These Republicans need a lesson on the fairer sex
Of course words were never the problem. The “thinking” was the problem. Akin’s belief that legitimate rape so scrambles the female’s signals that even biology is thwarted was born of conversations he says he had with doctors. Akin at least should surrender the names of those doctors so that they can be removed from the practice of medicine. For those still confused, raped women do get pregnant, which is why many who are strongly pro-life nevertheless allow abortion exceptions for rape victims. Even so, the Republican Party platform calls for a “human life” amendment to the Constitution that, strictly applied, likely would prohibit any abortion under any circumstances.
Akin’s gift to Democrats wasn’t just a probable campaign killer for him personally. It also reminded critics that Akin once co-sponsored legislation with Paul Ryan redefining rape as “forcible” versus, what, voluntary? To be fair, there is a difference between morning-after remorse that some call “rape” and rape as most understand it. But for these purposes, as President Obama said, “Rape is rape.” Does a raped woman need bruises to qualify for an abortion? …
Perhaps so, but the cumulative effect of Republican actions aimed at limiting women’s access to abortion rather than seeking remedy through education poses an existential threat to the GOP. You don’t change people’s hearts by insulting their minds.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
Mike Huckaschmuck.
Take a bow. You fat turd.
kevinkristy on August 22, 2012 at 10:33 AM
I forget, didn’t Kathleen Parker pretend to be a Republican once?
Monkeytoe on August 22, 2012 at 10:34 AM
The Left acts as though getting pregnant is an accident over which the “victim” has no control.
Let’s back up a bit. Why are so many women in need of abortions in the first place? Irresponsibility? Poor upbringing?
An abortion is an attempt to undo an irresponsible act, there is nothing noble about it.
Charlemagne on August 22, 2012 at 10:36 AM
FTA:
Slippery slope and straw man argument rolled into one statement. With a touch of demagogy of an entire group of people for one man’s obviously insane statement.
This is the quality of today’s punditry.
Skwor on August 22, 2012 at 10:36 AM
File under “what if a Republican had said it?”
forest on August 22, 2012 at 10:37 AM
I particularly enjoyed my conversations with a womyn who informed me that if a woman regreted the sex afterwards that it was “rape”. I was also informed that if a womyn got a man drunk and had sex with him that there was no way it could ever be “rape”. ONLY a woman can be raped I was informed.
Kinda like lefties believe only a white person can be racist and only a man can be sexist.
All that said, Akin is an idiot and an embarrassment. Step down.
GardenGnome on August 22, 2012 at 10:37 AM
I think Kathleen needs to broadcast that message to her liberal friends. That’s what they do on a daily basis.
cicerone on August 22, 2012 at 10:38 AM
It’s complicated…she was a GOPer until the GOP showed they were about to undermine the feminist narrative on us then she took one for the team….
I wish someone had the testicular fortitude to ask her why a rapist is keynoting the Donk party….
look Akins is a dork and screw Huck, but KPa darling…
Akin is an idiot and screw one woman so far as is known with her permission love….
you want me to go down the list of accidental boy part impositions on females in your party’s history sweetie?
harlekwin15 on August 22, 2012 at 10:38 AM
Parker will look for any reason to run down the GOP. Akin gave her one. Thanks, ya bums.
thebrokenrattle on August 22, 2012 at 10:39 AM
That was before that dashing young man, Barack Obama, promised he’d take care of her.
Fallon on August 22, 2012 at 10:39 AM
KP: Now, you take my opinions on Sarah Palin, for example…
KP: Now, as my old co-host, Client #9, who could give you lessons on the fairer sex you wouldn’t believe, used to say…
KP: Introducing her husband on Super Tuesday night, Ann Romney said women this election season are interested in jobs, the economy and the debt. Translation: So could we shut up already about contraception?
War has been declared, and there’s hardly any way to change the impression among a growing percentage of women that the GOP is the party of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals.
