Counselor, the problem here is that many, many, MANY democrats and left leaning independents here and all over the Interwebs rightly shook their heads and publicly declared the Congressman in question an idiot. He revealed his inner ignorance, and was publicly excoriated for it.
When a Republican Congressman or Senator does such a stunt, it is not unusual for the forces of the Right Wing to stridently attempt to point out similar incidences with the Left, claim that it was all taken out of context, or sweep it under the rug as a “private matter”. Akins recent time in the pillory is a bit of an outlier, as usually the Reps go to great lengths to avoid putting one of their own out of the fold when they expose the ignorant anti-“anything that isn’t US” that is so prevalent in the GOP these days.
I was listening, last week, to “The Bottom Line,” a religious-themed talk show co-hosted by Roger Marsh and David Householder, where they went to some effort to rehabilitate Akin, by saying that rape victims are “less likely” to become pregnant than women who engage in voluntary sex without contraception. They (manfully) admitted that Akin had “overstated” the facts.
So you’re saying that even though the right wing reacted appropriately in this instance, we should all remember the other times, the ones where they did not, and talk about that instead?
But there has also been a vocal group among the right’s leaders (i.e., directors of significant political groups, representatives, etc.) that has defended Akin’s comments, suggesting that they were just a bit overstated but basically correct. Cites available if you really need them.
Of course, when Hank Johnson said that Guam would tip over, there was a vocal group on the left that defended these comments as basically correct as well, because everything’s equal in politics. Cites available upon…
…actually, if you’ve got a cite, I’d love to see it.
The support appears to be limited to right to life groups.
Are they “the right?”
And as I read the comments from the Family Leadership Council, they acknowledge his statement is factually wrong. They defend his general pro-life views.
This would be akin to a left-wing group admitting that Guam won’t really tip over, but claiming they believe that the Congressman was joking, or that one mistake isn’t all that serious.
Here’s what Connie Mackey fo the Family Research Council said about Akin’s statement:
So tell me – why do you suggest I find a left-wing group that defended Guam-tipping as basically correct, when the first cite you offered in the opposite direction was NOT “defending [Akin] as basically correct?”
Yes, in fact, I do. It is laudable that a majority of the Right Wing and the establishment hacks are willing to say that Akin was “essentially wrong” or even outright wrong.
But it would be nice if the Republican party would have gathered as a whole and said “The President was born in Hawaii, and we repudiate anyone who says otherwise.” Or maybe when Glenn Beck was rocking out with his “the President is part of a long term plan to destroy this country …and YOU ALL KNOW who is really behind it” schtick it would have been nice if the talking heads had said 'We know the President isn’t trying to destroy his country, and anyone implying he is is a fucking moron." But they didn’t.
It would have been nice if the Democratic party had gathered as a whole and said, “The war in Iraq was not started so that kids’ heads could be blown off for George Bush’s amusement.”
So it looks like Mackey backed off of her earlier statement on learning about the science; good on her, I guess.
As for your question about whether pro-lifers are “the right”, how is that relevant to my statement that “there has also been a vocal group among the right’s leaders” etc.? Of course the folks on the right who are defending this nonsense are pro-lifers, because it was a pro-life statement.
Supposedly he later wrote that “physical trauma of forcible rape can interfere w/ hormonal production, conception”, although I haven’t found that tweet yet.
You are an intelligent person, and you are trying to poison the well here.
I don’t believe at any point any congressperson stood up and insinuated that the Iraq war was started to get US soldiers killed and make Cheney and Co. richer.
There HAVE been congresspeople that are members of the GOP who have insinuated that there may be reasons to question the legitimacy of BO, his citizenship, etc.
You are talking about private citizens bitching on the internet. I am talking about elected representatives, and (like it or not) recognized mouthpieces of the Republican party.
If someone on SNL or NPR said openly, on the air, that Mitt Romney is a racist bigot who would love to see women moved back into second class status, you can bet your shiny metal ass that the Democratic party as a whole would condemn the speaker and the words.
Meanwhile, the Republicans can say things like what is said in the OP, or talk about “Second Amendment Solutions”, or imply that BO is from Kenya, or he’s a Marxist, or that the movers and shakers on the left are plotting to overthrow the country, or that the UN is taking over and is a direct threat to America. It damages the country, it makes discourse more difficult and I would love to see the GOP take steps to stop it, but it seems they are deep in the thick of it, and have no interest in shining the light of rationality and truth at any of it.