Begging for forgiveness

Todd Akin, the embattled Republican nominee for the Missouri Senate seat currently held by Claire McCaskill has quickly recorded a new ad begging for forgiveness.  He wants voters in Missouri and donors around the nation to forgive him for making really stupid comments about rape and basically destroying the chances the Republicans have of taking this seat.

Should conservatives forgive Akin?

Of course we should forgive him.  Akin spoke badly.  He was trying to make a point and it did not come out right.  That happens to everyone.

But just because we forgive him for doing something stupid does not mean we should now support his idiotic decision to try and continue his campaign. 

There are two kinds of mistakes politicians can make.  There are those that are recoverable and those that are not. 

At least for this election, Akin’s mistake is not a recoverable one. 

The real problem with Akin is not the stupid comment he made.  The real problem with Akin is that we have now developed a class of career politician and Akin is a member of that class.  Akin was a Missouri state representative for 12 years before he ran for Congress.  He has been a congressman for 12 years now and if he had been successful in his run for the Senate that would have meant another six years in Washington for him.

Akin is a poster child for the career politician.  Unfortunately we now have too many in Washington who are career politicians.

Barack Obama has never held a real job.  He has always been either a “community organizer” or a politician.  Joe Biden has been nothing but a politician for pushing 40 years.  Even Paul Ryan, who I do like, has been nothing but a politician.   Only Mitt Romney has had a real career, other than politics.

Our founding father’s had a vision of politics being public service.  The idea of public service was that men (and now women) would take some time from their lives to serve the public for a period of time before returning to private life.

George Washington set the example by leaving the Presidency after two terms so he could return to private life.

Today’s politicians become addicted to the power of Washington.  They lose touch with lives of everyday Americans as they are wined and dined in DC.  Daily they have people coming to them, telling them how great they are and wanting to do them favors because they are in power.  Let’s face it; would anyone give Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosi the time of day if they were not members of congress?

Akin sees himself entitled to move up the political ladder.  And that is the problem.  Instead of realizing that he has made a fatal mistake for his campaign and simply going back to private life, he clings tenaciously to the hope that he can remain in Washington, enjoying the perks that go with power. 

The problem this nation faces is that we have politicians who no longer view themselves as public servants but are now our public masters.   They no longer view our government as a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  Too many of them are now addicted to the perks of power. 

Our founding fathers could have put term limits into the Constitution but did not do so.  That is a pretty compelling reason not to include them.  After all, when a politician is term-limited, on his or her last term, no longer care what the public wants.  After all, they are leaving office and will not face the voters again.

Akin needs to call it quits.  Mike Flynn of Breitbart.com says he will end his campaign before the 5 pm deadline tonight.   Akin really has no choice.   He has totally lost support from the party and if he ever wants another political office (and he will), he must listen to the party. 

The good news here is there is a great candidate to replace him.  Sarah Steelman ran a great campaign and she was endorsed by a number of Tea Party organizations, including Tea Party Nation.  Sarah Palin also endorsed her.

Hopefully Akin will realize his situation is untenable and will do the right thing.  But we need to realize Akin is not the problem.  He is only a symptom of a much larger problem.

The career politician.