# Senate nominee from Missouri Todd Akin is a feeble-minded moron. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 19, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993 "2012-08-19T19:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/241 "2012-08-22T19:06:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, isn’t it much too late at this point, anyway, for some other Pub to replace Akin in that particular Senate race?! And Akin already has made clear he has no intention of dropping out. I think a legal deadline for taking his name off the ballot passed just a day or two after he made this particular idiotic comment. In practical terms, yes, it would be hard to replace him and have a credible shot at winning. A little more fun from Wikipedia: just last year Akin said liberals hate God. And back in 1995, Republican Rep. Henry Aldridge (Derp-NC) said basically the same thing Akin said. I think this was the comment I was thinking of earlier. I believe I first encountered it on a “Stupid Quotes of the Day” calendar. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/242 "2012-08-22T19:14:56Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Pix or it never happened. He’s right. I heard it as well. Maaaaaybe, maybe Glenn was saying we shouldn’t resort to the politics of personal destruction over one ignorant statement, but even so, I think Beck is wrong either way. Akin shoulda’ stayed with “I think life begins at conception”. Overall, I think this only bothers the voters with whom abortion is a “front and center” issue. The voters who think that there’s not much effect he can have on abortion anyway (or are more concerned about the economy, for example) aren’t gonna switch their votes to the opponent over this single ignorant belief. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/243 "2012-08-22T19:17:17Z")
For anyone who thinks that Akin really doesn’t believe what he was saying: [ > [@](#): > > “I misspoke one word in one sentence on one day and all of a sudden, overnight, everybody decides, well, Akin can’t possibly win,” Akin said. “Well, I don’t agree with that.” ]([http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79971\_Page2.html#ixzz24Iv3vYvR](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79971_Page2.html#ixzz24Iv3vYvR)) I’m guessing the “one word” was “legitimate.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/244 "2012-08-22T19:24:59Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’m guessing the “one word” was “legitimate.” Right. Jeez, a guy says one moronic thing with one basic biological mistake and two or three separate offensive ideas behind it and suddenly people think he’s too stupid to be on a Congressional science committee. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/245 "2012-08-22T19:26:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Right. Jeez, a guy says one moronic thing with one basic biological mistake and two or three separate offensive ideas behind it and suddenly people think he’s too stupid to be on a Congressional science committee. It’s so unfair. I think I cried a little. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/246 "2012-08-22T19:31:20Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > My mother is one of those who believe that there should be no exceptions in the case of rape. I have no idea what she would think if she knew one of her daughters, a fine upstanding Christian, had an abortion. If you’re speaking about someone you know, can that person speak up and let us all find out? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/247 "2012-08-22T19:31:48Z")
Thanks for the edit, **Marley**. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/248 "2012-08-22T19:48:43Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Not to mention: political idiocy. Splitting the Republican vote is not the smartest way to ensure that McCaskill loses. Yes, but it is the smartest way to rub everybody’s faces in the fact that St. Sarah was right and the stupid primary voters were wrong. Priorities, people…! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/249 "2012-08-22T20:11:33Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I am vehemently pro-choice, but honestly? I don’t understand the claim that rape _should_ be an exception in people who are supposed to be devout Christians. If you well and truly believe that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in your Mommy’s womb, then there are no circumstances under which abortion is not murder. People who want to make this rape exception are basically saying, “The murder of babies is horrible and should not be tolerated… unless in the case of rape, then murdering babies is okay.” > > Of course, the people who say this are being disingenuous about their true beliefs. Though they would never admit it, for many it’s really about the fact that a woman shouldn’t “get away” with having sex. It’s about punishment, also known as personal responsibility or Wimmins Should Not Be Whoring Around. > > So I’m just saying your Mom might not actually be all that bad compared to people who do want to make an exception. There’s legit- er, _non-hypocritical_ middle ground: “A fetus is worth less than a full-fledged human being, but it’s not something you can ‘kill’ at whim either. So if you want to have an abortion, you’d better have a darn good reason for doing so.” ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/250 "2012-08-22T21:22:00Z")
