I haven’t been writing this blog for too long, but it should be obvious by now that my views lean pretty heavily toward the left. I’m reluctant to give myself a label, but it’s safe to say I’m pretty far to the left of Obama and the Democrats. Truth be told, there’s a part of me that enjoys this. Don’t get me wrong, I wish there was a vibrant leftist movement in the United States (President Bernie Sanders, anyone?). I enjoy the chance to bounce my ideas around with people who disagree with me, though. I’m lucky to be surrounded by friends who, while having different political opinions, are level-headed and easy to discuss such things with.

Such is the life of a pseudo-socialist in St. Charles, Missouri.

While I respect all those around me who hold different views, I have long-standing issues with my Congressman, Todd Akin. If you want to know why, look at his recent comments about NBC editing “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance during their coverage of a golf tournament: He said, “I think NBC has a long record of being very liberal, and at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God.”

This is, sadly, par for the course for a guy who once personally informed me his top legislative priority was passing a Constitutional Amendment to keep “under God” in the pledge of allegiance. This, combined with his vicious anti-gay rhetoric and alliance with Michelle Bachmann, has given me ample reason to want Rep. Akin out of Congress.

I got my wish – kind of. He’ll be leaving the house after this term, but as I discussed in this post a couple weeks ago, will be challenging Senator Claire McCaskill for her seat this fall. I consider her a slight favorite to retain the seat, but still have that “what if” lingering. Senator Todd Akin? Could this man have that much power?

That thought has been in the back of my mind since the Republicans nominated him on August 7. Then he proceeded to make what may have been the most offensive statement of his career. While discussing his opposition to abortion in the case of rape, he said ” if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Really, Todd? Care to define this “shutting down” process? Or do you want to tell us what you see as an illegitimate rape? I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever heard a public official say something so absurd. I mean, sure, Michelle Bachmann once completely made up a story about the HPV vaccine leading to mental illness, but this even goes beyond that. To show such blatant disrespect to rape victims is nothing short of appalling. I wish I had more to say on it, but it all really speaks for itself.

Ultimately, my wish to see Todd Akin out of Washington will probably come true. If predictions from the extraordinary political prognosticator Nate Silver prove true, this could be a fatal blow to his campaign. Still, it’s sad someone like him could ever reach this level of government. As a leftist in a red state, I can attest to the fact that people are going to disagree. We don’t need people to be as vicious about it as Rep. Akin, though. There’s just no excuse for someone to disrespect rape victims like this. Hopefully Missouri voters see it that way and end Akin’s unfortunate tenure in Washington.