Murkowski Urges Akin to Step Down
Republican War on Women? What War on Women? There’s no War on Women. That’s just delusional Democrats trying to manufacture controversy and put words in the mouths of poor ol’ Republicans. Ohhhh, what those desperate Dems won’t sink to.
That’s what Republicans would have you believe. Then, there’s what actually happens, and what comes out of their mouths.
And it’s not just Republican men, although they’ve gotten the bulk of the attention. Back in June, a group of 24 Republican House women – a sort of firewall, if you will, to protect the image of the Party with women by saying that this whole anti-woman stuff is just fabricated by the Democrats.
“I believe, right now, the so-called war on the women is a myth [and] purely political posturing,” Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), who chairs the new group, said in a recent interview with POLITICO. “I think we do have our work cut out for us. The greatest role model we can be for other politicians is to be out there and be seen.”
The latest incident, which goes beyond the boundaries of sexism, and straight in to misogyny from the GOP came from Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri who is now running for the U.S. Senate. Here’s the full quote, wherein he attempts to explain why he opposes abortion, even in the case of rape:
“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 of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”
Oh, my “akin” uterus.
It’s unclear to what “doctors” Akin is referring, but clearly they’re the either the imaginary ones in his own head, or ones that don’t believe in actual science. Did I mention that Rep. Akin is, in fact, on the House Committee of Science, Space and Technology? Yes, really.
And what exactly is “legitimate” rape, anyway? Can I assume if pregnancy is the result of a rape, then I wasn’t “really” or “legitimately” raped? Maybe it was consensual, and I just didn’t realize it.
Someone clearly failed to tell Akin that a woman’s ovaries don’t excrete some kind of magical stork repellant during times of stress. And even if the mysterious Stork-Be-Gone somehow didn’t work “or something,” then OK, Akin concedes, “some” punishment should be exacted on the rapist, but abortion should still be off the table. You’ll notice that the actual woman in the equation doesn’t really factor in to the whole thing in.
Fortunately, there has been an unbelievable amount of blowback on Mr. Akin for his ignorant, inexcusable, and horrific statement. Many in his party have asked him to step down from his senate race against the Democrat Claire McCaskill in Missouri.
Alaska’s Senator Lisa Murkowski is the latest Republican Senator to call for Akin to remove himself. Murkowski is still trying to mend fences with Alaskan women after a bad vote on the Blunt amendment (which she said she later regretted) and a bad vote on the Fair Paycheck Act (which she did NOT say she regretted).
“I join many Alaskans in finding Rep. Todd Akin’s comments incredibly offensive and I strongly encourage him to step aside,” Murkowski said on Twitter.
The Anchorage Daily News followed up by phone.
“I am stunned that an individual who is running for public office, that an individual who is in office, would make that statement,” Murkowski said.
Haven’t heard any rwnj come out and say the views expressed by candidate Akin are not necessarily the views of right wing nut jobs as a whole. I did read an editorial that accuses mainstream media of hating women because the three national networks refused to change primetime Monday programming to carry Ann Romney’s convention speech. Rethugs were so upset they moved her speech to Tuesday night so more rill “mericans can ignore it. Personally,I would be enthralled with her tales of how to survive a whole year on less than 400 thousand bucks. Sorta brings a tear to me old eyes. Maybe she planned to butcher her Olympic equine, tax break to feed her brood. Of course,thanks to Mitts ability to make millions off other people’s hard work,they can afford the choicest cuts of horsemeat and probably have them delivered. C’est la vie.
Yep, once Aiken was so tactless as to say out loud what many of the Far Right believe, the gargoyles would start popping out. As an example, Mother Jones is reporting that a far Right Christian group, American Vision, published the following on its website in defense of Aiken, “We, conservatives, all agree that millions of women annually conspire to commit murder on their unborn babies. So do you expect me to feel it unacceptable to believe they would lie about why? This is political correctness run amok. Why, after all, would someone willing to kill out of convenience not also lie for various reasons out of convenience?” …. So, to use their own words, these Aiken defenders believe that “millions of women” are lying about being raped in order to get abortions. So, if they weren’t really raped (or the rape wasn’t “legitimate”), these women, according to Aiken and American Vision, must have really wanted it. (http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/christian-group-accuses-gop-political-gang-rape-against-todd-akin) Lisa shouldn’t be able to get away with a self-righteous little rant that merely duplicates what the leaders of the Republican Party have already said. These are largely supporters of her party talking. The presumptive Vice Presidential nominee of her own party, while wisely keeping his mouth shut about the Aiken “secret sperm shield” theory, believes that rape victims should nonetheless be forced to carry the pregnancy to term, which in some ways is even a worse view. If Murkowski has a shred of integrity, she needs to publicly kick the whole bunch of them to the curb…..but then I suppose she’s too busy right now running errands for Mitch McConnell.
