The American Spectator : The Pulchritudinous Michele Bachmann

Biliophile| 6.16.11 @ 6:30AM

You'll burn for using 'pulchritudinous' in that impish fashion. Hope the meme goes viral & becomes embeded in the media 'kultursmog'. Well done!

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 8:50AM

Don't worry. Most Democrats with their wonderful NEA provided education won't know the word, its connotation or its denotation, yet will pretend to. And, as they know they don't know what it means, they won't be able to say a thing...Me thinks RET,Jr. is on firm ground here.

talkradio55| 6.16.11 @ 2:23PM

Dan's right. Anyone who went to government school not only don't know the word, they couldn't pronounce it and would accuse you of making it up.

Beer f.m.h.| 6.16.11 @ 3:30PM

Yes, it's a klunky locution. Why not "attractive" or "comely" or "fetching" or "captivating" or "charming?" I don't like having to run to the dictionary, even the online ones, just to understand what the author is implying.

dominic | 6.16.11 @ 4:00PM

However for those of us that did understand and praise the vocabulary of the author it is refreshing to have anyone tax that area in our brain that doesn't get enough exercise.
On the other hand your point is well taken.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:47PM

Dear Beer:

RET has been elevating my vocabulary (although not with this one, as I wooed my wife with discussions of her "perspicacity, pulchritude, and pizzaz") since I was a teenager in college three full decades ago. It's not a klunky locution---it is a perfectly poised epitome of silky smooth syntax, as most of Bob's writings were, are, and will be.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:50PM

By the way, he is right on Bachmann. When I was stuck with the execrable oaf Oberstar as my rep, how I dreamed of having the great Bachmann instead. I would love to see her in the White House.

(By the way, BTO is a great band, man!)

skip| 6.16.11 @ 7:18PM

You realize there is a republican congressman from Ohio named Turner don't you?

And Bachman and Peterson were better when they were in The Guess Who.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 10:45PM

Dear Skip,

I bow to your knowledge of Canadian rock bands. Yet, The Guess Who is most famous for "American Woman," which would not be apropos for bachmann, whereas, "Taking Care of Business" is the perfect skewering of the Obama administration, no?

skip| 6.17.11 @ 12:41PM

Great point.

If so inclined, check out The Tragically Hip and the Cowboy Junkies, eh.

Mike Fisher| 6.16.11 @ 7:32PM

Perspicacity, pulchritude, and pizzaz, huh? Well I will try to work that in to a pickup line next chance I get. ;-)

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 10:45PM

She had to beat off several at the time ;).

Beer f.m.h.| 6.19.11 @ 10:03AM

OT, that comment demonstrates why this blog is also a klunky forum for repartee, but no worries, we know what you meant. Cheers, buddy! ;-)

Larry| 6.16.11 @ 6:31AM

Michelle Bachmann would make a great president. I've not heard her address the illegal alien invasion question though. Anyone here familiar with where she stands on that?

Nancy in NC| 6.16.11 @ 7:00AM

NumbersUSA gave her a grade of B+, much better than any of the other candidates.

Anita| 6.16.11 @ 12:56PM

Imagine: One Michele walking in the front door of the white house as President and one Michelle striding out the door as the former first lady.

2012

Cheryl Miller| 6.16.11 @ 3:08PM

Can't think of a more beautiful picture!!!

dominic | 6.16.11 @ 4:01PM

AMEN I SAY, AMEN

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 4:39PM

Now that is truly priceless!!

Gary| 6.16.11 @ 6:49PM

No kidding!

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 4:44PM

Michele B. is a strict constitutionalist. She believes in securing our borders and I'm quite sure she does not beleive in amnesty.

Does anybody know her position on "Sustainable Development" (ICLEI)?

Intelligent Design| 6.16.11 @ 6:34AM

Bachmann's principles are the same ones that voters supported when they gave Republicans such a huge victory in November 2010. They were not voting for Obama-Lite, meaning they were not voting for "Romney", who is trying to deceive voters when he says Romneycare in Massachusetts is fine, but he opposes its child called Obamacare. Voters who took power away from Obama and his fellow Demo-Socialists in November would be outraged if their choice in 2012 is between Obama and Romney.

How about Rick Perry combined with Michele Bachmann in 2012? One thing is certain: 4 more years of Obama would be a national disaster. He has already done so much damage!

Alky| 6.16.11 @ 11:00AM

Perry is soft on borders!

Intelligent Design| 6.16.11 @ 3:08PM

http://www.mediaite.com/online.....-up-comic/
Perry's critique of Obama's failure to protect the border, and Obama even making jokes about this very serious problem.

mames| 6.16.11 @ 3:36PM

Bachmann and Cain not only offer bed rock constitutional views they could once and for all end the stupid race and gender issue regarding the "hateful" GOP. Bachmann has the creds. as a wife and Mom and as a public servant where Palin just seems to be an opportunist and like it or not she carries a holy roller image. Not to mention she ran with and CONTINUES to support McCain, the definitive RINO. Cain and Bachmann are class acts who would give an honest representation of the real GOP outside the beltway. Romney is McCain redux and flip flops like a bluegill on the beach. He's as full of crap as his old man was.

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 4:47PM

I would take Bachmann/Cain or Cain/West.
The latter in particular would rattle the msm's brains.

MarkInMinnesota| 6.17.11 @ 3:27PM

Cain? Really? Read this:

http://motherjones.com/politic.....wsuit-2012

Regardless of this publication's views, the facts about and against Cain are clear and compelling. No one who reads this will be able to support Cain without they themselves having a hidden agenda.

CDT| 6.20.11 @ 10:07AM

Unless something comes up that presents that the MJ article was a hack job, Cain's toast. That man has no career in public service. Thanks for posting that, Mark. I had not known about that. The man should be ashamed of himself and he should be spending the rest of his life trying to make amends for his actions, not trying to run for president. Perhaps, if he lives long enough, he can earn the respect he lost by his actions, along the lines of John Profumo, but it will take that kind of penance in order to do so (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Profumo).

I Survived Arlen Specter| 6.16.11 @ 8:38PM

"Class acts" don't hire ruling class establishment hacks like Ed Rollins to slam the same woman who campaigned for Bachmann the last time she ran to retain her seat. Also, why is it that Christians like Palin who take God seriously are "holy rollers"? Problem with God? Bachmann alienated a lot of people when she hired a gutter sniper like Ed Rollins. She just hasn't come to grips with it yet. She lost my vote & support. Leave gutter tactics to the Democrats.

randyinrocklin| 6.16.11 @ 9:05PM

I agree with brother...I will give her twenty bucks with a note saying she should get rid of Rollins next time he opens his big mouth before I send anymore money.

dominic | 6.16.11 @ 4:03PM

How about Michele and Ryan? What are your thoughts on any VP taking a back seat to MB?

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 3:34AM

Dear ID,
If you like M. Bachman then you are very likely a good and very decent person. You likely teach your children to be good too. You value prayer as well. I could say a lot more to complement you, But I will stop short due to time and space.

Dear neighbor, I believe you have fallen prey to falsehoods regarding Mitt Romney.

I can tell you that you have not done your own "due diligence" regarding: 1) Mitt Romney and his life and what he really stands for. 2) states rights federalism. 3) States rights federalism and Romneycare. 4) The conservative origins of Romneycare being decades old of seasoned republican research and study. 5) ObamaCare and the failed healthcare (hc) system the democrats and Obama initially wanted to institute but realized would not fly. They went back to the drawing board and discovered that it really did not matter what kind of central government hc plan was passed. Only that a national, central government plan be passed. Why? Because it would give the in control government GREAT POWERS? The passing of this OBAMAcare or any other type of hc plan simply did not matter one iota!!

Their socialist plan was to seize power and keep it for years. They never imagined good people like me, you, Michelle B., the tea party and other conservatives and libertarians would rise up in righteous anger.

These Obama/democrat socialists thought they'd stay in power for a good long time. Enough time to alter anything they really didn't like in ANY hc plan that they could get passed.

So what they chose as a healthcare plan was the one their most feared republican candidate had put together. They knew people don't NORMALY study issues and could be fooled.
So they did a "death hug" with Romneycare. And republicans in their blind anger initially fell for it.

Guilt by association!! Romneycare was bad. No one seems to have truly comprehended states rights federalism's guard against central government "over reach" in assuming the "rights that BELONG to the states and the people". It's a little abstract the first few times people approach it......if people approach it at all!

Romney studied states rights federalism while he was becoming an MBA Baker Scholar at Harvard. How? Because he was also in law school there simultaneously while getting the MBA. So when he and the most conservative think tank in America ( the Heritage Foundation) were working on a conservativecare system to block a liberalcare system in MA they well knew liberals wanted a single payer plan (powerful central control even in a state) that cur free enterprise right out of the equasion.They knew about states rights federalism VS. powerful, power grabbing central government temptations of liberalism!

My beloved tea party people and dear ID, please do your "due diligence" homework. When you don't, you become vulnerable to the socialist and MSM tall tells designed to take advantage of your innocent ignorance.

Under.... JonH at 6-17-11, 2:12 AM I wrote more.

danny| 6.16.11 @ 6:59AM

cain and bachmann, bachmann and cain. either one works for me.

Larry| 6.16.11 @ 7:16AM

My thoughts as well Danny.

Big Tony| 6.16.11 @ 9:33AM

I think Herman Cain would make an excellent VP candidate. He could innoculate the front runner from the charges of RACISM that are going to come as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. However his insider role at the Federal Reserve Bank and the comments he has made about the role of the Fed, that they have, "caused too much inflation". Makes me want to ask, what amount of inflation is not too much, Herman? An since inflation is just another of the many hidden taxes on the citizens of the USA, it shows me that Cain is not on the side of the working man but rather on the side of Wall St and the Big Banks. Also it tells me that he is not a reformer, that he only wants to tinker around the edges. Additionally the comment he made that getting rid of the Fed would be like getting rid of air traffic control shows me a lack of seriousness in getting the reforms the nation needs and the kind of thinking that is all too common of many if not most of the insiders in Washington and government. All the while Mr. Cain is trying to portray himself as some kind of an outsider. Why? Because he failed to win the nomiation for the GOP senate seat in Georgia? That makes him an outsider? Gimme a break! But as the VP he would be a great partner for the eventual nominee. The nation needs to put a stop to the unholy union of Big Banks, the Federal Reserve Bank and Big Government before the dollar becomes completely worthless. Herman Cain is not a man that will do this.

David T| 6.16.11 @ 10:25AM

As a first step in dealing with the Fed, we should eliminate the dual mandate to reduce inflation and unemployment and return to the original mission of maintaining price stability only. We should also audit the Fed, as Ron Paul says, and open up all its proceedings. No more secrecy. Then we could take a long look at the Fed's role in the economy and decide whether or not there are better alternatives to a central bank.

SpiralArchitect| 6.16.11 @ 1:59PM

The Fed is in a pickle - they allow interest rates to increase the slightly massive debt interest
will baloon.

Where does the Gov have the authority to audit the Fed, a private bank?

Overall, I share the opinion expresses by Jackson about the Fed & central banks.

Big Tony| 6.16.11 @ 3:46PM

David
I've heard others make that comment. I would suggest that anyone who believes that changing the mandate for the Fed. is the answer read "The Creature From Jykell Island" and then see if they still think that tinkering around the edges of the Federal Reserve Bank will cure the problems created by having a "fiat currency" created by the Federal Reserve Bank. Through out all of history fiat currencies have always, always, always ended up being worthless followed by devastating social and political upheaval. Those that fail to learn history's lessons are condemmed to repeat them.

The lure of fiat currency is too great for the politicians, they will have to be forced off of it, they won't quit it on their own.

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 6:18PM

No, but with the right opposition and enlightenment we the voters can fire them.

dominic | 6.16.11 @ 4:12PM

If I see the seating arrangement correctly:
The Fed is self governing and self interested.
Those whose power is generated by the control they wield over the Treasury will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.
Since its beginning the Fed has been a source of insidious infection into the open wounds of the economy.
Is there a better way? Though I do not have the economic background I do believe there is and that we have the people out there that can and should be encouraged to initiate new and bold policies designed to move us again upward and onward.

Redstateboy| 6.16.11 @ 11:56AM

Perry/Bachmann, Bachmann/Cain, Perry/Pawlenty, Pawlenty/Perry, Pawlenty/Bachmann - Anyone of these and it's Ba-bye Hussein.. Oh!!?! Any can you Imagine someone up to speed as much as Bachmann debating Das Messiah!!??? She'd Rip that bumbling Community Organizer up one side and down the other... He'd probably get a sympathy vote for being made to look like such a dunce.

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 6:22PM

Agreed! But there are so many voters that don't understand even the basic concept of The Constitution. Many think our governement falls under the U.N. Constitution!

Nunya| 6.16.11 @ 12:24PM

I'm good with that, although the one drawback for Cain is his history with the Fed.

Cheryl Miller| 6.16.11 @ 3:09PM

Bachmann/Cain....now THAT's sweet!!!