A woman voting Republican is like a tuna saying “I’ll have the sushi”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/251 "2012-08-22T22:32:40Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > For anyone who thinks that Akin really doesn’t believe what he was saying: > > [URL=“[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79971\_Page2.html#ixzz24Iv3vYvR](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79971_Page2.html#ixzz24Iv3vYvR)”] > > I’m guessing the “one word” was “legitimate.” An ambiguous word in context. Does he mean “legitimate” rape as opposed to non-forcible, statutory rape? Or as opposed to a fake-rape scenario where the sex was consensual but the woman falsely cries rape? Or as opposed to a Potiphar’s-wife scenario where there was no sex at all but the woman cries rape? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/252 "2012-08-22T22:43:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > An ambiguous word in context. Does he mean “legitimate” rape as opposed to non-forcible, statutory rape? Or as opposed to a fake-rape scenario where the sex was consensual but the woman falsely cries rape? Or as opposed to a Potiphar’s-wife scenario where there was no sex at all but the woman cries rape? From what I’ve been reading over the past few days, it’s pretty clear that he meant to say “forcible”, as advised by the octor and organizations cited above, but he couldn’t think of the correct word, so he said “legitimate”. meaning the kind of rape they thought of as “true” rape, and he hoped that would get him through. it clearly didn’t, as the current firestorm attests. Also, it’s clear he missed out on saying the correct code word, as his ciomplaints about saying 'one wrong word, one time" makes clear. He’s obvuiously complaining about the grief he’s getting from fellow Republicans over this, because I’m sure he didn’t expect this response from the Democrats and liberals, who would oppose him anyway. of course, to _them_, it’s much more than “just one word”, because it exposes a vastly different mindset and philosophy, as the above posts make clear. The doctor Akin cited makes the excuse that we are not considering “statutory” rape, which one could certainly argue that "forcible: could be opposed to (not that all statutory rape in consensual), but I think that the larger question you are asking here is relevant – despite the plausible deniability that "forcible’ rape stands in distinction to "statutory’ rape, I suspect that there are other, unspoken categories that people have written about above – not just non-rape that is called that as in the cae of Potiphar’s wife, but any time that they think people are trying to gget an abortion – it’s not “legitimate” rape. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/253 "2012-08-22T23:08:12Z")
So we’ve gone from a discussion about Mitt’s tiny tax rate and his massive Swiss bank accounts to a discussion about how many Republicans think women are all potential sluts who will commit perjury to kill babies. Ha. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/254 "2012-08-23T01:02:38Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > A woman voting Republican is like a tuna saying “I’ll have the sushi”. Maybe more like a tuna saying “I’ll _be_ the sushi!” I’m going to spoiler this to fend off the torches and pitchforks (maybe), but I’ve had it running through my head since yesterday and I gotta try to get it out: _We built this Party, We built this Party with schlock and dough . . ._ ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/255 "2012-08-23T01:29:13Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > You’re so much nicer than I am. There’s no way I would have been able to not say something like, 'So, had the 12 year old your father was raping gotten pregnant, she should have had the baby? Would you have helped her raise your little brother or sister? And what if it had been you that your daddy wanted to have sex with, would you have had your own father’s child?" Oh, you’re assuming that I didn’t leave a nasty post on her wall before unfriending her? You obviously don’t know me that well. While I didn’t exactly say what you did, people who know her family will know exactly what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/256 "2012-08-23T02:13:13Z")
Dear GOP, [Elisabeth Fritzl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Fritzl). That is all. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/257 "2012-08-23T02:36:00Z")
Well, that didn’t take long . . . [Akin has already been topped.](http://www.examiner.com/article/gop-official-says-god-chooses-to-bless-raped-women-with-pregnancy) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/258 "2012-08-23T03:32:12Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Dear GOP, > > [Elisabeth Fritzl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Fritzl). > > That is all. Oh fie - [no one from Austria can be an evil man.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMkzdn2TDuI) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/259 "2012-08-23T10:19:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, that didn’t take long . . . [Akin has already been topped.](http://www.examiner.com/article/gop-official-says-god-chooses-to-bless-raped-women-with-pregnancy) I think that’s a less extreme position. “You’ve been raped and are pregnant? I know it seems impossible, but God has a plan for you and the baby” is a lot less mean-spirited than “You claim you’ve been raped and are pregnant? Something’s off there. You must have wanted to fuck, or else your body would have shut that whole process down.” The person saying the former is at least consistent–they would say the same thing if someone got in a car accident and lost their legs. The second is the most complete expression of blaming-the-victim I think I’ve seen: it’s like saying the fact that someone’s house burned means they must have been a thief, because only stolen property burns. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/260 "2012-08-23T12:23:24Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I think that’s a less extreme position. There are a couple of problems here. The first is that she’s quoted as saying rape is a blessing, which is at best deeply insensitive. Taking the position in context it’s less offensive, but it’s dumb for an elected official to wade into this. So her ststupid phrasing just helps keep this argument going, which is not what the Republicans want here. And her comment really does not have much to do with what Akin said. Akin and Huckabee believe what Barnes said, but that’s not what Akin was trying to say. He was saying rape victims don’t get pregnant, not that rape victims shouldn’t have abortions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993.md?page=14)