KP: And now for something completely different…
de rigueur on August 22, 2012 at 10:39 AM
Naturally– and who better to teach that lesson than… the MSM?
Since when does MSM or the DNC carry the banner for rape sensitivity?
Terp Mole on August 22, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Does that mean that many a men realized they have been raped after taking their beer goggles off?
NotCoach on August 22, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Oh, bullshit, Kathleen, you ignorant hack. Barack Obama has personally begged a RAPIST to introduce him at the democrat national convention. Bill Clinton has spent a lifetime being unspeakably abusive to women — up to and including raping them, and choosing his victims because they were powerless, poor, and vulnerable and he was powerful and untouchable. And at least one of his victims DID HAVE BRUISES, for which he famously said, after raping her, “you might want to put a little ice on that.” He had to pay another one off to make her rape accusations go away after she could NOT get justice in court against the Most Powerful Man in the World. But YOU and so many others give him an absolute pass because he is so, so amenable to aborting any babies that might occur because of his rape history. So spare me the “Republicans need a lesson on the fairer sex” bullshit. Keep this up, and you people are going to get a conversation none of you want to have about barack’s new best friend Bill Clinton just ahead of his Big Speech at the convention.
Rational Thought on August 22, 2012 at 10:41 AM
OK, dimbulb. Ryan was working through the statutory rape issue in essentially calling for the renewal of the Hyde Amendment. Nothing anywhere close to what Akin said three days ago was in the thinking process in developing the bill.
mwbri on August 22, 2012 at 10:42 AM
I’ve been saying for a while that the pro-life movement is doomed. The new safe prenatal genetic testing that is coming out will be the final nail in the coffin.
When the history of the pro-life movement is written, the inflection point should be the South Dakota 2006 abortion referendum. That had a chance to pass but failed because it didn’t include rape and incest exceptions. They alienated too many people with that so that even when they came back 2 years later with the exceptions that it was rejected again.
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/South_Dakota_Referred_Law_6,_the_Abortion_Ban_Referendum_(2006)
I’d like to be pro-life and at one time I considered myself that, but pro-life activists are just too stupid. They rather get the most extreme purity tests put on ballot referendums and party platforms rather than getting anything worthwhile done. I’m just nihilist about the whole issue now.
BTW, I wish the Catholic Church understood that the extreme position on abortion is only remotely possible in a racially homogeneous society. Their immigration and abortion policies are at odds.
ninjapirate on August 22, 2012 at 10:44 AM
Yeah, she pretends to be a Southerner to. The blasphemy never ends with this chick.
Cindy Munford on August 22, 2012 at 10:44 AM
What does it say about a president and political party that values free government birth control and absolute access to abortion over career advancement for women? Seems to say a lot about what they think about women.
The Count on August 22, 2012 at 10:44 AM
The last few lines have a Dowdy ring to them that I personally don’t find as droll as Parker must.
Drained Brain on August 22, 2012 at 10:45 AM
“The fairer sex”? I thought that was sexist.
Ward Cleaver on August 22, 2012 at 10:47 AM
If you want to talk about “extreme”, ask an abortion advocate at what point they think a fetus should be entitled to protection under the law. You will hear crickets.
The Count on August 22, 2012 at 10:47 AM
*Footnote: Same Kathleen Parker who cheerily co-hosted alongside CNN’s (infamous Emporer’s Club VIP) Elliot Spitzer.
pot. meet. kettle.
Terp Mole on August 22, 2012 at 10:48 AM
You should really have a working knowledge of people before commenting. Most who hold a pro-life view won’t take such tests because they are irrelevant to whether or not they will give birth.
NotCoach on August 22, 2012 at 10:49 AM
I understand that position… but abortion advocates are winning by default and pro-lifers lose when they only advocate lalala bs like trying to ban abortion without rape and incest exceptions.
ninjapirate on August 22, 2012 at 10:49 AM
I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Terp Mole on August 22, 2012 at 10:49 AM
So long as the Left can keep this “War on Womyn” headline going, people won’t talk about the economy.
