Rolling Stone's Michele Bachmann profile suggests she's a real, and terrifying, contender for 2012
By Ben ReiningaJune 23rd, 2011, 2:36 pmComments (72)
In next month's issue of Rolling Stone, out online today, is a in-depth, hilarious, and deeply alarming profile of Michele Bachmann — the number-one God-recommended 2012 GOP presidential candidate. The article, by Matt Taibbi, chronicles Michele Bachmann's life and entry into politics, a journey that's been shaped by one thing: her intense fundamentalist Christianity.
The profile is worth reading in its entirety, both for its insight into one of America's most baffling political voices, and also for the sheer buoyancy of Taibbi's prose. Here's a bit from the first page:
And don't look her in the eyes; don't let her smile at you. Michele Bachmann, when she turns her head toward the cameras and brandishes her pearls and her ageless, unblemished neckline and her perfect suburban orthodontics in an attempt to reassure the unbeliever of her non-threateningness, is one of the scariest sights in the entire American cultural tableau. She's trying to look like June Cleaver, but she actually looks like the T2 skeleton posing for a passport photo. You will want to laugh, but don't, because the secret of Bachmann's success is that every time you laugh at her, she gets stronger.
Her biography is interesting and at times, impressive (she's a lawyer who raised five of her own children and twenty-three foster kids), but by far the strangest aspect of it is her continued insistence that every major decision in her life came directly from God. She claims to have been diddling along one day when God told her to study tax law. ("Tax law? I hate taxes." she allegedly thought.) But she did it. Same goes with her decision to run for Minnesota State Senator, and again for her every step along the road 'til today. Mostly she was baffled (she also had no desire to enter politics, 'til God told her to), but she always listened. Taibbi writes:
Bachmann's entire political career has followed this exact same pattern of God-speaks-directly-to-me fundamentalism mixed with pathological, relentless, conscienceless lying. She's not a liar in the traditional way of politicians, who tend to lie dully, usefully, and (they hope) believably, often with the aim of courting competing demographics at the same time. That's not what Bachmann's thing is. Bachmann lies because she can't help it, because it's a built-in component of both her genetics and her ideology. She is at once the most entertaining and the most dangerous kind of liar, a turbocharged cross between a born bullshit artist and a religious fanatic, for whom lying to the infidel is a kind of holy duty.
I know we've never had a non-Christian president, but level of zeal seems like it should disqualify Bachmann. Can you have the separation of church and state, if you have a president who claims to do things because God tells her to? Can the leader of a diverse and multi-faith society be a woman who believes that Christianity is the master faith? I'd argue no.
Comments ( 72 )
I put her in the same camp as Palin. They are sideshows that appeal to the lunatic fringe (even if it's a big fringe) and just further brand the Republican party as a sideshow. At the moment of truth, the vast majority of Americans just know that those two are unqualified and incapable of running the executive branch of the US Gov't.
Well put.
Your laughter makes her stronger!!!
You might want to prepare for a sideshow. I don't think they'd be as unqualified as our current Pres and VP. On the other hand, misogyny is alive and well, as long as the target is a conservative woman.
(misogyny is alive and well with every woman targeted, don't ya worry)
Personally, if the U.S. government is nothing but a corrupted shell run by the same band of military-industrial complex billionaires no matter who or what party is in power, I’d prefer that its figurehead be a ludicrous moron. It’s more fitting.
Sarah 2012!
Ludicrous morons for ludicrous morons?
I agree that it is an easy target for liberal men. One thing I've learned is that liberal men take all their carefully hidden misogynistic feelings and release them on women that they feel they can get away with. It's disgusting and instead of having a meaningful discussion it turns into an attack on hard working women.
So, what's worse? Liberal men bagging on completely idiotic (no matter how hard working) women that lower the national discourse and IQ, or conservative men openly bashing all women, everywhere, all the time?
Selective misogyny is still misogyny and no, it's not good enough.
(seriously now) Nancy Pelosi/Elizabeth Warren 2012!
I don't like that ticket but I'd vote for it if it meant getting women into a higher office. I truly do think Bachmann is qualified and would do a fine job. Seriously.
Well, Obama wasn't qualified and he's doing a great job (if you're a corporation), so at this point... it's a crap-shoot. But anything better than a white male Republican, especially the kind who likes to blame wildfires on "illegal immigrants."
voting for someone because of their sex? from someone crying misogyny?
ONLY because of their sex, goodness knows there's nothing else good about Pelosi and Warren, and especially Hillary.
(@... is obviously a Republican and should therefore be banned from Hooksexup forever.)
