As I was driving home from work they were talking on NPR about the Todd Akin comments vis-a-vis "legitimate rape", wherein (as i'm sure you all know) he alleged that it isn't necessary to build protections for rape victims into anti-abortion legislation, because rape victims can't get pregnant.
Anyway, we all know the comment, and I don't have anything more to add to it. What bothered me so much is in this 2 or 3 minute segment they referred to his "controversial remarks" several times, and called it a "gaffe". It is neither. In order for there to be a controversy, there needs to be evidence, even very specious evidence, that the dissenting opinion has any kind of credence. Akin's remarks aren't controversial; they're wrong. They should be stated as such by the media. To call them controversial implies that there is a controversy over the issue. There isn't.
Second, don't call this a gaffe. A gaffe is a mistake or a faux pas of some sort. He didn't show up to a party with brown shoes and a black belt. He stated an incorrect belief that is rooted in lack of understanding of biology and--probably moreso--misogyny. Claiming that he made a gaffe leads the listener to believe that he said something that was a misstatement, or perhaps improperly worded. These types of euphemisms have been legitimizing (no pun intended) false debates for a long time, and I'm really fucking sick of it.