Friday, August 24, 2012

The Rapeublicans




I freely admit that I am enjoying the schadenfreude spectacle of the GOP sprinting away from the now notorious remarks made earlier this week by Todd Akin.  It is not that they are recoiling from an extreme viewpoint; rather, they are scrambling to save their own sexist asses because Mr. Akin  has verbalized the ignorance and distaste for women that is rampant in their party, and exposed the policy line as horrifyingly misogynistic. And for this, he is being hung out to dry by his hypocritical cohorts who think exactly the same way he does but resent him exposing their hateful attitudes to voters so close to their respective elections.

Whenever Republicans like Todd Akin slip up and show their true outrageous beliefs about women, minorities, gay people, et al., in unguarded moments and are called to task for it, they immediately say they misspoke.  You and I know that they didn't misspeak. They showed their true colors. They are quite simply ignorant, bigoted, male-dominant homophobic anti-democratic people who have no business being in leadership positions.
Rep. Akin is an educationally impaired misogynist who is clearly not qualified to hold any public office.  Since his nomination, he has advocated for a complete ban on the morning after pill, called for an end to the federal school lunch program, and has also infamously said student loans have given America "stage three cancer of socialism". In his latest outrageous sound bite, using the words "legitimate rape" implies that there is a magic on/off switch in a woman's body that can reject an attempt at fertilization. It further implies that deep down, he thinks most rape victims are just liars and falsely accusing someone. Sadly and incredibly, this particular belief is shared by  many right wing Christians (he is a self proclaimed devout Christian), and it is not the first time I have heard a Christian say this. What he WANTS to say is that God will not allow a woman who was raped to get pregnant. If you DO get pregnant-it's because God is exposing you as a whore. So see...he was actually softening his real opinion....which is shocking enough. (Why all-powerful God could not prevent the rape from happening in the first place is never discussed, of course.)
What he and everyone of his ilk have been schooled to say by the Republicans is "forcible rape". This language has been introduced in anti choice bills- one co authored by Akin and VP nominee Paul Ryan. He just slipped up and said "legitimate", instead of "forcible".

So why parse things like this? Why are they trying to redefine rape?  The answer is to kill all access to birth control and abortion.  By redefining rape they are feeding into a cynical narrative
that women don't actually get pregnant from rape and therefore no emergency contraception or abortions are needed. They have been trying to advance these anti-reality theories for some time now, with the help of a (so-called) Dr. John Wilkie. So, in this worldview, if a woman becomes pregnant as as result of a rape, she was in fact NOT raped, she must have wanted it.
As disgusting, despicable and heinous as this notion is, it is widely held amongst rabid right to lifers- and hey, as long as we are renaming and redefining things, THEY should be henceforth be referred to as "right to birthers" since they only care about what happens to you until you are born, and then you are on your own, pal. But I digress.
Up to now, this ridiculous and dangerous line of thinking has largely been kept underground, unless you are a political junkie and have been paying strict attention.  The GOP depends on low information voters to win elections. The bungling Akin has exposed their mindset and threatens their current positions of influence and power, hence the almost universal calls by fellow Republicans for him to step down.
As unthinkable as it is undemocratic, the GOP is attempting to suspend womens' rights, insult their intelligence and relegate them to a permanent status as second class citizens. There is a degree of depravity in condemning women to bear the child of a rapist that is chilling.
Seriously and dangerously stupid, Akin and Ryan and the rest of the GOP show no empathy, compassion or understanding of any medical, physical or psychological trauma experienced by victims of rape. What they DO display is a readiness and willingness to impose their religious beliefs, disguised as political, upon an entire nation. And in case you think I have overstated the issue and that this is hopefully not a typical attitude held by the GOP, please consider this actual statement by Idaho state Senator Chuck Winder: 
"If a woman claims to have been raped, we must make sure of it, because women may lie and call consensual sex resulting in pregnancy 'rape' in order to get a free abortion without having to undergo a trans vaginal ultrasound." 
No matter how you spin it, that is quite likely the most oppressive thing ever uttered by an American politician.



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