Hillary was the best candidate in 2008 and she was forced down because we live in an environment where men still rule everything. I'm still glad I didn't support that agenda.
I'd fuck her, but I wouldn't vote for her.
"if you have a president who claims to do things because God tells her to."
You mean like George W. "God told me to invade Iraq and so I did" Bush?
Yeah, that would not be good.
No, no, no, not God bless America! God damn America!
It sure is God Damn America! That is all you hear from the left.
My point exactly.
And the articles about Palin were like this.
And the recent Esquire profile of Huntsman is like this.
And articles drumming up fear about a politician with fringe chances of winning the RNC endorsement are as common as the seasons. RS is just using its ultra-liberal conspiracy theories to sell a few more magazines from an audience that couldn't care less.
@Eric: I think the "anyone but Obama" agenda that is being pursued by the right increases the risk of one of these extremist candidates being taken seriously by the general election voters. The risk of that is low, but not zero in the current environment.
Having a belief in God does not make you an extremist. Bachmann has found this to be comforting and helpful. No different than people looking at Obama as the Messiah.
Bachmann hasn't found it 'comforting and helpful,' she's flat out said that it directs her every move. And it's totally different than people looking at Obama as the Messiah. It's not even in the same ballpark. It's not even the same fucking sport.
That's how some people talk. They don't go to the grocery store because they're out of filberts for their cocktails. It was a calling from God. Running out of filberts was divine. That's just how they talk. They're kind of like reverse hipsters that way.
I'm going to quibble with your contention that all U.S. presidents have been Christian. A number of the early presidents were Deists who did not subscribe to the Trinity theory that is the cornerstone of Christianity -- i.e., the belief that Jesus was the living Son of God. IIRC, the Adamses and Jefferson were Unitarians who believed in the Unity of God, not in the Trinity. To be sure, I can't think of any recent presidents who did not accept the divinity of Jesus (maybe Nixon, who was raised a Quaker -- I think Jesus' divinity is not an article of faith for Quakers -- but he didn't make his religious beliefs an issue, so I'm not sure).
You remain our wisest commenter. Thanks -- I didn't know that. My point, however, was more that a professed belief in "God" has been mandatory in a political candidate for recent history... and that she's on a whoooooole different level.
Agreed on the second part. You are too kind on the first.
@Ben And it has to be "God" not "Allah" or any other singular all-powerful deity.
Are you serious? FDR prayed on the radio for God's sake.
Agreed. God forbid we have a candidate that holds some king of religious belief. I don't discount Bachmann because of her beliefs and the portrait of her is extremely deceiving.
srsly guys?
My point was not that candidates/politicians shouldn't have faith in God, quite the opposite. My point was Reininga acting as if what we see from politicians rises to "a [whole] different level." In addition to being a poorly constructed sentence, it's ridiculous.
taibbi is my favorite writer for rolling stone. Loved his coverage of the financial crisis. Like most of his work, it's well written, hilarious and frightening.
Frankly, Taibbi is about the only journo worth reading these days. His 'Griftopia' should be required reading for everyone.
You've got to be kidding. He's entirely unreadable.
If this article doesn't give you chills, there is something deeply wrong with you.
The article is mostly bullshit. Bachmann does have an impressive background and it is exactly why the left wants to tear it down, by using all the good she has done to paint a distorted picture. Most of the misogyny lies on the left and that is why Hillary was quickly disqualified. Women in this country should not let this happen again. Vote Bachmann,
I'm not sure if you can say Hillary was quickly disqualified. She took her candidacy all the way to the convention, and essentially stepped aside 'for the good of the party.' She's arguably the most effective Secretary of State in the modern era. As for the misogyny being mostly on the left, that's just crap. Dems had the first female vice presidential candidate and the first truly viable female presidential candidate, so you're clearly just trying to provoke a reaction.
Clinton the "most effective SoS in the modern era?" Please.
@@kas
give me a fucking break, "Women in this country should not let this happen again." I'm a woman, and you do not vote for somebody because of their sex, it's as sexist and as stupid as not voting for somebody because of their sex. Fine, the work she did with her kids and foster kids is nice and all, but there is no way in hell that the President of the United States should be making major political decisions because of God, or comparing gay marriage to Pearl Harbor, or signing a completely racist "Marriage Vow."
I hope we finally break that glass ceiling this time around. Go Bachmann!
It seems like just three short years ago a woman ran for president...oh, wait...
Yep and a Black man won. Therefore, racism is dead and in fact never existed!
Exactly. SHE had to step aside.
What woman ran for President three years ago?
Never underestimate the liberal medias ability to judge and critique a woman's looks.
What is Bachman's plan for creating new jobs? That's what really matters -- not her appearance, not her religion, not her parenting skills.
