Karl Rove Wants Akin Put Permanently Out of Action

I have been following the Todd Akin story, absolutely fascinated at how the Republicans have turned on this 100% pro life candidate and attempted to destroy him.  I expect the Democrats to be out for blood against any one who is anti-abortion, but the Republicans are suppose to be pro life.  Why, it was even in their platform at the Republican National Convention, as CNN told us:

Republicans drafting their party's official policy platform on Tuesday ratified a call for a Constitutional ban on abortion that makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

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The CNN report came out on August 21, just two days after Rep. Todd Akin, who is running for senator in Missouri, said he was against abortion in cases of rape.  Akin was slammed on all sides for using the term "legitimate rape" and saying that pregnancy is rare in cases of rape, which is statistically true. But everyone knows that Akin's vocal faux pas was just an excuse to attack him. The real reason he was being attacked is because he is against abortion in cases of pregnancies resulting from rape. So despite Akin's admittedly stupid use of the word "legitimate", you would think Republicans would run to defend him since he is completely in line with their platform.  Well, if that is what you would think, you would be wrong. Republicans could not distance themselves from Akin fast enough, condemning him and calling for him to step down from the race and telling him they were cutting off all political funding for his senate race.

One of the main cheerleaders in the effort to dump Akin is the Republican candidate for president, Mitt Romney.  The VP candidate, Paul Ryan, despite being on the record for being against abortion in cases of rape and despite having drafted a pro life bill with Todd Akin, also turned against his colleague, phoning him and telling him to get out of the race.  Loyalty has no place in politics. 

Paul Ryan and Todd Akin when they were
on friendlier terms

One of the big guns in the Republican party calling for Todd Akin to find another planet on which to live was Karl Rove.  And Rove seemingly wants Akin permanently gone, as he talked about the murder of Todd Akin.  See the story from the Washington Post below:

Karl Rove jokes, ‘We should sink Todd Akin,’ report says

Posted by Sean Sullivan on August 31, 2012 at 10:11 am

Bloomberg Businessweek reports from inside a donor briefing Karl Rove hosted in Tampa on the final day of the Republican National Convention, where the Republican reiterated his desire for embattled Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) to end his Senate campaign in Missouri.

Rove explained to an audience dotted with hedge fund billionaires and investors—including John Paulson and Wilbur Ross—how his super PAC, American Crossroads, will persuade undecided voters in crucial swing states to vote against Barack Obama. He also detailed plans for Senate and House races, and joked, “We should sink Todd Akin. If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts!”

Fortunately, there are some people who are seeing that something is not right here.  Finally here is someone who has some strong words about Karl Rove. 

Phyllis Schlafly Calls on Karl Rove to Resign

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.  [Don't bet on it, Phyllis.]

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.  [Let's hope he was joking.]

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?  [Your guess is as good as mine.]

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. [Phyllis, here is a news flash:  Rove IS 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. 
 

Sigh.   Hey Phyllis, have you or anyone else noticed that Romney hasn't said a word about Rove's "joke?"  We have seen Mike Huckabee and, amazingly, Newt Gingrich criticize Rove for the remark.  But everyone else is remaining completely silent on this issue.

Karl Rove will suffer no political repercussions as the result of his hateful remark and everyone will continue to tell me that I must vote for the Republicans because it's the only way to stop the Democrats.  Will someone just tell me the difference between the two parties?