There have been many political gaffes this election year, but so far the best/worst award goes to the U.S. representative from Missouri’s 2nd congressional 
district, Republican William Todd Akin. His gaffe was made on a St. Louis television show where Akin replied that he believed the female body is able to prevent itself from being impregnated in cases of “legitimate rape.” Akin’s remarks raised more than enough eyebrows on stupidity alone, begging the question: what is “legitimate rape”? Is that like “consensual rape” or “invited rape”? — my liberal college education didn’t prepare me for this.
A gaffe is a gaffe, and in fairness to Akin, he came out the next day apologizing for his poor choice of words. That being said, there appears to be a pattern, within the GOP, regarding attitudes towards women that cannot be ignored.
This past February, Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” for her remarks to House Democrats in support of mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives. Unlike Akin, Limbaugh, capitalizing on the scandal, went on to say that if taxpayers had to shell out greenbacks for Fluke’s contraception, then they should get to see a video of it being used. If not for the fact that Limbaugh’s audience agreed with him and saw no problem in him calling someone else’s daughter a “whore” on a nationally-syndicated radio show for no other reason than disagreement with her views, this would be a non-issue.
You would think these quotes from GOP voices were from a decade ago, but that’s not the case. To many a conservative, liberals are godless hedonists who lack any form of morals. Despite the fact that we are the ones who want to ensure everyone gets quality healthcare or that the poor receive a better shot at achieving the American dream, the other side insists we are the ones who are moralistically inferior.
Liberals don’t complain about taxes because we feel that living in an enlightened society means that we all pay for the good of one another. We also hold women in higher regard than the Akins and Limbaughs of the world. We say that women, blessed with the ability to give life, should have final control over their bodies.
The crazy irony of the GOP stance on all of this is that they seem to care more about the unborn than the living. Pro-life Republican Governor, and Latino poster woman for anti-immigrant reform, Jan Brewer came forward last week saying she would refuse to follow Obama’s recent deferred action executive order for eligible immigrants. She doesn’t care about the future of these kids; she just wants them gone.
I heard from a female friend of mine, who is a pastor in Arizona, that she has ten kids eligible for the program in her church alone. I’d argue that’s ten more souls than those that are going to be conceived this year by “legitimate rape” in our country. But according to the GOP, unborn lives are more valuable, and anyone who wants contraception to prevent an unwanted pregnancy is a “slut.”
Sounds harsh? I’m only quoting.
Jose Cruz is the editor of OurTiempo.com worked in the Clinton White House and on three Presidential campaigns. He is the founder of ImmigrationPAC a pro-comprehensive immigration reform Federal Political Action Committee and active political commentator.
About Being Latino Contributors
No, BL, you’re not “only quoting”– you’re misrepresenting and generalizing based on the uncalled-for comments of ONE person in the GOP. Please take a cue from the comments on your Facebook story; this kind of article is hugely biased and exaggerated. Dems say dumb things too all the time, and nobody calls them out on it because that’s all those comments are: stupid and pointless (or so it seems?). I decided to unLike your page because, basically, I’m disappointed you’re no longer being journalistic and objective.
Sorta like how one or two people in the GOP say this, it means the entire GOP. Gotta love the grouping together of an entire party. Wonder if we latinos would get angry if people try to do that to us.
I do not care about politics, but indeed this site is starting to be a little too biased towards one side of the fence. The assumption made here that all of the GOP is saying something is just as bad as people saying that all latinos are cholos or in a gang. To a point, kinda irresponsible.
Yesterday’s comments indicate that we do it to ourselves.
So how about you post some history about the conservative party fighting for civil rights in the 60′s for minorities. And how George Romney was one of the head social figures in the fight for these universal rights. Also you could post the history of the southern democratic party spear heading the kkk too, but I’m assuming you won’t since that sort of propaganda doesn’t work for your ridiculous agenda.
Ehh How is this related to “Being Latino”?