Because the comments of an arrogant douche from MO is more important than weak economic numbers for 4 years, horrific unemployment for 4 years, inept foreign policy for 4 years, obstruction of justice for 4 years (Fast & Furious), etc…
THEM RETHUGLICANS WANTZ TO KEEP Y’ALLS UTERUSES IN CHAINS!
Nethicus on August 22, 2012 at 10:52 AM
The percentage of people who won’t take the tests will be between 10-20% and it will decline overtime. There will be a huge amount of pressure from the insurance companies, test maker companies, and the federal government to take the tests.
There’s a good reason not to take the tests now… the fetus could get hurt. But that won’t be a problem soon.
Face it, we’re entering the era of prenatal eugenics and nothing is going to stop it.
ninjapirate on August 22, 2012 at 10:52 AM
The topic is rape and pregnancy termination.
Or should we argue whether she “asked for it!” and “wasn’t legitimally raped because that slut is knocked up and her tubes didn’t tighten like a good girl’s would” ?
Marcus on August 22, 2012 at 10:54 AM
So does “raping” the economy count? If so, I think we need an abortion on 11/6/12.
VegasRick on August 22, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Yes. Condom’s never break. Birth control never fails. Intended pregnancies never result in a danger to the mother’s life.
ALL abortions are a result of irresponsibility.
Please do Dem’s a favor and continue with this line of puritanical reasoning, while driving your party deeper into the trash heep of history.
cornfedbubba on August 22, 2012 at 10:56 AM
Having sex is irresponsible. Christians forcing their moral agenda on the rest of us.
lester on August 22, 2012 at 10:56 AM
Can we stop pretending this was a GOP-specific gaffe. This is an old man gaffe. If you started asking some of the crazy old coots on the other side questions about women and female reproduction you’d get a lot of well thought out and well reasoned responses (same as with the GOP) and then you’d get 1-2 crazy old uncle responses.
The only reason we don’t have those sound bites is that being in the party of abortion on demand exempts you from being asked those questions. So, instead, we get to hear about the great threat to the people of Guam that their island might tip over….good times.
JadeNYU on August 22, 2012 at 10:57 AM
Akin could end this in about 36 seconds with this one simple question:
“Why do you never ask the President about why he was so in favor of Linen Closets?’
harlekwin15 on August 22, 2012 at 10:57 AM
Isn’t it sexist to suggest women are “fairer” than men?
We’re all equal. (And where we’re not, we’ll change nature until it’s so.)
vityas on August 22, 2012 at 10:58 AM
Please continue arguing about the need to undo the industrial revolution and not tap America’s resources because “life is precious” while advocating for the murder of babies in the third trimester democrats….
be open about the President getting between police reports and viable babies delivered by failed abortions being allowed to die in linen closets…
it makes your bulls*it objections to capital punishment and war all the more charming.
harlekwin15 on August 22, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Kathleen Parker who once took a job as the sidekick of a whore-monger so she could be on TV.
bannor on August 22, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Again, you really should know what the Fluke you’re talking about.
Now the above may be influenced by whether or not a doctor is recommending the test based upon certain warning signs, but over half of DS babies are not diagnosed prenatally. A very significant percentage of women choose not to have the tests done because they are having the baby regardless.
NotCoach on August 22, 2012 at 11:00 AM
A Constitutional Amendment banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest will never pass. You know it. So why give the other side ammunition which they will use dishonestly but win with it in the media? You’re only harming the pro-life cause—blindness to which is Akin’s greatest sin.
MaggiePoo on August 22, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Having unprotected sex is indeed irresponsible on several different levels. It has nothing to do with trying to run anyone’s life.
Cindy Munford on August 22, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Sex is a consequence free act? Perhaps someone should let all those venereal diseases know that.
