Can you remember the last time you heard about Missouri? It’s just one of those lonely, forgotten fly-over states — until last week.
Rep. Todd Akin stuck his Midwestern foot in his Midwestern mouth when he tried to express his opinion about a St. Louis television station.
He seemed to think that women rarely get pregnant via rape.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said.
Oh!
Phew, what a relief.
Y’know, maybe that’s why most conservatives are against birth control and contraception: They must think that it’s almost unnecessary. We women are apparently in much more control of our bodies than science originally taught us.
We can just wish ourselves sterile at will, right?
Wrong.
Akin’s comments on women’s health issues are troubling.
Other anti-abortion enthusiasts maintain that women “secrete” something during the act of rape to prevent pregnancy.
These are our elected officials? Men who believe there is mythical magic inside wombs?
Akin has since apologized for his controversial comments and was probably also taught a quick biology lesson before appearing on popular conservative radio and TV shows.
While Sean Hannity called for Akin to drop out of his Senate race on TV, Mike Huckabee provided some sort of sanctuary on his radio show.
Somehow, through all of this, Huckabee became a beacon of journalism and the go-to place for interviews with the “no-dude-left-behind/two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-right” representative.
“Rape is never legitimate,” Akin said to Huckabee. “I used the wrong words in the wrong way.”
He also said he would win this race “by the grace of God.”
Listen, pal. Let’s not bring God into this, because one of us won’t be happy with what God has to say on the matter.
Akin might still stand a chance in his Senate race despite his gaffe-a-thon on Sunday, and that should be alarming.
Are Missouri voters OK with his stance on anti-abortion versus pro-abortion rights issues? It’s possible. Missouri is a notorious swing state.
But we’d hope voters would find a problem with voting to elect someone who is so tragically misinformed about basic biology. The things he said were reprehensible and insulting to the American public and to all women.
Our congressional representatives should have a grasp on reality, not on a science that is loosely based on nothing.
Kudos to Huckabee for snagging the scoop on this brushfire of a political gaffe. All that Chick-fil-A must be brain food.
