Posted on 07/11/2011 1:42:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As a conservative activist in an area of the country largely believed to be a remote suburb of the Twin Cities, I am increasingly encountering a general assumption — at family gatherings, on the air, and in casual conversation — that I am a big supporter of Michelle Bachmann. I fully realize, of course, that I am supposed to be. I'm just not.
The problem with Tea Party-type Bachmann supporters is that they haven't been paying attention. You'll hear it said that, "At least, she's better than Barack Obama." So was John McCain. You'll hear it said that, "At least, she doesn't have all the negatives of a Palin candidacy." That's because she doesn't have Sarah's record, or her guts, either. If she did, Bachmann would never have been proffered an apology for merely being called a "flake." The former governor of Alaska is a conservative. Her would-be political clone only plays one on TV.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that Bachmann is insincere. Her voting history and her life story all indicate that she is. What I am saying is that, if you listen to her words and not the hype, you will easily perceive that Michelle's stock in trade is playing both sides of the Republican divide. Allow me to explain.
In scams, you have the role called, "cooling out the mark." It's kind of like the "good cop — bad cop" thing, where one person's job is to make sure that the person being scammed doesn't realize it, or at least doesn't try to do anything about it. This, by default or on purpose, has become the Bachmann role on the national Republican scene.
Whenever the GOP leadership decides to stab its base in the back, to let us down, to put political expediency above principle — and one could set one's clock by this phenomenon — it is Bachman who goes all over the airwaves making excuses for them. Listen for it. It will always be Michelle who is there to "cool out the" — well, "remark." I remember Bachmann being at the forefront, for example, of the "Repeal and Replace" groundswell that helped drive the huge Republican victories of last November. Now that that uproar has died down, her silence is as deafening as anybody else's.
On Hannity a while ago, Bachmann was touting herself as a "unifying" figure. There are Democrats and independents who approach her to express their support, she contended. The obvious question arises: Why? Why, at this extremely early stage in the game, would that be the case? Are they schizophrenic, or do they also perceive that she is not who she claims to be?
The only unity it is possible to achieve is the unity of a return to our national identity, based as it is on the Declaration and the Constitution, with their ineluctable recognition of the sovereignty of our Creator, God. The quixotic attempt to bridge the gap of the American political divide in any other way has already been attempted. Just ask Newt. The famous definition of stupidity as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result, applies to conservatives as well as liberals.
As the primary season unfolds, I have diligently been trying to give Bachmann the benefit of the doubt, but in order to do that, there has to be some doubt there to work with. And as I say, I understand why people tend to assume that I back the bright, family-friendly, Palinesque-but-not-actually-Sarah-herself conservative activist from my own geographical region, who is ever ready to carry the Tea Party banner as far forward as serves her own political purposes.
I know I am supposed to like Michelle Bachmann.
I just don't.
More powerful, not the most important. The Alaskan Governor's office is extremely powerful and hands on.
Discuss all you want. But right now the voters seem to like Michele Bachmann as she is either leading or in 2nd place in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. If executive experience and legislative accomplishments are deciding factors for people they will vote for someone other than Bachmann.
Maybe you can put your finger on this for Stepford-level creepy:
http://www.rightspeak.net/2011/07/would-michele-bachmann-be-submissive.html
Looks like maybe Marcus Bachmann is the one you should be liking as a leader (”disciplining barbarians” and all):
http://www.rightspeak.net/2011/07/would-michele-bachmann-be-submissive.html
Jim DeMint is a Senator rather than a congresscritter. It is true, I don't think senators make a good breeding ground as an executive either, but it's better than a congresscritter, plus he's had some better business experience before he became a senator. He's also been head of committees and other such little things that Bachmann has not.
Sorry, she's an empty suit, and you've still not produced one thing the woman has accomplished. It's been a couple of weeks since I issued you the challenge, and it's funny, you haven't posted anything yet........
