Romney and Ryan disagree with Akin rape remark, says campaign
(CNN) – A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney wrote late Sunday that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and his running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, did not share Rep. Todd Akin's sentiments on rape.
"Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg wrote.
OK, first of all, this is utter bullshit, since Paul Ryan has ALREADY SPONSORED A BILL that would make abortion illegal even in cases of rape & incest.
And while right wing pundits helpfully point out that Paul Ryan doesn't want to make abortion illegal (which: hahahahahahah), he just wants to give states the right to make abortion illegal, Mother Jones' Kevin Drum notes that Ryan's Sanctity of Human Life Act states,
(B) the life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, irrespective of sex, health, function or disability, defect, stage of biological development, or condition of dependency, at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood; and
(2) the Congress affirms that the Congress, each State, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories have the authority to protect the lives of all human beings residing in its respective jurisdictions.
Which actually means that states would have the right to ban all abortions with no exception for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. Further, in those states, if a woman was raped and wanted to have an abortion in another state, her rapist could theoretically sue her to stop the abortion, and Drum suspects that he'd probably win.
However, even setting aside the fact that they're flat-out lying (big shock, I know), the phrasing of their "opposition" to Akin's statement is disgustingly milquetoast.
They "disagree" with his statement?
DISAGREE?
Like, you know:
"Where should we go for lunch today?"
"I think we should go to Chili's; the service has gotten much better there lately."
"Oh, I disagree with you about that. That rude waiter is still there."
Actually, in my head the "disagree" statement sounds a lot like the "Mack and Tosh" overly-polite chipmunks from the old Warner Bros. cartoons...you know "After you!" "Oh, no...after
you!"
Jesus, these people make me sick. Of course, they don't "disagree" anyway (well, Ryan doesn't, and Romney doesnt' really give a shit one way or the other anyway), so I guess that's considered pretty strong language coming from this campaign...
As several have noted below, it's reminiscent of Romney's weak-tea "that's not the term I would use" response to someone calling Obama a "monster" a month or so ago.
Which reminds me--I think it's about time that the official Republicans for Rape website is dusted off...it hasn't seen much activity since 30 male Republican Senators voted against the Franken Amendment a couple of years back...
UPDATE: I decided to add some additional reactions from the Missouri Republican Party. While Akin himself and the Romney/Ryan ticket seem to be vastly underestimating the seriousness of this incident, it's not being lost on the state GOP:
Todd Akin’s rape remark has GOP fretting
Some choice hits:
“For God’s sake,” one Missouri GOP operative lamented Sunday after Akin’s rape remarks. “DEFCON 5. Panic for the rest of the ticket. Major intervention needed.”
Around the time the news began bouncing around Twitter, Renee Hulshof, a conservative radio personality and wife of former Rep. Kenny Hulshof, tweeted, “Oh my. I am gonna go back to raking leaves. #headdesk.”
“I am reminded today why, I, as a Republican am supporting @clairecmc over @ToddAkin for #MOSEN. Unbelievable,” tweeted Lucas Case, a GOP aide who worked on the early phase of Sarah Steelman’s Senate campaign.
Mark Reardon, an influential conservative radio host in St. Louis was more dire: “Just catching up on this @RepToddAkin stuff. Congrats to @clairecmc for winning re-election.”
Asked to assess the level of worry, one Republican elected official replied, “Most have moved past worrying to conceding.”
Fortunately, McCaskill isn't jumping to any conclusions:
Privately, McCaskill’s top aides are equally circumspect and do not underestimate their foe or the challenging environment they face.