Gary| 6.16.11 @ 6:54PM

Bachmann and Rubio

Clifford Wiesner| 6.16.11 @ 7:19PM

I like Bachmann and Rubio. both are intelligent, have a likable public persona, are excellent in interviews and can more than hold there own in a true debate. As a bonus, they can present themselves as not of the Washington Beltway group and will tap into the youth, female, and Hispanic voter pools. Down goes Obama.

MacWell| 6.17.11 @ 12:01AM

Cain scares the bejesus out of me. Remember, he is a stakeholder in the FED, and if what I've found out about the federal reserve is even half true, then I wouldn't trust anyone who's ever had any dealings with, or worked for the FED. Think about it, you have a dozen families playing Monopoly with the world and everyone in it. Talk about a conspiracy? I'm sorry, but I think Cain is being groomed by the FED to run this country.
Now if we put Col. Allen West with Michele in a one two ticket, and control both houses, we can turn America back to it once great glory. We the people MUST get rid of Oblunder next year, or there won't be any America left.

MarkInMinnesota| 6.17.11 @ 3:28PM

Cain? Really? Read this:

http://motherjones.com/politic.....wsuit-2012

Regardless of this publication's views, the facts about and against Cain are clear and compelling. No one who reads this will be able to support Cain without they themselves having a hidden agenda.

Clint| 6.16.11 @ 7:39AM

"Amid a horrific financial crisis, all we hear are calls for more of the money-printing, spending and subsidies that created this mess. So I choose my great teacher, Ludwig von Mises, champion of the Austrian School of economics, who taught us how a central bank like the Fed causes booms and busts and how to build prosperity through sound money and economic freedom."
Dr.Ron Paul

The Bishop| 6.16.11 @ 7:48AM

Rep. Bachmann is not only beautiful on the outside, she's beautiful on the inside as well. Anyone who shares their blessings with 23 children (not counting her own five), is morally superior to the vast conglomerate of slime which we see in the nation's capital. Danny, I love the idea of Bachmann/Cain as our ticket. She's redeemed the name Michelle. Go, Michelle, go!

darcy| 6.16.11 @ 11:11AM

One "l" in Michele for Mrs. Bachmann. Since we'll be writing about her a lot in the weeks, months, and years ahead, it's best we get it right from the start.

She is, btw, the ONLY one of the candidates for whom I would vote. No more holding the nose to vote for RINOs and being used as a tool to further the establishment agenda.

Warrior | 6.16.11 @ 11:49AM

Don't you find it amazing that finally a writer at the AS put out a decent article on a candidate other than Romney or Pawlenty. Good job Mr. Tyrell.

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 4:09AM

Skip AS, skip anyone with their own potential agenda. Skip everyone at least for a while when you begin your TRUE SEARCH. Then return with knowledge.

To start--start with each candidates own sites. Then go to the websites of people who at their own expense choose to support each candidate. Look for deep sincerity at these sites. These people will support what they say with (here it comes) good sources and complete evidence. Look for smart and trustworthy endorsements by persons you already know. Beware of sources who mix religion with politics. There are good honorable people who are people of faith who won't do the big mix. It may take some time but you will become well informed.

Sometimes, friends can feign credibility and knowledge about candidates. Some people like your attention mostly. Do your own homework so you can know for yourself. Beware of false labels smeared on candidates.

Have you ever been turned off of somebody or something so much you would not lift a finger to learn more about them? Turning you off of good candidates goes on in elections a lot. Resentment and jealousy can happen in the nicest places. Read a good cross section of decent sources.

After a while you'll start to understand the truth.
Once you find several decent, trustworthy candidates--that won't be enough. Then you want to discover who IS the best qualified based on there brains and accomplishments. A decent person can talk a great game, but their achievements and accomplishments REVEAL what they CAN and WILL DO. Experience is the walk. Debates and interviews are just the talk.

Conservative View| 6.16.11 @ 8:16AM

SO WHO DID WIN THE DEBATE?

Simple answer to that question is that the Tea Party won the debate. Right now the field of Republicans is a mix mash of milk toast. One has yet to rise to the top. Romney has too much baggage. He is a liberal in liberal clothing trying to sound like a consertive. It just doesn't work. The rest are mostly clones. The rest that is except for Cain and Bachmann. These two sound like Tea Party consertives.

In the end, that is who will win, the Tea Party. Their message, the message from Bachmann and Cain, is what so many in America want to hear right now. Americans want a sound dollar, jobs, and a constantly improving standard of living. They want honest, moral, political leadership. They want a president that can actually find the oval office more easily than the golf course. The Tea Party expresses that, gives them hope that it can actually happen. For many it gives them the only hope.

The two that sounded most like the Tea Party were Bachmann and Cain. I suspect that when the dust settles, those two will end up front runners. The impact upon the Republican Party from either of them riseing to the top would be incredible. It would drag the Republican Party kicking and screaming further to the right. It would move the "middle of the road" all the way over to where the shoulder is now. It would completely reform the GOP, and the old guard won't like it, not at all. But, I doubt the old guard could do much about it. And that would mean, the Tea Party won.

A Bachmann, Cain ticket? I doubt it right now. The odds are low, but could go higher, it's a long way to November 2012. None the less, it is something to think about.

irish19| 6.16.11 @ 12:52PM

I'd be happy if they could drag the middle of the road far enough to the right so that it's actually the middle of the road again instead of somewhere on the left hand shoulder.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 1:46PM

Ha! Well said irish19.

Whacky Weiner| 6.16.11 @ 2:31PM

Tell it like it is Irish!

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:51PM

Irish, magnificent, as usual.

Elizabeth| 6.16.11 @ 3:08PM

I love Michelle Bachmann and would gladly vote for her. However, I disagree that the rest are just party hacks. Anyone who has followed Rick Santorum for the last few years would know what a great candidate he makes. He not only espouses conservative Tea Party values, but he actually practices what he preaches. The best thing we all can do is to thoroughly research the positions all of the candidates have taken on issues and then make up our minds. Don't just go by what pundits, journalists and bloggers say about them. BTW-Glenn Beck mentioned that he was going to look into posting all of the candidates online along with their positions on issues.

DrAl| 6.16.11 @ 3:47PM

Americans want an American in the White House not an impostor with a contrived fictitious history who hates America to the depths of his soulless existence as demonstrated by his daily violations of our way of life and our Constitution. Bowing down to enemies and apologizing for America while he promotes his bedfellows of the muslim brotherhood, is appalling!

The emperor who had no clothes was better dressed than Barry or whoever he is!

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 4:23AM

Romney is not a liberal. He comes from the MOST liberal state. Study it out and stop listening to people who act like they know. Read broadly and you'll get it

Romney's guilt by association with MASS. places him maybe..... as a moderate and no further to the left. Pew Research identifies Mormons as the #1 most conservative group in America.

Romney has been in positions of trust and responsibility in his churchand is well known. If he actually were a moderate, people from the most conservative state in America (UTAH) would have long ago spoken about it IN DROVES. Huntsman who IS a moderate is known to be further left than Romney. It's all over the conservative and moderate press and blogs. Where have you been?

TennesseeVolunteer| 6.16.11 @ 8:17AM

She is fighting the battle against both parties. We won't see anyone in the MSM really push her unless they think she is beatable.
She is smart, tough, independent and the camera loves her. IN the end, I will be thrilled if she is part of the ballot but no RINOS!

Louis Tully| 6.16.11 @ 9:21AM

She is being groomed to carry the Tea Partiers for Mitt Romneycare as second fiddle on his ticket.

Hence the relentless boosterism for her on Faux News.

I like Michelle, but I am going to need to see her take on Romney and the RINOs--and I'm betting she won't.

Simply Stupefied| 6.16.11 @ 2:34PM

Louis, why must you refer to Fox News as "Faux" in one post and as "Fox" in the very next post?

Are you a liberal one second and a conservative the next?

Cheryl Miller| 6.16.11 @ 3:15PM

Hey Louis..where the heck where were you in November 2010, some other planet?!?!? Michele is not carrying ANYTHING for ANYBODY, especially Mitt Romney! She's the real deal, bud!! Go grab yourself some popcorn and make sure you get a front row seat when she takes on the establishment..cause it's gonna be GREAT!!!!!

Louis Tully| 6.16.11 @ 9:31AM

Actually Tenn, she's getting lots of push from all party media organs. Tune in Fox, CNN any of them tonight. Heck, even this outlet has jumped on board. Do they all think she's beatable? Of course, look at her poll #s.
Do they think she can be useful for Romney, as Sarah was for the lifeless John McCain 4 years ago? Heck yeah, because they know they are again stuck with trying to sell a RINO stiff to a base increasingly unwilling to hold its nose for *the Party*

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 1:48PM

Tea Partiers: join the Republican party so you can vote in the primaries. Then YOU pick the candidates. What part of "hostile takeover" don't you understand? Hostile to establishment RINOs, but very friendly to America.

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:40PM

Not any America that I recognize.

But, heck yeah, I'm all for grassroots organization. Go for it, if your ideas prevail, that's how the system works. For now anyway. And discounting the Presidential election of 2000.

BackToBasics| 6.16.11 @ 8:30PM

I think she can win as the presidential candidate. She shines with intelligence and a post above says she's a B+ on border enforcement. Not too bad. She's fired up this crowd already.

But, Bachman as VP to Romney? That's a dose of reality from the establishment I can do without. I'd go for Bachman-Cain as a winning ticket.

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 6:29PM

I doubt the Republicans will support her because she is too much of a constitutionalist and her ideas do not fit in with the real powers running not just this country, but the world.

MacWell| 6.17.11 @ 12:12AM

You know Winnie? you might just have a point there. We all know for sure that the msm want's, the boy who would be king, to stay another 4 years so they/he can finish America for good. Surely the rino's don't want to rock the boat too much, after all, a smaller share of the pie is better then no share, so they will send up the next in line and the hell with the outcome because they all know they will be taken care of.
It's up to "We the People", in order to form a more perfect government...

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 8:52AM

I would have no problem supporting Michelle Bachmann. Not only does her rhetoric square with her voting record, she's very good at explaining and educating the voting public on complicated legislature (Ryan Plan, Obamacare). She also seems to be attuned politically. She was one of the first warriors in Washington who emerged to block the Obama agenda.

Serious, hard working. etc.

Go Michelle!!

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 10:24AM

Absolutely Spot On! Yes, GO MICHELLE! God bless her!

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 1:50PM

And once Michele is President, I would suggest she appoint Sarah Palin as ambassador to the U.N.

Strider| 6.16.11 @ 5:33PM

No, she should appoint no one to the UN. Then she should pull the US out of that nest of vipers and give them 12 months to find someplace else to infest. (Havana, Rangoon and Pyongyang all spring to mind quickly.)

WinnieR| 6.16.11 @ 6:52PM

Touche (?spelling)

WAKE UP| 6.16.11 @ 7:17PM

I recommend Darfur :)

MacWell| 6.17.11 @ 12:14AM

Anywhere but here!

taterblade| 6.17.11 @ 10:38AM

Really?, Didn't somebody here already point out that this Michele has ONE L (and Bachmann - two Ns)??? Spelling does matter if you want your point to taken serously... In any case, I am glad to hear that folks are recognizing her potential, as do I.

RAMIII| 6.17.11 @ 12:41PM

"Spelling does matter if you want your point to taken serously"
Hahahaha! Love the irony in that sentence.

Anthony| 6.16.11 @ 8:57AM

Palin and Bachmann are our last best hopes if we are to save this society and country. PERIOD.

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:09AM

Then I'll just slit my wrists now. Between them, they're not a half wit.

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 10:27AM

David, Your wits are lacking if you make jokes about suicide.

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:32AM

Wow. Then this Web site must be infectious and dangerous to one's wits. And my comments are no less draconian, inflammatory, and self-defeating than the average one posted here.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 11:04AM

David;

You have yet to show any wit. We'll worry about your estimates of others' intellects when you show some yourself. So far you are shooting blanks.

And I do regret the Weiner slam directed at you. You haven't shown that kind of deep trouble. But the slitting your wrists thing does not indicate a sound reasoning capability or firm robust philosophy. David, do you like you?

Good luck with that...

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 11:10AM

Any bets on Dave's age? ...based on the content and quality of his previous posts, I'd say not even college age.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:25AM

You lose again, bobbyboy. I'm old enough to know the difference between snake oil peddlers and honest conversation.

But go ahead - make you cute little comments and then you and the boys at the country club can snicker and congratulate each other on how you told that guy off.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:01PM

No, I assume he's quite old enough---as Winnie put it--- "a man who is Conservative in his 20s has no heart, and a man who is not Conservative when older has no brain."

David sounds like he's as old as, and as prone to verbal exactitude, as Joseph Biden.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:13PM

Nice one. Now there's an insult worthy of consideration.

Except that you're wrong.

SonOfSam| 6.16.11 @ 12:58PM

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, David's age??????
38.
and he lives with mommy.
And he'll pass that literacy requirement for his GED any day now

So, you done yet, Davey dumbass, or are ya thirsty for more?

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:32PM

Wrong.
Wrong.
And wrong.
A trifecta. Hopefully, your aim with your SonofSam revolver is better.

