Oh, boo hoo. But lucky for poor Todd Akin who's being called just awful names, he has yet another flat-footed "journalist" coming to his defense (to defend the indefensible).
And in a Daily Beast article, here's David Frum's reasoning of why Akin is being so unfairly called a moron:
Akin's view of abortion—no exception for rape, incest, and life of the mother—is not his belief alone. It is also the view of Rick Santorum, the second-place finisher in the 2012 Republican nomination contest. On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, it became the position of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. It is the stance of Ken Connor, former president of the Family Research Council. Plainly, it is the position of a significant faction within the pro-life movement.
So, gee, if Rick Santorum and Rick Perry and a significant faction within the pro-life movement agree with you, then you can't be a moron.
Frum goes on to explain that since these views derive from "first principles"--the belief that life begins at conception--then they cannot be "stupid" since they are very tightly woven logical outcomes from these "first principles."
He asks, How can a doctor know if a woman coming to him for an abortion has truly been raped? (the justice system being so pokey, it's unlikely there'll be a ruling in time), so again it is logical to deny all women abortions if you believe life begins at conception.
And since you have reached these conclusions through logic, they can't be stupid and you can't be a moron.
Got that? Nothing derived logically from first principles can be stupid. (But what if your first principle is ,say, that all gays should be put to death?) Well, as long as you are logical about it, it may be shocking according to this reasoning, but it isn't stupid. (And no one dare call you a moron.)
But what's most astounding about Frum's defense of Akin and why we dare not call him a moron, is that nowhere does it address the fact that the main reason people are calling Akin a moron is because he stated that women who are "legitimately" raped don't get pregnant, that their system shuts down to prevent it.
What first principles does that belief derive from, David Frum? By what logic do you defend that? But Frum's way of dealing with it is just to be obtuse. (But we dare not call Akin a moron, nonetheless--why it's just not fair!)
To accuse Frum of sophistry would actually be too kind, too complimentary. It would be an upgrade from what he is actually doing.
What he's doing is moronic.