Just because it gives Joe Scar and Stu Rothenberg an aura for their next migraines doesn’t mean that Michele Bachmann wasn’t the first clown out of the car yesterday, and that she’ll probably be the recipient of a hell of a lot of money in the next few months. Bachmann will be the official front-runner for a very long time: the next contest is Iowa next February.
With that in mind, and since Republicans think it’s a scandal that Michelle Obama accompanies her husband on out-of-country trips and goes barefoot in the White House, incidents like the following (via) need a little more attention:
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate, was 30 minutes late to speak at her scheduled Iowa State Fair soapbox event and spoke for three of the 20 allotted minutes.
She said she was going to shake hands but left the makeshift stage quickly when 17-year-old civil rights advocate Gabe Aderhold of Edina, Minn., loudly questioned her husband Marcus about his counseling techniques to “pray the gay away.”
I hope incidents like this start to happen every time Bachmann is in front of the general public. And if they do, perhaps serious candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry will be asked about their unpopular anti-homosexual agenda.
Update: Confirming the irrelevance of Ames, TPaw just pulled the ripcord.
Southern Beale
Lookie Michele Bachmann won the big poll!
theBuhjaysus
Well that didn’t take long…TPaw calling it quits.
c u n d gulag
I don’t think he’s used to the breading.
Or, maybe he was hoping for a deep-fried, whipped-cream corn dog.
NTTAWWT! Or either. Neither… Whatever…
The Sheriff's A Ni-
That was pretty quick of Pawlenty. I thought he had a shot of sneaking into a respectable finish in Iowa as the ‘I’m not a Mormon and I’m not as crazy as those other guys’ candidate.
Emma
Well, the citizens had better do it — because the media, as usual,is choosing a Republican to worship.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Michele should have got back up on stage after she won the straw poll.
She owed her fans a victory poll dance.
hildebrand
@theBuhjaysus: Yep, all over in a heart-beat. Time for TPaw to start angling for the VP slot denied him in 2008. That, or he had a moment of sanity and realized that any party that offers up Bachmann and Paul as the two top vote getters in any poll is deranged and dangerous, and he actually shouldn’t hang around people like that.
Alex S.
Oh, T-Paw… you should have known that David Brooks is a fickle mistress.
harlana
Again, entertainment for the masses! Can we post the picture of Michele attempting to, um, take on her own fried butter stick next to this one because this is too too precious.
As stated on earlier thread, Larry O’Donnell was so adamant that Pawlenty was going to be the nominee! He’s got some ‘splainin to do.
Southern Beale
Bye-bye, T-Paw! We hardly knew ye …
theBuhjaysus
TPaw, you’re like fried buttersticks to those Bachmanns.
beltane
I doubt T-Paw even gets the VP slot. What would he add to the ticket? Dullness is not synonymous with sanity.
Jewish Steel
From DougJ’s lips…
Dennis SGMM
Marcus prefers his with Cream of Sum Yung Gai.
gnomedad
No, no, Marcus, it goes in your mouth.
IM
So who is left? Romney, Perry, Bachmann?
Cat Lady
Someone last night pointed to this. A friend of mine said he’s gayer than Liberace’s monkey.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@gnomedad:
It’s his way of showing that he’s into experimentation.
The pic of Michele eating that dog makes me laugh my ass off. The way her face is screwed all up looks like an outtake from some amateur internet porn clip.
@Cat Lady:
Hell, he looks like a plumper Liberace. Get that man some glitter, stat!
IM
Really a weak field. Is Gingrich still in?
Violet
Wow! Why did Pawlenty quit? He came in third, right? That’s crazy.
Violet
She’s probably pull a George W. Bush and not appear in front of the general public. She’ll hand pick crowd members for her events.
Omnes Omnibus
@Violet: No more money. Sees the writing on the wall. The dude is basically a second rate Romney; if voters want a Romney, they can vote for the original.
dmsilev
@Violet: I think David Kurtz at TPM summed it up pretty well:
Basically, his campaign was going nowhere and he was counting on a strong showing at the straw poll to give him a second wind. At least he has a stronger grasp on reality than Gingrich et al..
