I suppose it's low-hanging fruit, but Maureen Dowd's column on the Todd Akin debacle in yesterday's New York Times is just too good to resist highlighting. Here are a few choice excerpts:
"Paul Ryan, who teamed up with Akin in the House to sponsor harsh anti-abortion bills, may look young and hip and new generation, with his iPod full of heavy metal jams and his cute kids. But he’s just a fresh face on a Taliban creed — the evermore antediluvian, anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-gay conservative core. Amiable in khakis and polo shirts, Ryan is the perfect modern leader to rally medieval Republicans who believe that Adam and Eve cavorted with dinosaurs."
Ouch. Quoting a Standford professor:
"'The biological facts are perhaps inconvenient, but whether the egg meets the sperm is a matter of luck or prevention,' says Dr. Paul Blumenthal, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology who directs the Stanford Program for International Reproductive Education and Services. 'If wishing that 'I won’t get pregnant right now' made it so, we wouldn’t need contraceptives.'"
And she brings in the thoughts of a Republican strategist:
"'Next we’ll be trying to take away the vote from women,' lamented Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist who advised Romney in the 2008 race. 'How can we be the party of cool and make the generational leap forward when we have these recidivist ideas at the very core of our base?'"
Finally, I cannot help but include a concisely worded comment from New York Times reader "Ralph":
"The problem is not limited to Missouri. A number of voters are willing to consider voting for Ryan as VP; his views are every bit as retrograde as Akins'. The only difference is he is oblique, rather than honest."
Just Think No (New York Times)