As for done yet, oh, please, you bottomfeeders haven't even gotten close yet. Although in a battle of wits, it's hard to have unarmed opponents.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 1:52PM

Seriously, feigning a suicide? Oh please. Attention craver.

W| 6.16.11 @ 7:52PM

david, are you the wisconsin public employee union slob that hung around the capital for a week, chanting, and left the place a mess, costing the taxpayers one million to clean?

RN in Houston| 6.16.11 @ 12:33PM

How do you condescend to post here?

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:33PM

Because it's so darn much fun. And I need something to pass the time when my PC is processing a file.

Joan of Snark | 6.16.11 @ 1:44PM

Apparently David is a government employee.

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:53PM

Really.
Wow.
That's zero forever in the prognostication department for posters on this site.

Anthony| 6.16.11 @ 3:34PM

Why wait David? Do it now, since Obozo is half a half wit of either Palin or Bachmann, and you have 2 1/2 years of proof.
Talk about a half wit, Obozo has you fooled.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:53PM

Dear David,

Please take your comments to the PuffHo.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:03PM

Wow. Strikingly clever. Instead of engagement, you want someone to leave. And namecalling of a sophmoric level. I just love the way you guys underscore every stereotype of the Right there is.
(I can hear the dueling banjos in the background now.)

idalily| 6.16.11 @ 7:22PM

You want engagement? Ok, I'll bite. Please state your case as to why you think Michele Bachmann is stupid, including examples of her being a half-wit. Once you've done that, I would be happy to engage in debate. Until then, you are the one not willing to engage.

And perhaps people assume you are a juvenile because your posts are juvenile. Just sayin'.

Teaghan| 6.16.11 @ 10:33AM

Why? Because they don't have a Weiner?

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:37AM

Since the subject is intolerant sexism this morning, I offer:
Ya know why Republicans have money scandals and Democrats have sex scandals?

Answer: Ya ever try to get a piece of Elephant?

Wayne | 6.16.11 @ 11:18AM

I guess you found it difficult. Hint, its not next to that long thing on the front.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:56AM

And you're an authority on this subject because of what, personal experience?

Cheryl Miller| 6.16.11 @ 3:20PM

Money scandals?!?!? AHEM...William Jefferson, Democrat from Louisiana...caught with a cool $93k in his freezer!! Money scandals a Republican problem only?!?!? Try again...

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:11PM

Once again demonstrating that "Right Wing" and "humor" are contradictory terms.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:55PM

Dear David,

Right Wing Humor---I refer you to the old Masters. And by the Old Masters I mean IowaHawk, IowaHawk, and IowaHawk. (Yes, I ripped that off from Orson Welles. Steal from the best, I say.)

irish19| 6.16.11 @ 12:54PM

I'd be happy to loan you a knife and hold your coat while you do it. Does a regular knife work on trolls, or do I need to bring something special?

Torch Wielding Peasant| 6.16.11 @ 1:30PM

Trolls need to be burned with fire or they will regenerate.

SonOfSam| 6.16.11 @ 12:56PM

By all means, slice away at yourself, ObamaNazi pig. Of course, if you're as successful as the bumbling stuttering fool in the White House, you'll only succeed in creating or saving some bloodstains.

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:34PM

Wow. "Obamanazipig." You come up withat one by yourself or did Dick Cheney help you?

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:56PM

Well, David, considring that Obama is trying to support Palestinian Nazi Genocidal actions in the Middle East as strongly as possible, what part of "Nazi" didn't you understand.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:06PM

Because as much as I despise W and fear morons like Sarah Palin, I wouldn't stoop to such sandlot, childish taunts. And what about all of the Right Wing whining about not showing the correct respect for the office, if not the man?

"So when facts disagree with your opinon, it's the facts that are wrong. Typical [Insert name of whoever you're disagreeing with at the moment]!" Thanks, Grzmlyk.

And you call him a Nazi because Hitler was a Socialist? Which was a really tortured use of the word if I read the original German correctly.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:43PM

No, I call him a Nazi because he shares their aims, albeit more gradually.

MacWell| 6.17.11 @ 12:29AM

May I inject a thought?
Thank you, don't mind if I do.
David is right about one thing, you guys are so easy, you allow a troll to deflect the debate about the person that we all hope will turn America back to her roots. We the people have been duped for too long. We have been systematically lied to, stolen from, coned, and laughed at by those who are supposed to act in our stead, and in our best interest. Here we have the medium to collaborate in ways that would be impossible 20 or even 10 years ago. We don't have the luxury of wasting our time or resources with people who's only reason for coming here is to stir up some sh*t. Look David, you may be a liberal or nut case or whatever, but, if you live in this country, and think it's pretty good, then maybe you should focus on helping rid America of the Marxists who're ruining it.

Dannyboy| 6.16.11 @ 2:28PM

I think Michele Bachmann is a very intelligent woman. She was a tax litigator and a member of some powerful committees in congress. Despite a few verbal gaffes that get much press, she seems very composed and well-informed.

David, are there any candidates from either side that you would support at this time? Who do you like?

David| 6.16.11 @ 6:27PM

Okay. Here's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Back in 2008, I was an early McCain supporter. Then he went off the deep end.

But after 8 years of Bush/Cheney, I concluded that I wasn't a Republican. So yes, I worked hard and donated money to elect Obama. And would do so again. Unless the Republicans can come up with an alternative.

So jump on that one, guys.

WAKE UP| 6.16.11 @ 7:22PM

Oaky, David, thanks - I will. The ineluctable fact is that, loking at the datet of the world, Obama is right now, the WORST possible President the USA could have elected (yes, I'm writing from outsdie USA), and he must be defeated before he (a) renders the USA an economic basket case and (b) hands it over to its enemies, (of which he is actually a closet one). The USA is the free world's last best hope; Obama isn't.
David, I admire the way you box your corner in these robust debate, but you do need to wake upo and smell what's coming from the White House - it ain't coffee.

WAKE UP| 6.16.11 @ 7:22PM

Oaky, David, thanks - I will. The ineluctable fact is that, loking at the datet of the world, Obama is right now, the WORST possible President the USA could have elected (yes, I'm writing from outsdie USA), and he must be defeated before he (a) renders the USA an economic basket case and (b) hands it over to its enemies, (of which he is actually a closet one). The USA is the free world's last best hope; Obama isn't.
David, I admire the way you box your corner in these robust debate, but you do need to wake upo and smell what's coming from the White House - it ain't coffee.

WAKE UP| 6.16.11 @ 7:24PM

opps, typos in haste, apologies !:
"...the state of the world"
"...outside USA."
"..robust debates"
"..wake up"

CDT| 6.20.11 @ 11:04AM

I agree with you, David. I do not believe that the 7 Degrees of Ugh are Presidential material, some will never be, some may be in the future. Some would be good in Cabinet positions or in other positions, to be groomed as potential candidates later in their lives. They need experience and seasoning. Michele Bachmann is sooooo close. What she needs is experience.

Some will argue that Obama wasn't Presidential material and he won, and I would agree. But I do not believe that Republicans should lower the bar, just because the Democrats did so. We should raise our standards as high as we possibly can, and then compromise, not lower our standards, and then act surprised that people are disappointed in what we've become.

What about Rick Perry? I think that many will hold his Texas accent againt him (unfortunately there is an anti-Southern -accent bias in the country--amazing bigotry in that regard), but 37% of all jobs created in the country have come from Texas and that's Perry's doing. Not a bad guy to have in the White House. He's also been handling the issues with the border, without help from the White House. Some people have blamed him for the budget problems in the state, but that's coming from people who are clueless about how state budgets are handled in Texas (the legislature creates the budget and the governor has no involvement whatsoever) so if someone IN Texas complains about it, they should be cast aside for being either stupid or malicious.

I would assume (correct me if I'm wrong) that you are looking to the Republicans to offer an alternative. You voted for a Democrat last time, so you aren't a Republican by ideology. You must be an independent. Correct? Do you think that's reasonable?

What I mean is, some of us ARE Republicans by ideology (and I realize that can mean different things to different people) and it can seem a bit strange that others, who are outside the Party, want to dictate what our candidate should be or needs to be, so they'd vote for him, rather than say, form their own Party and pick their own candidate.

I am Burkeon Conservative (not, for example, an ex-Conservative Democrat [Christian], which is what people believe people represent the entirety of the Party). There aren't many of us Burkeon Conservatives left. We're struggling for elbow room in the Party ourselves. We don't believe the Party should be dealing with religious issues, we don't know why they're coming up so much, but there are times when social (often confused with religious) issues have a major place in government, but more often locally, except more recently with the marriage issue (because conservatism does require ordered-liberty, not anarchy, which is what libertarians ideology believes in, and they're closer to socialists than they are Burkeon conservatives, if you understand the concept of the yin/ying of anarchy). The Mayflower Compact was one of the first examples of Ordered Liberty, where a group of individuals committed to each other to form a society, and recognized that it was sink or swim together. They also recognized they had the right to throw the lazy bums out, and more than anything, it was that they swore to. That was why it was the first colony that succeeded. (The reason the French Revolution failed was because it was anarchy-liberty, and not ordered-liberty, and that is why Burke KNEW it would fail and Jefferson did not know it would fail, and he felt ashamed of himself for his ignorance later, and set aside his childish thinking as he grew older.)

Now recognizing that those characteristics, of sink or swim with full responsibility for your actions, along with institutions that are required to maintain ordered-liberty (such as marriage and I'm an atheist, so don't get the wrong idea, and centers of knowledge [respect for education], respect for private property, respect and privacy of the individual [behind closed doors has meaning, but if you bring it into the public street, do not expect the same protects that privacy provides you nor to be excluded from praise, arrest, OR ridicule], freedom of religion, but not freedom FROM religion, freedom of expression, but not freedom from the consequences of what you say, and these freedoms only exists in the government, they don't exist on private property, except your own), are the things I look for in a candidate, and what I believe needs to exist in all Americans because they are the things on which our country was founded (and throw the lazy bums out, because to coddle people is to enslave them) is it possible for you and I to agree on a candidate? Is it possible for you to agree on a candidate with the majority of Republicans, my kind, the libertarian-leaning, the anarchy-leaning, and the religious-right kind too?

If you can't agree with the majority of us, and you've seen what was a disaster Obama is, would you vote for Obama again, or would you close your eyes and pull the lever for anyone but Obama?

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 4:49AM

She is well informed and a good attorney will be. I like the tax litigation experience. I like the law and the math both in a conservative. But anyone who lacks executive experience where the stakes are high is missing a GREAT DEAL of learning without the experience. The right experience yields major pieces of judgement and wisdom that ONLY come through struggle and accomplishment. Even experience without "significant" accomplishment IS NOT enough to make one the kind of leader we need. Don't kid yourself. This country needs someone with vast experience THROUGH accomplishment and the fights one has to win to get REAL accomplishments. Otherwise it is slow going and one mistake after another. One fakeout after another. A lot of hard fought acheivements combined with creativity is very powerful. Creativity without a bank of skill sets based on real accomplishment is way too little. You've seen it with Obama.

Go to the career and job sites. Look at the $100K+ jobs or the executive positions being offered. Look at the education required and ESPECIALLY the years of EXPERIENCE required for Top Executives.

Americas tremendous economic issues need a leader with intimate knowledge, skills, and very broad accomplishments. Only a few have major depth in problem solving with great success in our political arena. Don't kid yourselves with the warm fuzzies you get from personality, beauty, and all the visual impression. Having walked the walk is where it's at.

ZAK KLEMMER | 6.16.11 @ 2:43PM

You would prefer: McCain, Dole, Bush41, Bush43, Jerry Ford, George Romney, Mit Romney? I think not! The Republicans are brain dead without M. Bachmann, Rand Paul, Ryan, Ron Paul and even Sarah Palin. May God save our country.

Ken in Tyler| 6.16.11 @ 9:00AM

Our Constitutional-loving Congressman, Louie Gohmert invited Michelle to speak here about a year ago. If I were to condense the up-close-and-personal impresson she left to one word, it would be "genuine". This is no phony whose image is being massaged by a bunch of consultants. I would trust this lady with the lives of my children and the future of our Republic.

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 9:16AM

A big plus for her is she's not shy going into enemy territory (MSM studios), and when she does she performs well.

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 10:28AM

Hear! Hear! this is also spot on! Bob -- you keep stealing my thunder! :)

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 12:16PM

Sorry. I have big hopes for her. I will never be a "follower" of Michelle but I am looking forward to rooting for her and eventually voting for her. I am crossing my fingers.

JohnC| 6.16.11 @ 9:16AM

Bachman needs to be vetted to prove she is a conservative -- they all sound conservative at election time, look at flip-flop Romney. And the conservative media spins just like the MSM. Paul Ryan is now always touted as a conservative yet a few posters here have stated he has a liberal spending record.

What is her voting record on all of Bush’s spending programs (no-child left behind, bloated highway bills, NEA funding, subsidy for farmers, wasted foreign aid, etc.)? What is her voting record on free trade giveaways that have decimated our industrial base and enriched communist China and other foreign powers? What has been her position on immigration and voting record on H1-B visas.

