Representative Todd Akin Is Symptomatic Of The New GOP

Well by now I'm sure many of you have heard about the incendiary comments made by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO). Mr. Akin is the Republican running to take the seat currently held by Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in the United States Senate. Akin, who on Sunday suggested that women who are "legitimately raped" cannot get pregnant, has battled off calls from within his own party to drop his bid for the Senate.

Vice Presidential pick Paul Ryan (R-WI) co-sponsored bills with Akin that would restrict federally-funded abortions, even for victims of rape and incest. Ryan stood by his vote in a T.V.interview, but declined to elaborate, saying simply "rape is rape". However, he himself made a distinction in the legislation he co-sponsored with Akin to categorize "forcible rape"? When pressed Ryan dodged the issue by again repeating "rape is rape." While Mitt Romney excludes abortion restrictions on cases of rape, incest, or when the health of other is at stake, Ryan does not. In fact, the Republican National Convention platform has a plank that embraces the Ryan view, and excludes rape and incest as legitimate reasons for an abortion. This plank persists despite the last three Republican Nominee's, George W. Bush, John McCain, and now Mitt Romney who have openly opposed it.

Some conservatives rallied around Akin. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins faulted GOP leaders for trying to quickly shove Akin aside. He called Akin’s comments “indefensible,” but noted that “when others have made mistakes, you haven’t seen the entire Republican establishment abandon him. I think it’s somewhat suspect.” Perkins compared Akin’s situation to that of former senator George Allen (R-Va.), who came under fire during his 2006 reelection campaign for calling an aide to his opponent “macaca,” but didn’t face immediate calls to drop out.

How do you justify one highly offensive remark, with another highly offensive remark? Well let me tell you, despite all the (in my humble opinion), false outrage by the Right against Rep. Akin lies a Republican base that sees absolutely nothing wrong with what Akin said. Oh it was mistake BUT, the comment was ugly BUT, It was regrettable BUT... But What? The man said some rape was legitimate! He apologised, it was a poor choice of words, and then goes on to tell people some women "use rape" as an "excuse" to get abortions. Really?

Stop for a minute. Should we be outraged because of what he said, continues to say, or his refusal to amend his radical Pro-Choice values? Or, should we accept the fact that this man simply said what he thinks, and believes in his heart to be true, despite its poisonous political overtones? For all their hard core indignation, the Republican party is now stuck with a man whose Pro-Choice religious convictions should portend his downfall, but will it? This kind of scurrilous statement should be drawing all the fire it has gotten, but for hard core Republicans this was just a slip of the tongue. It is certainly not worthy of the man leaving his Senate race. Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan as his running mate to appeal to these people, the legislative association between Ryan and Akin is simply icing on the cake. I spoke of Paul Ryan's poor record on womens rights a few days ago, if you have any doubt at all, you should see how much this emphasizes it.

This is the new face of the Republican Party. They boo uninsured people for not taking personal responsability for their health care, when they can barely make ends meet. They boo a gay soldier serving in Afghanistan who was putting his life on the line every day so they could voice their hate. They want to destroy the social safety net in this country, by telling lies and misrepresentations. They now want to give rape legitamacy in order to promote their radical views against abortion.They do all these things, AND THEY DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT. Well if you subcribe to their view of the world, you know who to vote for. However, if you don't, you need to stand up on November 6th and let these small minded fear mongers know that this is not the kind of America you want to live in.

Women's Rights, Another Negative For Ryan

It goes without saying that in the one short week Paul Ryan has become Romney's V.P. pick, he has become a lightning rod for all the radical views he brings to Romney's table. Turning Medicare into a voucher program, and pushing the privatization of Social Security, are just the tip of the Ryan iceberg. I thought it was particularly cowardly of Mr. Ryan, on his first trip to Florida, to take the stage while hiding behind his 78 year old mothers skirt. To add insult to injury, he did it while standing in front of a sign declaring "Protect and Strengthen Medicare". He stared straight faced at the large audience of seniors and proclaimed, “like a lot of Americans, when I think about Medicare, it’s not just a program. It’s not just a bunch of numbers. It’s what my mom relies on. It’s what my grandma had.” All the while promoting a budget proposal that would eviscerate the very program mom and grandma currently have, it really was something to see.

Medicare aside, Ryan is also no friend of women's rights. He has consistently called for ending federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and voted against a measure to allow women in the military to receive abortions in military hospitals. Ryan has earned a perfect rating from the National Right to Life Committee for his votes during his 14 years in Congress. The National Abortion Rights Action League tallied 59 votes that Ryan took on abortion-related bills. On each measure, he voted against abortion rights. "I'm as pro-life as a person gets," Ryan told The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, in 2010. Shortly after the formal announcement of Ryan's selection on Aug. 11, Obama's team tweeted that Ryan would ban abortions even in cases of rape and incest and had sponsored a bill that would outlaw some forms of birth control. The Democratic campaign emailed female supporters to stress Ryan's record on women's issues, including his vote against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill Obama signed when he took office.

So I guess if you are Missouri Republican Senate Candidate Representative Paul Akin, who claimed this weekend that "legitimate rape" victims seldom get pregnant. First I would ask for a definition of "legitimate rape"? but then I would be rest assured no matter what "kind" of rape it was, Romney's V.P. pick would be against an abortion in that case, and that of incest, or regardless of risks to the health of mother.  As the V.P. pick he has backtracked to Romney's view to outlaw all abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother the "official" stance of the Romney-Ryan campaign.

Ryan was also one of several dozen Republican co-sponsors last year of a bill called the Sanctity of Human Life Act. The measure, which never made it to the House floor, would give a fertilized egg the same legal rights as a person. Abortion rights groups say that would effectively outlaw all abortions, as well as some types of contraception and in-vitro fertilization. Efforts to implement such "personhood" laws at state levels have been rejected even in the most conservative settings. Plain and simple, women have no friend in the Romney-Ryan campaign. The sign below says it all.