# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/21 "2012-08-20T00:26:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > He stepped on his dick real good this time. Check out _Talking Points Memo_, they are keeping an update on the backlash. > > [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/) > > Conventional wisdom at last check: he is _sooo_ boned. Geeze, the guy’s a college educated engineer. You’d think he’d have picked up some biology somewhere along the way. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/22 "2012-08-20T00:27:01Z")
Really ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/23 "2012-08-20T00:27:07Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > What the hell does he think a legitimate rape is? One where contracts are signed and notarized?\ Sometimes it’s just a handshake. 🙂 This is so far beyond dumb, I don’t know what to do with it. I can believe he legitimately mis-spoke, but I can’t figure out what the hell he was _trying_ to say. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/24 "2012-08-20T00:29:01Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Sometimes it’s just a handshake. 🙂 > > This is so far beyond dumb, I don’t know what to do with it. I can believe he legitimately mis-spoke, but I can’t figure out what the hell he was _trying_ to say. I expect he meant “real rape” like when a black guy can’t control his primal urges as opposed to something like date rape by a white frat boy. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/25 "2012-08-20T00:37:50Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Shockingly, another Republican has a non-existant knowledge base about women’s reproductive systems. If only people would learn to stop electing them. Instead of a literacy test for voters, maybe we could have one for representatives? We could even make it specific to the issue. ---
**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 20, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/26 "2012-08-20T00:39:52Z")
In the early 1990’s, the Washington Post magazine ran an article on Jesse Helms, then US senator from North Carolina. The author quoted an abortion rights activist who claimed that when she confronted Helms about the details of an abortion bill which made exceptions in the case of rape, Helms said, “Well you know that if a woman is actually raped, she won’t get pregnant”. IIRC, Helms office denied that he said that. It was scary, to think that a person that powerful was that ignorant. But at least reassuring, that Helms was ashamed to have people know that he believed as he did. But this: A candidate for _vice president_ on record as believing something _Jesse Helms was ashamed to admit to believing._ This is the first I’ve heard this, and if details prove that it’s not true, I retract what I’m saying here. Otherwise: Airman Doors, it’s them that have changed, not you. ---
**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 20, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/27 "2012-08-20T00:43:06Z")
Slight edit: I had read this article: [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/?mobile=nc](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/?mobile=nc) which mentioned Paul Ryan’s association with this bill. The OP was only about Akin. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/28 "2012-08-20T00:44:00Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Hey, now - 84 thousand is “thousands”. Sure, most people would say “tens of thousands”, but that makes it sound like there is a lot of it going around. > > And, much as he is a knuckle-dragger, worrying about only US citizens is probably not a pittable offense. No, I only posted US rape stats ecause he’s an American rep. In the whole blue dot it’s in the millions. NOW I’m reading this idiot is on the state’s board of Science, Space and Technology. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/29 "2012-08-20T00:46:43Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Otherwise: Airman Doors, it’s them that have changed, not you. Yeah. While I have disagreed with **AD** , I never thought he was crazy or stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/30 "2012-08-20T00:49:27Z")
This is too stupid to be offensive. (His statements, that is, not his support of the bill) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/31 "2012-08-20T00:50:25Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > It used to be that when I saw a thread title like this I immediately discarded it as the newest “I don’t like Republicans so I’ll hammer on them whether they deserve it or not” thread. Now I see it and wonder what stupid thing they said this time. > > Have I changed, or have they? Michelle Bachmann has really raised the bar for how insane you can be and still get elected, and they’re all trying to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/32 "2012-08-20T00:50:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Sometimes it’s just a handshake. 🙂 > > This is so far beyond dumb, I don’t know what to do with it. I can believe he legitimately mis-spoke, but I can’t figure out what the hell he was _trying_ to say. He was trying to say that if a woman gets pregnant, it’s evidence that it wasn’t rape-rape. It’s one of those cases of “rape”, you know, one of those “boys will be boys” cases, where there’s really more of a “victim” than a victim. You know, I think you can make a morally-consistent case that if abortion is murder, the circumstances of conception don’t matter: I actually find that less disturbing than when people tack on a quick except-in-cases-of-rape type comments because I think it reveals that they really think pregnancy is a punishment for being a slut and sluts shouldn’t be able to get out of it, but an “innocent” shouldn’t be made to endure such a thing. I don’t agree with either position, but at least the former doesn’t seem to be primarily malicious. But this guy take the cake, because he’s basically assuming, based on nothing, that Nature herself is with him on this: nature would make sure good girls don’t get pregnant when “legitimately raped” because that wouldn’t be fair. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/33 "2012-08-20T00:55:35Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > But this guy take the cake, because he’s basically assuming, **based on nothing,** that Nature herself is with him on this: nature would make sure good girls don’t get pregnant when “legitimately raped” because that wouldn’t be fair. Actually, he said he’s based this opinion off of discussions he has had with medical doctors. Who should receive a stern talking-to, I should think. He has since “retracted” his statements by saying what amounts to “really, I don’t give much of a shit why the woman’s pregnant; abortions are wrong and they shouldn’t be allowed to have them.” ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/34 "2012-08-20T01:00:44Z")
I’m skeptical that he actually heard this from a medical doctor. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/35 "2012-08-20T01:24:06Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Actually, he said he’s based this opinion off of discussions he has had with medical doctors. Who should receive a stern talking-to, I should think. > > He has since “retracted” his statements by saying what amounts to “really, I don’t give much of a shit why the woman’s pregnant; abortions are wrong and they shouldn’t be allowed to have them.” At least that’s an honest position. If you believe the fetus is a human being and a person with rights, there shouldn’t be exceptions. It’s nonsensical to be anti-abortion-unless-rape-is-involved. If it’s a human being, it’s a human being. Pro-lifers who say “well, except in case X” are full of it. If you don’t believe it’s a person, then pro-choice is the only logical position to take. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/36 "2012-08-20T01:25:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > At least that’s an honest position. > > If you believe the fetus is a human being and a person with rights, there shouldn’t be exceptions. It’s nonsensical to be anti-abortion-unless-rape-is-involved. If it’s a human being, it’s a human being. Pro-lifers who say “well, except in case X” are full of it. > > If you don’t believe it’s a person, then pro-choice is the only logical position to take. …unless its impossible to get pregnant from being raped. ---
**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 20, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/37 "2012-08-20T01:30:44Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Conventional wisdom at last check: he is _sooo_ boned. Legitimately or illegitimately? ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/38 "2012-08-20T01:40:36Z")
It depends on whether or not Akin gets pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/39 "2012-08-20T01:49:06Z")
The other way to tell if it was a legitimate rape or not is to see if the woman weighs the same as a duck. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993/40 "2012-08-20T02:01:43Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > He stepped on his dick real good this time. Check out _Talking Points Memo_, they are keeping an update on the backlash. > > [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/) > > Conventional wisdom at last check: he is _sooo_ boned. Now the fvcking weasel is trying t backpedal. “Akin On ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment: 'I Misspoke’”. I hope He gets raped (figuratively speaking) in the election. I hope his career is ending forever. Someone that stupid should not even exist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-nominee-from-missouri-todd-akin-is-a-feeble-minded-moron/631993.md?page=3)