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Since Todd Akin made his infamous remark in what was an unfortunate and awkward attempt to explain his strong pro-life position, I have openly spoken out about what was a disproportionately harsh reaction from party officials and elected officials, all of whom didn’t merely distance themselves from Akin’s statement (understandable), but distanced themselves from him personally and politically and proceeded to publicly call for his head on a platter as surely as Herod demanded the head of John the Baptist. Both John the Baptist and Todd Akin said things that the institutional power structure didn’t like. Todd Akin admitted his error, publicly apologized for his comment, and asked for forgiveness. John the Baptist recanted nothing he said and shouldn’t have since it was the truth. I talked to Todd Akin on my daily radio show as he made his first public statements following his comments. He was contrite, he sincerely stated that he was factually incorrect in his statement, and apologized for having said it. He didn’t excuse his comments, justify, or rationalize them.
Despite that, calls were swift, public and brutal not merely suggesting, but demanding that he just up and quit. I was shocked. I’ve seen fellow Republicans get caught in scandals of adultery, drunkenness, corruption, and other forms of shocking behavior and never recall seeing such a systematic and orchestrated attempt to destroy a man’s candidacy and his life from HIS OWN PARTY! I wrote a strong rebuttal to the curious actions of party officials and suggested that someone had called a “code red” to take down Todd Akin. I was called and had numerous messages from current and former Senators and Congressmen, and from party officials and political operatives who all but begged me to “get Akin out of the race.” Some of them surprised me and disappointed me. It was as if all were reading from the same talking points as a carefully contrived script that had been handed out. I asked one of them if he had spent 2 years risking all to get a nomination for his Senate seat for which he had received ZERO party support and had a verbal gaffe and then the very people who didn’t want him in demanded that he get out, would HE do it? Silence at the other end of the phone and then the subject was changed.
I grew up with my mother drilling into me a simple rule—the Golden Rule: “Do unto others and you would have them do unto you.” Those simple words of Jesus are the standard of human behavior. Would every Republican candidate and office holder and operative really wish to be treated as Todd Akin was being treated? Instead of those who really cared for him rushing to a wounded brother to offer help, encourage, and assistance to get on his feet, they loaded, aimed, and fired their own weapons at him while he lay in the battlefield, wounded and bleeding. The gaffe would have been bad enough, but the Democrats didn’t have to trumpet it because the Republicans were louder in their condemnation of Akin than the Democrats could have been. Akin’s numbers dropped, the GOP voices of destruction crowed that he was toast, and anyone associated with Akin was declared radioactive and consultants, vendors, and operatives were actually threatened by the National Republican Senatorial Committee operatives to disconnect with Akin and even those affiliated with those who refused to abandon him! I was assured those heavy handed thug-like tactics would stop, but they continued right through the Republican National Convention. Then polls started changing and Todd pulled back even with liberal Democrat Claire McCaskill showing that he could in fact still win the race. The reason given by Republicans to walk Akin off the plank was because “he couldn’t win.” When polls started showing that he could, the excuse became irrational with even the RNC chairman stating that even if the polls had him ahead, he wouldn’t get a dime from the RNC.
That’s when I decided that the RNC wouldn’t get a dime from me until we started acting with honor and integrity toward our own candidates.
Supposedly, making a mistake saying something about rape was unforgivable in the GOP. Then Karl Rove spoke to a group of wealthy donors in Tampa and not realizing a reporter was in the room, said, “We have to sink Akin. If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts.” His comments were made public, and he called Todd Akin to apologize. Despite the treatment given to him, Todd Akin accepted the apology and expressed his forgiveness to Karl.
If making a foolish remark about rape is bad, then making a joke about a United States Congressman being murdered is as bad or worse since Akin didn’t wish anyone to be raped, just spoke awkwardly and incorrectly about the likelihood of pregnancy in the event of a rape. In light of the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the remark was disturbing.
One of my political heroes is Phyllis Schlafly. Her book, “It’s a Choice, not an Echo” was influential in my life as teenager. She hasn’t always supported me, but I’ve never ceased to love and appreciate her. Below is the message she sent earlier asking that Karl Rove accept the same treatment for himself that he so publicly advocated for Akin---that he step down from all his public activities and disappear from the stage because of his inexcusable and indefensible “joke” about murdering a Congressman who is already receiving death threats. His attempt to deflect the seriousness of it by saying he wasn’t aware of the reporter’s presence actually made it worse---since Todd Akin was condemned not just for “saying” what he did, but for even “thinking” it. Obviously Karl thought it, deliberately said it, but just wasn’t aware he would be held accountable for it.
