Todd Akin Causes a Firestorm with Rape Comments

 

AP Photo

Todd Akin is fighting a losing battle trying to explain his way out of the backlash he created August 19th about rape and pregnancy. Today, the Republican Party pulled its financing from his campaign to unseat Claire McCaskill, his Democratic opponent for a US Senate seat representing Missouri. At this writing, he insists he will not withdraw from the race.

Akin presents a stark example of a candidate who mixes religion with politics and seems to have forgotten the constitutional demand for the separation of church and state.  No one believes you are God, Mr. Akin, so stop insisting that America's citizens bow to your delusion about what is right and wrong when it comes to abortion. 

Readers should also note that Paul Ryan has co-sponsored a number of that bills with Akin that would limit a woman's right to seek abortion, and they have moved to redefine rape in order to restrict some women who seek abortions after being impregnated during a rape.  We have gone down this road before, gentlemen, and we've had a law on the books for four decades that makes abortion legal.  May I suggest that you pay closer attention to the children who have already been born who suffer abuse, neglect, incest, serve as prey for pedophiles and murder at the hands of adults. Your priorities are totally out of whack when you focus on the unborn and don't protect those who live.

Ham on Wry offered a post on Todd Akin's off-the-wall comments about rape and pregnancy in an August 19th post, so readers unfamiliar with the situation can educate themselves by reading it. His reference to "legitimate rape" brought instant criticism from various constituencies, including members of his own party.

Ham on Wry asks voters to return to sanity when the November election arrives.  We have many serious issues facing this nation that are far more important than a focus on women's health issues.  It's time to rid ourselves of a lunatic fringe that has hijacked the American political scene with strident voices.  We must demand more of our leaders to focus on urgent and/or important issues that require attention in order for this country to thrive.  The uber-rich who fund Romney's campaign fervently hope that voters will lose themselves in minutiae, so they don't see what's happening behind the scenes.

Mr. Akin, call it quits before this reaches an even more embarrassing level.