Your daily jolt: Gingrey open to limits on mag clips, says Todd Akin was ‘partly right’

Schmoozing with constituents in Smyrna on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, had already made news when he said that he was open to some new restrictions on firearms. From the first five paragraphs written by Jon Gillooly of the Marietta Daily Journal:

“There are some problems, and maybe these huge magazines even for someone who says, ‘look, I just use an AR-15 for target practice,’ but do you really need to be standing there shooting at a silhouette a shot a second or even quicker with that kind of weapon? For what purpose?” Gingrey asked. “I would be willing to listen to the possibility of the capacity of a magazine.”

Gingrey, who took the time to praise Adventure Outdoors owner Jay Wallace as the gold standard for running a responsible gun retail business, said he is also open to revisions of the so-called gun show loophole.

But then the Marietta congressman decided to wax eloquent on the most egregious Republican misstep of 2012 – the concept of “legitimate rape.” Gingrey said today that his remarks have been misconstrued, but you can listen to the audio provided by Gillooly:

Said Gingrey, in Gillooly’s piece:

“And in Missouri, Todd Akin … was asked by a local news source about rape and he said, ‘Look, in a legitimate rape situation’ — and what he meant by legitimate rape was just look, someone can say I was raped: a scared-to-death 15-year-old that becomes impregnated by her boyfriend and then has to tell her parents, that’s pretty tough and might on some occasion say, ‘Hey, I was raped.’ That’s what he meant when he said legitimate rape versus non-legitimate rape. I don’t find anything so horrible about that. But then he went on and said that in a situation of rape, of a legitimate rape, a woman’s body has a way of shutting down so the pregnancy would not occur. He’s partly right on that.”

Gingrey pointed out that he had been an OB-GYN since 1975.

“And I’ve delivered lots of babies, and I know about these things. It is true. We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, ‘Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate.’ So he was partially right wasn’t he? But the fact that a woman may have already ovulated 12 hours before she is raped, you’re not going to prevent a pregnancy there by a woman’s body shutting anything down because the horse has already left the barn, so to speak. And yet the media took that and tore it apart.”

Gingrey’s office this morning offered additional commentary. On the congressman’s comments about Akin:

“At a breakfast yesterday morning, I was asked why Democrats made abortion a central theme of the presidential campaign. I do not defend, nor do I stand by, the remarks made by Rep. Akin and Mr. Mourdock. In my attempt to provide context as to what I presumed they meant, my position was misconstrued.”

On firearm restrictions:

“As a father and grandfather, I am heartbroken at the tragedy in Newtown. No parent, child, or community should have to suffer such devastation and overwhelming grief. At the same time, as we begin a national dialogue on how to prevent future tragedies, it is of paramount importance to defend our Second Amendment rights. Throughout my political career, I’ve been a tireless advocate of Second Amendment rights and will continue to be one moving forward.”

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House Speaker David Ralston didn’t sound like he’s willing to consider any gun restrictions, given these remarks to Scott Slade of AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB:

”Those who would advocate for control on guns and would restrict Second Amendment rights, I think have inappropriately capitalized on a horrific tragedy up in Newtown, Conn….

“If we take anything out of the Newtown tragedy, I think we ought to take a look at how we handle mental illness in our society. That seems to get lost in the discussion by those who want to use this to promote their anti-gun agenda.”

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Georgia Right to Life on Thursday named Mike Griffin, a Hartwell pastor, as the organization’s vice president.

Griffin has long been associated with GRTL, but the promotion means he’ll be back at the Capitol as a lobbyist on Monday, when the 2013 session of the Georgia General Assembly begins. From the press release:

In his new role, Griffin will spearhead the organization’s legislative activities, which include establishing “personhood” protection for all innocent life from conception until natural death.

“I am looking forward to working with Dan Becker and the Board,” Griffin said. “And that work will be to continue to promote a “personhood” approach to Georgia Right to Life’s education, legislation and political action.”

Consider Griffin’s appointment to be a signal to the Legislature that GRTL, the most aggressive of pro-life organizations at the Gold Dome, has no intention of changing its stripes.

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In the matter of the Rev. Louie Giglio and his withdrawal from the presidential inauguration program because of his 20-year-old remarks on homosexuality, the Christian Post offers this quote from Ed Stetzer, president of Lifeway Research:

“This Louie Giglio Moment, and the Chick-Fil-A moment that preceded it, and the Rick Warren moment which preceded that, raise the question: Where do people of faith with long-standing traditional religious/scriptural convictions go from here?”

But Giglio and Chick-Fil-A may share more than a commitment to faith and views on homosexuality. We haven’t confirmed it with the company, but friends of Giglio tell us that his dad, Louie Floyd Giglio Jr., was a graphic designer who had a hand in developing the Chick-Fil-A swirly logo.

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A Politico.com piece on the shaky future of the tea party includes these paragraphs:

The tea party “is in disarray,” said Erick Erickson, the editor of RedState, a blog that helped crystallize the fiscally conservative ethos of the populist movement. Going forward, tea partiers will “either be within the conservative movement as part of that movement or they won’t be effective.”

Polls have shown Americans turning away from the tea party: 24 percent of likely voters considered themselves tea party members in April 2010, according to a Rasmussen survey. Now, only 8 percent say they’re tea party members.

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Yes, “Lincoln” dominated those Oscar nominations that were released on Thursday. But politicos have their own Oscars – the Reed Awards sponsored by Campaigns & Elections magazine. And Georgia’s 2012 campaigners are finalists in several categories:

– Best Use of Voice-Over Talent: Lee Anderson for Congress, The Strategy Group for Media, for its video depicting a “Bromance” between President Barack Obama and U.S. Rep. John Barrow, D-Augusta.

– Mail: Independent Expenditure Campaign or Issue Advocacy: The Democratic campaign against state Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens, Mad Dog Mail, for a flyer comparing McKillip to a diaper in need of changing.

– Best Radio Ad: Two ads by Franklin Communications/Peachtree Battle Group – “Dumb,” a turn-out spot for Black Men Vote; and “Obama Likes Charter Schools,” aimed at African-American voters in the November charter school campaign.

– Toughest Radio Ad: A turnout spot by Franklin Communications/Peachtree Battle Group for Better Georgia, titled “Are There Any Patriots…”

– Most Original/Innovative Collateral Item: John Lewis for Congress, for that campaign’s fund-raising decision to put a mugshot of Lewis after a Civil Rights-era arrest on T-shirts and posters.

Winners will be announced in Washington on Feb. 1.

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The AJC’s Politifact Georgia today takes a look at U.S. Rep. Tom Price’s claim that this month’s fiscal cliff deal “ultimately raised taxes.”

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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