“I’M SHOCKED, shocked to find there is gambling at this café!” These famous words of the police chief in the movie “Casablanca,” spoken as he receives his winnings, is a prefect metaphor for Scott Brown’s reaction to the recent comments by Todd Akin (“Brown condemns comments on rape,” Metro, Aug. 21).
The senator must be aware that Akin’s remarks are fully consistent with decades of GOP fantasy and propaganda about abortion. When those reprehensible distortions are brought into the full light of public scrutiny, Brown wants to pretend to rise above them. However, when they remain hidden in the swamp of conservative opinion, he is perfectly happy to benefit from their power.
If the senator is not aware that Akin’s remarks are red meat for the conservative base, his political instincts are not very good. But there is more shocking news. The conservative base thinks President Obama is a socialist, Muslim anti-Christ born in Africa, that only extreme wealth held by a few can save the economy, and that global warming is a hoax.
Scott Brown should stand up and condemn those fantasies as well.