I saw a bumper sticker on a truck, yes here in Alaska, in the mid 90’s. “If men could become pregnant abortion would be a sacrament”
It’s par for the course these days, and that’s SHAMEFUL:
http://www.alternet.org/8-worst-things-republicans-have-said-about-rape-sex-and-womens-bodies?akid=9265.165659.BMG6gM&rd=1&src=newsletter698630&t=5&paging=off
Read it, share it, and vote these teatards out of office in November.
heu murkoswki…save the semantics…you are always STUNNED…I have never heard any word overused as much as you do…why do you look like a STUNNED deer in the headlights??
too much COKE?!?!?
alaska is STUNNED that you would lie
STUNNED that you would endorse Holder
STUNNED that after Fast and Furious you never asked Holder to step down
STUNNED that you want to give away U.S. Sovereignty to the UN through LOST
STUNNED that you voted to illegally detain American citizens with NDAA
STUNNED that you lie and cheat and steal natives resources through Sealaska bill
STUNNED that you can even live with your despicable self!!!!
murkowski is a lying cheat of a RINO she has nothing to say that is of any value…she should be locked up for treason and throw away the key!!!
That so few people seem to realize the incredible irony of the republicans on one hand ranting to get government off the backs of the job creators and on the other hand legislating medical procedures for one particular (and easily identified ) class, that are so intrusive and authoritarian as to render the members of that class mere chattle, is in no way contradictory or – what shall I say here? – perhaps insane?
I saw an article recently that claimed that 90 million people who are qualified to vote in this next election will not. I believe it. That is almost 1/3 of our total population who do not care enough about how the future will unfold to bother thinking about the choices, let alone actually doing something about them, like go and vote.
So that leads me to speculate that the lie of all lies, the lie that keeps the perverse dynamic of elections in play, is simply a statiscal fantasy, that half the population is conservative and the other half is something else. The good old bell curve. A normal distribution. But it simply is not true.
Methinks what we need to do is seek out and find those people who do not intend to vote, and push them to the polls.
Also we should always bear in mind that sampling 1,000 or 2,000 people out of a population of 220 million is statistically incredibly weak. To assign cofidence limits of a few percent to such samples is as is so often the case, a patent lie.
Thinking about democracy raises some interesting questions. Why for example is everything predicated upon a one time event when years of policy, direction and action are at stake? Why are elections held on Tuesdays? Why aren’t elections open for a period of say 14 days?
Remember, we are not talking about the status of some ‘winning team’ after a championship game, we are talking about the nature of the future of the entire planet which we inhabit.
If we cannot even have rational debate over what the best course for the future may be, what chance have we to find such a course? I think none.
Yep, Aiken is a moron who learned his biology from bathroom graffiti. We all knew that. And what else is Lisa going to say but that she’s offended and that Aiken ought to drop out. I mean, even Palin said that. Not exactly a radical move on Lisa’s part, seeing as how the Republican leadership and the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees already said it. Self-righteous posturing after the fact means nothing. When Lisa starts acting like the independent she promised she’d be, maybe then we’ll have some news.
What a wonderful observation: “learned his biology from from bathroom graffiti”.
…uh…Lisa…like…Who the F cares what you think? Todd Aiken? He wouldn’t even listen to Joe Miller much less you. Hopefully the Rs will lose more seats and the Senate will go solidly D w/o the likes of DINO Ben Nelson and you will be even more irrelevant.
“Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Scott McAdams”
Perhaps mockery is the only answer. No longer the Republican Party but the more truly named forced birth regressive party or GOOP (Guaranteed Oppression/Obsolescence Party). I think all of Congress critters need to have forced science education before they can vote. Tested and scores published, of course, and with essay questions, not just multiple choice. Lisa, grow up and change to the Democratic Party. You do have a good brain, you just inherited the wrong party.
The sad truth is rwnj want him out of the race because he can’t win because of expressed views,and for nutters,winning trumps principles everytime.They don’t disagree with the message,they disagree with him making their position public.
