Tag Archives: rape

Wednesday’s selections from the annals of ‘Republicans are terrible people’

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Jezebel - After tons of outrage over her horrendous bill that would make rape victims criminals if they sought an abortion, because they’d be  ”tampering with evidence,” New Mexico Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-Dingbat) clarified: House Bill 206 isn’t meant to target victims of sexual assault but to discourage rapists. She’s revised the language so it’s clear that abortion providers would be penalized, not rape survivors. — You’re probably thinking: how does punishing 1) a woman who was raped and impregnated or 2) a doctor who performs an abortion for her actually “discourage” rapists? You’re right – it doesn’t. Brown is still a idiot (or she thinks we are).

It’s back! The Republican-mandated invasive transvaginal ultrasound has returned in Arkansas (they never stop trying), where Sen. Jason Rapert (yes! Rapert was his name-o!) is hiding the ultrasound requirement in … yet another “fetal heartbeat” anti-abortion bill: Spread ‘Em, Ladies: Rapert Toughens Anti-Abortion Bill. The new Rapert bill would prohibit an abortion if a heartbeat is detected, a limitation that moves the potential prohibition in Arkansas law to the 5th week of pregnancy, far beyond the pre-viability protection period that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld… – Charles Johnson

Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) on Tuesday defended his proposal to tie a family’s welfare benefits to their children’s academic success. [...] Under current law, parents can lose up to 20 percent of their benefits from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program if a child does not attend school. Campfield’s bill would increase the penalty to 30 percent and require children to make “satisfactory academic progress” in school. – Raw Story

Phillip Walker Sailors was charged on Sunday with the murder of Rodrigo Abad Diaz. A 69-year-old war veteran and former missionary was arrested over the weekend on the suspicion of killing a 22-year-old Cuban immigrant who mistakenly arrived in his driveway because of faulty GPS directions. [...] Diaz tried to turn the car around to leave, but Sailors fired another shot, striking the immigrant on the left side of the head. The group, which included a 15 and an 18 year old, said that Sailors held them at gunpoint until police arrived. - Raw Story

A top Hispanic Republican advocacy group co-chaired by Jeb Bush has list of “messaging dos and don’ts for immigration reform,” they say: Don’t use phrases like “send them all back” – Daily Kos

In light of Paul Ryan‘s newfound rediscovered appreciation for the spending sequester’s automatic defense and domestic cuts, let’s take a trip back in time to four months ago when Ryan was making the case during the 2012 vice presidential debate that the sequester’s potential spending cuts emboldened the terrorists who attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Responding to a question about Mitt Romney’s rash response to the attack, Ryan said: “[...] And we should not be imposing these devastating defense cuts, because what that does when we equivocate on our values, when we show that we’re cutting down on defense, it makes us more weak. It projects weakness. And when we look weak, our adversaries are much more willing to test us. They’re more brazen in their attacks, and are allies are less willing to…” And with those ellipses Vice President Joe Biden could not take any more of Ryan’s nonsense. He interrupted Ryan, and said that Ryan’s statement was—you guessed it—”a bunch of malarkey.” – DailyKos

Huffington Post - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has upped his already harsh rhetoric against outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claiming that she “got away with murder”… “I haven’t forgotten about Benghazi. Hillary Clinton got away with murder, in my view,” Graham said on Fox News Monday evening, speaking to Greta Van Susteren. “She said they had a clear-eyed view of the threats. How could you have a clear-eyed view of the threats in Benghazi when you didn’t know about the ambassador’s cable coming back from Libya?” — And I’m quite certain Ms Graham must have been equally upset about the revelation of the “Bin Laden determined to strike in US” memo that George W. Bush shrugged off in August of 2001 at his ranch in Crawford. Or when, 10 years ago this week, George W. told us all in his SOTU that Saddam Hussein had WMD in the form of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent!, mobile biological weapons labs!, nuclear capability! – and worse, Hussein was seeking uranium from Africa! We invaded Iraq 51 days later and now, 10 years and counting, and after hundreds of thousands of deaths and an enormous cost to our nation’s treasury, we all know it was a manufactured lie. 

