Jackpot, Fishy Poopypants

Found this at Andrew Sullivan's.

Dunno about poopy-pants, but I almost peed mine.

The Queen Of Rage™

There are some who are crying foul over the photo Newsweek chose for its cover feature on Michele Bachmann.

Her supporters claim that by making her look like a RWNJ, the magazine is treating her with less respect than her male opponents, who have not allegedly been depicted at RWNJs.

The New Yorker also has a long piece about her campaign to secure the Republican Party nomination for the 2012 presidential race, here.

[...]Bachmann and her campaign staff know that––like Sarah Palin and like Mitt Romney—her image depends on a carefully groomed glamour. As Stewart was spelling out the rules of the plane, a flight attendant solemnly carried a full-length white garment bag from Nordstrom down the aisle, as if she were carrying the nuclear codes. Close behind followed two more aides––Bachmann’s personal assistant, Tera Dahl, and the makeup artist Tamara Robertson, who had been asked to join the team because Bachmann so admired her work at Fox News.

Oh look! Another Newsweek cover, this one with Mitt Romney.

So, Bachmann supporters and other RightWing NutJobs - listen up. Although Naomi Wolf would gladly let you shrieeek "Sexism!" about the Newsweek cover, and play the victim card which you keep accusing the women's movement of doing, feminists who support social justice are not buying your crap, nor your candidate's crap either.

Michele Bachmann and Praying Away the Gay

Woohoo! The MSM has picked up the story of Michele Bachmann's hub Marcus's Pray Away the Gay biz, with undercover footage proving that the Bachmanns are telling porky pies.

And. Also. She's a great big whiney titty-baby. Call the cops! Her house was egged! Twice!

And that Marriage Vow she signed with the paragraph on how Jim (Crow) Dandy Great slavery was for black families? Well, apparently she did ^NOT read that bit.

Which is now beside the point as the wingnuts who issued it have removed the offending bit.

Mother Jones is staying on it, though. They're compiling The Michele Bachmann Guide to Slavery.

But, hey, not to worry. There's no fucking way she can be elected, right? Bill Maher is ^NOT complacent.

In related Canadian news, the New Democratic Party has heeded the campaign started by our pal Mark at Slap Upside The Head to remove charitable status from bogus Pray Away the Gay groups.

Good on ya, Mark, and all the others who got involved in the Slap into Action campaign!

ADDED: MoJo still on it.

Image source

Slavery Bad. No. Slavery Good. Wait. I'm Confused.

In the Excited States, they really like to punch those hot buttons, but really you gotta hand it to the odious Tea Baggers for rolling so many of them into one gigantic nookular flustercluck.

Again, today, we present the malignant confluence of racism, abortion, and homophobia.

Fetus fetishists have used race to present the case for fetal 'personhood' and to assert that the abortion 'industry' is perpetrating a racist genocide on duskier hued USians.

They have a history of such shenanigans.

For example, in 1976, journalist William F. Buckley wrote, “One hundred years from now Americans will look back in horror at our abortion clinics, even as we look back now in horror at the slave markets.” That same year, Dr. Jack Willke, founder of the National Right to Life Committee, compared Roe v. Wade to the 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford in his book Slavery and Abortion: History Repeats. This argument continues to resurface even as recently as January of this year, when Rick Santorum argued on Fox News that Roe denies fetuses “personhood” the same way Dred Scott denied African Americans “personhood.”

But Ms. Magazine goes on to point out that they have it bassackwards.

The slavery analogy makes much more sense as an argument for choice, not against it. Slavery is about losing one’s freedom and personal autonomy over one’s body and life. As Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, so eloquently put it: “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”

In addition, laws prohibiting or restricting access to abortion treat women as chattel, enslaving them physically by controlling their bodies and ideologically by subjecting them to the tyranny of an imposed morality.
. . .
We must turn the anti-abortion movement’s use of the slavery analogy on its head. Let’s remind the world that even though we may never agree about the personhood or rights of the “unborn,” the personhood and rights of living women are indisputable.