Would she be a strong commander-in chief? Did she vote for or against cutting defense (F22 aircraft, etc,)? Is she for or against repealing DADT? What would she do to prevent Iran from getting nukes and stopping North Korea from becoming a major nuclear threat? What are her positions on Afghanistan and Iraq? What would she do to curb China from becoming a military superpower? I hope she doesn’t waffle on these vital issues and give Cain’s weasel answer of having to first consult with the military brass.

YeloStalyn| 6.16.11 @ 12:19PM

In Cain's defense... he has stated before that without proper information that he, as a private citizen, is not privy to, he will not go out on a limb and tie himself to a foreign policy that, once said info is learned, turns out to be wrong.
THUS... in the stead of a policy, he pionts out what he would do with said information and how he would apply it in making his policy decision.

That's a rather honest and frank answer, if I do say so myself. I happen to like it. No, it's not all tough sounding like most conservativse want (I like my red meat too) but... you can't fault the guy for admitting he doesn't know everything.

irish19| 6.16.11 @ 1:00PM

Agreed. And very well put.
Note that zero, once he was actually pulled off the course long enough to be briefed, has continued many of the Bush policies he denigrated during the campaign.
Cain wants to get the facts before making a commitment. That's the smart thing to do.
Anyone who says he or she has all the answers Right Now(!) most assuredly doesn't.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:11PM

Bachmann actually is a lovely Conservative---she drives the Libs in MN crazy! Go to Thomas and check the voting record, John C.

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 4:57AM

Anybody now days using the worn out term flip-flop doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground.

There's good change and bad change. And when you really study the issues you know the good from the bad. Everybody changes and evolves.

Sometimes falsehoods are uncovered and the truth bares witness and when a little truth gets enough air time it goes a long way. Funny thing about truth.

Melvin| 6.16.11 @ 9:21AM

I pay homage to the political gods, that Bachmann and Cain will be our standard bearers. This is what the Washington D.C., RNC, DNC, and "K" Street political forces fear with every fiber of their corrupt little hearts.
The status quo has been in place for so long, that all the participating filth has set up nice little cozy little states within a state.
How the hell else can Nancy Pelosi explain her wealth increasing by 62% in a double dip recession.
Cain, Bachmann or vice a versa will be the Conservatives atomic bomb, because if either one of them is elected as President, it will send a shock wave so large, powerful, and bright that every nook and corrupt cranny in Washington D.C. that are invested with the corrupt vermin that has been feeding off the sweat of the American worker.
I hope and pray that that day comes when President Cain or President Bachmann look at Jeffery Imelt of GE and the power brokers in Wall Street and tell them, get your butts back to the end of the line, this County's small businesses that account for 80% of our workforce need to be taken care of first.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 10:10AM

And if Sarah doesn't run and throws her weight behind either of them they may just steam roll a victory bigger than Reagan's. I can hear the Libs crying now.

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:35PM

I thought only Christians were allowed to be in your club. And you pay homage to the political gods?

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:57PM

This Jew's in the Club, David. You haven't been here long, have 'ya?

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:16PM

Well, "here" is a slippery term. If you mean, I should know by your postings that you're Jewish, then not long.
If you mean "here," in terms of life experience and compassion, then I've been around a long time.

I merely highlighted the hypocrisy of the religious Right and its own version of "political correctness."

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:46PM

No, by "here" I meant posting on this site. I know what "is" is.

You do remind me of Obama---slippery, unprincipled, scumbag. Does your wife go out of her way to deny poor people care like Michelle did (M. Obama)? I have chapter and verse on that one ready for the commentary page if you wish. She is a scumbag of massive weight.

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 5:10AM

Sorry, but our American pain pushes " we the people " to get the truth. The truth is DEPTH.

WE need someone with real DEPTH of intellect born of experience through fighting to accomplish things in a context where the stakes are truly high. Gaining that kind of intellect over a period of years truly forges the leader we are looking for.

Why? Because America is in terrible shape economically. Tried, true, and tested accomplishment is of great value. Talking issues is good but that alone pales to hard fought successes after successes. That means DEPTH.

WE the people must look for and find DEPTH in our next President. Let's look past the talk and find the one with the walk.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 9:22AM

She must be sharp. You can tell how smart she is by how stupid Democrats want you to think she is.

It never ceases to amaze me - they hold up all of our leaders and putative leaders as utter dunces, and proclaim their own as geniuses (a sina qua non of the cult of personality that is central to Marxism). So they've given us as nominees Jimmy Carter, an out-and-out fool; Walter Mondale, a stolid cog, Michael Dukakis, a leftist non-entity, Bill Clinton, a sociopath, Al Gore, a moron, John Kerry, a pretentious moron and Barack Obama, a paragon of ignorance and immaturity (not withstanding Chris Matthews's pronouncement that he has an IQ of 160 - I'm willing to bet it's much closer to 110).

I think Bachmann is far better suited to save this country than Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty, who have both shown a disturbing willingness to reach across the aisle. She is a true conservative, and that's what we desperately need if we are to have a hope of surviving.

And, for my money, she's a heck of a lot easier on the eyes.

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:14AM

"Disturbing willingness to reach across the aisle"?

Seriously? You reject working with anyone who doesn't meet your ... ideology? How do you defend that position in a democracy?

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 10:35AM

David -- Do you actually believe your own drivel? If your next door neighbor was taking advantage of you and you resisted him and he suggested you "reach across the aisle" to work together -- what would you do?

Many of these politicians have historically "reached across the aisle" to steal yours and my money to enrich themselves and make themselves more powerful, hence making you and me weaker! Think man, think!!

Teaghan| 6.16.11 @ 10:37AM

Why don't you direct that question to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi?

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 10:43AM

Teaghan -- Great Point!

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:52AM

On the contrary - I do address the same question to everyone who holds public office. I hold everyone accountable to do the people's business. Gridlock in Congress is just as much the Democrats' fault as the Republicans. Right now, I'm pretty disgusted with the whole lot. That's one of the reasons why I visit here - what's the Right thinking?

But for every liberal infraction/misstep/mistake you care to name, I can name a conservative one.

Face one hard, cold fact of life as well as politics - not everyone is going to agree with you on every issue at every point.

(Witness the hand-wringing and niggling analysis of who is "really" a conservative and who deserves to even run for President.)

Politics is compromise. Despite Reagan's advice to the contrary. Always has been. Even back to the Constitution. It's give-and-take. Unless, of course, you believe that no one outside of your ideology can have a constructive idea.

I don't believe that.

As for RAMIII's parable about a neighbor (making the leap that it's valid as I've never had a neighbot reach into my wallet) - seems that you'd have 2 choices. You can build a Palin-esque palisade and sit in your protected, paranoid smugness or, if you really wanted to live where you are for the long term, try to figure out how to get along.

tonypal| 6.16.11 @ 10:58AM

Yeah, Reagan didn't know what the hell he was talking about. I guess that's why he couldn't nail down that 5oth state in '84.

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 11:06AM

David -- Our legal system is awash with "neighbourly" disputes about one person taking from another. Rarely if ever is there reaching across the aisle in these matters. That was my point.

"Reaching across the aisle" is a euphemism for "I'm going to get it my way whether you like it or not". If you cannot see that you are not paying enough attention to the facts.

You pretend to be above judgement -- but in fact you are afraid of it -- you equate the two sides without making proper distinctions and so justify your fence sitting position. That in my opinion is a most dangerous and unstable position to be in.

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 11:08AM

btw, everytime there is "Gridlock" in the halls of congress they are NOT taking more freedoms and wealth from the citizens of this great country.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:21AM

Well, I'd be the first to agree that if they're doing nothing, they're doing nothing wrong. But I think you'd agree with me that we have serious problems in this country and that we need to move forward on the solutions - together. Unless of course, your idea of secure borders extends both ways and those who don't meet your criteria are deported along with the illegals?

Above judgment? Not at all. You think I'd endure the slings and arrows of this site if that were the case?

As for fence sitting, I find both wings repulsive at this point in our history. But I do find comfort in the words I read in the Constitution, Jefferson, and Franklin and a kind of child-like wishing that the U.S. can be the place that sixth-grade social studies made it out to be.

Now it was Grmzlyk who said, " ... Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty, who have both shown a disturbing willingness to reach across the aisle."
If I substitute your definition, I get " ... Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty, who have both shown I'm going to get it my way whether you like it or not."

Which, even allowing for the grammatical weakness, makes no sense. So you're gonna have to do better than that.

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 12:22PM

David, I appreciate your point of view, but the fact that Romney and Pawlenty reached across the aisle is precisely giving the other side what THEY want. Yes the OTHER side! I strongly disagree with the direction that our marxist, socialist democrats have taken our country. I do NOT want a politician that caves in to their demands.

So then to agree with you -- I expect the democrats to begin to reach across the aisle rather than our President's belligerence and his party's consistently thuggish behavior.

I sincerely thank you for the dialogue on this topic.

Gary| 6.16.11 @ 7:16PM

David,

I understand your frustration with the current state in DC and around the country. We all share that. Wouldn't it be nice if politicians' first act wasn't to commit technical perjury by violating their oath of office?

For want of a better plan, the beginning, middle and end of my politics is the Constitution. The liberal approach is completely open-ended. Their relentless social engineering is an example.

Setting the aside the issue of legislating morals, most of the people here simply want someone in office who will check with the Constitution before pushing one more new scheme. And, that includes judges, who are the worst ones of all. They are our last line of defense and, as a whole, they're failing miserably.

CDT| 6.20.11 @ 11:24AM

Shall I remind you of "We WON" when it comes to reaching across the aisle? Shall I remind you of the last two years of Bush's term when the Democrats would not allow Bills from the Republicans to be put on the calendar?

No. I'll not be fooled into thinking the "working together" is something that is good when the Republicans do it, but bad when the Democrats do it.

The Democrats don't do it, except when the elections are looming and the poll numbers are showing high negatives. The Democrats only care when they know The People will remember come election time, and their handlers have calculations that show just how much time there is before The People forget.

I don't forget.

Never vote for a Democrat. EVER. That way you'll never regret a single vote. If you can't vote for the Republican then don't vote in that row, but NEVER vote FOR a Democrat. There may be a Democrat who is more conservative than the Republican, but if the Democrats have the majority, they'll use their majority to block every single piece of Legislation the Republicans want to bring to the floor and then say "The Republicans have no ideas and are the Party of No." They just LIE.

irish19| 6.16.11 @ 1:05PM

A small nit to pick. Reaching across the aisle should not be how you described it. It is, however, what the dhimms consider it to be.
When they ask for bipartisan support for one of their boondoggles or assaults on our rights, what they are really asking for is cover when it all goes to hell.

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 2:58PM

irish19; Ture enough. I missed that in my analysis. They are always looking for someone else to blame for their disastrous policies.

Alky| 6.16.11 @ 11:07AM

Have you EVER seen the left reach across the isle???

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 11:18AM

Do you remember when the Bush tax cuts got extended? It wasn't that long ago. That was a compromise.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 11:44AM

No that was a response to the polls they read.

Warrior | 6.16.11 @ 11:52AM

Yes, you see the hand just as it is about to sucker punch you.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 1:56PM

Gridlock in Congress is a good thing.

TrueBlue| 6.16.11 @ 2:25PM

I actually prefer them NOT compromising because then it means nothing gets done. And that means they aren't messing anything else up!!

Compromise is how we ended up where we are now. I much prefer a deadlock. The fact still remains they way the libs want to do things will NOT fix our current problems. We need people that are not willing to back down to get something passed to fix the problem without wasting money on a stupid project that isn't necessary in the name of compromise.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 10:52AM

It's not a democracy, it's a representative republic.

And there's a reason we have two parties, troll. I'm sure you wax reminiscent about the good old Soviet Union, where there was just one party, but "reaching across the aisle" is, first and foremost, generally Republicans acquiescing to liberal ideology (see the Education bill that George Bush let Teddy "the swimmer" Kennedy write - and what good will did that earn Bush? A kick in the teeth).

I'm sure you wouldn't be nearly so beatific about the history of "reaching across the aisle" if it were Democrats time and time again acquiescing to conservative ideology.

Second, in a "democracy," you take a vote and the majority wins. That's how you claim to have gotten Obama elected, remember.

"Reaching across the aisle" is nothing but elitist politicians covering their asses so nobody has to take the blame for the kleptocracy.

Buf if you're so keen on reaching across the aisle, where was the compromise in the health care bill? I believe Obama's comment was, "we won."

Where's the compromise in an issue like abortion? Kill half the kid?

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:58AM

I love the way your mind works. I believe in high school debate, we called it "reductio ad adsurdum."

Face it - what we have now doesn't work. Right Wing, Left Wing, Wing Nut. If there is a future, I'd prefer that we work on it together.
Or maybe as Rick Perry hinted, you see secession in your future.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 11:17AM

You are right!!!

