Since we started this blog, we’ve stayed away from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Crazytown), ignoring all the nutso things she says and does. She’s not more than a step away from being a streetcorner preacher, her lunatic rantings falling on the ears of passersby who know that if they take anything she says seriously, they’ll be stupider for doing so.
Accordingly, we usually turn the other way, turn up our iPods, and pretend we don’t see her. That said, we don’t blame people for not having a clue who she is. So here’s a quick rundown:
She sort of blamed swine flu on the Democrats, which was wrong for more than one reason:
Rep. Michele Bachmann says she finds it an “interesting coincidence” that the last swine flu outbreak in the U.S. occurred under a Democratic president — though her claim is historically inaccurate. The last major outbreak of swine flu occurred in 1976, when Republican Gerald Ford was president.
According to Bloomberg, James Dobson and other Fundamentalist groups have bankrolled her campaigns. And hey, she’s cool with that, as long as it’s not being bankrolled by dirty Catholics. From her church’s doctrine:
Bachmann is a member of a church that is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, whose doctrine teaches that the Roman Catholic papacy is the Anti-Christ identified in Scripture.
She also advocated for a new McCarthyism, suggesting that a good number of Members of Congress are “anti-American.”
“What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that.”
We could go on…and on…and on about Michele Bachmann, but at some point, we have to get to the latest news. Seems her latest concern is that the Census is up to no good. Apparently the once-every-decade event that’s been happening since the beginning of this country is up to no good.
In an interview with the Washington Times, she said she’s worried about the “intricate, very personal” nature of Census questions. You know, questions like: how many people live in your household? and what’s your employment status?
OUTRAGEOUS!
Needless to say, she’s also concerned about ACORN’s involvement, because, CHRIST, if she had to worry about actual scary things, she wouldn’t have time to worry about all the truly scary things this country is facing — things like community organizers, unicorns and zombies!
So what’s her plan? How’s she gonna stick it to the man? She’s just straight cold gonna ignore the Census; oh she’ll say how many “people” live in her house, but she won’t say anything else! NO SIR!
What do Bachmann’s own GOP colleagues think about her brave stand — her profile in courage?
Three Republicans on the House panel that oversees the Census Bureau have asked fellow GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota to end her plans to boycott next year’s count.
Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia and John Mica of Florida issued a statement saying every elected representative has a “responsibility” to encourage participation in the 2010 Census. “Boycotting the constitutionally mandated census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country,” they stated.
Hmmm, Illogical, illegal, and not in the best interest of our country…
Sounds like we have Bachmann’s 2010 reelection slogan! You’re welcome.
But wait, I have a question. Is there any unfortunate irony in Bachmann’s Waterloo?
McHenry, Westmoreland and Mica – no fans of Acorn – pointed out an “unfortunate irony” in Bachmann’s boycott, saying it “only increases the likelihood that Acorn-recruited census takers will be dispatched to her constituents’ homes. Anyone who completes and returns their census form will remove any need for a census taker to visit their residence.”
We probably should’ve just cut and pasted the entire article, because it’s so delicious, but we won’t give the Wall Street Journal that satisfaction. We will, however, give you one more powerful paragraph illustrating just how dire this situation — the frightening degree to which ACORN has taken over the Census and Michele Bachmann’s brain — is.
Acorn is one of 40,000 Census Bureau partners in the count, and a Census Bureau official said its primary responsibility is educating hard-to-count urban populations about the importance of an accurate headcount.
One of 40,000 partners! Again. One of 40,000 partners! Michele Bachmann has a better chance of winning freakin’ PowerBall than being visited by someone from ACORN. She has a better chance of catching swine flu! And again, if she’d just fill out the goddamn Census form, she wouldn’t have to worry about ACORN AT ALL!
Lastly, here are three points about this dangerous, offensive, invasive Census.
1) The Census that everyone has to fill out is 1/10 as long as the last one.
2) The American Community Survey (presumably the portion Bachmann is worried about) will be mailed out to only a small percentage of the population.
3) There are three new questions:
a) Health Insurance Coverage
b) Marital History
c) VA Service-Connected Disability Rating.
Which of these THREE NEW QUESTIONS scares you so much, Michele!?
What the hell, were you married to a goat?
FILL OUT THE DAMN FORM!
They are all out to get us — The GOP claims the Dems caused swine flu, the Dems claim Bush caused Katrina. There are plenty of idiots to go around.
Heck on the looney scale I would put Maxine waters up against Bachman at any time.
BTW, what does my health insurance coverage have to do with the purpose of the census — How many people live in this house?
I am just an inquiring mind.
First of all, totally agree that Maxine Waters is a terrible member of congress, and if I lived in her district (counting my blessings that I don’t), I’d vote against her in a second. That said, she really doesn’t have anything to do with Michele Bachmann.
In the same vein, I get your point on Katrina and blame (HOWEVER, I think that other than Newsmax, you’re not gonna find a place that says people blamed Katrina on Bush; what you’ll see is that people say his response was abysmal. In fact, I think Bush and Chertoff would pretty freely admit that now.), but I’m not sure it matters; what matters is that Bachmann has a track record of saying ridiculous things and inciting people to follow her. That was my point here.
In fact, big UPS to the Republicans who are actually standing up to Bachmann in this situation. It’s about time someone in her own party told her she’s out of line. We’ve been conducting a census for more than 200 years, and what she’s doing strikes me as fear mongering.
As far as specific questions on the census go, I see a benefit to making the most out of the exercise. Knowing what people do/how they commute/whether they have insurance seem beneficial in terms of allocating resources to states and municipalities, and prioritizing national and local needs. I’m certainly no expert on the census, though, so I can’t say for sure what the info is for. I tend to believe, however, that they’re not just putting those questions out there for the hell of it.
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