OK, got that? Slavery bad. Abortion = slavery of fetuses. Or something.

But wait. No. Slavery good.

Recently, there was the spectacle of the Fetus Fetishist Pledge to be signed by all ReThuglican presidential candidates.

Now, there's a new one: The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence upon MARRIAGE and FAMILY, also to be signed by ReThug hopefuls (link to PDF of whole nauseating thing there).

A quote from the document:

Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 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.

Take your time blinking at that.

Now to commentary from Jack & Jill Politics, which bills itself as 'A black bourgeoisie perspective on U.S. politics':

Given that families were broken up regularly for sales during slavery and that rape by masters was pretty common, this could not be more offensive. I mean, putting aside the statistics on this, which are likely off-base, I could not be more angry. When will Republicans inquire with actual Black people whether or not we’re ok with invoking slavery to score cheap political points? It has to stop. It is the opposite of persuasive and is another reason Republicans repel us. It’s hard to believe that Michele Bachmann would be foolish enough to sigh this pledge.

Oh yeah, Crazy Eyes is the first -- no doubt of many -- to sign it.

I read the whole thing. It's really really difficult to pinpoint the MOST offensive and/or stupid bit of it. Go read and consider yourself.

But hands down, this is the creepiest bit (italic in original).

Recognition that robust childbearing and reproduction is beneficial to U.S. demographic, economic, strategic and actuarial health and security.

Robust? 'Robust' seems to be a dog whistle to Christianists. Indicating just what, I'm not sure. But I am pretty sure that these opportunistic ignoramuses would not approve of 'robust' reproduction among the OTHERS: non-Christians, Blacks, gays, Latinos, progressives. You get the idea.

Or as commenter The Mound of Sound put it here on another post about Crazy Eyes: 'Three words: crazy - shit - bat. Rearrange and repeat and repeat.'

ADDED: Go read Anthea Butler. Seems this 'slavery good' gonna bite ReThugs BIG TIME.

Is Michele Bachmann a Fag Hag®?

Gee, I dunno. Listen to the beginning of this.




JoeMyGod had it first. (Read the hilarious comments there.)

Now, Mother Jones is on it.

Politico's James Hohmann published a story Tuesday on the unique role of Rep. Michele Bachmann's husband, Marcus, on the campaign trail. Aside from the obvious points about how he's had to pick up the slack on the home front since his wife left for Washington, the piece notes a few of the recent controversies that could become "liabilities" on the campaign trail—namely, the fact that his family farm received subsidies, and that his Christian therapy practice accepted Medicaid funding.

That might be a stretch. The fact that Marcus Bachmann received farm subsidies is bad because they're the kind of government handout the candidate loves to hate, but it's really not the kind of thing that sways voters—especially when you consider that a lot of Republican primary voters also receive farm subsidies. There is one part of the Marcus Bachmann story, though, that is already becoming an issue for the Bachmann campaign.

In addition to the fairly commonplace practice of accepting Medicaid payments, Bachmann's Christian therapy clinic has also been accused of dabbling in something called "conversion" or "reparative" therapy, in which gay people are supposedly cured of their gayness through steady doses of prayer. The American Psychiatric Association does not endorse "conversion therapy" and has suggested it might have damaging mental health consequences. But as Hohmann's story notes, Marcus Bachmann is not a member of any of Minnesota's three major professional organizations for psychologists. For Marcus Bachmann, this is bigger than science; it's a moral imperative. Gays, he has said, are like "barbarians" that need to be "disciplined."

. . . The problems don't end with the therapy, though. Marcus' fiercely anti-gay language has itself spawned the predictable, unsubstantiated "takes one to know one" backlash.

Lotsa fun links at Mojo. Celebs, including Cher, weighing in. Andrew Sullivan has a couple of very funny clips.

And for more fun, follow MarcusBachmanIsSoGay.

Well, They Walk the Walk

For ReThuglicans, it's a Most Babeez Competition.

