memeorandum: Rep. Todd Akin is wrong about rape and pregnancy, but he's not alone (Sarah Kliff/Associated Press)

5:50 PM ET, August 20, 2012

Top Items:

Romney: Akin's ‘Inexcusable’ Comment — In a phone interview this morning, Mitt Romney told National Review Online that Representative Todd Akin's recent comment on rape is “inexcusable.” — “Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said.

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Crossroads pulls out of Missouri after Akin comments — The conservative outside-spending powerhouse Crossroads GPS is pulling its ads from the Missouri Senate race, three sources confirmed to POLITICO. — The group had originally booked a new round of ads to start Wednesday but began canceling them earlier today.

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, The Fix, Mediaite, Business Insider, Election 2012, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hotline On Call, The Daily Caller, The New Civil Rights Movement and National Review

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

Reports: Akin Advisers Make Preparations For Withdrawal Tomorrow — Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin's advisers are making preparations to withdraw from the race Tuesday, GOP operative Richard Grenell and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson report.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos

National Review:

Step Aside, Todd Akin — Representative Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senator from Missouri, became nationally notorious yesterday for saying something stupid. In the course of explaining why he believes abortion should be illegal even when pregnancies result from rape …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Mediaite

Michelle Malkin:

The Todd Akin mess — Ugh. — Over the weekend, GOP Rep. Todd Akin — the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri — said some really, really stupid things. (Twitchy has comprehensive coverage. Click here and keep scrolling.) — There's no sugar-coating or whitewashing this.

Discussion: Politico, The Other McCain, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Wake up America, Washington Examiner, Datechguy's Blog, Conservatives4Palin, Twitchy and The Raw Story

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:

Scott Brown calls on Akin to drop out of Missouri Senate race — In a rare intra-party rebuke, Senator Scott Brown called on Missouri Representative Todd Akin this morning to withdraw from the US Senate race in his state, after Akin made controversial remarks on rape.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, First Read, Politicker, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, WPRI.com Blogs, The PJ Tatler, National Review and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »

Tony Perkins / CNN:

Leading social conservatives rally to Akin's defense — Tampa, Florida (CNN) - While much of the Republican universe spent Monday condemning Missouri Senate hopeful Todd Akin for his comments about “legitimate rape” and abortion, one of the nation's most prominent conservative organizations rallied to his defense.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and The Reality-Based Community

BuzzFeed:

Republican Source: Akin Moving To Withdraw — The controversial candidate is “taking concrete steps.” UPDATE: Another Republican close to Akin says he's “in the campaign.” — Rep. Todd Akin, left. — Image by Orlin Wagner / AP — Missouri Republican Todd Akin has begun moving toward ending …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Said In 2007 He Would Be “Delighted” To Sign A Bill Banning All Abortions Nationally

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Wire, ThinkProgress, Truthdig, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, The Maddow Blog and The Hinterland Gazette

Sarah Kliff / Associated Press:
Rep. Todd Akin is wrong about rape and pregnancy, but he's not alone

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Lede, rightwingwatch.org, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Daily Caller, The Maddow Blog, Guardian, ThinkProgress, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story and New York Times

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
A Canard That Will Not Die: ‘Legitimate Rape’ Doesn't Cause Pregnancy

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Todd Akin: 'I've Not Yet Begun To Fight'

Discussion: Show Me Progress, Hot Air, Shakesville, Stinque, thenation.com/blogs/164578, The Atlantic Online and Alas, a Blog

Kaili Joy Gray / Daily Kos:
Todd Akin clarifies he's on the same page as Paul Ryan on ‘forcible rape’

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Washington Post:
National GOP pulls funding from Todd Akin's Missouri race

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, 2012 Decoded, Talking Points Memo and The Mahablog

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
'God's Little Shield': A Short History Of The False No-Pregnancy-From-Rape Theory

Discussion: Midwest Democracy, Los Angeles Times, Taking Note and Guardian

New York Times: Republicans Decry Todd Akin's Rape Remarks

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Akin Comments Could Swing Missouri Senate Race

Discussion: First Read, Midwest Democracy, The PJ Tatler, Election 2012, Midwest Voices, BuzzFeed, The Daily Dish, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, The Political Carnival, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Hinterland Gazette, The Caucus, Show Me Progress and Truthdig

