No, we're not making this up: In discussing Missouri Representative Todd Akin's bizarre claim that "legitimate rape" victims seldom get pregnant, Colorado state Senator Shawn Mitchell used the phrase "explosive boners." And then he may or may not have tried to make a joke about it, as you'll see in the Facebook conversation shared below.

Either way, it was pretty much an explosive boner of its own.

Here's how Mitchell led into the subject in a post brought to our attention by the folks at Colorado Pols:

A. Every sentient being knows "legitimate" meant "actual" rather than "proper." B. But the frenzy must proceed, because...it must. C. Every sentient candidate knows if you're going to address delicate subjects, you darn well better have some thoughts worked out, free of explosive boners like "legitimate." D. So what if pregnancy rarely results from actual rape, MrAkin. What about the cases it legitimately does?

The first comment this item spurred was a simple question: "Explosive boners?" To which Mitchell replied, "You see what I did there."

Is this response meant to suggest he purposefully used the term "explosive boners" in the context of a discussion about rape, as an attempted witticism? Or that he, too, had committed an explosive boner? Mitchell doesn't say. But a couple of his Facebook friends have varying opinions. One writes, "Boner. Good word choice." Another announces, "Rape is not a joke."

Here's the entire thread to date:

By the way, Akin has now apologized for his staggeringly ignorant "legitimate rape" remark. It'll be interesting to see if Mitchell winds up doing likewise for using the term "explosive boners" in the context of sexual assault. Or any context, for that matter.

More from our Politics archive: "Shawn Mitchell: Lawmaker admits inability to focus and personal 'demons' affecting his work."