Paul Waldman: Akin flap shows when it comes to the crazy, the parties aren't equal

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http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/21/13394681-paul-waldman-akin-flap-shows-when-it-comes-to-the-crazy-the-parties-arent-equal?fb_action_ids=4173600094207&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%224173600094207%22%3A10151100527234870}&action_type_map={%224173600094207%22%3A%22og.recommends%22}&action_ref_map=[]



COMMENTARY

In politics, we sometimes—OK, almost always—make too much of the "gaffe," the statement a candidate makes that is immediately taken out of context by his or her opponent and is said to reveal the sinister heart that lies beneath a fog of smiles and reassuring words. But every once in a while we get a gaffe that actually does tell us something important, beyond "this guy is a jerk."

And so it is with Rep. Todd Akin, who until this weekend looked likely to become the next U.S. senator from Missouri. For those of you living under a rock, Akin was asked in a television interview about his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest. In response, he said that a woman becoming pregnant after being raped "is really rare," because "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Does this statement reveal that Todd Akin is a knuckle-dragging, misogynistic nincompoop? Of course. But it also provides a vivid reminder of something else.

There are crazy, stupid Democrats, and crazy, stupid Republicans. Heck, you probably know some of them, like that weird uncle of yours who lectures everyone at Thanksgiving about international conspiracies to control our minds through water fluoridation and says bigoted things that make everyone cringe. But among the many profound differences between today's Republican and Democratic parties is this: Only one party takes your embarrassing nut-ball of an uncle and says, "This man should be making our laws."