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.
Tags: akin, claire, legitimate, mccaskill, missouri, race, rape, senate, todd, withdraw
Good analysis and properly drawn conclusions. If Akin has any real interest in helping to change the direction of the country, he will yield his spot to Steelman so that a conservative will win this Senate seat. Akin might win even considering his self inflicted wound, but it seems unlikely.
Permalink Reply by Doug Nicholson on I agree Akin should bow out of the election, but I disagree about not instituting term limits in Congress.
We need a change of attitude, or paradigm shift, among those who run for public office. If it was known, up front, before a candidate ever submitted their name for office, that they could only serve "X" number of years in the office, it would automatically weed out most of those seeking riches & self-aggrandizement as well as limit any damage those with selfish, destructive motives (insert name of nearly any Progressive here) could inflict.
Those who, as the article states, wish to truly serve the country and then return to their "real" lives would be the ones running for office and the country would be much better off because of it.
Permalink Reply by Cynthia Catsman on See Ann Barnhardt today - pretty much sums it up.
Permalink Reply by Larry Self on A link would be nice.
Permalink Reply by Janet Miller on Barnhardt.biz.com
Permalink Reply by Debrajoe Smith-Beatty on Being a politician in Washington, DC, means BIG BUCKS. And the job has attracted some pretty bad dudes.
Permalink Reply by Ronald Sorrells on Debrajoe:
That is all (Big Bucks) that attracts most to Washington, DC.
The day of "Service" to Our Nation ceased "When Our Representative Government quit using the Constitution as the Yardstick to measure their efforts".
They are "People with No Shame".
Semper Fidelis,
Ron
He was defending life and what he said was basically true. Why give people an excuse to murder babies in the womb because someone cries, "RAPE". There is such a thing as "legitimate" rape as opposed to women who use that word "rape" to defend their loose morals and mandate that the govt and taxpayers pay for baby killing.
Instead of apologizing Akin needs to go after stricter consequences for proven rape. During epochs of high morals in our country, rapists got the DEATH penalty, not the unborn child!
Those times are over unless people turn back to the true God and the Lord Jesus Christ who forgives all sins by the blood that he shed on the cross and by his resurrection from the dead. We have turned from God and the Bible, when we allow rape, abortion, and even child perverts to be released from jail. We have DNA evidence that little children are molested. I say bring back true justice.
The media crucified Mr. Akin for taking a stand against the hypocrisy of killing the baby when the one who should die is the perpetrator.
Permalink Reply by Larry Self on I heard Mr. Akin on Hannity and he could not explain his statement. His attempt to explain was rambling and embarrassing. That did it for me. I suspect he will bow out today. Then MAYBE (???) the establishment will back who should have been backed in the first place, Sarah Steelman.
Permalink Reply by Ronald Sorrells on Larry:
You are right Brother. We should "never" defend someone just because he is a Republican ! WE NEED TO DEFEND THE RIGHTEOUS and ABHOR THE EVIL !
For too long, we have operated "Outside of The Will of Our GOD thus we have "allowed" our officials to operate outside of the boundaries of Our Constitution and "The Rule of Law".
So, Republican, Independent or Democrat that "Crosses the line" shall "Pay the Fine" !
Semper Fi,
Ron
Permalink Reply by Rick Harville on I have to agree with Christine. There is less than 80 days to the election and Akin is up over the democrat by 12 points. What is ridiculous is he is being crucified by his fellow republicans for basically stating the truth, both medically and legally.
What is wrong here is the republican cowardice is once again in full view. They are gutless in calling for his resignation, only in an attempt to appease the MSM. Do they really think if they sacrifice Akin (remember he spoke the truth, even if it was not with a teleprompter) that the MSM will not continue to hammer away at every single misspoken word? I don't think so. What planet are these repubs from??
I say, Akin should tell the world, including the cowardly republicans, that he meant what he said, and restate exactly that he feels the product of any pregnancy should be protected, that rapist should be punished, and move on. He could win the election hands down, and the "party" would love him for it.
The fact that Akin is a career politician, is no reason to give this election to another career politician who will absolutely vote for Americas continued destruction.
Permalink Reply by Ronald Sorrells on Rick:
We have only 76 Days until Obama loads the U-Haul !
Ron
© 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
