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In Seeking Pardon For Swindler, Bachmann Convicts Herself of Illiteracy
06/24/2011 | Brices Crossroads

Posted on 06/24/2011 8:57:48 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads

Michele Bachmann's efforts in 2007-8 to have Drug Dealer and Money Launderer Frank Vennes pardoned for his 1987 convictions have begun to receive some light scrutiny in the media. Some embarrassing details have emerged, including the fact that, while Bachmann was lobbying hard to secure a pardon for him from President Bush, Vennes himself was engaged in a brand new, massive $3.65 billion ponzi scheme, for which he was recently indicted by a Federal Grand Jury. Worse yet, Vennes and his family had donated money to Bachmann--a lot of money--in the 2006 and 2008 campaign cycles, $27,400 to be exact, making Vennes her largest donor by far. The most charitable thing one can say about this affair is that it showed colossally poor judgment on Bachmann's part. The propinquity of the donations and her efforts to secure a pardon could suggest a darker, even improper, motive, if the pardon efforts were proven to be a quid pro quo for the campaign cash. See the link below if you are interested in any more of the sordid details.

LINK

What struck me about the Vennes matter was not that Bachmann exercised poor judgment (which she certainly did) or that her lobbying on behalf of Vennes so soon after his huge donations to her were unethical and created at least the appearance of impropriety (which they certainly have). It was none of those things that I found so egregious, because politicians typically engage in such shenanigans on a daily basis, and Michele Bachmann is nothing if not a typical politician. What really struck me about the whole affair, and has been heretofore overlooked, is the letter Bachmann penned on Congressional stationery to the Pardon Attorney at the United States Department of Justice. By all means, read it and draw your own conclusions:

The specter of the lamestream media baying at the moon and salivating over the prospect of a veritable treasure trove of malapropisms within Sarah Palin's 24,000 emails made me wonder about Bachmann's talents as a wordsmith. To pique my curiosity further, the same lamestream media that was so sure it would find multiple "silver bullets" of incoherence within Palin's emails has pronounced Bachmann not only "coherent" and "disciplined" but downright "articulate." (Meghan Daum, LA Times, 6/23/2011) To their chagrin, Palin's emails turned out to be written more competently than most CEOs, scoring an impressive 8.5 on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test on which Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech was an 8.8 and the Gettysburg Address was a 9.1. Indeed Palin's routine emails were more competently composed, according to this measure, than was Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, which came in at 7.7. And Bachmann? Well, I would love to have the Flesch-Kincaid test applied to her letter to the Pardon Attorney, a high ranking Justice Department official appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation. How, I wonder, would it score? Let's take a look at it, piece by piece.

Her third sentence is not only awkward, but also an unsupported non sequitur:

"As a U.S. Representative, I am confident of Mr Vennes' successful rehabilitation and that a pardon will be good for the neediest of society."

How, one might wonder, does her status as a U.S. Representative make her "confident" of Mr. Vennes' rehabilitation? Evidently she intended to remind the Pardon Attorney of her office, fearing that perhaps he had not noticed the letter head. After this bit of gratuitous horn blowing, Bachmann stumbles through the remainder of this awkward sentence in two parts, but without the same, parallel grammatical structure:

"I am confident of...and that"

This grammatical error, known as faulty parallelism, is rather more common among elementary school students than Congressmen, especially those who who constantly bray about their two law degrees and their experience as a "tax attorney for the IRS".

The next sentence, if you can call it that, is at once inane and downright painful to read:

"Granting a pardon to Mr. Vennes should be considered because pardons were intended to restore people to society like Mr. Vennes; people who have demonstrated true reformation and for whom mercy is due because the legal system cannot deliver a morally acceptable result."

The first part of it is an incomplete, circular thought, punctuated with a semicolon. The second part is an incomplete sentence. In between she opines that "mercy is due" when in fact mercy is never "due." If mercy were due, it would be justice, not mercy. And she inexplicably charges that the legal system in Vennes' case "cannot deliver a morally acceptable result." Is there some thought behind such a charge? How is it that the legal system failed to deliver a morally acceptable result? Vennes was convicted on his own guilty plea of crimes for which the government had overwhelming evidence. How was his conviction not a "morally acceptable result?" Anyone who would make such a statement does not understand the meaning of the phrase "morally acceptable result." Her use of the English language is as imprecise as her syntax is mangled.

The next sentence is no better:

"Mr Vennes' application shows he is a just recipient of a pardon"

Wrong again, Michele. He is not the just recipient of a pardon, since he had not yet received it (and, happily, he never did). What you meant to say was that he would be the just recipient of a pardon. Michele Bachmann, let me introduce you to the subjunctive mood. You should have met in the fifth grade, but I suppose it's better to meet late than never!

The letter meanders on, a string of words in search of a coherent thought. At points the Congresswoman waxes profound:

"So why does Mr. Vennes need a pardon if he is so successful? So he can help more people than he does."

