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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 15th, 2011
I mean, not as in literally incapable of perceiving reality. She’s not actually mentally challenged.
Right?
I mean, surely it would be obvious. Surely someone in the Republican leadership would say, “hey, she’s not just opinionated, she’s actually certifiably nuts!”
Right?
But I just have no other way of explaining this story:
In April 2005, Pamela Arnold wanted to talk to her state senator, Michele Bachmann, who was then running for Congress. A 46-year-old who worked at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Arnold lived with her partner, the famed Arctic explorer Ann Bancroft, on a farm in Scandia, Minnesota. Bachmann was then leading the fight against gay marriage in the state. She’d recently been in the news for hiding in the bushes to observe a gay-rights rally at the Capitol. So when members of the Scandia gay community decided to attend one of Bachmann’s constituent forums, Arnold, wanting to make herself visible to her representative, joined them.
A few dozen people showed up at the town hall for the April 9 event, and Bachmann greeted them warmly. But when, during the question and answer session, the topic turned to same-sex marriage, Bachmann ended the meeting 20 minutes early and rushed to the bathroom. Hoping to speak to her, Arnold and another middle-aged woman, a former nun, followed her. As Bachmann washed her hands and Arnold looked on, the ex-nun tried to talk to her about theology. Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. “Help!” she screamed. “Help! I’m being held against my will!”
Arnold, who is just over 5 feet tall, was stunned, and hurried to open the door. Bachmann bolted out and fled, crying, to an SUV outside. Then she called the police, saying, according to the police report, that she was “absolutely terrified and has never been that terrorized before as she had no idea what those two women were going to do to her.” The Washington County attorney, however, declined to press charges, writing in a memo, “It seems clear from the statements given by both women that they simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms. Bachmann.”
Ya know, you can be a little eccentric and still be elected to Congress. It might even help. And you can be, shall we say, less than fully informed about the minutia of American History (okay, you may not have the faintest clue about much of anything including where Russia is located and what Paul Revere’s ride was all about) and still have many Americans give you the benefit of the doubt.
But while we like Aww Shucks home folk and Good ‘ol People like us, Americans aren’t so fond of crazy. And we really don’t like it when you demonstrate irrational fears of little ol’ nuns (or killer rabbits). We want our presidents to have irrational bravery instead. We expect our presidents to take a bullet and walk to the hospital. We want them to stare into the cameras and demand that African presidents resign. We like them best when they take on the Challenges of The Day in a bigger, grander, and definitely braver way than we would. It’s gravitas.
So if Michele Bachmann hopes to win the Republican nomination for 2012 Loser to Obama, she’d best be reeling in the crazy, especially the paranoid fear of tiny women. It just doesn’t seem… presidential.
(Read the entire Daily Beast article here. Go on. Read it.)
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tim
June 15th, 2011
Bachmann became infamous for continually trying to introducing legislation in the MN senate to ban same-sex marriage while they were trying to deal with budget issues. It became a running joke. And she once stalked a gay rights protest by hiding behind some bushes.
She will never become a Presidential candidate. She has a slim chance at Vice President but I have a feeling that will go to another MN favorite – Pawlenty.
And don’t get your hopes up just yet about Obama winning in 2012. If the economy doesn’t improve and the republicans don’t nominate someone crazy like Bachmann (such as Romney or Huntman) – Obama stands a very clear chance of losing.
MattNYC
June 15th, 2011
Timothy,
I was JUST reading this article and was about to send the link to y’all. It’s scary to think that she–for one–actually belives the sh*t that comes out of her mouth. The article mentions all of the “dog whistles” meant for her loony RWC audience.
Rob in San Diego
June 15th, 2011
I bet you the this or that question that was asked of her at the debate was considered a “gotcha” question by John King, you know, Johnny Cash or Elvis? As the president of the United States and the Commander and Chief, you can’t have it both ways, like having your cake and eating it too, you can’t say both…
Lynn David
June 15th, 2011
Homosexual panic?
If she had assaulted one of them no doubt that is what she would have claimed in her defense.
Mike
June 16th, 2011
Calculating and crazy are two different things.
Bernie
June 16th, 2011
Timothy, You are so naughty for exposing that lunatic, for the lunatic that she is. What a heartless man you are!
Did we have a glass of wine while we wrote this? For the wine doth bring lubricity to the mind and tongue.
In any event, I pray God Almighty that the twit doth run, next November. She shall be MY entertainment for years to come.
Jeepguy
June 16th, 2011
Ahh! Xenophobia at its finest! Can you imagine a president who has such extreme fear of his/her fellow Americans?
Ivan
June 16th, 2011
“…hiding in the bushes…”
Freud lived too soon.
Richard Rush
June 16th, 2011
Oh, what a great prospect for returning America to greatness: While Michelle is running the country into the ground, her not-gay husband, Marcus, will be running an ex-gay Christian counseling clinic in the White House. The Minnesota Independent reports:
Oh, well, I guess it’s traditional for every first lady to take up a cause.
* As Marcus seems to demonstrate, ex-gay doesn’t mean straight.
Matt
June 16th, 2011
Why do you think the Republican nominee is likely to lose to Obama? Are you aware of the unemployment figures?
And do you think it’s a good idea to follow people into bathrooms when having a political debate — even if the debate is civil and restrained?
I am by no means a supporter of Ms. Bachmann, but your response, and the response of other commenters here, to this non-story lacks proportion.
Priya Lynn
June 16th, 2011
Matt said “And do you think it’s a good idea to follow people into bathrooms when having a political debate — even if the debate is civil and restrained?”.
Yes.
Chris McCoy
June 16th, 2011
Matt wrote
When said politician is hiding in the bathroom specifically to avoid answering questions that are relevant to you?
Absolutely.
Daniel
June 16th, 2011
Matt, I think when a representative refuses to discuss the human rights of her constituents with those constituents civility is already a dead issue. Also, it’s Bachmann’s reaction–reporting those constituents to the police claiming an attempted kidnapping goes way overboard and restraint has long stopped being an issue. This woman is a representative and when she refuses to address the people she was elected to represent I think following her into a bathroom is the least of the issues.
Bachmann appears to be a true homphobe–she seems to actually be terrified of gay people. In addition to this there’s the crazy “hiding in the bushes” thing.
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