Great piece by Walter Russell Mead.  You know it’s true.

This is all bad news and very disturbing, but there is a crumb of comfort to be had.  Because these failures happened on President Obama’s watch, the mainstream press isn’t particularly interested in relentless, non-stop scrutiny of the unpleasant news.  If George W. Bush were president now, and had ordered the surge and was responsible for the strategic decisions taken and not taken in Afghanistan over the last four years, the mainstream press would be rubbing our noses in his miserable failures and inexcusable blunders 24/7.  The New York Times and the Washington Post would be treating us to pictures of every fallen soldier.  The PBS Newshour would feature nightly post-mortems on “America’s failed strategies in the Afghan War” and every arm-chair strategist in America would be filling the op-ed pages with the brilliant 20/20 hindsight ideas that our pathetic, clueless, failed president was too dumb and too cocky to have had.

There would be no end to the woes and the recriminations.  There would be the most moving and eloquent examples of hand wringing in the New York Review of Books, elegantly demonstrating that the cretinous assumptions and moral failings that led Bush into his failed Afghan policy weren’t his alone, but reflected broader, deeper failings in America itself.  One is almost sorry for the sake of the authors of these diatribes that Bush is gone; the failure of our Afghan strategy is so sweeping, so unavoidable, that it would be the best possible backdrop against which to paint a stirring portrait of a failed president misleading a flawed people.  What works of polemical literature have been lost, what inspired jeremiads will never be penned, what scalding portraits of America’s inherent flaws will never see the light of day because W left the White House too soon.

Entire piece here.

Barack Obama’s motorcade passes one of the CBR truth trucks in Madison, Wisconsin.

CBR staged a real coup last week by “truthing” both Presidential candidates, Pres. Obama in Wisconsin and Gov. Romney in Virginia!

In Madison, Wisconsin, Pres. Barack Obama’s motorcade passed within 30 feet of one of our abortion billboard trucks in Madison, Wisconsin (photo at right).  The driver was our super volunteer Jim Davis.  Both before and after Pres. Obama’s rally, thousands of Obama supporters were forced to walk past our enormous GAP display. We immediately seized the opportunity and flanked the corridor with handheld “Choice” signs, which we held aloft on both sides of the walkway leading past the GAP display.  Story here.  They were furious at us for raining on their parade.

At almost the same hour on the same day, another abortion billboard truck, driven by CBR super volunteer Bubba Gene Garrett, was parked along the access route to a campaign rally for Gov. Mitt Romney and Cong. Paul Ryan in Fishersville, VA (photo below).  Thousands of Romney/Ryan supporters passed this truck.  In fact, so did the Romney/Ryan motorcade.  Cong. Ryan had his window open, waving and gaping at the abortion photos on the truck.

Thank you for supporting our work.  Your gifts make it possible to reach our culture with live-saving truth.  Please pray for our nation.  And please keep on giving, because the more you give, the more people we can reach.  People who need to know.

Thousands of Romney/Ryan supporters, including the candidates themselves, passed by this truck.

Revised: August 28, 2012, 5:00 pm / Updated: August 28 & August 31

“How do you answer the rape question?”  We get it all the time.  Our answer?  “Very carefully.”

Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin set off a firestorm last week with his answer to the rape question.  Of course Obamacrats will demagogue the issue, but I’ve been disappointed by the reaction of some Republicans.  Afraid of getting sound-byted themselves, they just want Mr. Akin to go away and take his controversy with him.

I’ve also been disappointed by the media.  Of course I expected NBC/CBS/ABC to respond in their normally superficial and partisan way, but not the fair and balanced network.  Even there, we got almost no relevant facts, just talking heads reacting out of ignorance.  Perhaps research and reason are difficult and boring.  Bombasity sells.

There are two attacks on Mr. Akin.  The first is about his use of the term “legitimate” rape.  The second is about his assertion that a woman who is raped has a very small likelihood of getting pregnant (which he qualified by saying that he had been told this by doctors).

Legitimate Rape

It is clear from the context that Mr. Akin was talking about an actual rape, perhaps as opposed to an accused rape.  Of course, the people who screamed for “context” to Mr. Obama’s “You didn’t build that” statement a few weeks ago now want no such context for Mr. Akin.  Here’s how everybody is getting this wrong:

President Barack Obama.  President Obama said, “The idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we’re talking about doesn’t make sense to the American people, and certainly doesn’t make sense to me.”

