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Loading...Is It Better to be Crazy Than Smart? Ask Michele Bachmann.
Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann, much adored by Tea Party true-believers, again finds herself defending a statement that could be considered by many to be baffling, unconscionable and downright stupifying. This is not her first time to be hoist on her own petard.
In a recent appearance at a Heritage Foundation luncheon, Bachmann defended BP and referred to attempts to set up a $20 billion escrow fund to pay for claims and clean-up “extortion” (in case you’ve been in a coma for the last six months, British Petroleum’s massive oil spill is responsible for the worst environmental disaster in US history).
She asserted: “…If I was the head of BP, I would let the signal get out there: ‘We’re not going to be chumps, and we’re not going to be fleeced.’ And they shouldn’t be. They shouldn’t have to be fleeced and made chumps to have to pay for perpetual unemployment and all the rest…”
Bachmann, one of Sarah Palin’s annointed “Mama Grizzlies,” first came to national prominence after Palin was nominated for vice president and introduced a heady new recipe for ultra-conservative-speak: Mix together willful ignorance, issue avoidance, pseudo-populism, fear-mongering and ideological single-mindedness. Set temperature to incendiary, throw in a pinch of sassiness (and some stuff from Neiman Marcus) and work it!
And work it Bachmann did: appearing on national televison in 2008 to accuse her fellow Congresspersons (which members she declined to name) of being un-American and called for a McCarthy-like political pogrom:
“What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America.”
Since then, in terms of colorful, ignorant, inexplicable and mind-numbing assertions, Bachmann has not disappointed. Among them (this is a mere sampling):
“Young people will be put into mandatory service… There are provisions for re-education camps for young people where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward.”
“Death panels are the bureaucracies that President Obama is establishing where bureaucrats will make the decision on who gets access to health care and how much.”
“Back in the 1970s swine flu broke out then under Democrat President Jimmy Carter. I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.”
One can shudder, shake one’s head and snicker (or weep). But, unfortunately, the statements are real and so is Michele Bachmann.
Bachmann, Palin and their fellow Mama-Gs have taken the concept of the soundbyte and made it flesh. Attractively coiffed and dressed, with their aging beauty queen faces and snappy patter, they can come across as just the gals to whip that PTO into shape without chipping a well-manicured nail. But the stakes in this case couldn’t be higher.
Playing to the lowest denominator — preying on the defensiveness and insecurities of the truly vulnerable — can be a cunning if (please God) shortsighted strategy. We progressives too often become ensnared in our own dither: we fret about the nuances and can seem indecisive. We don’t play the game as well as those for whom the rules are made to be flaunted. Maybe we need to take a page from their rulebook and learn to work it a little.
There is the promise of light at the end of this depressing tunnel. Bachmann is in a tough race for reelection, challenged by a strong opponent, Tarryl Clark. According to the Clark campaign, recent polls show that Bachmann’s numbers have fallen below 50% and that Clark is keeping up with fundraising, despite Bachmann’s access to SarahPAC and other conservative coffers. To unseat Bachmann in her very conservative district, Clark faces a daunting challenge but there seems to be a developing momentum in her favor, aided, no doubt, by Bachmann’s own foibles.
Not one, apparently, to let sleeping dogs lie, Bachmann has once again gone rogue by forming an official Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives. The Tea Partyers are both a blessing and a curse for the GOP: they bring enthusiasm and a touching readiness to ignore issues for slogans, but they also tend to drift far outside the mainstream in their radical agendas. The GOP leadership was content to benefit from the movement’s energy while sitting comfortably (and safely) on the sidelines: now, for many, that is no longer possible, thanks to Ms Bachmann’s fecklessness. Freshly baked hubris, anyone?
Read more: bp, democrats, michele bachmann, obama, politics, republicans, sarah palin, tea party, tea party caucus
photo credit: politicsinminnesota.com
Peaco Todd
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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144 comments
+ add your ownIs it unconstitutional to have public education? Children can't choose who their parents are. Those whose parents take drugs, have lost their jobs, or are in prison are not the fault of the children. What kind of country are the Tea Party people working for?
Of course Crazy Bachmann defends BP, after all she also thinks Bush is responsible for the troop reduction of 100,000 combat forces in Iraq. While I'm thanking Bush, I quess Michele wants me to thank BP for stopping the little oil leak.
wow..she is a nut case
obviously in this country it can. Anything goes now. So where are are extreme lefties hey we need you now more than ever.After all they consider us the pros on this topic. Isn't imitation a form of flattery though? Ohhhh better watch it tea partiers you may get confused with tree huggers and people with hearts who actually do care about others and the planet and animals. They will burn you at the stake if they find out.
I think the problem that a lot of us have is that we respond to people like Bachmann with knee-jerk reactions like "how could anyone believe this?" Unfortunately, people are believing this. So we need to go on the straight and narrow and refute their assertions point by point, with absolute logic and without letting our emotions run wild. That way, their nonsense can be exposed for what it is. With emotional responses, it becomes a "my emotion vs. your emotion" kind of thing, with both sides saying (at the most civil) "We can't possibly agree but this is what I believe in."
" Now we are taking the country back to the founding fathers and the constitution as it should be. No more talk of redistribution of wealth--fair across the board tax, and freedom freedom freedom!"
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Man, what have you been smoking ?
Did you not read the above article?
First on her agenda is to bring about a theocracy & legislate her conservative (pseudo ) Christian fundamentalist ideas. She wants to force her way into our bedrooms, dictate what women (& apparently, everyone else for that matter) can do with their own bodies, decide who can marry, you call that "freedom? ?
O'Donnell & the Tea Party represents the American Taliban, you elect them & thier church will be in controll of all our lives! Is that what you really want? For the tea baggers to turn this nation into a theocracy?
When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.
~Sinclair Lewis.
So, making a company pay for the mess THEY made is "extortion." Amazing!
Looks like their own big mouths will do our work for us, as their true colors become more and more obvious to even those with the tightest blinders on...
I find it amazing that this women is still in the race with her outlandish statements. I understand the Tea Party is a major player but so far it has only attracted extremist and I believe that most Americans are moderates and she doesn't truly represent the people in her district. I can only prayer that the people in her district see her extreme views make it hard for Congress to move to the middle.
Here is another Palin Moment you will love: Listen To It All.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNUc8nuo7HI&feature=player_embedded
Jessie, The reason people do not like Obamcare is because it is unconstitutional. How can government tell people they have free health care and tell the health care industry to provide it? Another form of slavery is the way I see it and when that happens, there won't be any more doctors.
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