I will disagree with Phyllis on one point: If Karl and the party are as willing to forgive Todd Akin as he was to quickly forgive them, then let’s not ask for anyone to leave the battlefield. We need all of us to fight the real battle—with those who will take the nation further down the road of high taxes, more government, the slaughter of innocent unborn children, abandonment of our allies like Israel, and changing the definition of marriage.
Let’s hope that all those who have publicly called on Todd to quit the race now do what they can to help him win. If they continue to ask him to stand down, then I will expect they will demand the same of Karl. If they don’t and try to say “it’s different,” then we will finally know for sure that we are a party of personalities and not of principles. We will then know that we protect only those who are “in the club” and the rest of us are on our own. And if that is the case, then those of us not “in the club” surely will be forgiven if we spend our time, money, energy, and efforts to elect fellow outcasts and stop pretending the “club” wants us. We will simply make it clear that we are no longer willing to do the errands, clean up after the parties, and chip in for the cost just so we can be escorted out the back door lest someone see us hanging out with the swells. My suggestion is that we stop fighting each other and start working together to elect conservative Republicans and change the country. There is no need that any of us have tire tracks on our backs. I’m very willing to work with Republicans and conservatives all over the spectrum even if they don’t agree with me on all issues or the priority of them. Can I count on them to work with me in the same spirit of respect?
Hopefully, we will all play by the same set of rules. Todd erred, apologized, and we need to help him win, not convince ourselves he can’t. Karl erred, apologized, and we need to treat him in the way we want Todd Akin to be treated. If Todd is continued to be alienated and Karl doesn’t suffer the same fate, then I will encourage all the activists I can to spend all their time, money, and effort in Missouri. If the party doesn’t want us, then I guess they don’t need us. Akin will. Janet and I are sending him the maximum we can under federal law.
Phyllis Schlafly statement:
Karl Rove has made himself toxic to Republicans by his incredibly offensive and dangerous statement suggesting the murder of Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri. Any candidate or network who hires Rove will now be tarnished with this most malicious remark ever made in Republican politics.
Just imagine if someone had made that statement about Barack Obama. The Secret Service would go on Red Alert and you can bet that the author of that remark would be in jail by now.
As quoted by a Businessweek reporter and now on the internet, Rove in Tampa told some 70 big donors to his Super PAC, American Crossroads, that every attendee should apply pressure to "sink Todd Akin" and force him out of the Senate race for which Missourians had nominated him. Then Rove said that if Akin were "found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts."
This stunning attack on Akin is now reported as a joke. Sorry, Karl, it isn’t funny to joke about murdering a Congressman.
Rove has disliked Akin ever since Akin was one of the principled members of the U.S. House who voted against George W. Bush’s extravagant expansion of Medicare when the vote was called at 5:53 am in November 2003. Akin is a man of principle who doesn’t cave in to political pressure, so he’s not Rove’s kind of politician.
Rove tried to excuse his obscene joke by saying he would not have said it if he had known a reporter was in the room. That makes his statement worse! Is murder the kind of secret political advice Rove gives to Republican donors and candidates who hire him?
A private phone call by Rove to Akin to sort of apologize does not erase the public offense. At the very least Rove should make a public apology. But even that can’t wipe out his gross political mistake.
Karl Rove is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. We don’t want any more of his advice in secret briefings or publicly on Fox News. Missourians don’t want politicians from other states telling us who to run for the Senate.
Rove has been calling on Todd Akin to resign, but the one who should resign because he made an embarrassing, malicious, and downright stupid remark is Karl Rove.
Comments 1-16 of 16
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Peterson, George
09/08/2012 01:52 PM
Just want to voice my support for Tod Aiken. I am fiercely supportive of Mitt Romney, but have been highly sensitive of anything Karl Rove says, and sadly now Sara Palin. But the man has done his best to set things right and we should all support him. What is this election about, changing the country for good or allowing it to go down in flames with Obama? In order to save it we need control of congress and to lose even one prospective candidate because of a pretended offensivess is just wrong
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Elser, Jean
09/07/2012 08:31 PM
That comment just is "Not Right". Right Winger's should know better. Stop stooping to the democrats level! We The People must take back our country and demand respect in a GODLY Manner! After all we come from Him.
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Captain Obvious
09/07/2012 11:28 AM
This Missouri family is standing up and cheering as you remain loyal to Todd Akin and our principles.
Do we Christian social conservatives finally understand the GOP is NOT OUR PARTY--not really. They depend on us to keep electing their wealthy party insiders (Dole, Bush, McCain, Romney) while showing their contempt for us.
I'm telling the local GOP that any time or money I might have donated in their support will go to help elect Todd Akin.
Governor Huckabee, I'm mailing a token donation to HuckPAC today--the bulk of our limited ability to donate will go to the Akin campaign. You will understand, I hope.
And Maxine, it's a treat to meet you here!
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Los Angeles, Mike
09/05/2012 05:14 PM
Re: An Energy Efficient Apology
The way Congressman Akin handled himself through the gauntlet shows he will prototype something first on himself, and then make adjustments to that prototype so as to make sure the next "user" will have a more pleasant experience and save energy at the same time.
Who would have thought that what some meant for harm has turned into good. Akin is a "green" candidate. The college kids of today will love him.
As for Mccaskill, how can the kids of today respect her for wasting precious fuel and not paying the taxes on those luxury items not helpful to building up the needs of the next generation in MO. And how can the youth trust someone who is 100% pro-choice? If she can cut down life so easily, she is not green.
Finally,thank you Mike for having a steady shoulder for Todd to brace himself on. And if you had say in helping Bret Bier give Karl a chance to share his apology in a cool way, cool. Thank Bret. Also, thank Newt for his back-up on Meet the Press. And thank Karl for doing the right thing, so far.
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Los Angeles, Mike
09/05/2012 04:25 PM
Re: The Apology
Due to the nature of the Rove remarks, it is reported that Akin also had to ask Karl to make his apology a public one. Akin, a fine man and leader, did not wish the same gauntlet treatment on Karl as Karl and others gave Todd. Instead, it appears Akin gave Karl freedom to make an arrangement with his employer Fox News to weave the apology into Karl’s important work schedule.
On September 4th at the DNC convention, the ever professional news guy at Fox Bret Bier presented a seven-minute segment updating the Race to 270. His regular guest analysts were Karl Rove and Joe Trippi.Bier makes a remark near the six-minute mark when Missouri neatly comes up for discussion and Bret says he has to ask Karl about his Akin remarks. Karl clarifies the situation and retells the apology story. Perhaps there are two ways Karl can assist the GOP win the senate seat in MO this Fall.
First, Karl could ask National Republican Senatorial committee member Orin Hatch to kindly redirect gaffe-prone NRSC vice-chair Carly Fiorina off talk shows and back to the senatorial research library. She puts down Eastwood and Akin, devalues the abortion-issue, and tries to take the wind out of Newt’s sail on Meet the Press on 9/2. A one-month study on the 10 questions posed in the March 16,2011 NRSC ethics violations inquiry report of Claire Mccaskill will be a good start for Carly's on-the-job training.Second, Karl does not even have to talk to Akin. In fact, it is best the two have no contact. Karl just needs to use his Super Pac to remind Missouri that their former State Auditor-turned Senator feigned ignorance about property tax issues on her Maryland small aircraft transport business and exuberated arrogance in fumbling and grumbling to pay those taxes to a cash-strapped Missouri infrastructure. Claire no longer serves all of MO with integrity and Todd is perfectly qualified to take over Claire’s senatorial committee work easily and with integrity.
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Los Angeles, Mike
09/05/2012 06:02 AM
Re: Comprehensive analysis
Appreciated all the comments below. Was amazed to see how well Akin maintained his composure when apologizing on NBC and ABC. The insults could be taken because he must have Christ in mind and heart.
Yes,felt like his original statement was part of a "to-be-continued" idea being discussed at the very end of a good 20-minute interview on the Jaco Report.
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KLUG, RANDALL
09/05/2012 01:22 AM
Dear Gov. Huckabee;
I agree with you 100% and thank you for taking the stand that you have. The whole system..Republican, Democrat or whatever is made up of broken humans and I pray that all can ascribe to being the most honorable, honest that they can be. I hope they all see and learn from your words of wisdom. We sure need much more of it in the world we live in. God help each of us to be the best people we can be. I'm with you. Thank you very much!
Randall Klug -
Walter, Gary
09/04/2012 10:31 PM
Thanks for the strong , courageous, articulate and principleds stand!!!
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Penhorwood, Andrew
09/04/2012 10:14 PM
I stand with you Gov. Huckabee. When we start winning at any cost we have lost sight of why we are in the race in the first place. I hope that the GOP takes a serious look at itself and begins to stand up for right not just right wing. Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.
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All-in-for-Mike
09/04/2012 12:33 AM
Dear Gov. Huckabee, It sounds like you have reached the end of your patience with the GOP. I don't blame you, especially after they left you twisting in the wind during your presidential campaign in 2007-2008.
When I think of all you've experienced at the hands of the RNC, the title of a book keeps coming to mind: "What I Saw at the Revolution."
You are exactly correct when you describe the pro-life, salt-of-the-earth Republican grassroots as the household help. I've been active in the GOP, been to state conventions, etc. I've seen the same thing.
I wish the Tea Party could grow enough to challenge the Republican party. But for now, a 3rd-party candidate could never make it. *sigh*
I applaud your courageous, principled stand in this matter. You are really thumbing your nose at the entire GOP, and they won't forget it. You are sacrificing any chance of EVER being the nominee or even a VP, probably. You are taking a costly stand for what's right, and exposing the Republican Party's leadership as the country-club, elitist snobs that they are. Good for you.
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Patriot 4America
09/03/2012 04:05 AM
Dear Gov. Huckabee,
My first response of reading your post was that you were upset...very upset!
I love that in you!
You have the "audacity" to tell it the way it is without fear of the consequences. You leave the consequences to GOD
Jesus cleared the temple... even tipping the tables...
Hopfully the RNC will take notice.
I'm behind you Mike!
Peter
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Los Angeles, Mike
09/02/2012 05:54 PM
Re: Native Daughter/Adopted Son
First, to clear the air, Phyllis Shafley is a native daughter of Missouri. She knows both the Missouri and female issues much better than Karl Rove ever will. Karl over-stepped his boundariess because he thinks he has none to worry about.
Second, Todd Akin shows why he should be Missouri's next senator. The guy is amazing. By forgiving Rove for a really incredible claim shows that Akin really is made of the right stuff to lead us at this time in the senate.
Let's see, Akin comes from three generations of Harvard grads, he himself is an engineer from a famous private engineering school in MA, he has an MDiv, and served in our military along with his Dad. And both he and his Dad have worked in the steel industry following the Akin tradition. WoW. Perfect Senator and his age of 65 is just about right for such a post. I'm sure Phylis Shafley would agree seeing she is nearly 88.
We all know his comments two weeks ago were taken out of context, but such is dirty politics. Todd apologized and regrouped as a true engineer, military man, businessman, and public servant and family man of six kids and one wife should.
Time for the likes of Karl and Mary Matlin to get back in the battle and stop acting like they own the GOP. Now I can see why Mike picked Todd Akin to support in MO.
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Holt, Suzan
09/02/2012 02:21 PM
Governor Huckabee is right to stand behind Mr. Akin. When Todd Akin combined the word "legitimate" with the word "rape," he inadvertently communicated that which he did not profess. Of course he did not consider any rape to be justified—how preposterous! As law enforcement officials who investigate this horrendous crime are aware, the circumstances of the act have to be verified and detailed to document what actually took place—was the act consensual, was there harassment without physical contact, etc. Regarding the likelihood of pregnancy from a rape, it was not advisable for Mr. Akin to make a statement about this based on hearsay. Nonetheless, comparatively minor stress is thought to influence fertility (see http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/features/infertility-stress); ask any couple who have tried to have children for an extended period of time.
It may be that Mr. Akin needed to clarify rather than apologize.
Mr. Rove, however, needed to apologize.
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Banner, Raymond
09/02/2012 12:50 PM
Thank you Mike Huckabee for faithfully standing both publicly and privately by Missouri US Senate candidate Todd Akin.
In my own much more limited capacity I have done the same. I have defended Mr. Akin and his principles and called in question the actions of those in the Republican party trying to overthrow him; particulary the actions and inexcusable verbal attack by Karl Rove.
Thanks also for others in leadership positions and the grassroots that have defended Todd Akin and the principles for which he stands. I mailed a check to Todd Akin for Senate nearly a week ago. I hope many others will help sustain his campaign, win or lose.
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D'Andrea, Elinor
09/02/2012 09:09 AM
I had swore not to contribute to any political party because of just what happened to Todd Akin. When our politics corrupts our Christianity, we are losing more than just an election..we arent living the precepts of our soul. Thank you Gov. for keeping the faith where it counted! Sincerely
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mxnwilson
09/01/2012 11:13 PM
Thank you so much, Gov. Huckabee for taking a stand for what is right. I also intend to support Congressman Akin in any way I can. I feel sure there are many who share my sentiments.
I recall his comments when the liberal networks lit up my Newsfeed on Facebook with their sound bites, and as I listened to the comments, I wondered why they were having a celebration over those comments. I understood when listening to his entire statement that he was attempting to defend his strong pro life position and in no way was deliberately insensitive to any woman who had been raped. Of course by the time the liberal put the spin on the interview, many misinterpreted the comments.
