HELLO MR. AKIN, MR. ROMNEY & PRESIDENT OBAMA:

IRE:  Legitimate rape

 I need to put my 2 cents in.

Far be it from me to say I understand what someone is thinking but here’s my take on Todd Akin’s blunder.

First of all, in saying “legitimate rape” he used a wrong word.  I believe he is of the old school of people who believe that real rape is the act done by force against the wishes of an innocent female.  In his moral and ethical world view, he may believe to some degree the woman brought it on herself…..”she came on to the fellow,” “she was dressed seductively,” “she shouldn’t have been drinking,” “It wouldn’t have been a date rape if she hadn’t….”, “she shouldn’t frequent those kinds of places..,” ad infinitum.  He wouldn't be the first person to believe this.

I think the brouhaha about “Legitimate Rape” is, in this nasty political climate, merely a way of getting political mileage out of a glaring mistake. The man used the wrong word, but in doing so he exposed his own world-view of women.  His thinking goes at least as far back as the cave-men mentality.  We’re not there any more.

The people of Missouri should decide if they want to re-elect a man who is that out-of-touch with the 21^st century and who still is living with a value system that says rape is understandable in some cases because the woman probably brought it on herself.

Second, I would like to see someone ask Mr. Akin just which doctors he has been talking to and why he feels it necessary to bolster his case by citing them.  I don’t think those doctors exist.  And if they do, I hope they were seriously misunderstood by Mr. Akin and are brave enough to tell the public just what it is that our female bodies are really supposed to do after a rape.   

I am appalled at Mr. Akin’s thought process and his set of values.  I hope he doesn’t try to claim that they are old-time Christian and/or American values, because they are not. 

I am appalled at the political folk who try to build a case out of his misuse of an incorrect word; they are missing the point.  The point is not “legitimate or illegitimate.”  It is that there is no justification for rape of any type and Akin just hasn’t learned that yet.  This silly argument, appalling as it is, is making our election system go cuckoo.  This election is NOT about Todd Akin’s value system. 

Attention:  Please take national politics out of this issue and let this awful slip be dealt with in Missouri, where one would hope there are enough enlightened Missourians to tell this man by ballot that he can no longer represent them.  And let our two Presidential contenders get back to discussions of how we’re going to fix things that affect all of us.

And Mr. Akin, please come into the 21^st century and rethink your position on the value of women.