All Articles Tagged "michele bachmann"
You Can’t Support the GOP and be Sane
I’m a relatively young cat when placed against the historical fabric of American politics. My first legal voting election was 2000, when I, along with the democratic majority of the country, agreed that the other guy should sit at the Oval Office.
An insightful course on politics and journalism in college taught me a few things about the changes that have occurred in the public approach to politics throughout the years, but nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught of mind-numbing Fawkery accompanying the current political zeitgeist.
Succinctly put, white people lost their damn minds the moment a darkie stepped into the big seat. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Republican Party…a group of people with generally specious ideas that seems to have devolved in the past few years into a sad clown show. I can respect a fundamental difference in ideology between two people who simply agree to disagree on the issues. But the problem with politics in this young decade is that the issues have taken an absolute back seat to what makes people feel good on a superficial level. And superficiality is no way to determine the country’s leadership.
It’s been empirically proven that the voting populous gravitates toward attractive, strong-looking leaders (if Obama looked even remotely like Booger from “Good Times”, his ideology and ability to inspire wouldn’t have mattered a damn…he wouldn’t be in office). That’s fair enough, but the Republican Party has demonstrated that the “Dude, let’s be friends!” ethos is all that’s necessary to usher folks into office.
It all started with Palin. This woman came out of obscurity to dominate the political landscape during the 2008 presidential election. Her then-rapidly growing number of fans failed to care about the fact that she was wholeheartedly ill-equipped to run her family, let alone a superpower nation of over 300 million. But she had that support system because people thought they were “like her;” folks related to her willful ignorance to the degree that they thought she would be a good leader.
The current challengers to the 2012 GOP throne follow in this trend. Michele Bachmann – an intensified-in-her-batShytetiness version of Palin – got notoriety through her affinity of highly pious Christian values (and not being terrible-looking). Rick Perry can’t string a coherent thought together but looks like he used to bang sorority girls by the houseful. And Herman Cain only exists on anyone’s radar on the strength of a “9-9-9” tax plan proposition that any expert will tell you is devoid of substance.
Rush Limbaugh and Fox News are the patron saints of the party message, which plays up subtle racism the likes of which only those who understand it can recognize best. Even still, I’d like to believe that a rational adult who claims the GOP could tell that the party message is one of lunacy. I know a few Republicans who claim Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul – two “less” crazy individuals – but too many listen to what the media has to say and wind up making woefully Shytety decisions on what diseased horse to back.
I’m not exactly enthralled with Obama and what he’s got going on in the big seat. But if I were a Republican who looked at the situation objectively, I’d be absolutely embarrassed to claim the party.
Why Michelle Obama & Michele Bachmann are Held To Two Different Standards
Ever wondered why everything Michelle Obama says gets dissected and scrutinized to the nines? Simple statements about her pride in this country somehow get misconstrued as un-patriotic statements that only the angry black wife of a “socialist” husband could make. But when Michele Bachmann makes similar comments, the media, the political pundits–everyone, plays stupid and ignores them. Why? A wack double standard that black women continue to endure that says sit down and shut up, or run the risk of being viewed as the stereotypical raging b***h.
Our friends over at theGrio analyzed this standard and questioned how and why Michele Bachmann gets to say whatever comes to her head with zero filter, but any formed opinions about policies and what U.S. citizens should be doing about their health by the FLOTUS are shunned. Writer Sophia A. Nelson breaks it down to a T:
“Black women in America, including Mrs. Obama, still have to deal with racial stereotypes, double-standards, and being viewed as “invisible” or better “kept in our place”…Let’s face it, America is far more comfortable seeing Mrs. Obama talk about growing gardens, dote on her husband, mother her kids, support our military families, and help our nation eat healthier, than we are seeing her discuss policy, form opinions, or speak her mind.”
Nelson makes some pretty deep points that you should check out, but do you agree? Do you think Michelle Obama’s words are held to a different standard than Bachmann’s because she is a strong black woman with opinions she likes to share rather than a meek woman in the public eye? Let us know!
To read the full story and hear how The Help plays into this double standard, click over to theGrio.com.
Is Bachmann’s Attack on Black Farmers Racist?
(Huffington Post)– Is presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) attack on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) settlement with African American farmers racist? Bachmann is coming under increasing fire for characterizing a settlement to black farmers who were discriminated against as mass “fraud.” For years, black farmers alleged that they were being denied USDA farm loans or that they were forced to wait longer for loan approval than other non-minority farmers. Some contended that they endured foreclosure and financial ruin as a direct result. Following a class action lawsuit that was initiated back in 1997 — the so-called Pigford Cases — a U.S. Court has established that between 1983 and 1997 the USDA discriminated against black farmers who applied for farm loans and other assistance on the basis of their race, and that the USDA also failed subsequently to investigate or properly respond to complaints.
