Now that the frenzy of the election and its wake has subsided, I want to resurface a post from November 3 that probably got lost in the deluge. The significance of the much reviled Todd Akin is not only that he believed and stated extraordinary things about rape -- and voiced them while running for the U.S. Senate. -- FC
Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) has become notorious for his comments about rape, but there are many other good reasons to consider him one of the most recklessly dangerous pols in the nation. Fresh revelations about his criminal record and his approval of proponents of anti-abortion violence are now coming out almost daily. Josh Glassteter at People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch has come up with video that demonstrates how this is so. The National Journal is now reporting that Akin was arrested at least 8 times in connection with anti-abortion protests in he 80s -- including an instance in which he was blocking access to a clinic, refused to leave and had to be "carried out by police."
A few days after the 1993 assassination of Florida abortion provider, Dr. David Gunn, Akin's longtime anti-abortion/militia pal, Tim Dreste, stood in front of the clinic of abortion provider Dr. Yogrenda Shah with a sign stating: "Dr. Shah, are you feeling under the Gunn?"
Here is the video:
A few months later, Akin contributed $200 to Dreste's dark horse race for state representative.
The facts have been out there, duly reported by news outlets over the years -- but are only now resurfacing. The fact is that Todd Akin has not only been an ally of one of the nation's leading supporters of anti-abortion violence; but has been a supporter of anti-government militia, even when the nation stood shell-shocked in the wake of the Oklahoma City Bombing.
In 1995 the Springfield News-Leader ( in an article dug up by Right Wing Watch) revealed that Todd Akin met with a St. Louis-area militia and defended it in wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. The article undermines his later claims that he did not even know who the militia group was.
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