A Letter To Todd Akin

I don’t defer to anyone when it comes to enthusiastically supporting Republicans for public office. I know it’s crazy, but much of my happiness in the next few years will be predicated on the Republicans taking back the White House, and to a lesser extent, the Senate (and holding the House). I say this not to put my rather peculiar state of mind on exhibit, (though maybe it’s not so peculiar considering I have kids and grandkids), but to make the point that I believe I am a highly effective barometer of conservative sentiment. If a Republican candidate loses my support, he loses. Period.

You’ve already refused to withdraw from the Missouri Senate race despite being urged to do so by the party leadership (Romney, Ryan, Cornyn, et al). And I know that even if you read this, my views will move you not one iota. But know this – You will not win. You have no chance. Zero. If I lived in Missouri, I would not vote for you. That makes your defeat as certain as the sunrise. If I support you, as a Republican, you may or may not win. But if I don’t support you, as a Republican, you cannot win.

As Jonah Goldberg said, you’ve certainly proven yourself stupid enough to be a senator. Unfortunately for you, you did it before being elected – by saying this,

"From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare (pregnancy resulting from rape). If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Trying to undo the damage, you claimed,

“I used the wrong words in the wrong way. What I said was ill-conceived and it was wrong.”

Really? How can the words be possibly changed or rearranged to make your statement anything but abhorrent? To ask is to answer. There is no way. You said what you did because you believed it.

You also claim, correctly, that elected officials have done worse.

"I hadn't done anything that was morally or ethically wrong, as sometimes people in politics do.”

I know it’s not fair. (Like life). Being Republican, you must meet a higher standard. A Robert Byrd can be a past Exalted Cyclops of the KKK and still be held in high esteem by Democrats, elected and re-elected as House Speaker for umpteen years. A Ted Kennedy, while drunk, can drive a woman off a bridge, leave her to drown and still be recognized as “The Lion” of the Senate. A Bill Clinton can (allegedly) rape a woman and still be championed by left wing feminists.

These are actions and activities, going beyond mere words. (And words are all it takes to get Republicans in hot water. Trent Lott's ouster as Senate Minority Leader for expressing admiration for segregationist Strom Thurmond is one example.) But Democrats are also masters of idiotic, mendacious commentary. Just this past week, the current Vice-President of the United States, next in line to the presidency, doing his best to spread racial animosity, spoke a malicious slander every bit as reprehensible as yours when he warned blacks with a faux Southern drawl, “They’re (Republicans) gonna put y’all back in chains.”

No matter. I don’t want you in public office any more than I want them there.

Quit.