TK421
Just out of curiosity, can someone explain to me why Michelle Bachman’s husband’s attempt to “cure” homosexuality gets a front-page mention, but President Obama’s decision to break apart a homosexual family–leaving a sick American with no primary caregiver–does not?
Story here
gnomedad
@Violet:
And this puzzles you? :)
WyldPirate
Come on, Marcus. Grab that weiner with both hands and open wide.
Bachmann will, in the end, be rememnered more for the corn dog pics tham her political accomplishments.
Omnes Omnibus
@TK421: Having followed the links and read the S.F. Gate article, it does seem like a case where discretion on the part of ICE is warranted and intervention from above is justified. Hopefully, the publicity the case is getting will get the deportation proceeds to stop. That being said, if you cannot see the difference between active involvement in demonizing a group of people a la Bachmann, and the President not becoming involved in every discretionary act taken by his administration, it will be difficult to have a reasonable discussion about this situation.
Emma
@TK421: Let me ask you a question in return. I am pissed because of all the Latino families immigration routinely breaks apart. ROUTINELY. And I seldom see any of the gay activist types front-paging those things. Why do they only get interested in immigration when their own ox is being gored?
Let me say right now that it’s a piss-poor decision and I would hope that there would be enough pressure to change it. BUT Obama probably doesn’t review the thousand of immigration cases that are handled daily by the Justice department or the immigration officials or whatever. This was a routine decision made by some mid-level administration official. And if you don’t know the difference between that and some person who makes it his living to destroy gay people’s lives, I can’t help you.
Gian
for the real campaign, at least since 1980 and RWR, my recollection is the GOP hopefuls will limit the people in the crows to true supporters. W went further than this, I seem to recall having to sign a pledge to get to see him, and security ready to eject anyone who misbehaved.
Bachman will do the same
Maude
Bachmann reminds me of A Star is Born.
Libby
I actually hope like hell Crazy Eyes wins this thing. I woke up out of a sound sleep last night and say Good Hair’s announcement on the teevee. Since I don’t usually watch teevee, never saw him speak before. He was good. Crazy of course, and totally lying, but great delivery of the talking points. I feel like he might have too good a chance of winning.
Xenos
Since Michele has decided to spell her name with one ‘l’, are we allowed to pronounce that French name the way she has spelled it? ‘Mish-eel’ has a nice sound to it, although I may be wrong in putting the emphasis on the first syllable.
quannlace
It’s amazing how almost all of the Rep candidates seem determined to campaign as much as they can in a bubble. They go out of their way to avoid meeting the public (unless it’s staged) or encountering a random question. And of course, any question that they don’t particularly like, becomes a ‘gotcha’ question.
Omnes Omnibus
@Xenos: Sure, ruin the Beatles’ song for everyone.
Poopyman
Holy crap! I didn’t know Bachmann was married to Boris Yeltsin! I thought she hated soshulists.
Xenos
@Omnes Omnibus: But the Beatles spelled it correctly, with two ‘l’s. Michelle, which sounds similar to the male Michel, but with the emphasis on the second syllable, not the first. But in French an ‘ele’ has to be pronounced ‘eel’, non?
WarMunchkin
I just took a peek at the barefoot in the WH thing. These guys do know that in the White House, people actually have to live there, right?
Omnes Omnibus
@Xenos: Actually, I am wracking my brain trying to think of a French word that has a terminal “ele.”
[n.b.] As soon as I post this, people will come up with thousands of examples, but I am still waking up and allowing my morning coffee to take effect.
GregB
New Republican revisionist word of the day.
Submission=respect.
Live it, learn it, love it.
forked tongue
Marcus looks very “I want it–no, I don’t want it–yes, I want it–no, I don’t want it” there.
SRW1
@Xenos:
Isn’t Michele the Italian version of the name? Which would make the proper pronunciation ‘Meek-ele.
Maude
@Xenos:
i is ee . I sound like a mad woman.
Quelle is kehl bell,with a k. Qui is key.