What we have now, an avowed socialist little President who is creating czars who answer to no one but himself, spending money that we do not have on ridiculously impossible government schemes to take over the operation of our economy and business sectors. We have state and local governments that are spending money they don't have wilfully committing to spend ever increasing amounts of taxpayers' money on state employee unions that support the ONE party that continues to write blank checks to them. We have a country with hopelessly open borders with a Mexico in near open revolution with the government contending with multiple heavily armed organizations that appear to be winning. We are pandering to the Muslim Brotherhood which with Iran is attempting to establish hegemony over the Middle East and murder the sovereign state of Israel and gain control of the oil supplies of the region. Meanwhile, we have federal government institutions believing in a hopeless fairy tale called global warming that insists we bring mercury laden light bulbs into our homes, forgo proven available hydrocarbon resources in our own country, and requiring us to rely on unreliable renewable energy sources (Where does the electricity come from when it's cloudy or the wind doesn't blow? No WHERE. ) We have a finsancial system that is writing itself checks from one check book to cover shortages in its other checkbook.

David, you are right!! Right now what we have doesn't work. What we had thirty years ago worked better; we need to go back to LESS GOVERNMENT, MORE FREEDOM, and MORE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

Thanks for getting a clue!

David| 6.16.11 @ 12:20PM

I appreciate your sentiment but no way am I signing up for a seat on your Way Back Machine, Mr. Peabody.

Even if I could, I wouldn't trade 1981 for 2011. And that's really the point, anyway. We're here now and need to figure out the future not long for the past.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 11:18AM

I see collapse in all of our futures. Inevitable collapse. And it's going to impact self-satisfied liberals who've advocated the policies that have brought it about just as much as it's going to impact conservatives who've tried - unsuccessfully - to stand athwart history and yell "stop!"

There are two essential camps in this country: 1) more government is good; and 2) less government is good.

But that's not the way it's played out in the political arena, because politicians of both parties quickly figure out that the way to stay in power is to throw other people's money at your supporters.

Since FDR and the ascendance of Government as Great Arbiter, and since we've replaced economic decisions with political ones (as occurs in EVERY socialist economy), we have moved inexorably leftward.

So the difference between the two parties has been reduced to how much growth of government should we tolerate? Republicans have long since ceded the argument about small government - they have for 65 years been the party of Democrat lite.

There is no fixing this system- we have literally a hundred trillion dollars in commitments to entitlement programs. Guess what? There is no way on planet earth that we can get out of this, no matter how much you think government spending increases aggregate demand.

This is particularly obvious when you get government union thugs in places like Wisconsin insisting that the gravy train roll on full speed ahead for them, even as the taxpayers they are robbing struggle to make ends meet.

Regardless of who the president is, there is only one way we are going to get out of this mess: Debase the currency, which is underway now - and, incidentally, I hold Republicans responsible for this also, but only because they have acquiesced to liberal Keynesian baloney ever since the last depression.

Again, we do not need more compromise that goes like this: Democrats want to expand the government 20 pecent, and Republicans want to expand it only 5 percent. So let's do 12 percent and call it a compromise.

It ain't gonna work. Frankly, nothing is going to work, but you are obviously a typical liberal because you think Palin and Bachmann are idiots - the extent to which you believe a Republican is not an idiot is the extent to which he or she is willing to embrace the liberal flim-flam.

And what amazes me is you people never learn the lessons of history.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:46AM

Despite what you've said of me, I see a middle path. Yes, I think Sarah Palin is an idiot but I don't think that makes me a typical liberal - there have been plenty of posts on this site that aren't exactly complimentary, either. I was accused when I was in school of being a KKK member from the liberals, BTW. So ideological purity rites aren't reserved for the Right.

As for learning the lessons of history - wrong. I do know one lesson of history that is being played out right now in the Middle East - eventually the have nots go after the haves.

I do not believe all Republicans are idiots. In fact, a man I greatly respect for his intellect as well as material and financial success, is a scion of the GOP. We argue endlessly but - but Grzmlyk - we respect each other.

I think a middle path starts with not seeing the world as black and white or, as in your construction, more government is bad, less government is good.

I get the disgust and repulsion that leads to that knee-jerk division of the world. I feel the same way when I read of government contractors' fraud and waste. I feel the same way when I read that it costs $1.2 million per year to keep a single soldier on the ground in Afghanistan.

Seems that we need to examine what kind or level of government is good. Absolutely central to that examination is PAYGO. I agree. I am a fiscal and deficit hawk - understanding that the extraordinary circumstances of the past 2 years have required huge accommodation.

I absolutely believe that personal responsibility as a central rule has eroded in this country. But, again, I think we need to agree on what personal responsibility is. For example, I have a cousin who stayed on Welfare when he was perfectly employable so he could pursue his bass fishing tournament hobby. And the adminstrators let him! We all can recount these kind of examples.
(Oh, but before you go there, he's white and has a high school education.)

Or the kids I talked to in Iron River, Mich, who said they couldn't wait to get out of high school and go on unemployment so they could get their own apartment.

But I also see people like my father, who after putting in 26 years for a mega-corporation and believing in the promises made, got their insurance cut off. I see my son and his friends unable to buy even a modest house and start on their realization of the American Dream.

So, yes, Grzmlyk, I believe in the American Dream. The question is, where do we go from there?

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 12:27PM

Unfortunately, the fate of every single representative republic is the same: They morph into socialist kleptocracies and then collapse due to fiscal profligacy. And we are in the process of doing that now. Why did the Soviet Union have the largest unbroken tract of arable land on planet earth and yet no bread on grocery store shelves?

Again, in the scenario I describe above - the "small government" conservatives year after year want to put a brake on government - not its size, mind you, but its RATE OF GROWTH. You'd never know that from the hysterical whining of the liberal media, who cry that conservatives want draconian cuts to government - when what they're inevitably talking about is limiting the GROWTH.

A middle road won't cut it between those who "only" want to grow government at 5% and those who want to grow it at 20%. We are PAST THAT. We need to cut government across the board by about half just to have a chance of surviving. Whose going to volunteer to have their ox gored? NOBODY. So they'll keep kicking the can down the road, printing money, doing Quantitive Easing, inflating asset bubbles and cranking out phony statistics hoping we won't notice that our country is sliding out from under us.

And, incidentally, government has grown an additional 25% just since Obama took office. Where's the compromise? Where was the compromise in health care? Why weren't Republicans even invited to any of the negotiations?

And you may glibly call the abortion question a reductio ad absurdum, but it in fact shows the limits of compromise. If you want to vacation in Europe, and I want to vacation in Asia, the "middle road" would land us in the middle of the ocean.

What is the American Dream? How do you define it? Barney Frank and the Dems peddled the phony idea that it was home ownership via Freddie and Fannie. They cynically gave mortgages to people they knew would default. These weren't economic decisions, these were POLITICAL decisions that willfully disregarded fiscal consequences, just as every government decision disregards fiscal consequences.

The real purpose wasn't to give people homes - the real purpose was to manufacture life-long Democrat voters! That's what every "social justice" movement is really about. POWER. That's all the Democrat party is about. POWER.

That's why we're "tolerating" wholesale illegal immigration. Not because there's any moral component to it or that we want to extend the American Dream to other peoples, but because liberals want to get them on the gravy train so they'll be lifelong Dems sucking at the teat of the Nanny state.

All government moves toward redistribution of wealth. And redistribution of wealth is a cancer that brings us to where we are now. You don't seem to realize it is OVER for this country. Do the math. You remind me of the orchestra arguing on the deck of the Titanic as to which song they'll play next - hello, we'll all be in the drink in just a few minutes, and then we'll be reduced to a Lord-of-the-flies scenario.

Meanwhile, look at the "intellectuals" the Dems trot out as geniuses - i'm sorry, I'll take Obama on on any topic, any issue, any place, any time. And I'm no genius. But I do not embrace willful ignorance as he does. The man is a complete puerile fool, and it is laughable that people like Chris Matthews are bending over backwards genuflecting before his phantom brilliance.

Ever was it thus: Alger Hiss was lionized as a great man - Whitaker Chambers was demonized as a traitor. The truth was the exact opposite.

Now it is true that Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are not pseudo-intellectuals with Ivy League pedigrees. We don't need another Ivy League mental masturbator a la Paul Krugman, we need COMMON SENSE. Palin and Bachmann live in the real world and, to the extent we have a prayer of getting out of this mess, we need someone who lives in the real world - not some preening academic beholden to the political class who's never participated in America except to theorize and stuff other people's money into his own coffers - as is the case with everyone in Obama's cabinet.

I'm sorry, you don't really want compromise - again, the only reason you think you do is because all the compromise that's happened in the political arena in the last 65-70 years has been the right moving left.

That's not compromise, it's surrender in installments.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 1:58PM

Grzmlyk: your posts are excellent. Thank you.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 2:02PM

Oh, and I think your analogy about the middle of asia and europe being the ocean was a mis-step in fact. That would actually be the Ural mountains. Just saying so david doesn't drone on at an accidental straw man.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 2:27PM

Thanks, Frisbee - I actually figured that was the case, but I also figured it depends on where you start out. :-)

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 2:10PM

Which of your oxen are you willing to have gored, grizzle? You won't pay more in taxes to help with the debt that terrifies you. All you want is cuts cuts cuts, right? I think government entitlement programs are out of control and need to be curtailed. But I also think the defense spending needs to be cut, and those of us who can afford to need to pay more in taxes. According to you, that means I'm a communist traitor and a dupe of the muslim marxists who are intentionally ruining our country.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 2:40PM

You are an idiot. A cookie cutter liberal with no mind.

If I did pay more in taxes, what are the odds that would pay down the debt? ZERO. It would go to more "programs for the poor" - i.e., more slush funds for politicians who live like sultans and their pawns - while people like me struggle to make ends meet. And believe me, I'm in the lowest tax bracket you can be in.

How about having the poor pay their fare share? How about having more than half the people in this country pay taxes? if you vote, you should pay income tax. but all of you liberals are liars because whatever a "rich" person's fair share is changes from year to year. If it's 65% in 2011, you'll insist that it's 70% in 2012, then 75% in 2013, then 80% in 2014, then 85% in 2015. You believe that ALL wealth in this country belongs to the government - well, all wealth, that is, except your own. All of you socialists are capitalists when it comes to your own lives. it never, ever fails.

And you do not understand the magnitude of the problem, you simpleton: You could confiscate ALL of the wealth of every person and corporation in this country and it wouldn't pay off more than 6 months worth of our obligations. You are living in cloud cuckoo land, as liberals always do.

Everybody's ox is going to be gored - not just gored, but eviscerated. Yours too. Eventually, governments always run out of other people's money.

And we have hit the wall; the only way out - and Bernanke knows this - is inflating the currency. But let me guess - with brilliant thinkers like you - who espouse nothing but standard liberal dogma that has never worked - somehow, America's fate will be different. We'll make socialism work.

Get back to me in 5 years and tell me how all of this worked out for you.

On second thought, like all liberals, empirical evidence will never acquaint you with reality.

I know you - magical thinking is your metier, and so the causal universe must take a back seat to liberal, feel-good platitudes and a false consciousness.

People like you are the tragedy of humanity.

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 2:48PM

Sigh. I notice you ignored the part of my post where I said that we need to spend less on entitlement programs and then launched into your usual fact free rant. 50% of this country doesn't pay taxes? And you call me an idiot? And you have the chutzpah to talk about empirical evidence. Okay, grizzle. Time to put up or shut up. Using empirical evidence prove that more 50% of the country paid no taxes last year.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 3:08PM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36.....ncome-tax/

And yes, I said INCOME Tax, so don't try to be cute and talk to me about payroll taxes and sales taxes. I said INCOME TAX.

And I noticed that you didn't read any of my previous posts, nor have you addressed any of the dozen or so other points I made. No, what matters is to you is that people who aren't YOU pay more money.

I know you are a dyed-in-the wool socialist, and there's nothing to be done with narcissists like you. It's a disease.

But tell me something: Why do you think it makes you virtuous to insist that one group of people you don't know give their money to another group of people you don't know? How, exactly, does that confer moral superiority on you?

I've always wondered how that worked.

And, by the way, why don't YOU pay more? Or are you too busy feeding at the government trough to lift your head? Whatever you are paying, it ain't enough. So put your money where your mouth is.

You can start by sending ME a check.

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 3:20PM

Congrats, Grizzle. You cherry-picked the one year in the last decade or so that had the highest number of people who didn't pay federal income tax, and you were still wrong. That's quite impressive. Tell me, what happened in 2008/2009 that might have caused fewer people to have to pay income tax than in a normal year? Were there any temporary tax relief measures passed? I only ask because I'd like to know if you're intellectually dishonest or merely ignorant.

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 3:31PM

PS, I can't believe you used a lamestream media site like MSNBC to back you up. You should have known those numbers would be unreliable.

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 4:20PM

So when facts disagree with your opinon, it's the facts that are wrong. Typical socialist!

I thought you'd love that I took it from MSNBC, seeing as how it's the official organ for American socialists.

But if you could read, you'd have seen that it's actually an AP story (that's Associated Press, another liberal mouthpiece) - and it's an AP story that quotes Deloitte Tax and the Tax Policy Center in Washington.