She goes on to elaborate on the utility of a pardon for Mr Vennes and how a pardon will free him "to help so many more":

"Mr Vennes still encounters the barriers of his past and especially in the area of finance loan documents."

Indeed, those pesky prior money laundering convictions sure do get in the way of your ability to borrow money from banks for the needy (or for other worthy purposes like...ponzi schemes?). It raises the question, however: Does Bachmann believe it licit to go into debt in order to fund charitable activities? She notes in the third paragraph that, in just the previous three years, Vennes has directed over 10.7 million dollars to the "neediest in our society" (not to mention the $27,400 he steered into her campaign coffers). It does not appear that he was in dire need of loans for charitable activities or much of anything else.

The letter finally ends with this sentence:

"Knowing that pardons have been decreasingly granted , I am asking that courage be mustered to do justice for Mr. Vennes."

Decreasingly granted? This sounds like the syntax of a third grader. How about: "While I understand that pardons overall have declined of late..." There are any number of concise ways to express this thought. Bachmann chose none of them. I have seen many letters from Congressmen and Senators, and this one, which incidentally addresses a very important subject, is by far the least articulate of any of them.

If Sarah Palin penned such a ferociously illiterate missive, it would be on the front page of the New York Times as Exhibit A for her incompetence and incoherence. Yet Michele Bachmann, now the darling of CNN, the L.A. Times, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post and Chris Matthews of MSNBC, is called both "coherent" and "articulate," in spite of this stark evidence to the contrary. Ask yourselves why these two are treated differently.

After reading her mangled syntax, poor word usage and incoherent ramblings, I shudder at the thought of the Congresswoman from Minnesota turned loose upon an Inaugural Address. Fortunately, the chances of that are even slimmer than Mr. Vennes' current pardon possibilities.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: bachmann; bachstabber; bricescrossroads; cultofbachmann; cultofpalin; dailykos; grammarpolice; isthisalltheygot; judas; liarbachstabber; liberalgarbage; lowblow; michelebachmann; morepettycrap; palin; palinvanity; romneywhore; sarahpalin; trashingmichele; vanity
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To: Brices Crossroads

Tonight I sent Michele Bachmann $10.00. More to come if she continues to prove herself. She’s a notch ahead of Sarah Palin in my book. And I like Palin a lot. If only Allen West would jump in.


21 posted on 06/24/2011 9:41:34 PM PDT by unkus
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To: fish hawk

It’s substantial in the world of political campaign donations. One does so on that scale in the expectation of access and influence.


22 posted on 06/24/2011 9:44:15 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: buccaneer81
Whose tool are you? Because you're not from our (Palin) side.

These sort of attacks are merely stirring up hatred of fans of other conservative candidates toward Palin.

It's amazing how some that call themselves conservatives will use the same sort of lies and smear tactics liberals use and that have been used against Palin.

23 posted on 06/24/2011 9:45:07 PM PDT by RINOs suck
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo
So..Have you a comment, or are you content to just sit back and snicker as you collect hits to your blog, masquerading as news?

He has a link to his blog hidden in there?

Where is it?

24 posted on 06/24/2011 9:46:19 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo
So..Have you a comment, or are you content to just sit back and snicker as you collect hits to your blog, masquerading as news?

Where's his blog? (I looked, and all the hits come back here.)

25 posted on 06/24/2011 9:48:04 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Brices Crossroads

I mean, I don’t know much about ORU (I go to Liberty Univ. myself), but she certainly speaks intelligently. There are many possibilities, but I highly doubt that this represents her writing capabilities. It’s quite possible she just didn’t care that much. Perhaps she isn’t as corrupt as you imagine and did not find the pardon very important. At the very worst, we all send off illiterate screeds occasionally, unless you just so happen to be Sarah Palin.


26 posted on 06/24/2011 9:48:35 PM PDT by RecoveringPaulisto
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To: RINOs suck
It's amazing how some that call themselves conservatives will use the same sort of lies and smear tactics liberals use and that have been used against Palin.

Like Ed Rollins? Yep, pretty amazing that he's still in Michele Bachmann's employ.

27 posted on 06/24/2011 9:49:20 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: Brices Crossroads
Michele Bachmann vs Michelle Obama

This is a poem of two Michel(l)es
one will replace the one with two Ls
The White House was lowered along with our flag
We lost our employment and the economy's lag
But soon we'll be cheering and ringing the bell
When the White House is housing the one with one L.

28 posted on 06/24/2011 9:51:35 PM PDT by fish hawk
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To: buccaneer81

“I am a so-called “Palinista.” I have been fighting off crap from the anti-Palin crowd for years. But let me tell you...you are full of crap. If you think this post is positive, well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Whose tool are you? Because you’re not from our (Palin) side. If you are, I’m ashamed.”

