Is Bachmann getting the squeeze?

MoonHowler

First off, let me say that I cannot ever see myself voting for Michele Bachmann.  Her world view is so far from mine, I would probably just stay home from the polls. I could never vote for an anti-science president.  However, I am going to defend Bachmann against Rick Perry, who spews just about the same nuttiness, in my opinion, as does Bachmann. 

You have to respect Bachmann for her work ethic.  She has been out there since day one, preaching her message, rain or shine.  She makes a gaffe, she picks herself up and moves forward.  She is spunky.  At first I thought Palin was going to come roaring in, in all her glitz and glamour, and kick Michele aside.  To her credit, I think, she did not do so.  Palin has never seen a spotlight she didn’t like.  And no one has ever accused Palin of waiting in line or playing by the rules.

It isn’t Palin pushing Bachmann aside, it is Rick  Perry.  He came roaring in to town, in all his male glitz and glamour, and basically shoved Bachmann aside.  He might not even have noticed.  Huge egos rarely notice who they step on.  I feel badly for Bachmann.  She is a true work horse.  She isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty and she has been out there for months, socking it to the world and giving her message to anyone who will listen.  She has done the work.  Now in swoops Perry to claim his prize.  The little woman has prepared the way.  I hope Bachmann is furious.  I hope the base notices.  Bachmann should not be slighted.  She has done the work, not Perry.

The Bachmann Comedy Hour

MoonHowler

Michele Bachmann truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Rarely has a presidential candidate provided us with so much entertainment.

There is no end to putting her foot in her mouth and there is no apology for gaffes or insensitive remarks. 

We will continue to post Bachmannisms from time to time.  Her proclivity towards foot in mouth disease is filling in the gap caused by Jon Stewart’s two week vacation. 

Michele Bachmann Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog with the facts

MoonHowler

Poor Michele. She tries so hard and is “All Shook Up.”  She needs to fire her fact checking staff. She is living proof that “Fools Rush In.” Elvis’s birthday was January 8, 1935. He died August 16, 1977. Oh Michele, “Don’t Be Cruel! ”  You just confused the first hello with ” The Last Farewell.”  This was definitely not the day to wish The King a happy birthday. 

It’s better to make these gaffes after the primary. Then only one set of political enemies make fun of you. Now both Democrats and Republicans will have a field day at Bachmann’s expense.  I expect that Michele will want to “Make the World Go Away” after the ribbing she will get from this one.  She and her Blue Suede Shoes had better stay out of the south. 

So poor Elvis is the Honky Tonk Angel rather than the birthday boy.  Better luck next time, Michele.  And fire your fact checkers.  You will thank me later.

Bachmann: Straw Poll Queen

MoonHowler

It’s official.    Michele Bachmann has won the straw poll by a landslide.  That should make her the Republican candidate to take on the  Prez, right?  No.  There are miles to go before Republicans can sleep.  The Iowa dust up is but one of many. 

New faces will emerge on the scene.  Governor Rick Perry of Texas announced his candidacy Saturday afternoon.  Sarah Palin is still teasing her audiences.  Some of the folks in Iowa didn’t participate in the straw vote. 

Then there is the question of Bachmann as a mainstream candidate in a general election.  Could enough Republicans get behind Michele “Default is Ok” Bachmann to carry the standard for her party?  I can’t see the business Republicans  thinking her notions about default and the economy are valid for any candidate. 

The one thing I will defend Bachmann on, even though I think she is weird, is that she works hard and has done her homework.  People like Perry and maybe Palin will try to jump in line without doing all the work that Bachmann has done.  No one likes a line cutter.  Hopefully Bachmann will renounce those who haven’t put in the time, energy and hard work she has if they try to cut in front of her. 

Pray Away the Gay?

MoonHowler

Michele Bachmann’s husband Doctor Marcus Bachmann has come under fire for using what is known as reparative therapy in his Christian psychology clinic in Minneapolis.   Reparative therapy supposedly converts gay men into straight men via prayer.  There is little scientific evidence that this method of ‘therapy’ creates permanent change. 

According to the Huffington Post:

MINNEAPOLIS — The husband of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says counselors at his family’s Christian clinics are not focused on converting homosexuals to heterosexuality through prayer.

Marcus Bachmann told the Star Tribune in a report published Friday that his Minnesota clinics “don’t have an agenda or a philosophy of trying to change someone.”

Bachmann’s comments follow the release of a gay activist’s undercover video that appears to show one of the clinics’ counselors offering reparative therapy to help him become heterosexual. The video produced by gay advocacy group Truth Wins Out was first aired Monday by ABC News.

Marcus Bachman, whose business has collected government funding from Medicaid-backed programs, says counselors follow the wishes of patients and don’t force any treatment.Read More

Iowa “Family Leader Pledge” draws some serious fire

MoonHowler

The much discussed Iowa Marriage Vow Pledge also known as the “Family Leader Pledge”  has the signatures of two presidential hopefuls– Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum.   Both candidates are now back-pedaling like crazy because of some controversial language contained in the pledge that appears to sanction slavery. 

According to the Des Moines Register:

The leader of an Iowa conservative organization Monday defended a statement about black children and slavery that it distributed in asking presidential candidates to vow their allegiance to one man/one woman marriage.

At least one presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, condemned the suggestion in the vow’s preamble that black children were better off during slave times. Also Monday, the think tank cited as the basis for the slavery statement denied saying anything like that.

The fact that two candidates, Bachmann and Rick Santorum, quickly signed the 14-point “candidate vow,” then later said they hadn’t read the entire four-page pledge document, highlights the pressure on candidates to prove their social conservative credentials to Iowa voters, politics watchers said.

The Iowa Marriage Vow Pledge can be downloaded here.

Both candidates  claim to have not read the verbiage.  Bachmann  further denounced slavery and argued that the statement was not part of the pledge, only background material. 

“I did not see that language. That was not a part of the vow,” Bachmann told reporters during a campaign stop Monday in Indianola.

Traditional marriage is the bedrock of society, Bachmann said. “Children need a mom and a dad in their life, and that’s why I signed it,” she said.

Slavery was a dark time in American history, and “certainly it would be absurd for anyone to think that a child would be better off raised in slavery than not,” Bachmann said. “That’s a terrible thing to say. I’m pleased that this has been taken care of.”

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Michele Bachmann–the gift that keeps on giving

MoonHowler

After the State of the Union Address, the opposition address will be given by Republican Paul Ryan  of Kentucky.   This job is often given to party rising stars.  Ryan is expected to be a party uniter.  After the senator speaks, Michele Bachmann will give her Tea Party Caucus response.  Bachmann is noted for for angry, anti-Obama rhetoric.  Yahoo News gives us some clues of what might be in store for us after the SOTUA:

 A recent analysis by the Pulitzer Prize-winning watchdog site PolitiFact showsthat of the 13 times she’s been fact-checked, “seven of her claims [have been found] to be false and six have been found to be ridiculously false,” says PolitiFact Editor Bill Adair. “I don’t know anyone else that we have checked, more than a couple times, that has never earned anything above a false. She is unusual in that regard.” Among Bachmann’s greatest hits: saying that Obama will hike taxes on small businesses that make $250,000 (“pants on fire”); claiming that “the president of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day” (“false”); and declaring that in the 1970s, “the swine flu broke out… under another Democrat, President Jimmy Carter” (“pants on fire”). Beyond all the easily disprovable falsehoods, Bachmann is famous for simply saying outrageous things: that homosexuality is a “dysfunction”; that Obama is turning America into a “nation of slaves”; that conservatives should “slit their wrists” and be “blood brothers” to defeat health-care reform.

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