Omnes Omnibus
@Maude: Who is key?
Maude
@Omnes Omnibus:
Key Lime Pie.
Omnes Omnibus
@Maude: That does not sound French.
Mustang Bobby
Talk about being submissive, that picture makes it abundantly clear that Marcus is a total bottom. All he needs is the collar and leash.
Maude
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yeah, I know. Eclairs are good.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks for following the link so I didn’t have to. i knew it would only end in disappointment, and these days I try to make a statement with my clicks (albeit tiny) just like i do with my money (also kind of tiny).
Edit:
@Emma: Thanks to you, too!
drkrick
T-Paw could have some interesting things to say at some point in the next year or so. It has to trigger some pretty serious rage when you put as much energy as he has into abandoning a lifetime of policy positions and do as much grovelling as he has in the last two or three years and have the payoff be exactly nada. It’s just possible he could pull a heck of a David Brock if he concludes there’s nothing left for him in the GOP.
mark
@Emma – I think you’ve showed everyone why gay white men swung so hard to mccain while every other group went the other way. Like all other white men, GWMs are republicans and have zero empathy. They are not on our side, and while we may support civil rights for gay men, they don’t support our civil rights – they’re just pissed that they only get 95% of the white male privilege that straight men do.
Omnes Omnibus
@mark:
Dude, you are swinging a mighty broad brush there.
soonergrunt
A commenter at TPM has it exactly right, WRT T-Paw–
mark
@omnibus – we can say all we want about how women and non-white people are going to save the country, but we can’t accept that Andrew Sullivan is hardly alone?
fhtagn
Poor old Mini-Mittens. All that squirming and pandering and pretending to be an attack-dog – and all he gets is a third place finish in the Rabid Hicks Ceremonial Jerkoff Poll.
Still, gotta be good news for John McCain, right?
Mustang Bobby
@mark:
Whoa, where do you come up with that one? Cite some proof… or go to Key West once in a while.
Speaking as a GWM and pretty active in the community, gay Republicans are the Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (so to speak) of politics: practically extinct and often mistaken for others.
Omnes Omnibus
@mark: I am not gay, but I am a white man. I am not, and never have been, a Republican. If you want to say many or most white men are Republicans, fine. Just don’t include me and others like me.
soonergrunt
@Omnes Omnibus: cialis
That word is just to hide this comment. I wonder if Mark will double down on the stupid like so many do or will he back off the stupid? If I post this in the clear, it will artificially change the outcome to that question.
I think Mark will double down and probably even go further and say something to the effect that Omnes is just too sensitive.
fhtagn
@mark:
I take it you aren’t white? I am as white white can be, never voted Rethug in my life, and last I checked I had all the necessary testicular equipment to qualify as a man, a mighty good man.
Come to think of it, I am pretty sure Biden is a white male too. Oh, and Bill Clinton. And holy moly, Chuck Schumer looks mighty like a white white man man. Jumping Jeebus, there’s white men voting for Democrats everywhere.
I no longer feel special.
I can haz sad-burger.
gbear
You went straight from the overly broad brush to the giant non-sequitur. Your sentence doesn’t even make sense.
ericblair
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well, poele, but it’s kind of a cheat because the first e has a circumflex accent which I’m too lazy to figure out how to type. I’m not sure what comparing Crazy Eyes to a frypan is going to do.
mellowjohn
@Mustang Bobby: thank you for that image of bachmann with a strap-on. gotta go bleach my eyes now.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
Hey, Odie Hugh Manatee #6 — Now, that’s a scary image! Michelle Bachmann performing a pole dance. I imagine that with the first arms-only spin she’d crash heavily ass-first on the floor, let out a bawl like a goosed cow and cry out for Marcus to come pick ‘er up.
I like the name, by the way: Oh, the humanity! Ever heard of Travis T. Hipp?
trollhattan
@harlana:
Will Mrs. Polly’s Blingie-over do? It includes a bonus token Sarah(tm).
http://www.rumproast.com/index.php/site/comments/by_request_iowa_iowa_chthfoolu_palahn/
Bachmann’s squeaking out the win assures her plenty of cameras and mics for a loooooong while, which can only “help” the Republican cause, nomsayn?
