"Either Clueless or Intellectually Dishonest"

The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen weighs in on Todd Akin's hip replacement whopper:

[Akin's statement] is comically wrong, and it's been debunked over and over again. For one thing, the comparison itself is nonsensical, since Democrats aren't proposing a Canadian-style system.

But more important is the fact that seniors in Canada get hip-replacement surgeries all the time: "'At least 63 percent of hip replacements performed in Canada last year...were on patients age 65 or older.' In 2006-2007, an additional 1,577 hip replacement surgeries were performed in Canada on patients over 85."

As it turns out, just a few months ago, Rep. Roy Blunt, Akin's fellow Missouri Republican, made the identical claim. When it was proven false, Blunt walked it back and vowed not to repeat the bogus claim again.

If only Todd Akin paid closer attention.

For more on Akin's most recent silliness, check out Benen's full post and the post at Media Matters, who first reported on Akin's lie.