Since you didn't read it, I'll give you the pull quote:

"The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners — households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 — paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment."

Now I know that you think you can wish inconvenient facts away, but if your own MSNBC sees fit to publish it, maybe that would make it, you know, a little more real.

So let's see your facts as to the percentage of US citizens who pay FEDERAL INCOME TAX under the current tax law.

Oh - and I'm talking about the United States of America on planet Earth, just so you know.

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 4:55PM

In 2010? I don't know if the numbers are out yet. I've read estimates that it would be around 45%. Down from the 47% in 2009. 47%, by the by, is not more than half. But hey, it's close enough for a good rant. Anyhow, let's keep going back. In 2008 it was 48.9. Again, less than more than half. But closer! In 2007, it was 37.9. 2006? 37.3. Obviously, when the economy fell apart, fewer people paid income taxes. Partly because fewer people were employed, and partly because the government passed various temporary tax breaks.

Now, let's look at the people who make up that group. The deadbeats you think are stealing your money and ruining America. 70% of those are people who work, but only pay payroll taxes. Now, everyone knows the working poor are a bunch of worthless mooches who are living high on the hog by stealing our money, but what about the other rest? 17% of them are seniors on SS. I think it's fair to call them socialist deadbeats. The remainder are students, the long term disabled, and the unemployed or those with very low taxable income.

Those working poor don't pay income taxes largely because of the earned income tax credit. This was a brainchild of a noted far left communist named Milton Friedman, and it was designed to help encourage people to work. It was so insidiously successful that it was expanded by that pinko Ronald Reagan and his politburo lickspittles Bush 41 and 43. And what's more, most people who qualify for the EITC only do so for a year or two-that is to say, they move on to paying income tax.

I know these facts don't jibe with your reactionary right wing fantasy that their are a bunch of lazy poor people lying around doing nothing but steal your money, but facts, as they say, are tricky things.

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:20PM

Let's be clear - A tax, by any other name, is a dollar that goes out of my pocket into the government's.

What I've observed at the state and national levels is that politicians (of all stripes) strut and beat their pulchritudinous chests about keeping taxes down while license fees, water and sewage rates, park visitor's fees, and virtually every other thing I need to get by goes up.

Here in Wisconsin, I note that Walker and the rest of his crew are bleating their success in keeping state government costs down. On the other hand, I regularly get job notices for contracting positions. Know why? Cuz state employee headcount only takes in full-time employees. Contractors don't count.

So, yes, let's start the conversation. I'm willing to pay 10% more in federal income tax assuming that responsible cuts - that includes social programs like the Community Action Programs AND defense - are made. It's gotta be both.

And, oh before the strawman gets blowtorched, yes, I do pay taxes, at the second highest bracket if I remember this year's return correctly.

But points for using "metier."

Grzmlyk| 6.16.11 @ 4:40PM

You're not paying your fair share, clearly.

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:48PM

Said what? What does that crack have to do with anything?

"So when facts disagree with your opinon, it's the facts that are wrong. Typical [insert title of whoever you disagree with at the moment]!

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:20PM

Let's be clear - A tax, by any other name, is a dollar that goes out of my pocket into the government's.

What I've observed at the state and national levels is that politicians (of all stripes) strut and beat their pulchritudinous chests about keeping taxes down while license fees, water and sewage rates, park visitor's fees, and virtually every other thing I need to get by goes up.

Here in Wisconsin, I note that Walker and the rest of his crew are bleating their success in keeping state government costs down. On the other hand, I regularly get job notices for contracting positions. Know why? Cuz state employee headcount only takes in full-time employees. Contractors don't count.

So, yes, let's start the conversation. I'm willing to pay 10% more in federal income tax assuming that responsible cuts - that includes social programs like the Community Action Programs AND defense - are made. It's gotta be both.

And, oh before the strawman gets blowtorched, yes, I do pay taxes, at the second highest bracket if I remember this year's return correctly.

But points for using "metier."

sleepy | 6.16.11 @ 2:56PM

2 points: the "rich" don't have enough money to pull us out of this fiscal mess, and no one is stopping them from sending every penny they have to feed the federal trough.

Ok, actually 3 points, perhaps, the "rich" being somewhat intelligent to have become "rich" would not balk too terribly at an increase ultimately in their marginal tax rates, if they saw our government actually taking steps to stop the spending madness. How about we try 4 or 5 years of actual reductions in the size of leviathon, and then, when we've proven we can control ourselves, we ask the "rich" to fork over a few pennies more.

The more I think about this idiotic government, them more I think it's run by teenagers.

Dannyboy| 6.16.11 @ 2:52PM

Great post, Grzmlyk. I couldn't agree more.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:18PM

As I told my wife the other night---"Darling, over 60% of Obama's HLS class graduating with honors (I believe it was actually 3/4.)

Her response was---"well, then, Honors have no meaning there." My Med School graduated only 15% with Honors. 15% of TCU didn't graduate Magna Cum Laude or above as I did when I graduated from it.

If you look at it, after year One Law School becomes easier, not harder. Lawyers are LEAVING Law School when MDs have just started getting exposure to Clinical practice. The difference in intellectual rigor between the two defies belief.

And Hard Science PhDs are even harder than Med School.

The Majority of Legislators are Lawyers who went to less rigorous Law Schools than HLS. And we wonder at the stupid laws passed?

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:35PM

So we need only intelligent people - say, for instance you - to make laws?

That certainly leaves out W. Wasn't he the one who proudly pointed out his mediocre GPA and said something to the effect that the world is run by C average people?

By your criterion, Palin is certainly not to be considered.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:52PM

His SAT was in the mid 1200s. W liked to hide his intelligence.

Lawyers tend to be morons, David. There are exceptions,---RCV comes to mind, as does Bachmann, but the majority are idiots.

Incidentally, no, I don't think that genius should determine voting---I'm closer to Heinlein's perspective, under which, incidentally, I would not be qualified to vote.

Palin is, I think, brighter than you give her credit for. Obama is considerably more stupid than you think. A girlfriend of mine was a Truman scholar who made Law Review at Michigan. The President of the YAF chapter where I was VEEP graduated from HLS a few years before Obama. The President of my Dorm at TCU was a Truman scholar who went on to graduate from Yale Law and is a Texas Superlawyer now.

I have a really good idea on how top lawyers think and reason, and not one of them could have completed my med school class. Sorry. I, on the other hand, with a stratospheric MCAT/SAT/ACT (I didn't take the LSAT as I wanted med school) and a perfect non-science GPA, could have easily crushed Law School.

It's not just intelligence---you want social responsibility. Most attorneys and legislators I know have neither.

David | 6.16.11 @ 6:02PM

Umm, Oc, old buddy, my mother was an attorney.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:49PM

Dear David, you keep PROVING MY POINT. As a Jewish kid, I had a few relatives who were attorneys, too. The MDs were much smarter, even the Liberals; take, for example, my cuz Sir Jonathan Miller.

CDT| 6.20.11 @ 11:30AM

Did you drop a dime on your friends? That's where you start.

Joan of Snark | 6.16.11 @ 1:47PM

You don't. The United States of America is a federal republic.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 4:59PM

David, when every "reach across the aisle" is met with a kick to the groin, a la Obama, you stop reaching.

You are a bit slow, aren't you? Not exactly Mensan class (unlike, say, me!)

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:22PM

I suggest your comments are closer to menses than mensan.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:45PM

See, David, putting me down with a reference to the feminine. How your wife of 35 years will love that!

David, unlike you, I snagged my Doctorate before I turned 26.

David| 6.16.11 @ 6:09PM

True. I was busy making a living and raising a family at 26. Now I have the luxury of pursuing my Master's and then on to my doctorate. From time to time, I do regret not getting an advanced deree earlier. But that was the hand that was dealt.

And I've known a lot of stupid people with a string of letters after their name. There are times when earning that sheepskin says more about ambition than brains.

S&WM;&P| 6.16.11 @ 11:00PM

btw, Phd.--piled higher and deeper!

S&WM;&P| 6.16.11 @ 10:57PM

Please stop calling my country, The United States of America a DEMOCRACY! My country is a Republic. A Republic does not reach decisions by 50/50 votes, it makes it decisions by RULE of LAW. That law is the greatest document ever written--The US Constitution. When the people on the other side of the aisle start following the rule of law as found there, then I'd say reach across. However, the enemy on the other side does not see the Constitution as the framework for all decisions made to better these States. That's how I defend that position in a Republic!

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 5:19AM

....better suited to save this country than Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty...

I am conservative, but the conservatism is only a position or stance. We need someone full of the Right dynamics and right mechanics to do an executives job in the WH. A seasoned person with the RIGHT experience and accomplishments IS always the better choice. Michelle needs much, much more of that to add to her intelligence..... She is absolutely not ready yet.

Louis Tully| 6.16.11 @ 9:27AM

Michelle's decision to hire Establishment hit-man Ed Rollins to run her campaign was a big red flag for me.

This happened about the same time that Faux News, CNN and MSNBC started hyping her.

If she runs to beat the RINOs, she could do well. If she's running with them, she's going nowhere.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 10:11AM

Who better to know how to attack the Establishment than a Establishment hit man?

daboss| 6.16.11 @ 10:13AM

i agree ... i was surprised she hired him too. Not a big fan of Mr. Rollins.

W| 6.16.11 @ 4:10PM

Rollins ran the 1984 campaign for Reagan. He was on for Perot, then quit. He ran MR. Huffington, known to Ariana as "defendant" in the divorce, and wrote an article stating Ariana is crazy. He ran Christina Whitman in NJ, got fired after winning because he bragged about keeping the black vote down. He is interesting and smart.

Noah| 6.16.11 @ 9:28AM

Michelle Bachmann is great, Ludwig von Mises is great, Milton Friedman is only partly great. The Austrians used the full range of intellectual tools to formulate their theories on economics, but the Monetarists dared not depart from the boundary of empiricism and thus cannot argue sufficiently with the Keynesians because they cede the orignal premise that only what we can count matters. For example, the subjective theory of value is inherently unmeasurable but unmistakeably true: a thing is worth what a person will pay for it regardless of how much its inputs cost. The modern economic assumption of mathematically rational optimizers is obviously incomplete, just look at the junk in your own home you bought because of a whim or some other 'irrational' reason. At the time, however, it met some kind of perceived value. When Bachmann told Stephen Moore in the WSJ she reads von Mises at the beach, she moved way up in my estimation. Plus she, like Sarah Palin, ticks off all the right sort of people. No tingle up Chris Matthews' leg when she comes up, but a twinkle in her eye when she's on his show.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 10:58AM

Do I understand you to say that the subjective theory of value states that value is immeasurable? Then how can anyone ever purchase anything if they cannot measure its value?

And monetarists seem to hold that money is nothing but another commodity with a value set primarily by the available supply and current demand. Again, everybody in the market must have some way of determining their valuation of that purchased or they would not purchase it.

Keynesians are the empiricists, not monetarists.

You gotta remember the fundamentals.

C Smith| 6.16.11 @ 9:29AM

"... Every decision that I make I pray about as does my husband and I can tell you, yes, I've had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do...." (Michele Bachmann during a dialog with Iowa Public Television).

Reminiscent of another dialog between good and evil:

"And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S..." (1Samuel 17:43-47).

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:38AM

Holy Fright. You're actually equating Michele Bachmann with David of the Bible?

This country is in serious trouble.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 10:43AM

No, David, you are.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:08AM

Oh, do tell. Do detail what trouble I'm in.

Or are you going to tell me you're going to put a "hollow point in my temple" as one of the luminaries here offered to do?

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 11:20AM

DAvid;

I am getting worried about you. You are hoping I direct you to kill yourself. I will not - I will suggest you sit down and think about what is important to you and how to achieve it.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:48AM

Wow. Pyschoanalysis. Lucy would be so proud.
And poor reading. I was referring to the regular death threats posters here send me.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 2:07PM

So far, the only death threat I saw you receive was from yourself. Are you schizophrenic?

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:22PM

Are you listening? I said a poster on this site made the threat.
Or is your handle a metaphor for your IQ?

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:21PM

Frisbee---Dissociative Identity Disorder. The "split mind" in Schizophrenia refers to ambivalence, not a split personality.

Sorry, dude. You're awesome. Pet professional peeve.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:20PM

David,

don't flatter yourself. I haven't seen any death threats directed at you, ever. Why bother? You're a pygmy.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:24PM

And your point is?

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 5:46PM

Err, You're a pygmy.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:56PM

Thank you , Bob, for reinforcing my point (positively and well); and thank you, David, for reinforcing my point (as Hedley Lamarr would do).

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 6:04PM

No problem. This David is just some new sad troll that one must deal with from time to time.

Sigh, such is the life of a commenter.

David| 6.16.11 @ 6:32PM

Bobbyboy, you're back! See, I knew you couldn't resist. Even if it's to reinforce infantile namecalling.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 7:00PM

Let's see, David, let me make it easy, and keep the words small---

"You. Are. Not. Worth. The.Kill.

Your. Brain. Is. Too. Small.

I. Would. Have. To. Throw. Back."

Got It? (Was that OK, Bob?)

