RPK's "old friend," Rep. Todd Akin (R - MO) is at it again. Just a year ago, he stirred up controversy over his assertion that liberals hate God and want to replace God with big government (see here). Although Akin gave a half-hearted apology, he refused to meet with liberal clergy from his own district and successfully waited the whole thing out. In fact, we can suspect that his stand against the liberals actually gave him further credit with his own base and didn't hurt in the least in his successful bid to become the GOP candidate for the U. S. Senate in this year's election.Akin is at it again, as most readers know. His use of the term "legitimate rape" and stated belief that women who are "legitimately raped" seldom become pregnant has set off a fire storm, primarily on the left but even from members of his own party. There were widespread calls from within the Republican Party for his resignation, while Democrats have been keeping their fingers crossed in hopes that he would refuse. And Akin has. He issued an apology, and has avowed that he intends to fight on. We can assume that he thinks that he can wait this one out too. The dust will settle. The media will go on to something else. MSNBC commentators will find something else to rant about. And he can resume his potent challenge for the senate seat in Missouri.
Let's face it. He may be right. But, somethings are different his time. In the short run, he has given the Democrats an opportunity to force Romney off message yet again. Every day, every week that they can divert him from his attacks on President Obama's fiscal record is a good day, a good week for the Democrats. He has also managed to reignite the "Republicans are anti-women" theme, which seemed to have gone quiet. And he has drawn attention to the Republican Party's radical anti-abortion stance, which seeks to criminalize abortions for virtually every case—including rape and incest. Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, is among those suddenly thrown on the defensive. This is not, we can be sure, the lead-up to their national convention that the Republican leadership planned for. It is not the way they wanted to go into the fall campaign, which begins in just days now. And Rep. Akin's refusal to resign has been a gift from heaven for the Democrats, who can continue to bring this sore subject up, time and again. In the long run, it may not matter—but, it adds to the sense that the Republicans don't have their house in order and are doing everything they can to blow the coming presidential election. We'll see.
The point here, however, is a different one. Mr. Akin, it turns out, is a committed fundamentalist Christian and even has theological training. The reason he steps on these land mines is partly because he is a true believer who feels an obligation to speak the truth as he sees it. He honestly believes that liberals including even liberal Christians hate God. He honestly believes that there are "illegitimate" rapes and that few women suffer serious consequences from being raped—or, he did. Maybe he has actually learned differently from his gaffe. Like many of the tea party right, he is engaged in a spiritual war against the enemies of God, which include his political opponents. One wonders when the large majority of Americans will realize that the the threat of radicalism does not come from the left these days—certainly not from a pragmatic President who has upset the liberal wing of his party on more than one occasion. It is the radical right that is the real threat to our democracy today, and Rep. Akin is a prime example of that threat.