Dick Cheney may have accidentally shot a man in the face while he was vice president, but that didn’t stop Fox News from flying to Nevada to get his advice on recently-proposed gun control laws. Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins caught up with Cheney over the weekend at the Safari Club International convention for gun owners and manufacturers, where the former vice president and his daughter, Liz, participated in a discussion about gun rights and the realism of torture in the film “Zero Dark Thirty.” – Raw Story

There’s no point in pursuing universal background checks for firearms purchases, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre plans to tell the Senate today, because bad guys will get guns anway. LaPierre is among those scheduled to tesify at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s gun violence hearing Wednesday. The NRA sent out his testimony Tuesday. LaPierre once again plans to tout the NRA’s call for armed guards in every school as well as the group’s call for loosen privacy laws the group says keep mental health records from being included in the extisting background check system. But when it comes to expanding background checks to cover all firearms transactions, LaPierre will tell the Senate there’s little point. - TPM

Neil Heslin, of Shelton, holds a portrait of himself and his son, Jesse Lewis, one of the children killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting, during testimony before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday, January 28, 2012. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Connecticut PostConnecticut Post - Neil Heslin, holding a photo of his slain 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, asked why Bushmaster assault-style weapons are allowed to be sold in the state. “There are a lot of things that should be changed to prevent what happened,” said Heslin… “That wasn’t just a killing, it was a massacre,” said Heslin, who recalled dropping off his son at Sandy Hook Elementary school shortly before Lanza opened fire. “I just hope some good can come out of this.” He asked the crowd why assault weapons should not be banned. …The Connecticut Post put the number of hecklers at “as many as a dozen.” — Watch the video below where he asks his question and the pro-gun crowd is silent at first… then, like brain-wiped, well-programmed drones, they’re simply impelled to screech and howl their meaningless NRA propaganda like,”The Second Amendment!” and “The Second Amendment shall not be infringed!” These soulless bastards just can’t let it go, not even once, not even for a man whose precious 6-year-old son was mowed down in a kindergarten classroom with 19 other children in a hail of bullets. The video starts at his question / their response at 13:29:

…

Think Progress – When the Senate passed the long-delayed $50.5 billion Hurricane Sandy relief package Monday, 36 Republicans voted against the bill. But of the 32 no-votes from Senators who are not brand-new members, at least 31 came from Republicans who had previously supported emergency aid efforts following disasters in their own states. [...] The “hypocritical” list includes:

1. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH): Requested disaster aid after Hurricane Sandy.
2. John Barrasso (R-WY), Republican Policy Committee Chair: Requested disaster aid after flooding.
3. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Republican Conference Vice Chair: Demanded the Senate be called back from recess to pass disaster aid during a drought and boasts: “When a disaster surpasses the ability of states and communities to rebuild, Senator Blunt believes the federal government should prioritize spending to help the people whose lives and livelihoods are impacted. During his time in the Senate, he has fought tirelessly to ensure that Missouri gets its fair share of those federal resources specifically dedicated to disaster recovery.”
4. John Boozman (R-AR): Requested disaster aid after snow storms in January 2013.
5. Richard Burr (R-NC): Requested disaster aid after severe storms.
6. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): Requested disaster aid after flooding.
7. – 31. Read more…

Screenshot of names of senators who voted no on Sandy relief bill.

 

The female Republican from New Mexico who doesn’t understand much of anything

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Can we talk about Cathrynn Brown for a minute? Is she evil or idiotic:

State Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-Carlsbad) introduced a bill yesterday that requires rape victims to see their pregnancies through during the course of their sexual assault trial, or be charged with third-degree felony evidence tampering.

From House Bill 206: Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime.

If convicted, a rape victim could face up to three years in prison.

—

Huffington Post: “Brown said in a statement Thursday that she introduced the bill with the goal of punishing the person who commits incest or rape and then procures or facilitates an abortion to destroy the evidence of the crime. “New Mexico needs to strengthen its laws to deter sex offenders,” said Brown. “By adding this law in New Mexico, we can help to protect women across our state.””

—

HUH? Brown brings an entirely new level of dumbshittery to the GOP. It’s amazing how again and again these types of people wander out of their homes / hospital rooms and find their way to the Republican Party. Way to go, New Mexico!

If you’re raped in NM and want a trial, you’ll need to carry the fetus to term as evidence

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New Mexico state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R) has introduced a bill that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial, the Huffington Post reports. (via)

Male or female, Republicans are always heroes.

Selections from the annals of ‘Republicans are terrible people’

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They really are just awful…

“MSNBC just aired an audio clip of Rush Limbaugh mawkishly sobbing in a toddler’s tone, “I don’t want to die,” in what Limbaugh, uh, humorously charged was a White House child-prop tactic to sell sensible gun control on Capitol Hill. This was, without a doubt, the most contemptible thing this jackass of a fascist fathead has ever slobbered on-air.” — Rush Limbaugh, and the last straw (via)

Louisiana Republican Governor Suggests Eliminating Corporate Tax, Paid For By Taxing The Poor: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (Republican) wants to eliminate both his state’s income tax and its corporate income tax, giving a big gift to the richest Louisianians and the state’s businesses. And he may pay for it by hiking the state’s sales tax, which will disproportionately hurt Louisiana’s poorest residents.