I heard Goodhair’s announcement on the radio this a.m. and the echos of Dubya’s accent and “g” slaughterin’ were astonishing. More importantly, he’s banging the tort reform drum just like Bush the younger (see “Hot Coffee” for much more). Pea: please return to the pod.
trollhattan
@West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.):
A Bay Area legend! He still phones in news and opinion to our regional hippie radio station. From where, I’m not sure.
Pococurante
@TK421: From the SFGate article:
Get that? The Obama administration didn’t force the DOMA issue. Republicans did.
Tom65
Oh Marcus, you’re not fooling anyone.
IM
@Omnes Omnibus:
Mark was trying to be sarcastic, defending the embattled honor of the gay white man.
IM
@IM:
I take it back, He is serious. Brr.
Yutsano
@mark:
Do me a favor, okay? Before you haul off and label me without even knowing a single thing about me, do some basic research first. You’ll make the wonderful discovery there are thousands if not more hugely liberal GWM. And the only Republican I’ve ever voted for is Rob Mckenna, before he turned into a lying teatard piece of shit.
Mark
You guys are being twits.
We’ve been through this before. A common theme on this blog is that the only thing that will save the country is the coming massive demographic shift away from white men (and white people in general) controlling the levers of power. You’re going to have to attack all of the front-pagers if you disagree with that notion.
Straight white men voted 60/40 for McCain. From estimates I’ve seen, gay white men voted about 40/60 – unlike legitimately disaffected groups that were 20/80 or 10/90. No, not all white men are Republicans, and not even a majority of gay white men are, but a huge percentage of both groups are – more so than their female or non-white counterparts.
Gay white men are not particularly aligned with liberals beyond the realm of gay rights. The sooner we acknowledge this and stop pretending that a group that is generally wealthy, educated, urban, white, male and childless is uniformly part of the broad empathetic rainbow coalition, the better off we are. I say this, btw, as a long-time resident of San Francisco who is represented in the State Senate, State House and on the Board of Supervisors by gay men who clearly are liberals; they just don’t represent all gay white male sentiment in the district.
ETA: @Yutsano – why is this such an untouchable issue? Gay white men are not as liberal as Jews or African-Americans or your name here. They are more liberal than straight white men. Why we’d expect white men who are wealthier than the national average to be uniformly liberal is beyond me.
gogol's wife
On the Michele question, if it has an accent grave on the first e, it’s a woman’s name in French, as in the actress Michèle Morgan.
Dr. Morpheus
My nephew is a gay republican. Out of the dozen or so gay men I know all but two are Republicans. Note, none of them are teahadist, but rather Mitt loven’ taxes-are-the-root-of-all-evil Republicans.
NYC Social Worker
@IM : And Parry…
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
I think the words we are all looking for are micro managing. I can not see how this is possible given the size of the executive. Aren’t there what 1100-1200 people in the WH alone?
Not saying in this instance that he shouldn’t intervene, but I wonder how one would get any work done as president if he had to micro manage every department in the executive or even the WH. And if he intervenes in this one case why not every other case?
soonergrunt
Ahh, the famed Double-Down With a Backflip Twist–
Everybody who called him out for what he said is a twit, and he also didn’t say what he actually said.
I must say, that even as I knew he would double down, I didn’t see the twist. Nicely done, that. A little shaky on the dismount, though, and he left out one of the mandatory elements (I’m the REAL liberal here ™). .5 deduction
Ruckus
@soonergrunt:
So that still leaves what, a 4.5?
