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People who read True Crime stories come from all over the political spectrum and they should not be subjected to politics of any kind when they pick up a book from the True Crime shelf.
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Warren Jeffs and some of his "wives" How many were held down when they were 12? How many of their mothers were? |
Which is why the comments of U.S. Congressman Todd Akin infuriate me. Acts of crime fall on Republicans, on Democrats, on Independents, on Tea Partiers, and on Green Partiers alike. A guy with the glint of malice in his eye does not stop to check a man's voter registration card before stealing his car. And he certainly does not look in her purse for campaign literature before assaulting a woman.
And biology, Mr. Congressman, does not stop to check, either.
Akin claimed that a woman's body "has a way of shutting that down" when she is "legitimately" raped. No conception, no aftermath issues involving pregnancy will arise. When the rape is "legitimate."
I do hope someone will direct Mr. Akin to this blog because right off the top of my head I can think of 3 famous cases of conception following rape.
First, a law-abiding man named Matthew Roberts innocently went pursuing his biological roots as so many adoptees do. At the end of the trail, imagine his horror to find Charles Manson was his father and himself a product of rape. This story first hit national headlines in 2009.
In northern Arizona we have a community called Colorado City full of polygamists who believe in the sanctity of a man's right to sexually claim or assault the "females" designated to him via a theocratic bureaucracy. Thousands of babies are born through this process. I said "females" in quotes because while some are adult women, plenty are underage girls.
Listen to the audiotape of a 12-year-old girl being held down by several of her "sister-wives" while FLDS monster/prophet Warren Jeffs rapes her and
then talk to me about "legitimate" rape, Mr. Congressman. Jurors in Texas had to listen to that tape. Thanks to their collective revulsion, Jeffs is now pacing a prison cell for a long time to come.
And then there's Bryan Grove who was just on TV a couple weeks, partly as himself and partly portrayed by an actor on the episode "The Body Shifters"on the show Wicked Attraction. Bryan had a fascination for his own biological roots. Learning he, too, was the product of rape cast a very wretched shadow over his life. (For more about Grove, scroll down one post or click
here)
I could trot on over to my own county courthouse right this minute and easily find untold numbers of very young girls pregnant by their own fathers, uncles, and family "friends." That's just one county in a desert state. I wonder how many I would find in the State of Missouri?
Where is this magical biology button, Congressman Akin? Does it only kick in when a female is say, past 30 and dragged into a dark alley? Is it okay with you that it doesn't work when a girl is 12 and held down in a fancy gilded room by a gaggle of women she considers something like aunts?
Akin has later clarified that when he said "legitimate" what he really meant was "forcible." So I'd like to give the legislator another example from the annals of true crime. (Should I say "legitimate" crime?) Mark Goudeau, also known by his police-bestowed moniker the "Baseline Killer," is currently serving 400 years in Arizona for an act of rape that occurred when he attacked two sisters, one of them heavily pregnant. He aimed his gun at the bulging pregnant abdomen of the one sister while raping the other. Is this not forcible enough for the State of Missouri? In her terror for her sister and unborn niece, did the un-pregnant sister not fight her rapist vigorously enough for the congressman's scorecard?
By the way, Goudeau is also on Death Row for the many murders he committed, all of them associated with acts of rape.
This is what real crime looks like.
In the congressman's defense, severe internal hemorrhaging from trauma is undoubtedly likely to "shut down" a pregnancy. But Akin needs to step out of the limousine and delve into real crime files and see how many awful forms rape can and does take. Every day. Every where.
Everyone who counts in his own party has already asked Akin to step out of the race. His party's presidential nominee, his party's various campaign revenue committees and so forth. And that is to the credit of the GOP.
Akin's response so far has been that he is "not a quitter." Mr. Akin, let me say this as clearly as possible. This is not about you. This is about the crime victims of America.
You need to take yourself out of this race because you need to take time to reflect. You need to study. You need to roll up your sleeves and see what crime is really like. CRIME. Crime is ugly, twisted, and painful.
You've spent the last few days making that pain worse. Is that why you really went into public service, Mr. Akin? To make things worse?
Stop thinking in high school football terms. This isn't about "quitting." It isn't even about "defending the unborn," as you also claim. And this is not about "one little word," which you have said in order to minimize the colossal damage of the statement. Neither is it about one political party or the other.
This is about not being a friend to and enabler of rapists.
This is about a man realizing that other well-intentioned people are not calling him a "quitter" but are throwing up vast numbers of rocket flares that he has mistakenly taken the wrong path. This is about calling upon your own human decency, Mr. Akin, to remind yourself that by the standards of my profession you are one of the good guys and good guys do not align themselves with rapists. Mr. Akin, good guys--and good public servants--say "I want to make the world a
better place. Somewhere I started listening to the wrong voices. It is time I stepped out of the glamorous limelight because in its glare I have lost my way."
Mr. Akin, you can find another way to contribute. Are you man enough?
Like this post? You may also be interested in Fifty Shades of Foolhardy < < click there
17 different crime writers share stories of mayhem -- get it now
Pssst! Going to jail, buying documents, and everything else it takes to get this kind of info for the blog takes time and money! Every time you make a purchase here, it helps me be able to do more for you!