NotCoach on August 22, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Yes Kathleen, there is a difference between forcible rape and say, statutory rape. Just ask Whooppi Goldberg.
Or these guys:
Degrees of Sexual Assault
There are varying degrees of sexual assault which encompass all ranges of sexual offenses from misdemeanor sexual abuse to felony sex assault and what many consider to be rape. The degree of offense and corresponding sentence depends upon the alleged force used to perpetrate the offense, position of the alleged perpetrator to the alleged victim, injuries sustained by the alleged victim, and the age of both the alleged perpetrator and alleged victim.
Akzed on August 22, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Not that I think we are at that point now (we would need Roe v. Wade overturned and then state’s would have to start passing laws outlawing abortion except in cases of rape before we bother to have this argument), but in reality:
If you have a law that provides for an exception in cases of rape – then you do have to define “rape” in some way, otherwise the definition of rape will be enlarged to where the exception swallows the rule. For instance, in a state where the age of consent is 17, can a pregnant 16 year old get an abortion b/c it was “statutory rape”? If a woman gets really drunk and doesn’t remember whether they consented the night before, is that rape (many women say yes, but let’s assume in this scenario that the man is just as drunk as the woman – why is the man responsible for his drunk actions but not the woman?)?
These are not necessarily easy questions, but the definition of “rape” is not “whatever I decide”. There has to be some objective definition.
Monkeytoe on August 22, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Yeah, I’ll remember that while the rapist and sexual harasser in chief is giving the keynote speech in Charlotte. Maybe there will also be a tribute to the drunken murderer of Chappaquiddick.
RadClown on August 22, 2012 at 11:04 AM
NotCoach, amniocentesis is potentially dangerous to the fetus… that’s the reason few women go through with it.
I put that number at 10-20%.
ninjapirate on August 22, 2012 at 11:10 AM
You have to remember, the only thing important to women – according to these liberals – is abortion. They don’t care about rape, murder, the economy or anything else. Indeed, the only issue important to women whatsoever is abortion.
And, unfortunately, to many women it is true. I know a number of women who would otherwise vote republican but abortion is their number one issue. It makes no sense. Particularly as I live in a state where even if Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortion would likely remain 100% legal. But you can’t get them to see past the abortion issue.
Now, there are people on the flip side – people who would vote democrat except for the abortion issue. I can understand these people a little better – as if you believe abortion is murder, it is a very important moral issue. But on the other side, how do you equate abortion with “freedom” or have it be your number 1 issue? To me it is a strange mindset. I can understand someone believing abortion should be legal, but making it the most important issue of all time in your mind?
Monkeytoe on August 22, 2012 at 11:10 AM
So what, exactly, is Kathleen’s problem with Aiken’s distinction of “legitimate” rape? It seems inconsistent to berate a person for making that distinction (which he later clarified), while ignoring one’s own caveats about the same type of distinction.
BlueCollarAstronaut on August 22, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Having the test doesn’t dictate whether they “keep it” or not. Genetic testing can prepare them for what to expect before or after birth, and what the medical team can anticipate. Many genetic abnormalities are stillborn, and early stillborns at that.
Marcus on August 22, 2012 at 11:12 AM
There is a new noninvasive maternal blood test called MateniT21 that is offered as early as 8-10 weeks that will replace amnio. And patients are reading about it and wanting it now. But at present it’s not offered to everybody, only older women and previous genetic defect patients or abnormal ultrasound. You can Google it.
Marcus on August 22, 2012 at 11:18 AM
Nonvoluntary? Forced? Child victims of pedophiles? I realize your comment was in context of lester’s troll, but, his troll was aimed at this knothead
a capella on August 22, 2012 at 11:19 AM
Excellent point. American politics is about fuzzy words that each side defines in its own way. Rape, torture, (spending) cuts, choice, target, regulations, safety net, responsibility, security, terrorism, even freedom, etc.
MaggiePoo on August 22, 2012 at 11:20 AM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »