Michele Bachmann heads an all-star cast of GOP Christian flat-earthers

[dflprincess]

This is from City Pages (2/23/05), I had to really pare it down to meet the copyright rules. It's worth reading the whole article. Have your stomach distress bags ready.

Michele Bachmann heads an all-star cast of GOP Christian flat-earthers in the Sixth District

Somebody Say Oh Lord!
by G.R. Anderson Jr.

The clamor to join the race for Dayton's seat has created a ripple effect on congressional and state races. Main case in point: the race brewing for the Sixth District congressional seat of Republican Mark Kennedy, who wasted no time announcing his Senate bid. Last Monday, in turn, two GOP state legislators, Rep. Jim Knoblauch and Sen. Michele Bachmann, announced their candidacies for Kennedy's seat. Knoblauch's bid was markedly low-key; he merely passed the word around the Capitol, admitting that it was a little early for his taste to start campaigning.

Bachmann, on the other hand, displayed the profound ambition that has marked her four years in office. She was joined at a press conference by supporters, fellow senators, and her husband and five children. Bachmann sounded the warning bell on Social Security, talked of "radical terrorists," and bemoaned the tyranny of taxes. And she trumpeted her two pet issues: moving away from federal funding of the education system and forcing government to embrace "the traditional definition of marriage." The Stillwater resident concluded, "I want to be a voice for the average Minnesotans who do everything right when they wake up in the morning."

There's no reason to believe Bachmann is cowed. In fact, she's a rising star in the growing archconservative wing of the state's Republican Party. Her conservative Christian values underscore an agenda that is "pro-family," antiabortion, skeptical of public education, and decidedly jingoistic. A decade ago, Bachmann would have been marginalized within her own party. (Former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson, for instance, has publicly chastised Bachmann in the past.) Now her affiliations with prominent conservatives like Alan Quist and David Strom, not to mention her ties to religious organizations, have put her in lockstep with a powerful faction of the state GOP.

Bachmann's track record in the legislature reads like a parody of right-wing talk radio. She has introduced or signed onto bills that would make English the official state language, halt grants to clinics that perform abortions, make proof of citizenship a requirement at voting booths, and allow stillbirths to be officially designated as births by the state. Bachmann is also the legislator behind the Reagan fetish at the Capitol this time around, proposing that Interstates 494 and 694 be renamed Ronald Reagan Beltway, and declaring February 6, the dead president's birthday, officially recognized.

Her law degree, it emerged, is from Coburn School of Law in Tulsa, which is affiliated with Oral Roberts University. "She's part of the Jerry Falwell moral majority," says one political observer. "That's a legitimate issue if she's running for Congress." When asked about her religous beliefs mixing with her politics, Bachmann responds, "I believe in God. But that is not really relevant."

And much, much more may be found at http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1264/article12984.asp

[roguevalley]

1. tell me she has no chance.

[CatholicEdHead]

3. If not her what about Yecke and Kiffmeyer?

They are pretty close in stances. The GOP primary will have hard right vs hard right vs hard right.

So it will be an idological hard righter to run against whomever comes out of the DFL primary (Wetterling and Klobochar seem to be frontrunners).

I have a feeling it will be an all-female senate race.

[loveable liberal]

8. Yucky's another whack job.

She pushes religion in schools and revising history. Columbus was a nice nice man etc. She's just another clown to hang out in the little girls club of Bachmann and Reiter. I wonder who they're taking to the prom.......

[jean]

2. Norm Coleman stumped for her . . . figures

[no name no slogan]

4. Wondered if she was connected to Alan Quist

at least the article made that clear. That whole wingnut end of the party does a terrific job of alienating most MNans-- even the GOP mainstream conservatives.

My only hope is that the state GOP picks one of the right-wingnuts for the Senate seat. We could run the devil himself and still win it then!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Yes, Isn't that a candidate's dearest wish, to run against

someone so bad that they disgust their own party?

