Todd Akin now claims he “misspoke” when he described “legitimate rape”

“In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year.” — Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), in a statement late Sunday, after saying in an interview earlier that victims of “legitimate rape” have biological defenses that fend off a pregnancy and therefore do not need legal abortion rights.

Clearly he did not “misspeak.” Read his statement: Akin has no alternative explanation for what he meant to say, obviously. Watch the video – his meaning was very clear.

image: miss-mimikry

demnewswire:

SAY WHAT?: Todd Akin claims no pregnancy comes from rape.

NO WASTEFUL SPENDING

The Missouri House “spent more than $1,100 in taxpayer money on a security camera to keep watch over a new bronze bust of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.” The small-government conservative talk show-host was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians during a closed-door ceremony last week. — Think Progress

Morning Bunker Report: TGIF 5.25.2012

SHHHH! Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians on Monday during a secretive, closed-door ceremony in the state Capitol as police stood guard to keep out any uninvited political opponents of the sometimes divisive radio show host. – The Washington Post

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image: (AP Photo/NOAA)

Forecasters say Saturday storms ‘life threatening’

It was only the second time in U.S. history that the Storm Prediction Center issued a high-risk warning more than 24 hours in advance, said Russ Schneider, director of the center, which is part of the National Weather Service. The first time was in April 2006, when nearly 100 tornadoes tore across the southeastern U.S., killing a dozen people and damaging more than 1,000 homes in Tennessee.

This weekend’s outbreak could be a “high-end, life threatening event,” the center said.

[…] The worst weather is expected to develop late Saturday afternoon between Oklahoma City and Salina, Kan., but other areas also could see severe storms with baseball-sized hail and winds of up to 70 mph, forecasters said. The warning issued Friday covers parts of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

Read full article…

Here are the turnout numbers for Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri from 2008 and this week: 2008 Minnesota caucus – 62,828 / 2012 Minnesota caucus - 47,826 or a drop of about 23%; 2008 Colorado caucus – 70,229 / 2012 Colorado caucus - 65,479 or a drop of about 7%; 2008 Missouri primary – 588,844 / 2012 non-binding Missouri primary - 251,868 or a drop of over half (Note: Missouri had delegates at stake in 2008 but did not this year).

GOP turnout troubles continue

(Source: underthemountainbunker.wordpress.com)

As David Axelrod notes, Mitt’s Super PAC is going to be banging away at Santorum, but I don’t think he’s as soft a target as Gingrich, at least for Republicans. His weakness as a general election candidate is his bigotry, but that’s a strength among the 27 percenters, so Romney can’t mention it. Instead, the Romney campaign will be attacking Santorum’s earmarks when he was in Congress. That’s a far cry from adultery and moon bases. Let’s face it: in their hearts, the Tea Party base has secretly wanted Santorum all along, but they held their nose and voted for Romney. With 11 caucuses in March, they can come out of the closet and wallow in it.

Waking Up to Santorum

(Source: underthemountainbunker.com)

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Santorum: Iran would nuke Missouri - Rick Santorum warned that if Iran procures a nuclear weapon, it would pose a threat even to Missouri. “Once they have a nuclear weapon, let me assure you, you will not be safe, even here in Missouris,” Santorum said Friday at a campaign stop in the Show Me State. “These are folks who have been and are at war with us since 1979. This is a country that has killed more troops in Afghanistan and Iraq than the Iraqis and Afghans.”

Saturday morning’s 10 interesting things

Levee break offers brief reprieve for Nebraska nuke plant

UPDATE 8:00 AM MST ****** to the post: Levee failure near Brownsville — no threat to Cooper Nuclear Station

You could look at this another way:

Levee break offers brief reprieve for Nebraska nuke plant

The failure of a Missouri River levee in northwest Missouri is offering a brief reprieve from flooding for southeast Nebraska near the Cooper nuclear power plant.

The National Weather Service says the river level dropped more than a foot at Brownville to 43.1 feet Friday morning after Thursday’s levee breach upstream in northwest Missouri.

Before the breach, the river had been 44.8-feet-deep at Brownville on Thursday. The weather service predicts the river to return to that depth over the weekend.

The Nebraska Public Power District owns the nuclear power plant. The river would have to rise to 46.5 feet before reaching Cooper, but the plant would be shut down as a precaution if the river reached 45.5 feet.

See all related posts for Fort Calhoun & Cooper Nuclear Station »

Levee failure near Brownsville — no threat to Cooper Nuclear Station

Omaha World-Herald reports:

A Missouri River levee three miles north of Brownville, Neb., failed Thursday night, triggering evacuations in Atchison County, Mo.

According to early assessments, the breach posed no threat to the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville.

Flash Flood Warning

See all related posts for Fort Calhoun & Cooper Nuclear Station »

Congressional Republicans are, amazingly, saying that spending to help the victims of the Joplin, Missouri tornadoes has to be accompanied with a spending cut.

Republicans To Joplin Tornado Victims: Screw You