Gun Appreciation Day is Sponsored by a White Nationalist Party: Following the publication of this story, Gun Appreciation Day removed American Third Position from its sponsors. A3P describes itself as representing “the unique political interests of white Americans.”

Fox 5 Anchor Announces The “N*gger Inaugural”: There’s a list of words that TV reporters should never say, and it must be racing through their heads whenever the camera’s on. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Well, Fox 5’s Holly Morris said it. In a morning broadcast yesterday on extravagant inauguration deals, Morris fell over herself and declared the Willard Hotel the spot for the “n*gger inaugural.”

…

“Quite frankly it’s going to be difficult going back and working with people you sit next to and whenever they were in need, we responded immediately. Not one member of Congress ever voted against or said one word in opposition to aid going to other states when the money was needed. We were going around like third world beggars. At least they put us in that position.” — Rep. Peter King (R-NY), on his fellow House Republicans’ behavior on disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy in NY and NJ.

GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway told House Republicans at their retreat that they need to stop talking about rape, Politico reports.

How [Republicans in] Congress Wrecked a Smart Debt-Ceiling Fix: in 1979, Dick Gephardt, “who would later become House Democratic leader and twice run for president, devised a simple fix that met the absurd requirement of a two-step process. With help from the House parliamentarian, he established the Gephardt Rule, which decreed that when Congress adopted a budget resolution (the first step) it was automatically ‘deemed to have passed’ a commensurate increase in the debt limit (the second step). Presto. Problem solved. The Gephardt Rule held for a decade and a half, during which there were no fights over raising the debt ceiling. But when Republicans took control of the House in 1995, they killed it… Gingrich thought the second vote was a good pressure tactic to limit spending. Yet the threat of debt default didn’t work because nobody took it seriously. What’s different now is that many Republicans seem willing to follow through. Even Gingrich is worried.”

DailyKos:  For unintended hilarity, you can’t beat the planned panel discussion [during the Republicans three-day retreat] on how to talk to women and minorities without pissing them off.

The panel, entitled Discussion on Successful Communication with Minorities and Women, suffered an image problem from the get-go: Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who heads Republicans’ campaign efforts, deflected a question regarding the irony of a panel trying to help the GOP woo minorities happening in a room named after a slave-owning family’s plantation. ”I don’t pick the rooms we meet in,” Walden said. “I know the Democrats have held their retreats here too and I assume you’ll go and figure out if they ever held meetings in that same room.”

Fair enough, but having a panel on minorities and women that seemed to be well-stocked with white guys proved perhaps even more awkward: But then why, a final reporter prodded, did this panel on communicating with women and minorities include three white men: Representatives Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Scott Rigell and Frank R. Wolf, both of Virginia? Mr. Walden, who was not responsible for putting together the event, pointed out that the panel also included several women: “a woman from CNN” (Ana Navarro) and “Sean Duffy’s wife” (Rachel Campos-Duffy). Mr. Duffy is a congressman from Wisconsin; his wife is a television personality. Also on the list was Ms. Herrera Beutler. But, unfortunately, her name was misspelled.

Florida Business Leaders Vow To Block Paid Sick Day Laws During Worst Flu Season In A Decade: The U.S. is currently experiencing its worst flu season in a decade, but many workers can’t heed the advice of public health experts to stay home when they’re sick due to a lack of paid sick days. And Florida business leaders are looking to keep it that way: The Florida Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday that one of its top legislative priorities this year would be blocking local governments from adopting paid sick-time measures such as the one pending in Orange County. At a news conference in Tallahassee, Chamber President Mark Wilson said his powerful business group wants a law that would ban cities and counties from creating varying paid-sick-leave rules across the state. The passage of local sick-time laws would, Wilson said, “make pockets of Florida very uncompetitive.”

West Point study on ‘violent far right’ shows ‘dramatic rise’ in attacks: Some conservatives object to the report. The Washington Times, The National Review, and World Net Daily all report on critical reactions from the right, according to the Atlantic Wire, with blogger Pamela Geller calling it an “appalling attempt to demonize loyal Americans and whitewash the Islamic threat.”

