MAMAS DON’T RAISE NO FOOLS IN MISSOURI….                                                                (except…now and then when they just can’t help it)

The latest political furor in Missouri is much like one of its tornadoes…coming out of the blue with little or no warning, causing everyone to frantically scramble for cover any way they can.

Congressman Akins’ remarks about – rape- during an interview on the subject of abortion clearly shows that, while mamas don’t raise no fools in Missouri, now and then they just can’t help it. The good Congressman is proof of that.

His foolishness, however, is not because of his specific remarks, but because he fell into the political trap of trying to get an edge in a very tight race…by pandering to a particular demographi8c of the electorate about a very divisive issue…abortion. And he’s not the first career politico to do so. His specific remarks about rape (and whether there should be an exception for it in any proposed anti-abortion legislation) simply compounded the problem.

Frankly, the entire subject has no business in the political arena. It’s strictly a private matter which every woman must decide for herself. The only reason it is the subject of political debate is because a past Congress allowed itself to be stampeded into providing funding for clinics established for that purpose. And, since for most folks it’s a moral issue, not a medical one, is it any wonder the subject is such a hot-button issue?

Of course, making it a moral issue then makes that a matter of conscience; and, if it’s a matter of conscience, then that puts the entire subject under a First Amendment right issue. Thus, there should be no laws either for or against it, perhaps other than limiting such procedures to the first trimester of pregnancy.

As for the Congressman’s comments suggesting there are two kinds of rape, that just shows us how easy it is to shoot oneself in the political foot. Rape…is rape…period. It’s a vicious act on par with child molesting. Neither should be tolerated in any society.

Well, whether his campaign for Senate survives this episode remains to be seen, but his making the usual abject public apology probably won’t help much. Like so many of his ilk it just shows the voters he’s a political weathervane without the courage of his convictions. He would probably do better if he stood by his comments, wrong-headed as those might be, because whiners…get no respect.

CENTURION