I’m not shock by this. GOP as been raping it citizens for centuries
This is so stupid. So if this represents the GOP as a whole, then Jeremiah Wright, Farrahkan, the Klan, Neil Rogers, Lyndon B Johnson and hundreds of others are a representation of the Democratic Party as a whole? This ONE moron said something stupid. Biden says something stupid everyday but you don’t seem to call him out on it. I sit back and read everything here, this is my first time speaking out because this particular one was just over the top dumb.
Women’s rights should matter to Latinos. Thank you for posting this.
@Michele Try telling that to Abe Lincoln. I’m sure he’ll be happy to prove you wrong. @ Erika, you must have totally missed the point. Which really makes me sigh…
They tried to change the definition of the word rape which would change the laws so how is it just someone saying something dumb? He is putting his mentality into action at his job. And this is a man on the commitee for Science, Space and Technology!
@ Michele Montanez your comment exemplifies and epitomizes how ignorant and misinformed the liberal Latino base can be! The GOP has been raping citizens for centuries???? really, I dont know if i should smack you or euthanize you to put you out of your misery! So i guess then if the comment of one idiot attributes it to the whole then The KKK rants, what the black panther party says, what the liberal Atheist protest and all their statements should be attributed to the whole liberal party, right? since they are so affiliated to it, right or are you going to be like the news media, that loves to white wash the ironic, desperate rants that liberals make and do not like airing those out in public media channels? right what are you going to say now? just answer the question Michele Montanez am i right or not? just as i thought!!!
Ericka yes woman’s right should matter to Latinos and the whole nation but do not attribute the rants of one individual who ignorantly made a statement/comment to a group of people. Because if that’s the case all these latinos supporting Obama are just turning a blind eye to the half thought through statements/ comments made by people within the liberal base!
If people want to kill a baby because it’s inconvenient for them, I have a problem with that. Would society have a problem if I wanted to kill my one month old? How about my 3 year old? What if men started lobbying for the right to force a woman to have an abortion on the grounds it was half his child… <— those are the "rights" women currently have over their child and the child's father. The child jointly conceived has no rights to life and the father has no way to protect his unborn child from slaughter. Disgusting.
I do think this article was a little broad in its attribution of certain characteristics and motivations to one party or the other (including Dems.) But I do agree with the idea that, far from being one isolated comment from one idiotic guy, the “legitimate rape” comments are indicative of an established pattern from the GOP that does not end merely with on-air babbling but leads to genuine attempts at legislative action.
So let me get this straight: A web site who’s administrators regularly scream out about profiling and stereotyping are engaged in the same activity. What a bunch of hypocrites!
Ah the phony GOP war on women. I knew that was bound to come up soon, being that BL is starting to look like the young Latino propaganda arm of the Democratic party. Does the DNC send you daily talking points?
Well what about the Democratic party and their involvement and funding in the war, nay, GENOCIDE, of unborn babies in the womb who are sliced and diced, mutilated, chemically burnt, without any pain killers to put them out of their misery, and sucked up a vacuum hose all in the name of “choice” or “women’s healthcare”?
This Democrat Party war on babies and in the long run, women’s mental health has murdered about 54,559,615 unborn babies since abortion was mandated legal in 1973. These ghoulish figures are not made up by right wing GOP males but actually they come from the Federal government Center for Disease Control and the Guttmacher Institute which is the Research Arm of Planned Parenthood – a Democratic Party front.
So feminazi Latinas and the Latino sangano tonto males who are dominated by them – spare us the DNC talking points and think about all those dead baby souls of innocents your party has ignored and actually has given the OK for massive genocide in the name of choice. War on women, yeah right…
Apparently, the writer did not see the news yesterday, or chose to ignore the many comments by GOP heads like Karl Rove, Mitt Romney and others who vehemently criticized Todd Akin for his stupid comment. And, since when did one man who is a GOPer represent the entire GOP’s view? There are many female elected GOPers throughout this nation, and they did not support Akin’s comment as well. Talk about political profiling in the extreme.