Group Backs Away From Statement About Slavery’s Family Values
(Washington Post) — A socially conservative group has apologized for including a passage about slavery in a pledge it asked the Republican candidates to sign as a prerequisite for the group’s endorsement in the presidential race. Rep. Michele Bachmann had been the first GOP hopeful to sign “The Marriage Vow,” which included in the introduction a section that lamented that “the Institution of Marriage in America is in great crisis.” One piece of evidence it offered was the claim that a black person born into slavery “was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American president.”
Michele Bachmann: Slavery Was Better for Black Marriage, Family
(Forbes) — Say what you will about slavery, at least the ‘peculiar institution’ kept Black families intact. That’s according to a “marriage pledge” signed recently by GOP presidential aspirant, Michele Bachmann. Representative Bachmann’s grasp of American history has never been firm, particularly when it comes to slavery. She has stated that the founding fathers “worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States,” despite the fact that several of our Nation’s founders owned slaves and fought to keep slavery alive in the new republic.
She’s Palin 2.O: Michele Bachmann’s 10 Goofiest Gaffes & Craziest Quotes
By Jay Anderson
We thought 2012 was going to be the year of Palin. After quitting her governorship just two years into the job, Palin was supposed to buckle down, educate herself, and lay the groundwork for world domination (i.e., defeating Obama). Of course, a strange thing called money intervened. Palin is clearly too busy cashing in on her fame to worry about something so trivial as becoming leader of the free world. Palin’s gaffe-a-minute style is guaranteed blog fodder, so it’s sad that she more than likely won’t be running after all. Thankfully, an equally deranged substitute exists: official GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. Her scramble-brained nonsense is better than any refudiation Palin has ever done. Here’s just a sampling of her crazy, in which she soundly trumps all competitors, even if she lags behind in the polls.
The Founding Fathers ‘Worked Tirelessly’ to End Slavery — NOT!
There’s revisionist history, and there’s “dude, are you serious?” While on the campaign trail, Bachmann made this dubious claim: “[W]e also know that the very founders that wrote [the Constitution] worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States.” For the record Michele — NO THEY DIDN’T. Several of the founding fathers famously owned slaves. This statement would almost be funny — if she hadn’t said it with a completely straight face. And if Bachmann wasn’t at or near the top of the polls in many states right now.
Axing Minimum Wage for Maximum Employment?
(Businessweek) — Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has soft-pedaled her opposition to the minimum wage law considerably since 2005, when she was quoted as saying, at a Minnesota State Senate hearing, “Literally, if we took away the minimum wage—if conceivably it was gone—we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.” Appearing on CBS’s (CBS) Face the Nation on June 26, Bachmann would say only that eliminating the minimum wage is “something that obviously Congress would have to look at” as a solution to high unemployment.
Michele Bachmann's Husband Collected $137K in Medicaid
(The Root) — Fresh from our “Hypocrisy” file, MSNBC is reporting that Marcus Bachmann, the husband of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) has been collecting annual Medicaid payments totaling over $137,000 for the treatment of patients since 2005, according to new figures obtained by NBC News. The previously unreported payments are on top of the $24,000 in federal and state funds that Bachmann & Associates, the clinic founded by Marcus Bachmann, a clinical therapist, received in recent years under a state grant to train its employees, state records show. The figures were provided to NBC News in response to a Freedom of Information request.
The Top 11 Most Ridiculous GOP Campaign Moments (So Far)
By Jay Anderson
With more and more GOP candidates throwing their hat in the 2012 ring, silly season is officially underway. In an effort to prove who loves America the most and loves Obama the least, the 2012 presidential aspirants are figuratively elbowing each other out of the way as they jockey for position in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire. This brand of retail politics has already produced some absurd moments. Here are 11 of our favorites — so far. With this cast of characters, there are certainly going to be more.
1. Herman Cain Escapes “The Democratic Plantation”
By playing the “I’m not like the rest of those black folks” angle on the campaign trail, former pizza magnate Herman Cain has become a darling of the Tea Party set. He has also repeatedly trashed Obama’s biracial upbringing by stating that he could be the first “real Black President.” But it’s Cain’s oft-repeated “I left the Democratic plantation, and I ain’t goin’ back” line that really gets em’ riled up. And truly makes little sense.
Michele Bachmann: “Obama Failed the Black Community”
Rep. Michele Bachmann, from Minnesota, said that President Obama failed the African American community.
She was talking about the high unemployment rates when it comes to minority communities.
This is what she said: “This president has failed the Hispanic community. He has failed the African-American community. He has failed us all when it comes to jobs.”
Bachmann, a potential presidential candidate in 2012 delivered this speech at The Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans last week. She cited the 16 percent unemployment rate for African Americans and 12 percent for Hispanics.
It’s true those are dismal numbers.
You can read the rest of the story and more of Bachmann’s comments over at AOL’s Black Voices.
What do you think about her comments? Do they reflect how you feel? How do you feel about Bachmann speaking for minority communities?