Really, Mr. President?  So, if we were to talk about alleged rapist Bill Clinton, keynote speaker at the Democratic Convention, we needn’t parse differences between an alleged crime and a real (AKA, “legitimate”) crime, right?  Applying your rule, we should simply say that Mr. Clinton is a rapist, right?

For more on Democratic rape hypocrisy, check out this column by Gregory Kane.

Republicans running for cover.  Sometimes, people should just stand up and say what’s right … even politicians.  I won’t comment whether Mr. Akin should stay in the race or not.  I would gladly throw the man under the bus myself (and jump under it with him) to get a decent Senator from Missouri.  However, Republicans shouldn’t be so hypocritical … nor hypercritical … regarding an ill-chosen word.  They’ve all done it.  By piling on Mr. Akin, they are turning a difficult situation into an impossible one.  For more about the GOP in panic, see Pat Buchanan’s piece.

I was especially disappointed that Mitt Romney called on Mr. Akin to exit the race.  Wasn’t it Mr. Romney who once said, “I don’t care about poor people”?  It was clear from the context that he didn’t mean it like it sounded.

What they should say is this:  “I am sure Mr. Akin didn’t mean it the way some want to demagoge it.  Mr. Akin simply believes that every human life is sacred and should be respected.”

Conception After Rape

I am certain that doctors have told Mr. Akin that a victim of rape is less likely to get pregnant than a woman who engaged in consensual sex.  It is an oft-repeated belief, even if it isn’t true.  We know some women get pregnant from rape (including CBR’s Virginia Director, by the way).  (The ABC Medical Unit blog reported estimates of pregnancy from rape ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 per year.)  But here’s how everybody is getting it wrong:

Todd Akin himself.  First, he needed to construct his statement based on provable facts and practice his statement, before he was asked the question.  Second, he needed to be skeptical of activists, especially those on his own side.  He listened to pro-life doctors, but pro-lifers are like everybody else; they repeat what they’ve heard (if it supports their point of view) and they rarely bother to check the facts.  In the age of Google, that’s inexcusable.  Third, he needs to stay on topic.  The percentage of women getting pregnant from rape has nothing to do with the humanity of their children.

Bottom line: He is running for the US Senate.  He needs to be more disciplined.

Critics who know nothing about reproductive science (and too little about Google).  Lou Dobbs (Fox News) said Mr. Akin’s statement was “absurd” and even invited two psychologists to analyze.  Phil Williams, a local radio personality who is nominally conservative, called Mr. Akin a liar for saying that a doctor had told him that rape victims are less likely to conceive.

Not so fast.  Dr. Jack Wilke, and OB-GYN and pro-life activist) wrote an article in 1999, Rape Pregnancies are Rare.   I don’t have a source, but some have attempted to explain this phenomenon based on stress, which has long been believed that stress can interfere with normal reproductive processes.  Certainly rape is stressful.  Based on these and other factors, some pro-lifers have believed for many years that a rape victim rarely gets pregnant.  I have heard it many times and I’m certain many doctors have repeated it.  Readers can judge Dr. Wilke’s analysis of the data themselves and I’m not trying to sell his conclusion; I’m just saying that many credentialed people do believe it and repeat it.

Here’s the science, as nearly as I can Google.  The chances of a woman getting pregnant from a single incidence of consensual sex is 3.1% (source).  The ABC News blog dutifully reported that some studies have shown that the probability of conception from a single act of rape has been reported as high as 6.4%.  What they fail to tell you is that other researchers have reported conception rates among rape victims as low as 1%, which is a despicable omission.  In his book Theories of Rape, author Lee Ellis cited one study in which “researchers were able to document only 1 pregnancy out of 232 incidences of rape that could definitely be attributed to the attack” (Theories of Rape, published by Taylor & Francis, 1989, page 47).

I don’t know whether a rape victim is more, equally, or less likely to get pregnant.  But this I know: Even if Mr. Akin’s statement is incorrect — I tend to believe it is incorrect — it is certainly not without basis.

Going Forward

Like I said, I don’t know if Mr. Akin should stay in the race or not.  If he can’t win, he needs to accept political realities and bow out.  Our country and our children are at stake.