Josh Marshall: GOP memo brags: We gerrymandered so well we won the House even though we got fewer votes!!!

Tina Fey on the GOP’s various and sundry definitions of rape

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Stephen Colbert on the GOP: TEAM RAPE!

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ihatepeacocks: Oh Republicans, you were so close to 2 full weeks, so close.

President Obama: “Rape is rape. It’s a crime.”

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Full quote here.

Nate Silver: “If only women voted, President Obama would be on track for a landslide re-election, equaling or exceeding his margin of victory over Senator John McCain in 2008.”

Use it or lose it, ladies: 

Register to vote | Volunteer | Contribute

The Republican Party Rape Advisory Chart: Mourdock-Romney advisory

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“Life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen.” — Indiana U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (R), at a debate tonight with Rep. Joe Donnelly (D).

CSMonitor: Richard Mourdock, the Republican Senate candidate from Indiana who made a controversial statement concerning the will of God and rape, refused to apologize for his remarks Wednesday.

Mitt Romney’s one endorsement:

…

Romney will pretend to disagree with Mourdock’s “policy” while continuing to support him: “Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr. Mourdock’s comments do not reflect Gov. Romney’s views,” Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said. “We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him.” – Washington Post

Charlie Pierce: “Tell me again that I don’t have to worry about Romney’s having two or three Supreme Court appointments to make, or about a Senate full of Richard Mourdocks passing judgment on them.”

Think Progress: John McCain, who’s not running a campaign this year, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday night that he would withhold his support until Mourdock “apologizes and says he misspoke, and he was wrong and he asks the people to forgive him” However, McCain hasn’t pulled an ad he made for Mourdock earlier, or explicitly renounced him.

###


via: DailyKos

Think Progress: As of 1:30 pm, Fox News had not mentioned Richard Mourdock or the word “rape” in connection to Mourdock even once. In comparison, other cable networks are covering Mourdock and the fallout from his comments exhaustively. MSNBC mentioned “rape” in 15 segments about Mourdock, while CNN mentioned it 22 times. [...] When Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) made his highly-covered blunder, claiming that women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape,” Fox barely mentioned his name. Though Fox may continue to ignore these controversies, stories of Republican candidates’ extreme positions on abortion and contraception are becoming all too common in the news cycle.

Paul Ryan no longer wants to “split hairs” over “forcible rape” and rape

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Last year Paul Ryan co-sponsored a bill (along with Todd Akin and 225 other members of the House) called the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which inserted the specific words “forcible rape” into the exceptions for federally-funded abortions, along with incest if the victim is a minor child. Today, because of the politically inconvenient views of Todd Akin, the very serious and courageous Paul Ryan doesn’t want to say what he meant by “forcible” rape a year ago:

KDKA Political Editor Jon Delano asked: “Should abortions to be available to women who are raped?”

Ryan opposes abortions in all cases except for when the life of the mother is at stake, which is different from Mitt Romney’s position — Romney would also carve out exceptions for rape and incest.

“I’m proud of my pro-life record,” Ryan said. “And I stand by my pro-life record in Congress. It’s something I’m proud of. But Mitt Romney is the top of the ticket and Mitt Romney will be president and he will set the policy of the Romney administration.”

“You sponsored legislation that has the language ‘forcible rape,’” Delano noted. “What is forcible rape as opposed…”

“Rape is rape,” Ryan interrupted. “Rape is rape, period. End of story.”

“So that forcible rape language meant nothing to you at the time?” Delano asked.

“Rape is rape and there’s no splitting hairs over rape,” Ryan said.

That sounds like weasel-words, Paul Ryan, crafted by Team Etch-a-Sketch. Rape IS rape, rape has always been rape — yet, not so very long ago, you believed that “rape” needed to be quantified by the word “forcible.”  I still wonder if Ryan has some sort of checklist with ‘”x” number of injuries sustained’ to meet his forcible rape criteria.

Unfortunately we now know that many in the GOP believe that if a woman is raped and gets pregnant, that’s not really a “legitimate rape” — if her “tubes weren’t spastic,” if she wasn’t “uptight” enough for her body to stop the pregnancy, well then… was it really rape?

