…Based on the right’s passionate and indignant opposition to any and all policies that would curtail them.

During this year’s silly season aka the stretch drive to the November elections, I have been watching the self immolation of various Republican campaigns around the country with a bit of fascination. The topic of rape and incest as exceptions allowing a woman to have an abortion has caused great consternation amongst the chattering classes. From Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” to Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s “pregnancy from rape something God intended” (a variant on Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s rape is just another “method of conception“) to Washington US House candidate John Koster’s “the rape thing” to Wisconsin State Rep. Roger Rivard’s “some girls rape easy,” the topic of rape and abortion has been making headlines across the nation.

You almost have to admire the GOP’s courage in staking out a position that, if not exactly pro-rape, is not entirely anti-rape either. And emphatically not pro-rape victim. So far, I’ve counted three ways in which Republicans act as rape apologists..

Oh look, another “conscience act” – crowd-sourced oppression rebranded as “freedom.”

The idea that women have free will just drives conservatives crazy. Not only do they hate the idea of women being allowed to terminate their pregnancies, they don’t want them to be able to terminate their marriages either.

Remember when John Ashcroft put a drape over the bared breast of the “Spirit of Justice” statue at the Justice Department? The Republicans are now busy trying to cover their own political private parts after flashing a core part of their agenda – their war on women — at an inopportune time.

It’s a motley conservative crew that makes up the Misogynistic Army of the Right.

It all depends on what the meaning of the word “innocent” is…

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Here’s the Pizza Guy talking to Piers Morgan last night about abortion.

“Dr. George Tiller was murdered May 31, 2009, by an anti-abortion extremist whose goal was to make abortion less available. And today, two years later, there is no abortion provider in Wichita.”

Look, if one of our female soldiers gets pregnant as a result of rape — it’s her fault. She should’ve planned ahead.