Michele Bachmann is the first GOP candidate to sign a pledge committing her to fighting pornography and arguing homosexuality is curable.
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In recent weeks Michele Bachmann, a candidate deeply rooted in the religious right, has adopted a mildly libertarian tone.
At the Republican primary debate in June, she said that she wouldn?t interfere with state laws allowing marriage equality (though she later contradicted herself, saying that she supported an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.) Later that month, she responded to a question about homosexuality from Face The Nation by saying she wasn?t ?running to be anyone's judge.?
But those who follow Bachmann?s career know that her evangelical commitments are even stronger than her fierce hostility to government. On Thursday, she demonstrated that once again, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to sign a pledge that commits her to fighting not only gay marriage, abortion, and ?quickie divorce,? but also ?all forms of pornography.? The pledge goes on to imply that African-American families were in some ways better off under slavery than they are today, and argues that homosexuality can be cured.
The pledge is the work of Bob Vander Plaats, an Iowa religious right kingmaker who runs an organization called The FAMiLY LEADER. (The lowercase ?i? is meant to emphasize individual submission.) Though Vander Plaats has repeatedly failed in his attempts to become Iowa?s governor, he nevertheless has a strong following among the state?s hard-right evangelicals. He was the Iowa chair of Mike Huckabee?s 2008 presidential campaign, helping his candidate score an upset victory in that state?s caucuses. Last year, he led the successful effort to oust three state Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of same-sex marriage.
?The pledge commits her to fighting not only gay marriage, abortion, and ?quickie divorce,? but also ?all forms of pornography.?
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To remedy the ?great crisis? in the institution of marriage, the pledge demands a number of steps. Signers promise to support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and to protect soldiers from ?intrusively intimate commingling among attracteds,? a roundabout attack on gays in the military. There?s a commitment to protect women and children from ?seduction into promiscuity? as well as from porn, although it?s unclear what such protection would entail. Further, in a vaguely eugenic phrase, signatories swear to recognize the benefits of ?robust childbearing? to American ?demographic, economic, strategic and actuarial health and security.? It also demands the rejection of ?Sharia Islam? which it labels a form of ?totalitarian control.?
It will be curious to see how other candidates respond. The thrice-wed Newt Gingrich is in a bind ? to sign a document pledging ?personal fidelity to my spouse? and ?[r]espect for the marital bonds of others? would highlight his hypocrisy, but so would not signing. Tim Pawlenty, too, is in a tough spot. He needs to do well in Iowa, but promising such far-reaching intrusion into Americans? private lives probably wouldn?t help him in a general election. Among the religious right, combining economic libertarianism with social authoritarianism seems natural, because the movement holds that only a society run according to a strict Christian morality can properly govern itself and avoid the crushing imposition of socialism. To much of the country, though, the idea of defending what the pledge calls our ?exceptional and free society? by limiting citizens? freedoms might not make quite as much sense.
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Pioneer Press Discusses Bachmannalia
Good for them.
Pioneer Press:
Bachmanalia
Followers of this page know that we collect Bachmanalia ?remarks uttered, usually on righty radio, by our 6th District congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, of Stillwater. Two recent entries have come to our attention.
In an interview earlier this month with Bill Bennett, former U.S. secretary of education, she said this of the Democrats: "... We need to do everything we can to thwart them at every turn to make sure that they aren't able to, for all time, secure a power base that for all time can never be defeated."
Last weekend, speaking to a conservative station in the Twin Cities, Bachmann was encouraging people to attend an event aimed at fighting "cap-and-trade"' approaches to addressing global warming. She argued that these proposals will greatly reduce the U.S. standard of living, and she added: "The science indicates that human activity is not the cause of all of this global warming, and that, in fact, nature is the cause, with solar flares, etcetera."
Of the meeting, she said: "I am going to have materials for them when they leave. I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on the issue of the energy tax, because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us having a revolution every now and then is a good thing, and we the people are going to have to fight back hard if we're not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.''
The heck with bipartisanship. Viva la revoluci?n!
