Bachmann Spokesman: Her Remarks About Revolution Were Metaphorical
Now this is reassuring. A spokesman for Michele Bachmann told the Star Tribune that the Congresswoman was speaking metaphorically when she said she wanted people to be armed and dangerous" on the issue of energy taxes.
In Bachmann's defense, it was clear from the context of the interview that she meant the public should be armed with information -- she was discussing how she would be handing out literature against cap-and-trade proposals at an upcoming town hall event.
On the other hand, she might have crossed some lines of appropriateness for an elected official when she said: "Thomas Jefferson told us, having a revolution every now and then is a good thing. And the people - we the people - are going to have to fight back hard if we're not going to lose our country."
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
I still think this GOP tactic of characterizing cap-and-trade as an energy tax plays into the Democrat's hands procedurally. If they consider it principally an "energy tax" then how can they object to including it in budget reconciliation, which is filibuster proof?
March 24, 2009 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
...and anyone who thinks she was actually talking about the violent overthrow of the government is a dumbass!
March 24, 2009 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Then she should STFU. Because her remarks, when put in their proper context (i.e., Jefferson's "blood of patriots and tyrants" quote), suggest that she supports the "violent overthrow of the government."
March 24, 2009 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure you were worried when Obama said "if they bring a knife, we'll bring a gun" that he was actually packing some heat!
March 24, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's an incredibly stupid analogy. Not that I'm at all surprised.
March 24, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Something tells me that SFWallace is a Bachmann fan. I'd be too ashamed to admit something like that.
March 24, 2009 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. And that's what concerns me. Her most ardent supporters would fall into that category. And, they're dumb enough to take her literally.
Remember the Knoxville church shooting? Here's what the gunman wrote:
"This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I know those people were inaccessible to me. I couldn't get to the generals & high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Someone had to get the ball rolling. I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It's the only way we can rid America of this cancerous pestilence."
March 24, 2009 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regardless, she's still a loon. Her hysterical shrieking that cap-and-trade would amount to "losing our country" is beyond nutty.
March 24, 2009 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe she should have quoted the entire Thomas Jefferson line to put it into context. The reason that revolution is a good thing, Jefferson said, is that the tree of liberty needed to be watered with the blood of tyrants. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't speaking metaphorically.
March 24, 2009 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe she would have....if she had known the entire statement and the context. To republicans "context" is just a buzzword they say when they get caught saying something really stupid and as such, it's been abused to death.
March 24, 2009 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the entire Jefferson quote:
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.
...
"And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."
It's pretty clear that Jefferson was talking about taking up arms against the government. Does Ms. Bachmann feel the same way?
March 24, 2009 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you sure? Is there literally a Tree of Liberty someplace that has tyrant's blood splattered at the base of it?
March 24, 2009 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know Buxton. There's a hayfield field in Buxton with a stone wall and a great Tree of Liberty. I proposed to my wife under that Tree of Liberty. i proposed to my wife in that field, and she said yes and we made love. At the north end of that field, near the Tree of Liberty, you will find a stone that has no earthly business being in a hayfield in Buxton. It's black, and shiny. It's volcanic glass. And underneath that stone is something I want you to have, Red.
Also, I want you to take that stone and crack that nutjob Bachman on the big toe with it.
You know, Red, I wasn't the best husband, but I didn't kill my wife, and whatever sins I had to pay for I paid for long ago.
you find that rock, near the Tree of Liberty. you find it, Red.
/Zihuatenejo.
March 24, 2009 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hilarious.. Thank you for the smile.
=)
March 24, 2009 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I checked with my local nursery. Nothing there.
March 24, 2009 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
And I think she's a stupid douchebag, metaphorically,of course.
March 24, 2009 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
What she has done by her choice of words is ratchet up the rhetoric in the political & cultural battle in the country. Is she actually calling for a revolution with deadly weapons? No, but the choice of words encourages and incites those with less sense.
March 24, 2009 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
It highlights a problem for the GOP these days. The wing-nuttier they get, the more shrill and bombastic they become, the fewer people listen. So far, the only solution they have tried is to shout louder, say even more shrill and crazy things to get attention. It seems to me there is a point of diminishing returns here.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
March 24, 2009 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bachmann's grilling of Geithner and Bernanke this morning was hysterically funny. She asked Geithner where in the Constitution it says he can do what he's doing. He said everything they were doing was in accordance with laws passed by Congress. She asked (approx.) but where in the Constiution does it say it. This exchange went another round or two and then she started in on Bernanke about where did the Fed gets its authority to do what it does. The expressions on their faces were hilarious - dumbfounded and trying desperately to show no reaction. If you come across any videos of this, take a look.
March 24, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dear Michele Bachman:
You are invited to attend Remedial Classes on the United States Constitution for Representatives. This course is designed for struggling legislators who need to gain a basic understanding of elementary subjects such as Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause.
Sincerely,
Concerned Citizens of the United States of America
March 24, 2009 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
While she's at it, maybe Michelle would be so kind to show us where in the Constitution she is allowed to be such a horse's ass.
