.
Domestic abuse and sexual assault are commonplace in Ecuador and most rapes go unreported. That, along with its left-wing government, makes Ecuador a natural destination of choice for Julian Assange. And the horrors in Ecuador have not stopped the left from holding a vigil outside Ecuador’s embassy in support of Assange and Ecuador’s leftist regime.
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Comment by Michael Trivisani 20 minutes ago
Laura, what a great read. However, leading with Michael Moore's picture wasn't a good start to my blogging morning...lol. I have come to understand that there is a fundamental difference with how people view the transgressions of both political parties and their ideologies. Expected and unexpected. What is perceived as normal or not. An analogy that comes to mind is gas prices. They have been so high for so long, three dollar and above per gallon has become the norm. We have been trained to live with it. We have learned to live with what the democrat party has become and much of the lessons have come from the Bill Clinton's presidency. Here we have someone that wasn't running for office, he was a sitting president having sexual relations with a very young woman in the White House where his wife was not far away. That transgression was only the tip of the sexberg, yet Bill Clinton survived, elected to a second term and now he is being honored to speak at the Democrat National Convention to nominate none other than the Obama, a living transgression.
I can only comment about Akin in general terms and based on what little I know of him. My first inclination was that he should fall on the sward for the good of the party. Now I wonder if it would be better for the party to get behind one of their own. If Akin is steadfast and goes forward with his campaign, stand and fight, the party should stand with him.
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I did some minor editing with spell check. Abbreviations and misspelling are common in Comments so no impunity is intended.
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