Good call though.
oldswede
In all of the discussions of MBach’s win in Iowa, I don’t see any mention of her being the Favorite Daughter. She was born in Iowa and used that in her campaign. I’m sure this influenced some voters, but she cannot use it anywhere else.
oldswede
henqiguai
@Ruckus (#73):
Micromanaging was one of the slams against Jimmy Carter and his style while in the White House. And then, there does seem to be a major lack of understanding in the difference between changing policies for desired outcomes versus handholding every single issue, large and small, through one of the world’s largest legalistic and bureaucratic mazes currently operating.
suzanne
I’m less convinced that Marcus Bachmann is gay, and more convinced that he’s a visitor from another planet. No human being looks like that.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
Hello, Trollhatten #64… last I heard, Hipp was a daily contributor to KPIG radio out of the Santa Cruz area. I believe he lives somewhere in Nevada where he has faced some demon-weed charges a couple years ago. He’s no spring chicken, but still doing his thing.
Joseph Nobles
@mark: Another GWM here to tell you your “all white men are Republicans” line is full of shit. Democratic my whole life — I grew up thinking you could not be a Christian and be a Republican. I grew out of that, because bigotry is ugly no matter where you found it. Maybe you can grow out of yours.
Munira
@Xenos: No, it’s pronounced like “Meechelle” (emphasis on the first syllable) and it’s spelled with one “l” in French.
SBJules
I would also ask her how much of her income does not come from the government. She a Reagan welfare queen.
Mustang Bobby
@Mark: Okay, I said “cite some proof” and you come back with “You guys are twits” and rattle off some anecdotal numbers without a link to where you got them.
Well, you sure told us.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mark: The objection was to you statement that “[l]ike all other white men, GWMs are republicans and have zero empathy.” (emphasis mine). Pivoting from the categorical statement to one you speak only of a majority changes everything. I don’t disagree that the majority of white men vote Republican. I would not be surprised if gay white men would hew closely to that pattern if gay rights issues were removed from the table. As I said in my first comment to you, you were painting with a pretty broad brush. I take umbrage at being called a Republican and I assume my fellow liberal white men, both gay and straight, feel the same way.
Rihilism
@Dr. Morpheus:
All but a few of my friends are gay. All of my friends are either hippies or socialists or some combination thereof.
As they say, anecdotes are a type of evidence….
Rihilism
Dear me, one attempt at a name change on an older thread and I’m in moderation purgatory. Egads…
Rihilism
87 comments and I have to be the crude one…
“NO TEETH!”
There, I feel better now…
Bruce S
FWIW – honestly, I hope that Marcus Bachmann’s perceived “gay” – funny pix, maximum snark and all that – isn’t a factor in the deserved destruction of her candidacy.
soonergrunt
@Rihilism: LOL
soonergrunt
@Ruckus: Yeah it does leave about a 4.5 for the technical. They style points however…only about 5.0 potential max because it’s been done to death. Still, artistically well executed over all. With only a slight reduction for “not sneering enough” he gets a 4.45 average. The Russian judge was unnecessarily harsh.
Kathleen
Tow of Bachman’s goons (plus Mr. B) shoved Don Lemon of CNN: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/12/bachmann-involved-in-unusual-campaign-moment/
Kathleen
Correction. Goonettes. They were female campaign aids.
Kathy in St. Louis
While I don’t agree with the person, above, who wrote that gay men are like most white guys, Republicans, I am still curious about how there can be a Log Cabin Republican Club of gay republicans. How could you pledge your allegiance to a party that so obviously despises every thing that you are about?
Mustang Bobby
@Bruce S: No more than Bill Clinton was perceived as a liability in Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2008.
In the Bachmanns’ case, I too hope the candidacy implodes because she’s a right-wing whackjob and a sniveling bigot. Marcus’s persona is just the tassel on the loafer.
joeshabadoo
I would have preferred one of the far more embarrassing pictures of Michele eating one these things intead of another “haha lets call her husband gay” pictures.
Ruckus
@Kathy in St. Louis:
Someone once said on TV, life does not have to be all about being gay.
That said, from the few out gays that I know, a lot of one’s life does revolve around being gay. Not every moment for every person but most of them. But how much of a hetro’s life revolves around being who we are? Because it is easier in our society to be hetro I don’t think we notice how much of our lives are about interacting with potential mates. Gays have to notice this because of homophobia. The same way blacks or latinos have to watch out for racists.
Shorter. I agree with you. How can anyone, vote for and want to be represented by someone who hates that which makes them what they are?