Can’t these people all be swept from office in one election cycle?

Rep. Steve King, one of the most staunchly conservative members of the House, was one of the few Republicans who did not strongly condemn Rep. Todd Akin Monday for his remarks regarding pregnancy and rape. King also signaled why — he might agree with parts of Akin’s assertion.

King told an Iowa reporter he’s never heard of a child getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest.

He can start here.

Rep. Steve King: I’ve Never Heard of a Girl Getting Pregnant from Rape or Incest [TPM]

“This is the platform of the Republican Party; it’s not the platform of Mitt Romney.”

—Reince Priebus, deftly distracting attention from a GOP plank that calls for “legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children,” so nobody will mention it ever again.

Priebus: GOP platform ‘not the platform of Mitt Romney’ [NBC]

Word comes to us that Todd Akin’s going to be on Piers Morgan’s CNN gabfest at 2100 EDT.  In terms of strategy, it is horrendous.  In terms of comedy possibilities?  AWESOME. And thus I am proud to present this OPEN THREAD for y’all.  [BREAKING HARD — Rep. Todd Akin ran away! Bravely ran away, away! When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled!  Oh, man.  That’s POOR.]

[Remainder of post continues with salient info and so on and so forth.  Maybe.]

[A preface.] I know that I’ve been AWOL around here.  Lots of reasons — work, exhaustion, a rough battle with severe depression, yada, yada, yada.  But one other reason?  The bullshit was just too glaring.  If the snark is obvious, I would add nothing of worth.  Don’t speak unless you would improve the silence, and such.

But there was a EUREKA! moment today at Chicago Bureau World HQ this afternoon, which is explained post-jump.

Read more »

Phyllis Diller dies at 95 [Entertainment Weekly]

Our guest columnist was happily laboring in obscurity before Sunday.

We believe that life is something that comes from our creator. We’re made in his image. And all across America you see Americans that have a respect for life — it’s not a political debate, it’s not words, it’s how they live their lives. I remember in Sept. 11, rescue workers running into the building that’s about to collapse. They grabbed somebody that’s in a wheelchair, pick him up, they don’t check their ID to see whether they’re important or not. They just take them to safety and run back for more. They by their lives speak as Americans about what we think about the value of human beings and how much repeat we hold people with… That’s the very special thing about our country.

Todd Akin: ‘I’ve Not Yet Begun To Fight’ [TPM]

Todd Akin:

I misspoke.

Dana Loesch:

Progressive backlash from Roman Polanski fans and deniers of Occupy rapes was immediate.

William A. Jacobson:

Dana Loesch was almost alone is saying, hold on a second, give the guy some time to clarify and don’t hold him to a standard Democrats are not held to until that clarification comes. Which it has. Loesch also pointed out that making a stupid statement is not the same as Claire McCaskill tanking the economy and voting for Obamacare.

Jim Hoft:

Yesterday Christian Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) misspoke on rape during an interview with liberal media host Charles Jaco. Akin immediately corrected himself.

Robert Stacy McCain:

It looks like the Left has another Alinsky Rule 12 play underway.