| A man named Robert Regan, the Republican front-runner for a Michigan House seat, said this during a Facebook live stream on Sunday hosted by the conservative Rescue Michigan Coalition: "I tell my daughters, 'Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.'" As Karen Tumulty writes, Regan's remark came "after one of the other panelists suggested it was time for Republicans to give up their efforts to illegally decertify" the 2020 election "and begin focusing on the future." Rescue Michigan's founder, Adam de Angeli, later told The Post, "I think he was actually … saying that Republicans shouldn't concede that Biden won fairly" — just a light-hearted comparison in an attempt to make a point, in other words. Men, I don't know how to say this more plainly: Rape is not a joke. And it is certainly not something a person running for public office should be able to joke about and survive politically. I would say I don't know on what planet it's okay to quip that anyone "should just lie back and enjoy" rape. But unfortunately, the answer is clear: Here on this very planet, in these United States, where despite the offensiveness of Regan's comments, GOP leaders have not called for him to leave the race, and a whole bunch of people still plan to vote for him. "What's really at issue," Tumulty says, "is how Regan thinks, not the way he expressed it." I can't help thinking of it this way: In Michigan, we have a Republican who in his Twitter bio calls himself a "parents rights conservative," who apparently believes it's a parent's right to make a disgusting, very public joke about his daughters being raped. Meanwhile, in Texas, we have Republicans attempting to persecute loving parents who want to provide life-saving, gender-affirming health care for their transgender children. These are the "pro-life" Republicans. The "family values" Republicans. Just when you thought the hypocrisy couldn't get any worse….  (Alyssa Keown/AP) Robert Regan, favored to win a seat in the Michigan legislature, is far from first public figure to make light of what a woman experiences during rape. He also thinks the Russian invasion is a "fake war." Is this what Michigan voters want? By Karen Tumulty ● Read more » | | | | A cynic is rarely disappointed by the Republican Party. But this case is special. By Dana Milbank ● Read more » | | | | Its new appropriations compromise is — surprise! — unpaid for. By Henry Olsen ● Read more » | | | | Why join a decaying institution that cannot even perform what should be the routine business of budgeting? By George F. Will ● Read more » | | | | The Russians are bombing maternity wards, schools, churches. Our hearts tell us to intervene, whatever the danger. But our heads should counsel caution. By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | The International Space Station can't continue operating as if everything is fine on Earth — because it isn't. By Homer Hickam ● Read more » | | | | The Atlantic ran a profile of MBS without mentioning 'bone saw.' By Erik Wemple ● Read more » | | | Will our attention span hold? By E.J. Dionne Jr. ● Read more » | | | | The Putin you know is better than the Putin you don't. By James Hohmann ● Read more » | | | | Picking sides on Donald Trump delays the dispassionate assessment that history requires. By Gary Abernathy ● Read more » | | | | A New York judge has ruled that a defamation suit from voting systems company Smartmatic can proceed. By Erik Wemple ● Read more » | | | | An outside lawyer would be the best way to reassure the country that no one is above the law. By Laurence H. Tribe and Dennis Aftergut ● Read more » | | | | Here's how Trump could get snared. By Jennifer Rubin ● Read more » | | | |
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