US News & World Report: Why Does Anyone Take Michele Bachmann Seriously?

[marmar]

Why Does Anyone Take Michele Bachmann Seriously?
By Peter Fenn

Posted: March 16, 2011



OK. I have to do it. I was raised in Lexington, Mass., until junior high. I learned the Longfellow poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” by the third grade. Every April 19th was a holiday, and we had the re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, complete with Redcoats and the Minutemen on the Green by our First Parish Church. A big parade was held, and Paul Revere and William Dawes came riding through town on their horses.

Yes, I was steeped in the “shot heard round the world,” so I am downright disgusted that Michele Bachmann is such a know-nothing. Concord, New Hampshire? What? How could she speak with such certainty about such a basic part of our history and butcher it? And coupled with her total misunderstanding of the issue of our “founding fathers and slavery” that she opined on earlier in Iowa, why is this woman in Congress, let alone traveling the country talking about running for president?

She wraps herself in the flags of patriots but has no understanding of our nation’s patriotic history; she claims the mantle of our founding fathers but has no sense of what they believed or accomplished. Bachmann is an example of someone who not only “slips up,” but gets the basic facts and the basic history wrong. Worse still, she repeats her errors, confounds common sense by trying to joke and make light of her ignorance. This, sadly, is how far we have come as a media-starved nation when 24/7 cable television hosts from Sean Hannity to Chris Matthews give her air time. Despite referring to Bachmann as a “Balloon Head,” Matthews has her on TV, pure and simple, because of ratings.

Why should we take her seriously? Her ideas have no depth, her hard ideology does not allow for true accomplishment, her sole platform is a simplistic right-wing rant. And even her rant gets all caught up in those pesky things, called history and facts. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/Peter-Fenn/2011/03/16/why-does-anyone-take-michele-bachmann-seriously

[Tippy]

1. K&R....To answer the question Why should we take her seriously?

She is crazy like a fox...and her followers don't care they will praise annd follow her whever she goes

[yellowcanine]

2. Best not to ask questions like that. Only leads to despair.

Have to try to ignore and move on.

[Scuba]

3. Gerrymandering. Here's an article on the fight...

http://minnesotaindependent.com/33379/redistricting-minnesota-bachmann

[rbixby]

4. While I don't really like the idea of gerrymandering

I'd be happy to see her district split up to better reflect the actual constituency of the area.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Media Rubbernecking...

As we've seen with Palin, there's a media fascination with right wing women who don't look like Virginia Foxx. The more outrageous they are, the more attention they get. The great unhinged circle the wagons and throw money at them to applaud their ignorance and victimhood while the rest of us find a morbid fascination in how stupid and obnoxious they are. Either way she gets attention.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Same reason we take Ebola seriously. nt

[Blue Owl]

7. She's the shit heard 'round the world

n/t

[gratuitous]

8. Ironic: US News and World Report paved the way

And now they don't like the parade anymore. Some of us were sick to death of it during the days of Reagan, Mr. Fenn. Welcome to the disgusted side of the street.