Romney met with Dr. John Willke during 2012 campaign, told him “we agree on almost everything”

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Think Progress notes that Mitt Romney met with Dr. John Willke (the controversial anti-abortion doctor who was the basis for Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” theory)  late last year, during the 2012 campaign:

“Dr. John Willke, one of the founders of the anti-abortion movement and Akin’s source, told the Daily Telegraph today that he had a private meeting with Romney in Cincinnati last October. Willke said that Romney thanked him for his support and told him, “we agree on almost everything.” It was revealed earlier this week that Romney had also touted Willke’s support during his 2008 presidential campaign, even referring to him as an “important surrogate.” The Romney campaign declined to comment to the Daily Telegraph about Dr. Willke’s comments.”

Dr. Willke’s scientifically baseless pseudo-theory on women’s innards and rape (legitimate rape): “This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight. She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.” 

JM Ashby found a web archive of Romney enthusiastically accepting Dr. Willke’s endorsement in 2007:

Governor Romney said, “I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country. He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer funded abortion and partial birth abortion. I look forward to working with Dr. Willke and welcome him to Romney for President.”

Kick over a rock inside the GOP’s “Big Tent,” and you never know what will crawl out.

Sidenote: I wonder what the anti-abortion movement thinks about the fact that part of Mitt Romney’s fortune was derived from investing in a company that disposed of aborted fetuses? They built that! 

“I apologized but the liberal media is trying to make me drop out.” – @ToddAkin via Twitter

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Bob Cesca collects some of the “liberal media” names that Todd Akin must be talking about:

And Charles Johnson mentions a couple others:

Mean ol’ liberal media trying to make Todd “The Hero” Akin drop out!

Watch this video of Palin, who is filled to the brim with WTF over this issue. I can’t even begin to decode her language — which at this point consists entirely of rhymes, word salad, and slogans — but the funny thing is, neither can Greta van Susteren.

Related: 

When Dr. Rape-Doesn’t-Cause-Pregnancy-Because-Of-Spastic-Tubes endorsed Mitt Romney

Republican Party platform: ban abortion without exception for rape or incest

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Of course, who never will have to worry about a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest? Republican men.

NPR: “In Tampa, Fla., a week ahead of their national convention, Republicans are drawing up their party platform. There are muted disagreements over a few issues, such as immigration and same-sex marriage. But at least within the platform committee, one of the least controversial issues discussed this week is abortion. With little discussion, the committee on Tuesday adopted the same anti-abortion language it included in GOP platforms in 2004 and 2008. It seeks passage of a constitutional amendment that would extend legal rights to the unborn, essentially banning abortion. The language in the platform includes no exceptions for rape or incest.”

The thinking goes ‘God chose to “bless”’ women with pregnancies from rape: “GOP 4th Senate District Committeewoman Sharon Barnes told The New York Times “that abortion is never an option.” Barnes “echoed Mr. Akin’s statement that very few rapes resulted in pregnancy,” according to theTimes, and she added that “at that point, if God has chosen to bless this person with a life, you don’t kill it.””

Think Progress adds: “In saying they would not oppose a rape exception, Romney and Ryan are both changing their tune. Romney said in 2007 he would be “delighted” to sign a bill banning all abortions, and Ryan has been staunchly anti-abortion in all cases, even attempting to restrict abortion access to victims of “forcible rape” only. The human life amendment has been a tenet of the Republican Party platform since the dawn of the Reagan era in 1980. It has survived for 32 years and nine presidential elections, even after former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pushed hard in 2000 for an explicit exception for rape and incest. McCain ceded the language to party officials during his own run in 2008.”

When Dr. Rape-Doesn’t-Cause-Pregnancy-Because-Of-Spastic-Tubes endorsed Mitt Romney

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Ladies, do you think being raped might make you a little “uptight”? That’s Dr. John C. Willke’s explanation for why rape doesn’t usually produce pregnancy — you see, when we’re “uptight” our “tubes are spastic.”

That’s where Todd Akin got the idea for his “legitimate rape” defense.

Dr. John C. Willke, a general practitioner with obstetric training and a former president of the National Right to Life Committee, was an early proponent of this view, articulating it in a book originally published in 1985 and again in a 1999 article. He reiterated it in an interview Monday.

“This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Dr. Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.”

More importantly, in 2007 Mitt Romney was proud to receive Willke’s endorsement, this Master of Lady Parts and Reproductive Magic:

“Dr. Willke is a leading voice within the pro-life community and will be an important surrogate for Governor Romney’s pro-life and pro-family agenda,” the Romney campaign said in an October 2007 statement.

“I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country,” Romney said in the statement. “He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer-funded abortion and partial-birth abortion.”

At the time, Willke called Romney “the only candidate who can lead our pro-life and pro-family conservative movement to victory.” 

Here’s what they really mean: 


via: armchairpatriots