In a perfect world this would be an issue she would be able to elaborate on but instead she is torn down for her looks and physique rather than her intentions. Just look at this article, it's full of misogyny.
or, perhaps, people don't like her because of her opinions, like how people can dislike Obama without being racist, because they disagree with him
now I think this article was a little needlessly harsh but that doesn't encompass each persons opinion of her
I'm more frightened by some of the comments. The Kardashian's are millionaires because of TV; politics has turned much into something like reality TV so these okayon the eyes sound-bite providers do not surprise me with their ability to garner enough attention to get this kind of press. What is scary is they still get elected. Regardless of which side they fall on. However, the "liberal" media (or whoever the villian du jour is) does not need to do anything to tear these kinds of people down. They can do that themselves with the ridiculous shit that spews forth from their mouths. Which gets more attention and more followers from those that truly scare me.
Enough with the misogyny BS. Some people make fools of themselves no matter their gender. Using someone who can harm their own reputation enough with their own words and missteps as some great person to get behind to help a cause only damages that cause further.
Eh, but not all cultures are equal. Maybe that goes for women too. After all, on its face, multi-cultural diversity sounds great, but for real, we're just not all equal.
There's a troll impersonating what he thinks is a feminist upstream, but he ain't fooling anyone (except for you so far?). Don't worry, I got this covered.
I never know what to think whenever you comment huh
The misogyny charge doesn't hold (especially if you remember what guys like Limbaugh and Hannity did to Hillary Clinton incessantly beginning in the early 1990s). I'd be very happy to see the Republicans pick a woman presidential candidate. How about Olympia Snowe?
Huh? You're accusing Limbaugh of misogyny as a way to deflect the very real misogyny directed at Bachmann?
"very real misogyny" implying that the misogyny against Hillary Clinton was fake... well she was a Democrat and Bachmann is Republican, so yeah, you're absolutely right, there was no misogyny directed at Clinton but tons directed at Bachmann...
I voted strongly Democratic until 2008. After what they did to Hillary, I couldn't in good conscience vote for Obama. It'd be great to see a female contender.
I'm not a fan of Bachmann and I think she's kind of a goofball but come on but that linked article is kind of shrill.
Shrill and sexist. Misogyny is alive and well.
He's afraid to use ANY name now, so he just uses @Commenter-Name and keeps grinding his little monkey organ, calling the article and everyone else who disagrees with him misogynist without any supporting argument.
Hi Pooby! We see you. How's the weather under that bridge?
I hate it when smarter people outsmart me. Couldn't everyone see my brilliance in impersonating dozens of people on this site?
Yep, had to neuter you. Sorry you'll have to actually formulate an argument and try to present it. It hasn't worked out well in the past for you but you never know, maybe you'll get smarter. I love living rent-free in your head.
I'm glad you see me. That's the point.
I don't use any other nicks except the @Commenter-Name. None at all, except the ~50% that aren't in that format.
The weather is good, thanks for asking.
Sorry, dude, had to kick your ass. It needed kicking. Ciao!
"impersonating dozens of people on this site" = impersonating dozens of aliases of the one conservative troll on this site. luuulll.
Sorry, dude, had to sniff your ass. It needed sniffing! Ciao!
For me, I could care less about male or female. Bachmann is terrifying and I, for one, would rather not live under the strange fascist/religious gov't she would create. Voting for her solely for being female is as bigoted as anyone not voting for her solely for being female. Bush Jr won as much of the vote as he did because, in large part, people thought he was "a guy you could sit and have a beer with". How did this qualify him for the presidency? Kerry seemed too, what, well-educated? Personally, I would love to think that the president running the country I live in is far more intelligent than me. Obama, maybe. Bill Clinton, maybe. Most any Republican for the past while that's been a contender? No, no, no. Back in 2000, I told people I had some small hope a Republican would win, so the country would be reminded why it's a bad idea to elect a Republican. Sadly, the people have grown so stupid and/or apathetic that after 8 years of Bush/Cheney bending us over, there seems to be good odds that the people will put the broomstick in the hands of Palin or Bachmann. WTF is wrong with you people?
"I would love to think that the president running the country I live in is far more intelligent than me. Obama, maybe. Bill Clinton, maybe."
Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review and Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar. Unless you're both, I'm thinking they're probably a lot more intelligent than you (they certainly are than I am).
Don't forget Herbert Hoover.
Many consider HH the most intelligent president of the modern era. The real issue here isn't intelligence but ability to lead. I suggest that neither HH nor WJC nor BHO are particularly gifted in the ability to lead arena.
Add a Comment