It's good to see one of the big city dailies finally take notice of Michele Bachmann's bizarre rants on right wing radio and TV and make it a goal to regularly report on them.
republicans, always fighting for freedom of expression and basic human rights
Dragged kicking and screaming out of the Dark Ages and yet they still fear the light. Chrissie the witch was worried about masturbation and now Michele wants to save our economy by cracking down on pron? We should get Bristol's opinion........
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Does anyone remember a post regarding vilification and name calling? Just look above for examples.
Kind of hard defending Bachmann on vilification IMO and it's nothing Letterman didn't say on TV last night. "A crushing Recession and Bachmann is worried about porn rather than jobs".
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Kind of hard defending Bachmann on vilification IMO and it's nothing Letterman didn't say on TV last night. "A crushing Recession and Bachmann is worried about porn rather than jobs".
I feel better already, maybe Obama will provide us with both jobs and porn.
I am all for everyone in the US having high paying jobs (the government can create those, you know!), get all their american made things for dirt cheap, all marriages working out, quick availability of divorce, low taxes, free healthcare, no debt, and..... did I leave out anything???? Oh, and porn is the best thing to happen ever!!! It's good for families, children and married people alike!!!:2 thumbup::: 2thumbup:
Oh wait... Somehow that makes absolutely no sense at all...
BTW, I don't know much about Bachman and don't care to. Not a supporter. I just think that some folks honestly think that the above statements make sense!
Kind of hard defending Bachmann on vilification IMO and it's nothing Letterman didn't say on TV last night. "A crushing Recession and Bachmann is worried about porn rather than jobs".
Ah, yes, David Letterman that unbiased source of daily facts!
A story from the conservative Daily Caller is raising questions over whether Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann gets migraine headaches that can incapacitate her for days at a time - as well as why her former allies might offer up such information.
The story, which cites "three people who have worked closely with Bachmann," charges that the Minnesota lawmaker was hospitalized at least three times last year for stress-induced severe headaches. It says the migraines occur roughly once a week on average and can "incapacitate" Bachmann for days.
Asked about the report, Bachmann spokesperson Alice Stewart had this to say to CBS News: "Millions of Americans suffer with migraines. Congresswoman Bachmann does have migraines, and they are treated with medication."
Stewart is quoted by the Daily Caller saying the migraines are "under control" and charging that the information in the story is "incorrect." She declined to discuss Bachmann's medical history.
Bachmann's congressional office acknowledged that she was hospitalized in July 2010, but it would not discuss the reason. The story says she was also hospitalized in May 2010 in Los Angeles after being "desperately sick from headaches" during her flight to the city and in October 2010 after falling ill (and being put into a bed) at a fundraiser in Connecticut.
It's worth noting here that Bachmann is known to have a poor relationship with many of the people who have worked for her, some of whom might want to cast Bachmann's migraines as more problematic than they actually are. (Former chief of staff Ron Carey, who has endorsed Tim Pawlenty in the presidential race, penned an incendiary op-ed in June saying Bachmann is not fit for the presidency.) The Daily Caller story appears to have been driven by an adviser to Bachmann's 2010 congressional campaign, who says Bachmann takes "all sorts of pills" to deal with her condition and is in constant contact with doctors. (Two others reportedly independently "provided detailed accounts of Bachmann's condition.")
The sources are described as acting out of concern that Bachmann could be incapacitated during a crisis if she becomes president as well as concern that she could lose badly in a general election campaign if the migraine issue takes center stage - not from a desire to bring down a former boss with whom they are now on bad terms.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Bachmann camp accused of shoving TV reporter in SC
(AP) ? 1 hour ago
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AIKEN, S.C. (AP) ? ABC News says a reporter trying to question GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was pushed and shoved by members of her camp after a campaign event in South Carolina.
Network news senior vice president Jeffrey Schneider said reporter Brian Ross was shoved Tuesday as security tried to block him from the Minnesota congresswoman while he asked whether she had to miss votes because of migraines. Schneider said Ross has been a victim of worse violence but added no reporter should be roughed up pursuing a story.
A spokeswoman for Bachmann did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
An online news site claimed Monday that Bachmann was reportedly sidelined by headaches. Bachmann says her symptoms are controlled with medication and have not gotten in the way of her political work.
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