Presidential elections are supposed to be about the future, but more than a few Republicans eyeing the White House this year are throwbacks to the past – the 1800s, to be exact, when the typical American family had five to seven children.

The math is striking: Six Republican candidates and prospects have 34 children among them. And that’s not even counting Michele Bachmann’s 23 foster children.

For comparison purposes, the standard-issue family has two children. That’s where we find former Minnesota governorTim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain.

And, it need not be said, but wotthehell, every man/woman -jack of them is a card-carrying fetus fetishist.

According to Conan O'Brien, Ron Paul, the fetus-fetishist libertarian (get your head around that), WINS!

One of our faves, Rick Santorum, places with the creepiest anti-abortion abortion tale.

But then there's nutzoid Michele Bachmann with five of her own and 23 foster children.

She says she 'raised' these foster children.

Really?

Asked how long they lived with her, she said "it varied."

I asked Bachmann to explain the parameters of how long the children lived with her - was it as short as one week? As long as three years?

"It varied, it really varied depending on the children," Bachmann responded. "And we've never gotten into specifics about the children because we've always wanted to observe their privacy and that of their families. As I'm sure you can appreciate."

That privacy thing . . .

But then there are those facty things.

Bachmann often says she has "raised" 23 foster children. That may be a bit of a stretch. According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Bachmann's license, which she had for 7 1/2 years, allowed her to care for up to three children at a time. According to Kris Harvieux, a former senior social worker in the foster care system in Bachmann's county, some placements were almost certainly short term. "Some of them you have for a week. Some of them you have for three years, some you have for six months," says Harvieux, who also served as a foster parent herself. "She makes it sound like she got them at birth and raised them to adulthood, but that's not true."

They were/are all teenagers. Some have questioned her motives.

One line of attack goes like this: She was only in it for the money.

The state of Minnesota pays foster parents $30 per day tax-free, which means that to take care of the children she fostered the Bachmanns raked in more than $1.2 million. (Of course, this argument fails to take into account how expensive it is to raise a teenager.)

Another well-worn attack is that she took in foster girls because she was looking for reliable built-in babysitters for her kids. For some reason, Bachmann has done little to shunt aside this criticism. When she has been asked if these foster girls babysat her biological children she says she can’t recall.

Finally, Bachmann’s past as a foster mother has been branded a cynical attempt to curry favor with her ideological pals on the right, particularly the anti-choice crowd that gives lip service, if not always actual support, for adoption and foster care.

Hm. The babysitting one . . . Just like a lot of anti-feminist rightwing nutjob women, Bachmann has a pretty busy career. And even if she had only three foster kids at a time plus five of her own, that's a lotta kids to feed and water when mom is on the road a lot.

Just sayin'.


h/t matttbastard.

Image source.

Speaking of rightwing batshitcrazy ...

Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin.

While it's a positive thing that two high-profile women in US politics appear to be supportive of one another, most of the pronouncements uttered by these 2 BFFs are lacking in substance and typical of the phenom described by Chet of The Vanity Press here.

In addition, Bachmann and her family have been receiving hundred$ of thousand$ of munee from the "Big Government" she and her fellow Tea Bag Party Patriots denounce. It's

Wingnut Welfare, in fact.

Here is a good description of the political trajectory Bachmann has charted in recent years, becoming more frantic and irrational in her claims and actions.

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..."

While Minnesota - Bachmann's home state and constituency - may actually benefit from the BP disaster since it's a major producer of bio-fuels, it doesn't explain why she would so rabidly defend the multinational corporation. Unless of course, it might be of benefit to her, and her re-election campaign.

Michele Bachman: Not acting like a "lady"?

DJ! may not blog as much about Michele Bachman as we do about that other tea-bagging, rightwing, anti-feminist religious zealot (and former Republican vp candidate) but when we do ...

We hear that the RNC is shrieeeking because a Democrat senator purportedly said something sexist to Bachman. So we went looking for an explanation of what happened and found one.