I’m not a political expert, but if he stays and fights, I would tell him this:

1. Quit apologizing.  Enough already.
2. Regarding “legitimate” rape, say something like this: “Look, in the course of conversation, I added a word that didn’t need to be there.  I understand what they want you to think I said, but everybody knows that I didn’t mean it that way.  Rape is a serious crime; and we need to do more to understand it and prevent it.”
3. Regarding the science, “Of course I know that women get pregnant from rape.  I had been told that it was rare, but now I know it is maybe not as rare as I was told.  Deal with it.”
4. Answer the rape question this way, “I believe every human life is sacred and should be welcomed and supported by all of us.  We can’t solve one act of violence by committing another.  By the way, many victims of rape agree with me.  So do their living children (example).”

What do you say?

UPDATE – Aug 28, 2012, 10:40 am:  More recent over-the-top statements by Karl Rove, Andrew Napolitano, and others have likely delivered the coup de grace to any chances Mr. Akin had left.  The Dems will gleefully capture Republican soundbytes denouncing Mr. Akin and play them over and over again.  If he wants to make sure the Republicans can win back that seat (so they can pass a budget and stop ObamaCare), he has no choice but to stand aside and let the Republican Establishment send in a relief pitcher.  Fair or not, that’s just the political reality.

UPDATE – August 31, 3:25 am:  See Ryan Bomberger’s column on Karl Rove’s comments.  He is obviously not a friend of the pro-life movement.

Which advertisement inspires you?  Free stuff or an equal opportunity?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbH8XnAEmZI

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqGlutCQNFA

Fascinating video on the founder of the modern-day entitlement state.  It was none other than Otto von Bismarck, who invented social welfare to frustrate the demand for democratic rule.

The people wanted the power of self-determination.  Von Bismarck did not want the poeple to have that power, so he bought their compliance with free stuff.  Sound familiar?

Here’s the video from DickMorris.com:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb34etEVIFw

Obama on Capitalism (source):

… there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care of everything,” they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes — especially for the wealthy — our economy will grow stronger. Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. And, they argue, even if prosperity doesn’t trickle down, well, that’s the price of liberty.

Now, it’s a simple theory. And we have to admit, it’s one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. That’s in America’s DNA. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. (Laughter.) But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. (Applause.) It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible postwar booms of the ‘50s and ‘60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade. (Applause.) I mean, understand, it’s not as if we haven’t tried this theory.

Friedman on Capitalism:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A

It is time for the new game, “Who Said It?”  I will give you a quote and you have to guess what great American said it.

A.  “Let me be absolutely clear.  Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

B.  “I’ve now been in 57 states, I think one left to go.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

C.  “On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes, and I see many of them in the audience here today.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

D.  “What they’ll say is, ‘Well it costs too much money,’ but you know what? It would cost, about. It it it would cost about the same as what we would spend. It. Over the course of 10 years it would cost what it would costs us. (nervous laugh) All right. Okay. We’re going to. It. It would cost us about the same as it would cost for about hold on one second. I can’t hear myself. But I’m glad you’re fired up, though.. I’m glad.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

E.  “The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings and inefficiencies to our health care system.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

F.  “I bowled a 129. It’s like – it was like the Special Olympics, or something.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

G.  “Of the many responsibilities granted to a president by our Constitution, few are more serious or more consequential than selecting a Supreme Court Justice. The members of our highest court are granted life tenure, often serving long after the presidents who appointed them. And they are charged with the vital task of applying principles put to paper more than 20 centuries ago (2000 Years?) to some of the most difficult questions of our time.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

H.  “Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

I.  “It was interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There’s a lot of, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing.” (In case you don’t get it, there is no Austrian language.)

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

J.  “I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.”

1. Barack Obama
2. Dan Quayle
3. Sarah Palin
4. George W. Bush

The answers to Questions A – J are all the same.  Barack Obama.  How did you do?

But remember, according to the media, George W. Bush et al. are supposed to be the village idiots, while Barack Obama is the “brilliant genius.”

Here’s an interesting quote.  FAB agrees with all of it except the last sentence.  Contrary to this person’s lament, we actually deserve the politicians we get.

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.  It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills.  It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally.  Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’  Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.  Americans deserve better.”

— Senator Barack H. Obama, March 20, 2006