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 7:14PM

Occam,

I'm afraid that's a lot of info for his - shall I say - Pygmy-like prefrontal cortex to process.

You might want to break it up in even smaller chunks.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 10:48PM

I'll try, sir. But that will be hard. Most of the words were only two or three letters. (Note, I kept this easy for him to follow.)

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 11:16AM

Even IF what you say is correct, your boy has lowered the standard for presidents so low that standards cease to exist.

By any measure, Rep. Bachmann couldn't possibly do a better job of destroying the country.

Keep this inconvenient truth in mind when posting your absurd comments. This will be my last to you.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:49AM

Aw, c'mon, bobbyboy, ya gotta admit it's fun.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:58PM

Dear David,

I don't mind slapping you around a bit, literarily. You have the verbal boxing skills of Primo Carnera, and his boxing "jaw" verbal equivalent, too.

W| 6.16.11 @ 7:45PM

Primo Carnera! I saw him as a "rassler" in the 60's.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 10:49PM

Primo Carnera is also in Hercules Unchained, as Antaeus, which is an excellent MST3K, available on streaming video from NetFlix.

P.S. Herk kicked his ass there, too.

W| 6.17.11 @ 8:00AM

Didn't Anthony Quinn play a character based on Carnera, about a boxer who takes a dive, then ends upas an "indian rassler

dudette| 6.16.11 @ 9:39AM

I just wish Bachmann would lose that loser Ed Rollis who attacked Palin the firt day out. that was unnecessary. She really doesnt need him and could do better. I dont want any fight at all between these 2 goddesses!

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 2:08PM

Wasn't that a fake story on politico?

dudette| 6.16.11 @ 9:40AM

sorry, Ed ROLLINS and first...typos

Ken (Old Texican)| 6.16.11 @ 9:48AM

You know Emmett?
Bachman declaring is going to make this a fascinating time.

It seems to me that this changes the whole paradigm in Sarah's mind. I believe Michelle just might be peachy in Sarah's opinion. We shall see.

I also know Sarah thinks the world of our Governor Perry and vice versa.

So...these three being mutually supportive of each other may very well own the whole show.

You know, I have often thought that Sarah's prayer has been "If it be thy will, please let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, thy will be done."

Ken (Old Texican)| 6.16.11 @ 9:56AM

Emmett,
I am referring of course to the Agean stables nightmare confronting the next President and Congress.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 10:47AM

Ken, dude!

Remember, that cup did NOT pass! Lucky for us!

And I say it would be lucky for us again!

DH

PS Anyone thinking about my deifying any mortal human is confused.

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 11:22AM

With all due respect, Sarah's opinion on who will be the suitable candidate means nothing.

The truth is, whatever political cache Sarah had has diminished to next to nothing.

The campaign has passed her by so my suggestion to her would be to do her part to support whomever the candidate is to ensure Obama is booted out on his jug ears.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 11:29AM

Gee, Bob, did you miss all the MSM fire and fury over Sarah's bus trip two weeks ago? Have you noticed from under your rock that Geico can save you money on your car insurance?

Sheesh. Don't you know natural leadership, when you see it? (That's what it looks like! Remember "Death panels?" Remember Sarah's palm teleprompter?)

Bob Grant| 6.16.11 @ 12:19PM

...and that quitting thingy.

irish19| 6.16.11 @ 1:19PM

zero effectively quit his Senate term two years in to concentrate on his next campaign. It didn't seem to hurt him any. Palin quit because she decided she couldn't give the governorship (sic) the attention it deserved with all the frivolous lawsuits that kept popping up like 'shrooms after a rainfall.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 2:16PM

Resigning can be the right thing to do whether for personal or state reasons. A good leader would never put appearance before truth.

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 9:54AM

Should be interesting to see what the country makes of Mr. Bachmann.

Frisbee| 6.16.11 @ 2:21PM

"Us" magazine will run cover after cover of tawdry non-scandals.

"Michele B, S*x, and Babies - What's Next"

"Inside: Photos of Super Mom... opening a Soup Can?"

"Shocker: Michele and Hubby Can't Agree on Paint Color"

DRed| 6.16.11 @ 2:36PM

I know you'll all pile on me, but what don't you think the news media is going to do with him? An anti-gay Christian therapist who believes that gays need to be 'disciplined' who also seems a bit, well, not so ruggedly heterosexual? Have we not seen this before?

bako62| 6.16.11 @ 9:57AM

I'm excited about the Bachmann candidacy but am waiting...waiting for Palin to decide what she is going to do. As of now they siphon votes from each other. On the same team they would be a force to be reckoned with stand a better chance of defeating the Rino candidates.

Louis Jenkins| 6.16.11 @ 10:07AM

Mrs. Bachmann is a full cut above Romney. One debate and Romney is the man according to MSM. I do not think so. Allow her to begin campaigning and thought formation, although she's already done most of that, but at least allow her to finish polishing her image. Bachmann is already far more appealing than Romney.

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:08AM

"That is the proper sequence of events: raise a family, enter public life."

Every time I think I can't be outraged more by the commentators on this site - out comes something outrageworthy.

And this after using "pulchritudinous" as your headline. I'm sure you whipped out your trusty dictionary to come up with this one. And I'm sure you can defend the usage using that dictionary.

But it's the connotation as well as the denotation that has to be accounted for. And this is USDA Prime sexism - not to mention disrespectful to Palin and Bachmann. If this is your idea of a "family value," then the whole concept needs to re-thought.

I hardly know where to start - Does this edict apply only to women? If so, Sarah really ought to devote more time to her special needs child and stop annoying the rest of us.

Are you sure you used a computer? This kind of sentiment should have gone out with quills, candles, and parchment.

If you expect to win in 2012, this kind of attitude needs to go back to ancient history.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 10:17AM

Thanks David. Your reaction is exactly what Mr. Tyrrell was looking for. Yes, I had to look that word up but then again, so what? You might have wanted to look it up to and you wouldn't have made the comments about this being sexist or only applying to women. I did the heavy lifting for you and as you can see it is a synonym for handsome as well. In other words, yes, you can use it to describe men as well.

Having qualities that delight the eye: attractive, beauteous, beautiful, comely, fair, good-looking, gorgeous, handsome, lovely, pretty, ravishing, sightly, stunning. Scots bonny. Idioms: easy on the eyes. See beautiful/ugly.

Liberal Troll

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:30AM

As usual, you pulled out only the parts of my post to snipe. I agree with you on the connotation but it's the denotation that troubles me.

And, seriously, have you EVER heard the word applied to a man? C'mon, this site touts common sense as a primary value.

That combined with the "proper sequence" ordained by this guy shows that attitudes haven't evolved much beyond the knuckle-dragging phase.

Intolerant Right Winger.

David| 6.16.11 @ 10:34AM

Ooops. In my frenzy, I reversed connotation with denotation.

See? Unlike a lot of people, posting here, I can acknowledge a mistake.

Feast on that one, carrion pickers.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 10:55AM

Yes, I picked out pieces because that sumed up your whole rant. And yes I AM A INTOLERANT RIGHT WINGER, I am intolorant of being called racist because I disagree with someone that happens to be a different color, of being called a sexist because I happen to disagree with our compliment a person of a different sex. I don't hear you screaming about all the lefty articles noting Mitt Romney's movie star looks. Be a realist, it todays political arena and our societies American Idol mentality of the general public do you honestly think looks do not play a factor in some part of a canidates success? Take off your blinders. If you object to Michelle Bachman or any of Mr. Tyrells points about her political strenghts that by all means, note them. But to immediately attach a superficial adjective rather than the serious points of the canidate is weak. Have a nice day, Liberal Troll

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:01AM

Who called you a racist? Stick to the subject.

Yes, way too many people make up their minds on a candidate's looks. As for Romney, I prefer not to think of him, period.

And you STILL haven't addressed the "proper sequence" issue.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 11:11AM

I didn't address it on purpose. It believe he was suggesting it is the proper sequence for anybody. I also believe you viewed it as him saying it was the proper sequence for women. Why do I believe that? Because you took offense, just as most liberals see things in the terms of race or sex. Not the merits of the idea. Raise a family and then put your energy into the public service. You can't devote 100% of your energies to more than one thing at a time. Family should come first. We as a country would be better off.

skip| 6.16.11 @ 1:25PM

What if a candidate for president was covered head to toe with tattoos, covered head to toe with piercings, and sported a fuscia colored mohawk hair style? Would it be acceptable to make up one's mind based on this look?

How much longer will it be acceptable to make up one's mind on anybody based on how they 'look' using as criteria only the level of intelligence and honesty they've displayed? Increasing this seems to violate a political correctness involving diversity and tolerance based on relativity alone to the exclusion of any absolutes.

To me, for instance, you 'look' like a liberal troll looking to just cause trouble, who in this thread alone has posted thousands of words stating the need for solutions to the problems facing the nation, while offering no solution other than for conservatives to reach across the aisle in compromise with liberals who are the very individuals who've exacerbated the problems that need to be solved.

To me, you 'look' to be one who so far has at best displayed quasi-intelligence and pseudo-honesty, based on the arguments you have presented, and in my mind you will not be able to improve upon this assessment.

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:47PM

Oh. Solutions? You're really interested in solutions instead of cutesy little barbs?
1. End the war in Iraq. Honor the dead and heal the wounded.
2. End the war in Afghanistan. Honor the dead and heal the wounded.
3. Raise the retirement age to 68. We Boomers aren't really good at sitting around anyway.
4. Put an index on the top tax level for Social Security instead of an arbitrary dollar figure like we have now.
5. Abolish the Federal Reserve system and start over with a central bank based on transparency and Congressional/Executive accountability.

How's that for a start?

skip| 6.16.11 @ 2:11PM

While generally, it confirms my previous comments, I confess I did not expect, specifically, an attempt that cannot be called even quasi-intelligent or pseudo-honest, can only be charitably called emotional prattle devoid of reason and experience.

'Just say no to war' and 'make congress and the president more accountable and transparent'?

What, no 'reduce waste and fraud'?

Where have I heard this before?

It worked for the dithering idiot liar in chief in 2008. I don't believe the lying idiotic ditherer will try it again. But you just did.

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:26PM

So instead of engaging on the specifics, you dismiss because it might endanger some cherished preconceptins?

So, c'mon, Skip, your turn. Put up or shut up. Either one is good with me.

skip| 6.16.11 @ 5:10PM

No, silly, what I did was devastatingly discredit your credibility, and I did so with ease.

Specifically, health insurance can be structured to be no different to purchase than it is to purchase auto insurance, home insurance, or life insurance.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:26PM

You did none of those things except achieve some verbal gymnastics.

skip| 6.16.11 @ 6:33PM

I stand corrected.

Your last post established you can devastatingly discredit your own credibility with every bit the ease I can.

Way to engage in the specifics.

Dan Hirsch| 6.16.11 @ 10:51AM

David;

Find yourself a straight 40 something American woman and ask her if she thinks George Clooney is pulchritudinous.

As to your name calling, I note that you are calling critics carrion pickers. Are you calling yourself carrion? We're not.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:03AM

Oh, I've been called far worse. Even some imaginative epithets.

My point about carrion was that I mixed up 2 words and I was sure that would become an issue rather than the central point - Emmett believes that a woman's (not a man's) "proper sequence" is family, then public service. That is repugnant.

Wayne | 6.16.11 @ 11:23AM

What is repugnant is putting words in someones mouth. They calling those words repugnant.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 7:07PM

The Times of London:

"From The Times July 27, 2005

Sorry, girls. The hunks are bannedBy Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter
Drinks companies have been ordered to hire paunchy, balding men for advertisements to meet new rules forbidding any link between women’s drinking and sex. Watchdogs have issued a list of undesirable male characteristics that advertisers must abide by in order to comply with tougher rules designed to separate alcohol from sexual success.

Lambrini, the popular sparkling drink, is the first to suffer. Its manufacturers have complained after watchdogs rejected its latest campaign because it depicted women flirting with a man who was deemed too attractive.

The offending poster featured three women “hooking” a slim, young man in a parody of a fairground game scene. Harmless fun to lead its summer campaign, Lambrini argued.

But the Committee of Advertising Practice declared: “We would advise that the man in the picture should be unattractive — overweight, middle-aged, balding etc.”

The ruling continued: “We consider that the advert is in danger of implying that the drink may bring sexual/social success, because the man in question looks quite attractive and desirable to the girls. If the man was clearly unattractive, we think that this implication would be removed.”

The ruling comes after ministers’ warnings to the drinks industry to take measures to tackle binge-drinking or face legislation.

The new CAP code instructs that “links must not be made between alcohol and seduction, sexual activity or sexual success”. Romance and flirtation are not forbidden but adverts must not be aimed at the under-18s or use celebrities in a “sexy” or “cool” manner.

The Bacardi adverts that turned Vinnie Jones into a “party animal” would now be banned, and the measure could affect George Clooney’s £2.5million deal to advertise Martini.

The similarly desirable Brad Pitt reportedly earned £4 million for his recent Heineken advert, which was shown mainly in America. However, the family-sized Peter Kay will presumably be approved to retain his John Smith’s contract.