That happened in Oregon about fifteen years ago. It was the race for governor, and the Dem was Senate President (and incidentally, an M.D.) John Kitzhaber, and his opponent was former Congressman Denny Smith.

The contest was a walk for Kitzhaber, because Smith was so clearly clueless. His entire campaign consisted of variations on, "I'm going to cut the state budget."

When someone finally asked him what areas of the budget he would cut, he said, "I don't know. I haven't looked at it. I'll figure it out afterwards."

And Kitzhaber was in.

[dodger501]

6. That worked in California

When Musclehead was spouting about how he was going to Terminate this, that, without any specifics.
Same thing for Bush -- he was gonna surround himself with the best people and figure it out later.

[loveable liberal]

7. I hate Bachmann.

She's a religious scumbag. Her, Mady Reiter and Phil Krinke are the trio of dipsh*t's who havent done diddly for the state, yet spew their nazi christian hate. It doesnt suprise me michelle claims to be a lawyer. I wonder if she's taken the Bar. I bet not. Nazi Christian liar. go figure.

[jean]

9. someone so 'religious' (praying over the desks of her opponents so they'll

vote her way, according to Wendy Wilde, AAR Mn), is too extreme to be believed (at least, by me). She's following a script.

Surely there must be an hidden underbelly to this person. Can't someone (us?) discover anything unseemly about this phony baloney right wing mouthpiece?

I've heard Wendy Wilde say Bachmann is physically attractive (will look good in tv ads) ... if she's also spouting all the right stuff, according to Rove, maybe she's dangerous.

edit: on second thought... we have many, excellent liberal/progressive blogs in Minnesota and elsewhere. The right wing is using their blogs to wreak massive damage to us (i.e. Tom Daschle) - can't we marshall our people, investigate Bachmann (for starters) and get the info out on the internet? Seems like a good place to start since we know our audio and print media will do squat to investigate.

[no name no slogan]

10. Good plan, but Bachmann won't be the nominee

She scares far too many people inside of her own party, too. The state GOP rank-and-file may be dominated by wingnuts, but the leadership is squarely in the hands of the Corporotocracy.

They learned their lessons from the 1994 governors race well, when Alan Quist was endorsed to run against the very popular incumbent governor, Arne Carlson. Quist got his @$$ handed to him in the primary, and all but disappeared from the scene. They learned that you can't nominate wingnuts from 'the rabble' and expect to win.

IMHO we shouldn't waste our time on the likes of Bachmann. People that nutty will hang themselves when given enough rope. We need to go after the likes of Ramstand, Gutknecht and Coleman-- THEY're the ones to beat.

[dflprincess]

11. It might depend on whose delegate show up at the caucuses

and at their state convention.

[no name no slogan]

13. Partially true, but remember....

The GOP rules are not as "inclusive" as the DFLs. Their party leadership/elites still hold a lot of sway over the nomination process. The one time they gave in to the flat-earthers (1994) ended up being a disaster for them.

The nomination of Alan Quist in 1994 is a case in point. The party leadership was suffering from a 'vacuum' of rich elite business men in the leadership. This made it easier for the flat-earthers to nominate Quist over the popular, incumbent Republican governor (Arne Carlson). Naturally, Quist got stomped in the primary, which effectively de-fanged the flat-earthers in the leadership, and led to their replacement in 1996 with the current crop of elite corporatists who pay lip-service to the flat-earthers.

The state GOP knows how important the 6th is, and they'll do whatever it takes to make sure a wingnut doesn't win the primary-- even if s/he does get the endorsement.


Btw, I love the term "flat-earther". I used it at my caucus last night, and got a number of giggles from my neighbors! :thumbsup:

[dflprincess]

16. Very good points -

I tend to forget they don't operate quite the way we do.

To be clear, the "flat earther" term was straight out of City Pages (the whole title of the post was) - lest anyone think I'm that clever.

[MnFishhead]

12. Bachmann abusing her Senate office--again

The queen of self-promotion, Michele Bachmann, has been caught red-handed violating the rules of the Senate by using the Senate chambers as the set for a commercial endorsement. You can read all about it here: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/11025292.htm

Here are excerpts:

Is there anything wrong with a state senator filming a commercial endorsement in the Senate chambers?