This article mirrors my take on her. Insightful, coming from a Minnisotan.
ditto!
re: “Basically, Bachmann “talks” very well the strategy that Sarah has actually “walked” the actual implementation of over the past 20 years.”
re: “People LOVE to listen to ‘speeches’ and ‘hear people say stuff’, but don’t pay attention to track record. See, that takes a little bit of effort, and ‘too much thinking’. I hate to criticize my own side of the fence, but MB’s record is nothing but ‘activism’ and ‘talk’ - hasn’t “managed’ anything, or actually “lead by executive experience”.
EXACTLY! That is how we got saddled with Zero.
Indeed!
Very well put.
A gerrymandered district does not a state make.
I agree with Michelle Bachmann's conservative positions on the issues. What I am reluctant to do is give her my support over Palin (until, and if, Palin says "NO" to running for President).
This primary field is definitely 'un-settled', simply by the fact that no one is commanding any significant support at this stage of the game.
For those that believe that we have too much 'establishment' controlling our lives in Wash DC, that we have too little GUTS to take on the status quo, that we have SOCIALISTS running our gov't, then there is only ONE individual who actually has a track-record (and a successful one at that) on these issues. That individual is Sarah Palin.
Every dime of which is computed in cost, corporations do not pay taxes, they collect them, and with depletion allowance they do not have any costs. The tax payers picks up the tab. Even though I do not support Perry, he is the most experienced and he actually comes from a state with a population.
That's the difference between a subjective emotional opinion and an objectively observed record of hard facts.
You're not measuring Palin's policy and legislative accomplishments as Governor, and the candidates she helped get elected in 2010, versus Bachmann's total lack of any legislation during her term in Congress.
One of the two [Palin] accomplished numerous herculean feats as Mayor, Energy Commissioner and Governor, and again as "Kingmaker" in 2010, and the other [Bachmann] gave a bunch of nice speeches. Period.
We already elected a great "speechifyer..." and he ain't workin out so good.
;^\
Please explain to me how your ad hominem attack on me supports Palin? Or, how your attack on me is any different than the posts at DU or Huffington?
I agree.
I get the feeling you think I called you someone suffering "Palin Derangement Syndrome". I did not.
I referred to BDS, or "Bachman Derangement Syndrome" - but not at you personally.
I like Bachmann. I like Palin - to an extent. I was mainly pointing out the hypocrisy of all the Bachmann bashers on this thread who, while thinking they are defending Palin by calling those of us who voice "legitimate points" about Palin as "PDS'ers", are just as quick to jump on the bash Bachmann bandwagon.
The Palin Protectorate, as I call them, are displaying amazing amounts of hypocrisy.
Or, maybe I'm all wrong and you are posting in defense of Palin??????
I am shocked that the "Palin Protectorate" has not jumped all over you for that! BTW, thanks for that info. If you have a link to a story about it I'd like to see it. It shows a pattern developing...
She talks the talk, but Sarah’s the ONLY ONE who’s actually walked the walk! - I ask anyone else, to name what other candidate has taken on the ‘Republican Establishment’ (corrupt or not) and WON!
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Which is why the GOP will make every effort to backstab her if and when she does run. Unlike Murkowski, who the the establishment GOP welcomed with open arms. The GOP is a fraud with respect to its claims of conservatism, but most people still have to figure it out.
“I am bound to have a problem with everyone sooner or later, so unless I want to run, I’ll have to live with it.”
True of us all. If I may ask, what triggered your recovery?
Abe Lincoln is quoted as having said, "When you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps the loudest is usually the one you hit square."
I appreciate that the truth sometimes hurts, and I truly wish that it needn't be so. The ball, however, is yours to play as you see fit. I'm not making this stuff up, just reporting what I see.
Rather than lash out at the messenger, you might consider reevaluating the usefulness of your irrational hatred for this selfless American hero. Whom does it harm more; her, ...or you?
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I think she is a conservative version of Obama - not an "empty" vessel, but able to be "pumped full of footballs" (provided they suit the general lay of the pumpee). She likes power too much.
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