Forgiving Todd Akin

Listen closely to the language:



Take particular note of phrases like "As the father of two daughters," "I have a compassionate heart," "I pray for them [the victims of rape]," "I ask for your forgiveness." Sounds kind of like penance. And it's a little alarming that after such a mega-gaffe, the best he could do was an apology for the words he used, not the sincerity of his statements. Maybe a full retraction, short only of withdrawing his views on abortion entirely, would have been more appropriate.

Brad Hirschfield is all for forgiveness, but thinks this fails as an appeal:

I am all for forgiving those who genuinely seek forgiveness, but part of that search must include a clear understanding by the wrongdoer of the nature of the misdeed. On that score, Akin falls short. In fact, his stubborn desire to stay in the race, despite the best expert advice he is getting from inside his own party, smacks of the same stubborn intellectual ignorance which lead him to subscribe to the junk science and ugly theories that informed his thinking about rape and human conception.

More coverage here and here.