The Minnesota Senate rules say the chamber is reserved for Senate use, and the Senate's policies explicitly prohibit commercial use of Senate hearing rooms. But apparently that leaves things a bit murky....

Last year, Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, was filmed standing in Senate chambers endorsing a Minneapolis-based online video production company. The resulting endorsement of Unity Works is now a part of the company's Web site (www.unityworksmedia.com/)....

Asked about the appropriateness of the video by a Pioneer Press reporter, several longtime Senate officials said it didn't seem fitting.

"It certainly is not appropriate to use the Senate chamber for the making of a commercial," said Secretary of the Senate Patrick Flahaven, who serves as the body's parliamentarian and chief operating officer. In the past, various groups have asked permission to film advertisements in the chamber, and Flahaven has denied those requests, he said. Had Bachmann asked him if Unity Works could shoot its video in the chamber, he would have told her not to do it. "We don't allow that."

Sen. John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter, said filming a commercial in the august Senate chamber is a "gross violation of Senate decorum" and "potentially an ethics violation."


Beyond the issue of using the Senate chambers for commercial purposes, one has to wonder what Bachmann got in return for her endorsement (which you can see here: http://www.unityworksmedia.com/uwvpp.asp?cid=1695&pid=3421&vid=16021)

Anything received in exchange would be an illegal campaign contribution.

Anyone in Minnesota with a Senator who has some balls should urge them to file an ethics complaint against Bachmann pronto to keep this story alive.

[hermetic]

17. Done

Hope it does some good.

[MnFishhead]

19. Senate raps Bachmann abuse of Senate chambers

This is from the Pie-in-Ear Press this morning. The Strib has been MIA on this story:

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/11046176.htm

excerpts:

Senate says chamber isn't commercial venue

After Bachmann used hall as ad backdrop, her colleagues decided to change rules

BY RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER

Pioneer Press

The Senate made it official Thursday — the Senate Chamber can't be used for a commercial purpose.

Before the 58-7 vote, the Senate rules made clear that the Senate Chamber was reserved for Senate use and that its policies prohibited commercial use of its hearing rooms. But that was enough of a gap that Sen. Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Stillwater, took part in a commercial endorsement for an online video company in the Senate Chamber last year.

On the Senate floor Thursday, senators said it should have been obvious that filming the commercial was not appropriate and possibly in bad taste...

...Those who have long worked for the Senate said they couldn't recall any senator ever using the august chamber to film a commercial, and Senate officials in the past have denied all requests to use the chamber for such a purpose.


Bachmann is claiming she did the endorsement just to support a Minnesota business, and that she'd endorse any Minnesota business. Yeah, right.

I'd still like to know what she got from the business in return for her endorsement. This is a business that produced a video about her hate amendment at the legislature, and then hosted it online for her. Did she pay full price for the video? Is this standard procedure for state senators to be using their title in commercial endorsements for private businesses? Perhaps the Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board should be investigating this.

Curiously, Bachmann's testimonial has been taken off Unity Works Media's website of featured videos since this little scandal erupted. Are they trying to hide something now? You can still view portions of it here:

http://www.unityworksmedia.com/uwvpp.asp?cid=1695&pid=3421&vid=16021

This still doesn't pass the smell test.

[Oreo]

14. There's already a Defeat Bachman Blog

The blogger was on Nick Coleman's show this morning
She's kinda conflicted though... also runs Log Cabin Republicans of Minnesota PAC Blog. A Gay person being a republican to me is one of the all-time paradoxes.

She claims "there's the loony left and wingnut right. I find them both tiresome - and eerily similar to each other."

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/

[katinmn]

18. AAR says Bachman went to the Oral Roberts law school

:puke:

[Demrock6]

15. Michelle Bachmann Morality Minute

http://www.wendywilde.com/

Left side of the page.