First, the background: Specter's remarks came during a special broadcast [...] to mark the first year of President Obama's term. Specter, the 79-year-old Republican-turned-Democrat, who is facing a tough primary [...] at one point during an exchange over the health-care bill noted that Bachmann had said she voted for prosperity.

"Well, prosperity wasn't a bill," the Pennsylvania senator began to explain. "Well, why don't we make it a bill?" said Bachmann, talking over him. "Now wait a minute," Specter said. "Don't interrupt me. I didn't interrupt you. Act like a lady."

"Well, I think I am a lady," Bachmann said. "I think you are, too," Specter said. "That's why I'm treating you like one. But just don't interrupt me."

Needless to say, conservatives have been completely up at arms over this comment. [...] Bachmann is decrying his "arrogance," saying he "basically told me to sit down and be quiet."

She's right. He did tell her to sit down and be quiet. But that was because she was interrupting him. With nearly 30 years in the senate under his belt, the rules of civility that are second nature in congressional debate are no doubt reflexive to him. Congress people refer to each other as "esteemed colleague," "gentleman" or "gentlewoman." The term "lady" to him, both from his history in office and from being of an older generation would not be as loaded as it could be for those of us under the age of 60.

Then, there is the fact that Bachmann wasn't upset by his term, but for being told to stop talking. Her response back, "I think I am a lady," shows clearly that she embraces that word and the characteristics implied by it. Of course, the Republicans have taken the clip and run, in an attempt to help Specter's opponent in the next election.

And, without the smallest trace of irony, the RNC is claiming Specter is treating women like "second class citizens" (because taking away their rights to their own bodies, on the other hand, is NOT treating them like second class citizens).

And of course, you've read by now about the punk Watergate-wannabees being busted and likely charged for a number of federal times and allegedly attempting to wiretap a Democrat senator's office. Canadian Cynic: Yeah, about that whole ACORN thing ...

As JJ reminds us: "It’s not a crime if you’re a Republican!" Neither does obstructing access to abortion constitute an assault on women's rights, IYAR.

Wingnut Welfare.

Well, well, well ... isn't this just too delicious?

Michele Bachmann has become well known for her anti-government tea-bagger antics, protesting health care reform and every other government “handout” as socialism. What her followers probably don’t know is that Rep. Bachmann is, to use that anti-government slur, something of a welfare queen. That’s right, the anti-government insurrectionist has taken more than a quarter-million dollars in government handouts thanks to corrupt farming subsidies she has been collecting for at least a decade. [..] Bachmann’s family farm received $251,973 in federal subsidies between 1995 and 2006. The farm had been managed by Bachmann’s recently deceased father-in-law and took in roughly $20,000 in 2006 and $28,000 in 2005, with the bulk of the subsidies going to dairy and corn. Both dairy and corn are heavily subsidized — or “socialized”—businesses in America (in 2005 alone, Washington spent $4.8 billion propping up corn prices) and are subject to strict government price controls. [...]If American farms such as hers were forced to compete in the global free market, they would collapse.

Which US politician said "You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on”? Hint: He was a Republican.

Move over Death Panels. There's a MASSIVE new delusion in town.

According to the Republican rightwing wannabe Wonder Woman Michele Bachmann ...

schools might start offering abortions if healthcare reform passes. ... There's no passage in the bill to support this claim, and Bachmann's office didn't immediately respond to a request for clarification.

More about the development of this particular extrapolation, here. In

Bachmann's own words

:

"...the bill orders that these clinics protect patient privacy and student records. What does that mean? It means that parents will never know what kind of counsel and treatment that their children are receiving. And as a matter of fact, the bill goes on to say what's going to go on -- comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care -- is that abortion? Does that mean that someone's 13 year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? Mom and dad are never the wiser."

Sarah Palin has some serious competition there in the raving, shrieeeking lunatic category. But then, Jill Stanek may be the ultimate champion zygote zealot and extreme fabulator, with this over-the-top

hallucination from last November:

"Barack Obama was elected president despite the fact he supports abortion into the fourth trimester."

Batshitcrazies? You betcha.