Agreed 100%. The guy is a would be English professor. Most English professors I know are leftwing idiots. Even if they aren’t left wing, they’re still idiots (one sure applies here).


29 posted on 06/24/2011 9:51:41 PM PDT by secondamendmentkid
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To: buccaneer81

I address the literacy level of a letter Bachmann wrote to secure a pardon for convicted drug dealer who is under indictment again. You don’t address the post itself, which is merely an exegesis of Bachmann’s own words.

You attack me personally. Then you say you are ashamed because I support Palin. I didn’t trash Bachmann at all, merely used her own words. Yet that offends your lilly livered sensibilities. Where were you when Bachmann was sending Ed Rollins out to trash Palin? You’re right about one thing. You are a “so-called Palinsta.”

Get lost.


30 posted on 06/24/2011 9:58:19 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads
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To: Brices Crossroads

There is only one... it ain’t bachmann.

LLS


31 posted on 06/24/2011 9:59:39 PM PDT by LibLieSlayer ("GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH"! I choose LIBERTY and PALIN!)
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To: RINOs suck

To 9 - So it’s “raging hatred” if one ceases to support an immoral politician? Bachmann made a choice, now she reaps the consequences.


32 posted on 06/24/2011 10:01:16 PM PDT by jla
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To: RINOs suck

When Bachmann hired Rollins to attack Palin, it was a blunder of huge, massive, proportions, she put herself at war with the core of the conservative movement, it was a terrible mistake for her to choose that strategy, and it revealed a dark side to her.

Conservatives were forced to try to figure out her motives, and that forced closer examination of who she really is, and what could have led to such an epic mistake.

She forced conservatives to scrutinize her and dig below the surface.


33 posted on 06/24/2011 10:04:29 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: jla; LibLieSlayer

Notice how the Bachmann supporters and even some who call themselves Palinistas do not attack the substance of the post. They attack me using ad hominems, the very tool of the left.

Sooner or later they are going to have to answer the substance of the post. It ain’t going away.


34 posted on 06/24/2011 10:08:52 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads
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To: ansel12

Well put, Ansel12. I am scrutinizing her record, her written word. As I see it, whe she sent Rollins out to tear into Palin and didn’t even have the decency to fire him or even to apologize to Palin, who had been a huge benefactor of hers, Bachmann in effect drew first blood.

Now her fans, and some of the nebbishes on our side, are screaming bloody murder because I remark on some patent problems with her syntax and coherence, not to mention her judgment in lobbying for a very crooked, very prominent contributor of hers.


35 posted on 06/24/2011 10:15:12 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads
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To: RINOs suck

I’ve noticed a pro-Bachmann trend among the Marxists.


36 posted on 06/24/2011 10:18:12 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (Pray for Israel.)
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To: Brices Crossroads

Well, I enjoyed your article. I find nothing to disagree with in it and I appreciate your effort.

Some have said that the letter couldn’t have been written by Bachmann, rather, it was likely written by a helper. I suspect she did in fact compose the thing, but it doesn’t matter, once she signed it.... she owned it, warts and all.

I enjoy your writing style, don’t you ever stop. Heck, if I had your talent, I’d be publishing my work from a 45’ sailing yacht, somewhere near a island in a faraway place.... and a warm sandy beach.

Now, I’m going to shut this computer down and watch a movie. ;>)


I’ll be voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.


37 posted on 06/24/2011 10:21:36 PM PDT by Gator113 ("GAME ON." I'll be voting for Sarah Palin, Liberty, our Constitution and American Exceptionalism.)
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To: secondamendmentkid; buccaneer81; Brices Crossroads

Here are the articles that Brices Crossroads has written, and/or posted, see if he looks leftwing to you, he sure doesn’t to me.

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:bricescrossroads/index?tab=articles


38 posted on 06/24/2011 10:24:24 PM PDT by ansel12 (America has close to India population of 1950s, India has 1,200,000,000 people now. Quality of Life?)
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To: Brices Crossroads

“If she did, it call into question her judgment.”

It do? When you take it upon yourself to be the grammar nazi, you should be very, very careful yourself. Just sayin’


39 posted on 06/24/2011 10:24:30 PM PDT by EDINVA (uw.)
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To: reasonisfaith

“I’ve noticed a pro-Bachmann trend among the Marxists.”

It is hard to miss it when the likes of Dana Milbank, Chris Matthews and assorted other leftists are all singing Bachmann’s praises. The reason is plain as well. They hope she damages Sarah Palin (whom they really fear) and they are encouraged by her engagement with Ed Rollins and his early vicious attack on Palin. they know well that Bachmann is no threat to win the nomination. She is either a useful idiot or a willing accomplice (in practice, it matters little which one) to try to block Palin a la Phil Crane/ Ronald Reagan in 1980.


40 posted on 06/24/2011 10:24:50 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads
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