On Up With Chris Hayes this morning, Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer looked right into the cameras and, speaking on behalf of all Tea Party Republicans, actually insisted that they have absolutely no interest in social issues, and are only focused on the economy and the debt. (This coming from the person whose basis for a rational discussion with President Obama over these pressing matters begins with: “I just don’t believe that he loves America the way that we do.”)
Their platform calls for a Personhood amendment to the Constitution. They call for the abolishment of labor unions. They only approve of "traditional marriage." They call for the destruction of the safety net-- The dissolution and complete for-profit absorption of Medicare and Social Security-- those totally non-social programs that keep seniors out of abject poverty. Nothing socially interesting about all that. Nope.
So, rather than rehash quotes of Newt Gingrich dreaming big and building a moon base, or Mitt Romney stating that he's not concerned that he likes being able to fire 47 percent of the country while hiring binders full of women and Etch-a-Sketching his way to Leader Of The Free World, or the literally thousands of other ridiculous thoughts uttered aloud by Republican party legislators, operatives, and surrogates over the passed year-- here's this totally disinterested-in-social-issues party of do-gooders focusing on "jobs and the economy."
10) "I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation." Rick Santorum-- January 2012.
9) "I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that’s part of the counseling that goes on." Chuck Winder(R-ID)-- March 2012
8) "There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing, with advances in science and technology." Joe Walsh(R-IL) talking about his pro-life-without-exception for the health of the mother stance-- October 18, 2012.
7) "Some girls rape easy." Roger Rivard(R-WI)-- December 2011.
6) "I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Richard Mourdock(R-IN)-- October 23, 2012(one day after being endorsed by Mitt Romney)
5) "The right approach is to accept this horribly created, in the sense of rape, but nevertheless, a gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you." Rick Santorum-- Republican presidential candidate-- January 20, 2012.
4) "If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room, and I would give them a shot of estrogen." Ron Paul(R-TX)-- February 3, 2012.
3) "Richard and I, along with millions of Americans believe that life is a gift from God." Senator John Cornyn(R-TX) coming to the defense of Richard Mourdock on October 24, 2012.
2) "It was really an issue about a Catholic church being forced to offer those pills if the person came in in an emergency rape." Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon(R-CT)-- October 15, 2012.
1) "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down." Todd Akin(R-MO)-- August 20, 2012.
I'll mention that Republican Vice Presidential candidate and current Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and 214 other Republicans co-sponsored the "No Taxpayer Funding For Abortions Act" which would ban federal funding of abortions "except in instances of an act of "forcible rape" or, if a minor, an act of incest." HR 3-- 112th Congress.
Or this chart showing the Republican party busily working toward freedom and liberty.
Or that House Republicans, under the lead of Eric Cantor, are sitting on renewal of The Violence Against Women Act because it has the gall to actually protect women from domestic violence and sexual assault.
When Republican operatives like Eric Fehrnstrom tell us that these things are "shiny objects," and Tea Party people insist that if they could just be allowed to fix this here economy we would overlook all the rape stuff, be sure to tell them, "no means no!"