Akin is no Gump

The incredible upset swirling around Todd Akin of Missouri is disgusting. Akin has been portrayed as some sort of idiot, a Forrest Gump who has managed to succeed despite being an idiot. It is far from the truth.

First of all, let's look at what Akin said. In short, Akin said that in cases of what he called "legitimate rape", the woman's body reacts in a way that makes pregnancy unlikely to result. He then went on to say, that in the event there was a pregnancy, society should not punish the child with abortion; the focus should be on punishing the rapist.

Much of the supposed outrage with this statement is because Akin used the word legitimate in connection with rape. This outrage is ridiculous. Clearly Akin was not condoning rape. He was making clear that he was talking about actual rape, not consensual sex that later gets described as rape because one person is underage or because the woman has a change of heart. He should have said "forceable rape" to be clear. The mistake, however, is hardly one for the record books. It is certainly no worse than any other unclear statement from a politician.

Remember last winter when Romney said that he did not care about poor people? He went on to say that the poor already had a federal safety net and that the focus of his campaign would be on those with middle income. Romney was not actually declaring that he had no interest in the poor, only that he would focus on others in his campaign. Remember two months ago when president Obama told America that the private economy was doing fine? Obama later told us that he did not really mean that; it was just a poor choice of words. "Legitimate rape" is the same kind of thing, just words taken out of context.

Akins's statement about the reaction of a woman's body to rape is just plain wrong. There is no medical proof that rape is less likely to result in pregnancy, although I have not been able to find any study that provides data either way. So Akin got his facts wrong. He was still just making the point that he was pro-life without exception. Surely, that cannot be the basis for all the outcry or calling Akin stupid or unacceptable. Are the Catholic clergy in America similarly stupid and unacceptable? They hold the same position. It is a position shared by a great many millions of folks across the country.

So is Akin now to be shunned because he got his facts wrong? On that basis, Joe Biden would have been sent to a deserted island long ago; that man gets his facts wrong about as often as he gets them correct. Biden cannot even remember what state he is in or what century it is. Obama said that there are 57 states. Must they resign as a result?

I was not surprised when I saw the reaction from the Democrats and the media. One would not expect anything else from them. I have been surprised, however, with the reaction from the GOP establishment. Why the need to humiliate Akin in public? Why did one after another of the GOP power centers come forth with such rapidity? It was unseemly to say the least. I do not like to watch Republicans attack their own.