I'm trying to work out why I thought this guy was white! I'm realising I don't remember any of the time when he was dating my sister, just the FWB afterparty.

She dated a string of European athletes when she went to Cambridge--I guess I thought he was one of those? And the ones I can specifically remember are definitely white....I think. Who went on to be a lawyer? His last name is kinda weird. I figured it was European weird, maybe?

Ah, fuck.

ANYWAY. I'm totally sure the woman my cousin is marrying in December is white. Good god, where has all the jungle fever gone? Do I have to get back into the game?

Huh. Apple now biggest company ever in U.S. history as measured by stock-value.

Surpassing Microsoft, GM, IBM...

Hey smart people. I'm confused as to why so many in the GOP leadership/media are asking Akin to step down. I don't think he'll lose Missouri, and it will just help mainstream this whole "magic vaginas mean there is no such thing as a rape exception" thing they have going on.

Or...is it that there are some of them who want off the crazy train?

I'm not sure what the upside to having him step down is for them. The unhinged block of voters will just double-down, grab some chick-fil-a and head to the polls. The others who would die before voting democrat will hold their noses and vote for him. Maybe some will be disgusted and stay home, but I think he'll likely still win.

Thoughts?

I'm confused as to why so many in the GOP leadership/media are asking Akin to step down.

Because it lends credibility to the whole Republicans Are Warring Against Women angle which has been a big advantage for Dems.

Or...is it that there are some of them who want off the crazy train?

Akin is just disadvantageous.

But they can just as easily spin this, too. There was some jackass on Bill Maher a couple of months ago who said the war on women was really high prices at the gas pump!

And no one said what I was thinking, which was, "dude, when you shove the pump in my vagina and tell me I don't have to look at the price but I'll have to wait 48 hours and come back to the station to drive my car, that would be an apt comparison." But they just let it slide.

What this dude said doesn't seem any different to me than the dude who said that his livestock doesn't suffer carrying dead fetuses until they naturally come out so it's no problem for women to do the same...and that law got PASSED. And no one seems to give a shit.

So why this one?

Rape is more loaded than carrying a stillbirth?

I don't know, Amy. In my head, once you've been able to make no distinction between livestock and women...I guess I reached maximum rage there and this just feels like, "oh, well they already told us we're animals, so of course."

Part of it is just bad timing, Allyson.

It's just getting too close to the elections. Conservatives have been working hard to shore up their position with women and haven't made too many gaffes lately on that front. But this stirs up a bunch of publicity at the wrong time for them.

It undermines their strategy.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that they give a shit on the issue. Because you've only got to look down Jezebel's list of the history of "legitimate rape" on the far right and its many instances to know it's an entrenched notion.

I think part of the "legitimate rape" thing is in large part of the just world fallacy.

When I got carjacked, quite a few people asked me why my doors weren't locked. See, it was my fault. I did something wrong. If you do all the right things, NOTHING BAD can happen to you!

I always want to ask these folks why we send anyone to prison at all, when after all, all of the victims of crime were asking for it. If none of us were stupid and did all the right things, nothing bad would happen, and criminals would be all, "oh darn, this door is also locked, I guess I will commit no crimes, today!"

I need four more of me. That way, each of us only has to work one day a week.

Better get to work on that 3D printer. And some type of neural interface thingy.

I'm confused as to why so many in the GOP leadership/media are asking Akin to step down.

They don't want national candidates painted with the same brush (it's a little late to think about that) and they don't want something that will draw more liberals to the polls.

When I got carjacked, quite a few people asked me why my doors weren't locked. See, it was my fault. I did something wrong. If you do all the right things, NOTHING BAD can happen to you!

After my foot-meets-lawnmower incident someone asked me why I wasn't wearing shoes. I wanted to show them the bloody shoe with the ginormous SLICE across it.