BuzzFeed:
Family Research Council Backs Akin

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The New Civil Rights Movement

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obama On Todd Akin: ‘Rape Is Rape’

Discussion: Fox News, The Political Carnival, AEIdeas, Talking Points Memo and Josh Blackman's Blog

David Catanese / Politico:
Todd Akin's rape remark has GOP fretting

Discussion: CNN, Erick's blog, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh, The New Republic, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, The Maddow Blog, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, The Page and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:
Todd Akin Says He Won't Drop Out

Discussion: The Raw Story

Aaron Blake / The Fix:
Republicans pull money from Missouri

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Hotline On Call, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Byron Tau / Politico:
Obama: ‘Rape is rape’

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and The Hinterland Gazette

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

As a Harvard Alum, I Apologize — Yes, I know, you could imagine many sentences that would follow that headline. But here is what I have in mind right now: A tenured professor of history at my undergraduate alma mater has written a cover story for Daily Beast/Newsweek that is so careless …

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, Noahpinion, The Daily Beast, Business Insider and Balloon Juice

Niall Ferguson / The Daily Beast:

Newsweek Cover Rebuttal: Paul Krugman Is Wrong — The liberal New York Times blogger objected to ‘multiple errors and misrepresentations’ in this week's Newsweek cover story on Obama's record in office. Author Niall Ferguson rebuts the charges. — You know you have hit the target …

Discussion: Instapundit, New York Magazine, The Glittering Eye and NewsBusters.org blogs

J. Bradford DeLong / Brad DeLong:

More Lies from Niall Ferguson: Fire-His-Ass-Now Department — Niall Ferguson writes: … The “But” at the start of the second sentence in the quote tells readers two things: (i) that Obama has violated his pledge—that he promised that the ACA would not increase the deficit, but that it did …

Discussion: Economist's View

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Niall Ferguson's ridiculous defense — Niall Ferguson's selective edit of the CBO report on Obama's Affordable Care Act. — Niall Ferguson, author of this week's Newsweek cover story calling for Obama's ousting, has returned fire on Paul Krugman — albeit in a ridiculous, misleading …

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Slate

Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online: A Full Fact-Check of Niall Ferguson's Very Bad Argument Against Obama

Paul Krugman:
Unethical Commentary, Newsweek Edition

Trip Gabriel / The Caucus:

Ryan Dips Into Foreign Policy — GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — Since Representative Paul D. Ryan was named the vice-presidential nominee, his schedule has included briefings on foreign policy with a top aide to Mitt Romney, with the Republican Party sensitive to the charge that neither man on the ticket has extensive national security experience.

Discussion: Washington Post and Election 2012

CNN:
Obama says tax return fight 'isn't overly personal'

Discussion: Politico

Byron Tau / Politico:
Obama campaign wants to see Romney's ‘secret plan’ on Afghanistan

Discussion: CNN and GOP 12

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

POLITICO e-book: Obama campaign roiled by conflict — President Barack Obama's campaign team, celebrated four years ago for its exceptional cohesion and eyes-on-the-prize strategic focus, has been shadowed this time by a succession of political disagreements and personal rivalries that haunted the effort at the outset.

Discussion: News Desk, The Lonely Conservative, Althouse, Election 2012, The Glittering Eye, nation.foxnews.com, Business Insider, Marbury, Belmont Club, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Algemeiner.com, Right Wing News, Weekly Standard, Jammie Wearing Fools and Washington Examiner

TMZ.com:

Phyllis Diller Dead — Legendary Comic Dies at 95 — Dead at 95 — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — Comedian Phyllis Diller — who paved the way for today's female comics — died this morning, TMZ has learned. — Sources close to Diller tell us the comedian died in her sleep at her L.A. home, surrounded by family.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Towleroad News #gay and BLACKFIVE

Mackenzie Weinger / Reuters:

Study: Red states more charitable — Red states give more money to charity than blue states, according to a new study on Monday. — The eight states with residents who gave the highest share of their income to charity supported Sen. John McCain in 2008, while the seven states …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: America's Generosity Divide

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

An Unserious Man — Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate led to a wave of pundit accolades. Now, declared writer after writer, we're going to have a real debate about the nation's fiscal future. This was predictable: never mind the Tea Party, Mr. Ryan's true constituency …

Discussion: AEIdeas, The Hinterland Gazette and Prairie Weather