March 24, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe she wasn't advocating the violent overthrow of the government but the choices seem to me to be:
1) She WAS advocating the violent overthrow of the government
2) She is a grown woman, throwing a five year old's temper tantrum because she no longer gets her way on everything.
3) She really IS as stupid as she seems.
Sorry but those choices aren't complimentary to her in any way. The people who voted for this idiot have abused their voting priveledges. John Cornyn is a constant embarrasment to me but I take comfort in the fact that at least he's not Michelle Bachman....
March 24, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tommy J., you be da man!! You be all advocatin' da violent overthrow of gubmit an' shit....
Word!!!
March 24, 2009 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Y'know, that kind of talk is the sort of thing that would get you barred from becoming a citizen.
March 24, 2009 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
"John Cornyn is a constant embarrasment to me but I take comfort in the fact that at least he's not Michelle Bachman...."
(but, he is)
March 24, 2009 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why in the world was this woman allowed to take up valuble time this morning?
It's no wonder the congress flounders at it's tasks.
The voters who elected her should be mighty proud of her representation.
The normal citizen can't get a straight answer about anything, but we are expected to foot the bill. WTF?
March 24, 2009 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I say what's good for the Muslim goose is good for the Republican gander. Let's send her to GITMO! After a little torture free water boarding we can get the truth out of her enough for a military tribunal to sentence her to death for inciting treason and attempting to raise a militia against the United States Government.
As a Republican, she would see it as the only fair course of action.
March 24, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course, this pea brain was fomenting armed rebellion. Like most other Republicans, she thinks of it all as just playing "hardball" with the big boys. Blood and guts are things other people spill and have spilled. It's toy six shooters in the backyard kind of thinking.
We can expect no more from the dimwits who eschew rational thought, logical argument, reasoned planning, etc. How does appropriate cognition fit in with a 6,000 year old planet notion, a whimsical deity who will allow for just about anything that's tax free and painless for the moneyed and the vested and the small minded; let alone self-serving, self-interested mentation, in general?
Bachman is half cocked and scary; she needs the armed and dangerous to do something for her. She'll otherwise be extracted from the entrenched, destructive, ideations that serve the good of the few at the expense of the many. Change for the better would make her a stranger in a strange land.
March 24, 2009 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can Congress kick somebody out for talking sedition and inciting riots?
March 24, 2009 1:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
She is just representing the mentality of the GOP right now...they are scared shitless of the direction the country has taken...turn left! They know if they can't stop Obama agenda they are losing party for years upon tears! RIF ..the GOP!
March 24, 2009 1:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
This woman suffers from:
OPEN-MOUTH-IN-GO-FOOT-I-TIS.
March 24, 2009 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michelle Bachman's entire political representation is metophorical. Representative of a FOX news anchor, with a real government job.
March 24, 2009 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
We now she is a wack job. What I don't understand is that people from Minnesota are usually referred to as "Minnesota nice." What rock did she and her electorate crawl out from beneath.
The poor state is getting a bad rap...between her, their oportunistic govenor and a missing second Senate seat...so much for the heartland. Perhaps Jesse should just headbash all of them!
March 24, 2009 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very nice, half-assed attempt at a walkback from the Wingnut Precipice. Good try, Mr. Wingnut Spokesman.
March 24, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now I know we had an election in Minnesota, and Bachmann got re-elected with a legitimate election system by enough of the citizens of that congressional district. I have just one question: How?
March 24, 2009 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
The trouble is the people she is talking to would not understand a metaphor.
March 24, 2009 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the perfect leadership that is going to seal the lid on the Republican Party's coffin. Talk about
'know nothings", this woman should be consulting a psychiatrist or just get out of politics. Negativism
is the only thing they have, voting no on everything is not a policy, it is a reaction. The same can be said of their RNC leader Steel, reaction is their only option for they have no alternative proposals, nothing.
March 25, 2009 12:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
When Democrats say stuff like this...I don't worry.
Republicans on the other hand.....kill people in church, blow up Federal buildings with daycare centers,bomb black churches,target family planning clinics, shoot thier friends in the face, etc. etc.
They are bitter and clinging to thier guns and "thier particular brand" of religion.
March 25, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Re: Republicans on the other hand.....kill people in church, blow up Federal buildings with daycare centers,bomb black churches,target family planning clinics, shoot thier friends in the face, etc. etc.
They are bitter and clinging to thier guns and "thier[sic] particular brand" of religion.'
Try to understand us. We're actually just like the Nazis except in one little difference: we like government to just leave people alone. Otherwise there's not a dime's worth of difference beween us and the Nazis.
March 25, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
RE: The trouble is the people she is talking to would not understand a metaphor.
We right wing nuts only appear to understand simile; don't you find that ironic?
March 25, 2009 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
RE: Can Congress kick somebody out for talking sedition and inciting riots?
Hell they cant get rid of the bribe takers and that includes about all of them. If we are looking for constitutional government the first thing congress needs to do is to eliminate its members.
March 25, 2009 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink