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Todd Akin’s Comments, The Bible and Rape

August 22, 2012 by Eliza Wood in Blog with 0 Comments

Todd AkinBy Eliza Wood|

This is an excerpt from my latest blog post on The Huffington Post politics channel:

ABC News reported that Rep. Todd Akin would not be withdrawing from the Missouri Senate race following his disturbing comments related to rape and pregnancy. What else can he really do at this point?

Akin told St. Louis Fox affiliate KTVI that “legitimate rape” typically does not result in pregnancy because the female body has ways of “shutting all that down” when a woman is really being raped (as opposed to when she is lying about being raped or when she enjoys being raped?), it seemed to many to reveal not just a political gaffe of seemingly epic proportions. Rather, it exposed a confirmed belief of a public servant. It certainly raised some questions on just how particularly bright Akin is. Obviously there is no real IQ test for holding public office, and clearly the bar is fairly low in some cases, but that level of reasoning and shallow understanding of basic “birds and bees” has many wondering which rock Akin grew up under, and is it even located on this planet?

Most sixth graders know better than that these days, and nearly all kids have to learn fairly comprehensive sex education by the time they reach high school.

In our media-intensive times, certain gaffes are forgivable. Others fall into a sinking public opinion quicksand. Joe Biden was sinking in just such quicksand in the days before Akin stole the gaffe spotlight. Perhaps Biden may be relieved that his gaffe will not get the airtime it likely would have been given when his recent “chains” remark was quickly overshadowed by Akin’s recent remarks. …

Click here to read the full article over at The Huffington Post.

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