Spot on.
One wonders just how gullible the rethuglican electorate really is? One is tempted to characterize them as dumber than dirt though scientifically, dirt has a fairly complex microbial biome that is vital to most other life.
Go figure.
God does have a plan for us. The RNC’s new platform that they will be voting to put into place at their convention is to have a constitutional amendment to completely ban all abortion. Forget Roe v. Wade, pfffttt. No, “WE” will change in the Constitution – but not for term limits, or equal rights for women, or limiting Congress. Nope WE will continue our centuries’ old battle to own womens’ sexual organs through legislation, WE – rich white males. History repeats itself.
Oh, but Romney and Ryan say they believe abortion after rape is okay? Where did this come from – it suddenly dropped out of their mouths this week after Akin?
Akin – women can prevent pregnancies after forcible, proven, rapes (because we cannot believe the women) so there is no reason for a provision for rape abortions in the RNC platform mentioned above, hence we come around full circle.
Run women, run, hide. Hide yourself, Hide your vaginas, Hide your uteri – the rich white males of America are still in charge of you.
Gawd.
every now and then they slip up and show there true self .
As egregious as Akin’s comment was, and as disingenuous and unbelievable his attempts to roll it back have been, it seems this is par for the course for these teatards:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/08/steve-king-never-heard-anyone-getting-pregnant-statutory-rape-incest/56014/
As for their claiming “Christian” cred for their asinine “beliefs,” I challenge any man to find one biblical reference to abortion (not that it would sway me).
I join you in that challenge, Zyxomma — and I’d open it to include any woman, too. Might be an awfully long wait for an answer, though.
Thing is, women have always been ‘wise in their ways’ and there have always been some things [she knew] that she only shared with other women…ifyaknowwhatImean.
Even though ascribed as being Divinely Inspired, I doubt if the men who wrote the Bible**, had a clue about abortion, dinosaurs, and quite a few other specifics that are part and parcel of today’s knowledge base and life. Then again, how can you fault them — how can you scribe something when you’ve not a clue in the world about… beth.
**
“God’s Secretaries”, Adam Nicolson calls them in his 2003 book: @ Amazon – http://tinyurl.com/2gd2d4
“in legitimate armed robbery, females have a way of not losing their stuff.” Steve Martin (yesterday)
Ms. Murkowski is a member of a political party which has just announced its platform. One of the “planks” would be to ban all abortions, even in case of rape or incest. How can these hypocrites condemn one person for only saying what is the avowed shared belief on an entire party. She should be ashamed.
Wherever did you get the most perfect picture expressing so much about this mealy mouthed anal orifice? He needs some of those Frownies my mom used to use eons ago.
And where were the GOP women when these subjects were being raised and discussed on the floor of the House of Representatives in early 2011? No GOP women stood up to the men. In fact, because Republicans always vote in a block, they voted for the misogynistic nonsense raised by their male colleagues. Lisa is too little and too late.
Also see Jim Wright’s Stonekettle station (now why did he name his blog that?) on this topic. Especially love his explanation about how women’s bodies repell pregnancy. If, as the right wing extremist nuts maintain, we are “intelligently created” by the Creator, then all parts were created by said Creator, even the parts that act as contraception or maybe even miscarriage. Therefore, the Creator is in favor of contraception and abortion! Let’s see the RWNJs explanation for that! Just read Jim, he says it soooo much better than I.
If you haven’t seen it, here goes:
http://www.stonekettle.com
It’s elegant, eloquent, and beautifully done (minus two little misspellings).
For those who need to know what qualifies as “legitimate rape”, let this beautiful singer explain it for ya:
http://www.upworthy.com/this-song-is-legitimately-the-best-thing-to-come-out-of-all-this-misogyny
The GOP believes Aiken should not have made that statement. It is okay to believe, and to pass laws based on that belief. It is just wrong to let the public know what your beliefs are because it might cause the GOP trouble at the polls.
Lisa Murkowski has been voting the extremist party line since her re-election. She wants us to believe she is a moderate. She might even still be a moderate. But she won’t vote as a moderate because the crazy ten percent has taken control of the party and she has to toe the line.
They ( the Reps) must haved like him, and also wanted him to win the Missouri Senate seat , as they pumped $1 billion dollars in his campaign funds. Guess he just got ahead of the horse , as he was supposed to wait until after he got elected to come out with this BS.