Why Republicans Can't Stop Saying Horrible Things About Rape

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/gender/why-republicans-cant-stop-saying-horrible-things-about-rape


U.S. Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock (R-IN) (R) applauds as he listens to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speak during a campaign event in August 2012 in Evansville, Indiana.

***SNIP

What this umpteenth rape comment tells us isn't that the Republican party has a handful of unhinged members who sometimes flub their talking points. It reveals the real agendas and beliefs of the GOP as a whole.

These incidents aren't isolated , and they aren't rare. Sharron Angle, who ran for a US Senate seat out of Nevada, said she would tell a young girl wanting an abortion after being raped and impregnated by her father that "two wrongs don't make a right" and that she should make a " lemon situation into lemonade ". Todd Akin said victims of " legitimate rape " don't get pregnant – an especially confusing talking point, if God is giving rape victims the gift of pregnancy. Maybe God only gives that gift to victims of illegitimate rape?

Wisconsin state representative Roger Rivard asserted:

"Some girls rape easy ."

Douglas Henry, a Tennessee state senator, told his colleagues:

"Rape, ladies and gentlemen, is not today what rape was. Rape, when I was learning these things, was the violation of a chaste woman, against her will, by some party not her spouse."

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Rape seems to be a Rapebpublican family value

Like pillage by Bain and torture by Xe. What a country!

[jenw2]

2. The only logical explanation...

is that they raped someone and are trying to feel less guilty about what those type of people do.

[Mnemosyne]

4. Bingo! Welcome Jen! nt

[mythology]

3. You would think, even though they believe these things

They would be self-interested enough to realize that it does poor things to one's electoral chances to make such insipid comments. And given that some of these comments have come during debates or interviews, I don't think it's that they always said things this foolish and hurtful but it wasn't reported/recorded.

[LovePeacock]

5. They're pro-rape, just like they're pro-war. It's pretty easy to come to that conclusion.

If you ain't against it, you must be for it. There's some logic that's easy enough to understand even a fuckin' dumbass republican should be able to get it.

[marions ghost]

6. Rape

--in the physical sense--represents what the Vulture Capitalists think is OK in business and positions of political power. Exploitation of the weak--ie. those who deserve it, is the right of Dominionists. God gave them full license to screw whoever they please. They seek to legitimize their own practices.

We as a nation have been raped by them & they will continue to do it serially.

Rape is a crime of power over. The excitement comes from domination. Lust for money and power is the white collar predator's biggest sexual thrill --you get it ANY way you can. (And when you have money & power you can count on it being a physical attractant as well...)

This is why they defend rapists.

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Good thread, OP--we do need to ask why they seem to be literally defending the rapist, even at great cost with the female vote. They instinctively know the link between what a rapist does to the Other, and what they themselves do as Vulture Capitalists. It's perfectly OK to rape those you have no respect for. The only women they respect and elevate are those who serve them or their material goals.

[Odin2005]

7. These are the kind of people who think date rape isn't rape.

[jsr]

8. Because they like doing it

[Liberal1975]

9. What I don't understand....

What I don't understand is this...while obviously the issue of reproductive rights is (and should be) primarily a female issue since it affects the rights of women in a direct and shocking way, why is the Democratic party not doing more to narrow the gap among white males? If I am married and my wife gets brutally assaulted and this assault results in her becoming pregnant do I not as her husband want her to be able to terminate this pregnancy?
In 1988 Dukakis was asked about his wife being murdered in relation to his opposition to the death penalty why doesn't somebody ask one of these Republican candidates a similar question like: "Congressman Ryan if your wife is raped and becomes pregnant is your response going to be to go out and by a crib? Start a college fund for this precious life that your wife has been gifted by God?" It seems to me that this clear and frankly, unbelievable position (even for Republicans) being belched out of the Republican Party can be used to turn a lot more than just the "lady" vote.