Guys, Just because Romney changed his position on abortion, social security, gun control, releasing taxes, immigration path to citizenship, the Bush tax cuts, views on Reagan, The NRA, Climate change, Don’t ask don’t tell, same sex marriage, stem cell research, Romney/Obamacare, TARP, Cap and Trade, campaign finance laws, Payroll tax extensions, a flat tax system, planned parenthood, The Stimulus, and The individual mandate in the last 5 years doesn’t make him a hypocrite.
Chalk it up to Jose Cruz, former Bill Clinton aide, for his third Epic Manure to date on Being Latino. If he really wants to delve in “legitimate rape”, he should interview his former boss.
What is the other option? To force every single woman to have all the children she gets pregnant with? Are you going to pay for those children? What I hate about the GOP they’re all pro-life right until birth.
Then after that they blame the victim for being poor or not being able to feed their children and they don’t like the idea of welfare, food stamps, etc.
If you want to be pro-life, then help the kid once it’s born!
I believe in the right to chose. It’s not my business what other women do with their bodies and it shouldn’t be yours either.
Men will never have to deal with it so they shouldn’t try to tell women what they can do with their bodies.
@mario, The “phony war on women”… Funny, this opinion always comes from a man. Well, kind sir, YOUR reproductive choices, rights, well being and money is NOT under attack. MINE and all other women’s rights ARE. Not only did the GOP Congress vote for anti-women legislation instead of working on creating jobs and whatnot, they also voted down the Violence Against Women Act, and the Fair Paycheck Act, designed to give us further protection against rape, domestic violence and pay discrimination. So I suggest that until you grow a vagina and are forced to deal with these issues on a hourly basis, that you kindly SHUT IT.
This is so far off the mark. Abortion, the darling issue of the left, damages women for the rest of their lives. The GOP opposes it, thus protecting women. As far as Congressman Akin’s remarks, the entire quote was broken down into a three-second soundbite. The remainder of the quote was, “After a rape, there should be punishment–for the rapist, not for the child.” His stance, that a child is a child, no matter how that child came to be in the womb, bothers many, including some Republicans. That’s what this is all about.
@kathy that is your opinion and choice not to get an abortion. You and no one else has any right to tell other women what to do with their lives or bodies. Having kids you cannot afford and do not want also tends to damage one for life.
How can the Republicans be evil? Abe Lincoln was a Republican!
And all you women out there wanting to vote for Romney: Please keep in mind that Paul, the VP nominee, co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape with Akin. Yeah, cuz that sounds pro-women. Open your eyes and look at how the GOP is voting against us. Each congressmen’s voting record is public and not hard to find. They want to outlaw abortion, which affects us women, and they’re demonizing birth control. What is next???
@ Stewart Marco Lara…
You state: “Biden says something stupid everyday…”. I find that statement very odd in that the things Biden says do not insult a particular class of citizens. Not even his “put you back in chains” comments directed at the Afro-American community was insulting in any way. What Biden was doing was merely warning Afro-Americans that if Romney is elected, he will let the powerful corporations loose so they can do whatever they want. Right now Obama has them in check.
As long as I’m talking about saying insulting things, generally speaking, let me throw this one out…
As we all know, the day the London Olympics started, Romney was there and immediately insulted England saying that they were poor hosts of the Olympics. But here’s my point: after he left England, he went over to Israel. When he got there, he praised Israel’s prosperity and wealth. He then said that the Palestinians were poor because they had an inferior culture; he also said that the situation was much like that of America and Mexico in that America is a wealthy and prosperous nation and Mexico is not. In other words, he stronglt implied that the reason Mexico is a poor nation is because of the inferiority of Latino culture. Excuse me Mitt The Twit? All because I like my menudo and corn tortillas on Sunday morning and then carne asada in the afternoon does not make me, in any way whatsoever, inferior! Tonto!
@ Rafael Carrillo…
By the way, Senor Carrillo, if this site is ” a little too biased” , then why didn’t this site report Mitt The Twit’s demeaning comments about Mexico and Latino culture? They didn’t, didn’t did they!?! No! I had to do that! BTW, I don’t know about you or any body else, but Mitt The Twit’s comments highly offended me!