Lambrini’s makers complained that the ruling was offensive to a large tranche of the male population. Are Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Sean Connery and Ray Winstone unattractive to women, the company asked? John Halewood, the Lambrini owner, said: “The watchdog makes some very understandable rulings to encourage sensible drinking but we’re not sure they’re qualified to decide for the nation who’s sexy and who’s not. “Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.” Lambrini has now recreated its advert employing a balding, male figure whose lack of PULCHRITUDE [emphasis mine---OC] has proved acceptable to the watchdog."

Damn, David, I'm good. Occam shoots, he scores! Nothin' But Net!

JP| 6.16.11 @ 11:24AM

Mothers belong with thier children -at least through the first 6 years. And yes, that means that Palin isn't quite as conservative as many believe.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:51AM

What about fathers?

JP| 6.16.11 @ 3:43PM

Fathers have a responsibility to provide for thier families. Infants and small children do not "need" thier fathers; they do need what thier fathers can provide. Infants and small children physically need thier mother's presence 24x7. This was common knowledge until just a few decades ago -before the "experts" got involved.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:55PM

Hey, this expert knows that. That is precisely the way my Mensan wife is raising our children.

R. Woods| 6.16.11 @ 10:22AM

Whoever is the GOP candidate they will have to pull the campaign cart by themselves unlike Obama in the last election that had every "lamestream" media host and pundit pushing his cart and casting rose petals along the path to his election.

Kristal| 6.16.11 @ 10:32AM

“Michelle, ma belle, sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble”

So goes the 52nd most heard song of the last century.

May the past be prologue.

Hey, for all you older farmers out there, also don’t forget---

Bachman, Turner, Overdrive!

“Taking care of business, working overtime”

Twenty-three foster children!

That’s some OVERTIME!

I predict that over time, to wit the next crucial months leading up to the election of a GOP nominee, the aptly named Michelle, ma belle, will grow on the conservative electorate, and before too long, we’ll have shown the world why America is STILL the most amazing country EVER---

The first woman president, who’s a Constitution Firster!

Mike| 6.16.11 @ 10:35AM

Emmett is in love!

RAMIII| 6.16.11 @ 10:41AM

Yes he was gushing somewhat, but that does not diminish the merits of Michelle Bachman!

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 10:57AM

Exactly but expect David to attack anyway.

David| 6.16.11 @ 11:10AM

Attack? What's to attack? Wait - was that a shot heard around the world in New Hampshire? Is that an attack?

JimH| 6.16.11 @ 11:07AM

Our friends at NR, in an article on their website point out that Bachmann’s position on ethanol has been at best, ambiguous and to me, troubling.
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....ina-trinko

Mike| 6.16.11 @ 11:12AM

I await further comments about Bachmann from the Committee for Ideological Purity. There is more. Keep digging.

DaveD| 6.16.11 @ 11:42AM

It is extraordinarily difficult for a farm-belt congress critter to vote against the ethanol subsidy. Especially one whose district is largely rural as is Bachmann's. So cur her some slack on this one.

Besides which, ethanol is NOT the number one problem facing America today - it doesn't even make the top ten.

JimH| 6.16.11 @ 1:03PM

I’m not saying I couldn’t support her and no candidate is going to be perfect. I do think this is something people should be aware of and weigh in the balance when deciding which candidate to support. I can see her supporting the subsidy because of her constituency, though not all similar congresscritters do so. I am not happy about her voting to mandate the increased percentage of ethanol used in fuel and using tax dollars to build special fuel pumps at gas stations though.

JohnC| 6.16.11 @ 11:23AM

#Numbers USA gave her a B-plus#. But what exactly are her views on border enforcement and what has she previously supported? Has she supported E-Verify for employers?

Wayne | 6.16.11 @ 11:25AM

I find those grades to be a bit bizarre frankly. I think Cain has a D.

Wayne | 6.16.11 @ 11:32AM

I loved the comments Bachmann made to Chris Matthews on election night. She asked him if he still had that tingle in his leg. He then started whining and she just ignored him. Matthews is more woman than man anyway and when he gets shrill, he hits a high c.

Romney seems to get no criticism from the left wing media signaling that he is their preferred GOP candidate. Like Mc Cain, he would be soft on Obama, making him look credible. Bachmann is more like Palin and would get under Obama's skin. Look for the more attacks against her. The pitch is to make her look unelectable as they have Palin.

idalily| 6.16.11 @ 7:42PM

Wayne, with all due respect, please do not insult women everywhere by putting Chris Matthews anywhere near our camp. Chris Matthews is a lot of things, but saying he is "more woman than man" is an insult to women. We are nowhere near as soft as Matthews. Now if you wanted to compare him to slugs, or amoebas, ok.

DaveD| 6.16.11 @ 11:51AM

Wow, two credible candidates for the Presidency from fly-over country and both of them pulchritudinous. And to top it off, either one of them is miles ahead of the bozo we currently have.

However, I am not personally looking forward to the traffic jams and barely concealed uzis when the next President flies home for Christmas.

I'm also wondering if the Secret Service has wised up any about Minnesota. When Mondale ran for president, they put their agents into the crowd wearing flannel shirts and bib overalls in order to "blend in" - what a hoot that was.

David T| 6.16.11 @ 12:26PM

Michele is pulchritudinous in so many ways, but she does have some splainin' to do on the ethanol question.

YeloStalyn| 6.16.11 @ 12:32PM

She appeared on my radar when watching the Congressional hearings over the AIG bonuses being dictated by the Zero's administration. Of all the speeches, hearings, etc. I've ever watched of politicians she was the first who I heard ask, "Where, in the Constitution, do you get the power to do what you did?"

That did it for me. I was in love.

Ken (Old Texican)| 6.16.11 @ 12:32PM

looks are skin deep...
Pulchritude goes all the way to the bone.
Sarah and Michele are pretty all the way to the bone.
God bless 'em.

Ken (Old Texican)| 6.16.11 @ 12:37PM

The one thing I like about Sarah... "Momma Grizzleys"... "screw with my kids ...I punch the big red button on your butts!"

...Do you guys get it yet?
www.txbooks.blogspot.com

Dacron Mather| 6.16.11 @ 12:38PM

Kristal,

Michelle? Quelle telle?
Ils sont mots d'une
Infernelle
Helas, Kristal

David| 6.16.11 @ 1:48PM

Well done. Neatly put.
(Aren't you afraid of using a foreign language on this Web site of xenophobes?)

Mike| 6.16.11 @ 3:59PM

Oui, mon ami.

Exactement mis pensees

Peter Hof | 6.16.11 @ 1:33PM

Emmett is right. By pinpointing the Community Reinvestment Act as the beginning of our housing meltdown and saying that "all roads lead to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Michele Bachman shows that she understands the problem. She may be more impressive than we know.

WakeUpAmerica| 6.16.11 @ 1:34PM

Yes, a few more debates and she will degenerate into her verbal nonsense such as: where the first shot of the Revolutionary War was fired, members of Congress should be investigated for their loyalty to America, and don't fill out the census because that's how the gov. was able to round up the Japanese Americans in WWII and put them in concentration camps. Hilarious that she is afraid to debate a 16-year-old on American history and the Constitution. Bachmann is an anti-science Dominionist pure and simple. She encourages the dumbing down of America. And don't forget Miss I-Am-Against-Entitlements receives a healthy handout from the government for not growing crops on the family farm. Oh yeah, it's true.

Oldefarte| 6.16.11 @ 1:35PM

Bachmann nailed it concerning the cause of our current economic collapse being the CRA of 1977 and its enhancements coming from Fannie/Freddie etc!!!!!!!!!!!

FRED GRANT| 6.16.11 @ 1:36PM

we need some one like bachman..i wont support mitt romney or jon huntsman ..they are both mormans.if they get elected the morman church will be running our country..thats not good..dont let it happen america..never vote for a morman.they are a cult.only about money and power..check them out on the web

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 4:24PM

That's the same crap the said about Kennedy and Catholics. If your not going to support someone, fine. But give the "Evil" religon crap a rest already. What's next, going to bash Israel and the Jews?

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:28PM

That was amazingly even-handed, DS. Well said.
See? We can agree on something. That's progress.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 4:49PM

Even a broke clock is right twice a day.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:28PM

And then you take it away again. *sigh*

Was that an Obama kick to the groin for reaching across the aisle?

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:02PM

No, he's noting that you are correct, David.

For example, let's take Madonna. I love her view on Israel and her view on international adoptions. I can't stand the rest of her views. Right twice a day.

I have no problems with Romney's Mormonism. I have lots of problems with RomneyCare.

somnolence| 6.16.11 @ 1:45PM

The Mormons are fine people. You need to save your wrath for Jehovahs Witnesses, Scientologists, and Moslem extremists. That doesn't mean I'm going to support Romney, however. Palin, Bachmann, Cain, Santorum are acceptable to me.

somnolence| 6.16.11 @ 1:46PM

Ezra Taft Benson was one of the greatest patriots this country ever produced, and he was a proud Mormon. I couldn't be a devout member of their denomination because I wouldn't give up caffeine.

ernie giudici| 6.16.11 @ 1:47PM

I agree with your comment on Michelle Bachman,she came out smelling like a rose in the debate.I have admired her since she came on the scene.Already the left(NOW,"Holy Mary Maureen Dowd) are back to their old trick,s blasting and mocking a conservative woman like they did and continue to do with Sarah Palin.Ms Bachman may not get to the top of ticket(hope she doe,s),but would be a great running mate for ever doe,s."You Go Girl"
Ernie Giudici
Eastampton,NJ
P.S.Also a Chris Christie supporter.

Great! God Almighty| 6.16.11 @ 1:49PM

Bachmann did very well in her maiden voyage. It helped her that she was able to give her introduction and announcement the first time on the national stage. She has a compelling story.

It will get harder from here. She will now be vetted and every word will be scrutinized. Being a female conservative will necessitate a short honeymoon by the media hounds.

Speaking of which, it's interesting to see the media and liberal pundits building Bachmann up. The cynic in me smells a foul fish. After all, guys like Chris Matthews suddenly tingling over Bachmann after openly mocking her for years reveals the intentions behind the praise. The media is trying to pit her as the anti-Palin.

Fox News is not much different. Bachmann is a quality and inspiring person, but she doesn't walk on water based on one debate 18 months before the election.

If you've followed the media and punditry, they would like nothing more than a girl-fight. Fortunately, Bachmann and Palin are the adults in the room.

This is for one or two reasons. Either to push Palin into making an announcement earlier than she would like or to have them minimize one another, while the media and pundits stand back and mock from the sideline.

Bill Keller in his NY Times, "Tom and Jerry" op/ed describes the Palin-media contest. What is creepy about the article is how he ascribes motives to Palin that he would not know. It's all a game for these cynics. Bachmann, if she gains traction, especially if Palin doesn't run, will become the next Tom or Jerry.

Patrick| 6.16.11 @ 1:52PM

If not President, she would make a great VP candidate. She is a lot smarter than the crazy things she has said on the past. Doubt she'll make any of these types of statements going forward.

John | 6.16.11 @ 2:01PM

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann has the most conservative credential among the GOP Presidential hopeful in the debate. She is passionate and solid when it comes to fiscal and social issues as well as the foreign policy. She could be the second person who could beat Obama and take back country form the liberal zombies. I sure will vote for her if she continues her campaign with a clear vision and strategy. We pray and hope for Michelle Bachmann.

Susan| 6.16.11 @ 2:02PM

I am waiting for Bachmann to explain her reasons for hiring her campaign manager Ed Rollins who in a Feb 10, 2011 CNN oped declared Bachmann as "third tier" and "not a serious Republican contender in the long run"

If "third tier" Bachmann's own campaign manager Ed Rollins believes that Bachmann is "not a serious Republican contender in the long run" then how am I to believe she can seriously defeat Obama?

I cannot support any candidate who begins their campaign already defeated by entering at the lowest point of weakness.

Rep Bachmann, please explain your irrational decision.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 4:26PM

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Sun-tzu
Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)

JimH| 6.16.11 @ 6:28PM

I thought it was that noted Irish thinker Marky O'Velly

Strider| 6.16.11 @ 10:30PM

Was that Sun Tzu or Michael Corleone?

No doubt Obama had that advice in mind when he made Hillary his secretary of state.

Joan of Snark | 6.16.11 @ 2:05PM

My take on Michele's announcing her candidacy is that it means that Sarah is not going to run. Sarah has found her perfect niche as a private citizen calling out the crimes of the federal government and would have Michele's back in a big way. So big the GOP will have to sit up and take notice and thereby we can expect another influx of "Tea Party conservatives" in Congress in 2012.

As for Herman Cain, VP would be good but I prefer Col. Allen West. Otherwise Jim DeMint would be the best choice of all if he can't be convinced to run himself.

Charles Martel| 6.16.11 @ 2:07PM

"Pulchritudinous". Like "gargantuan", one so rarely gets to use it in a sentence.

Most of the commentators I've read or heard have designated a winner of that debate, and most of those have attached that label to Michelle Bachmann. I concur.

This should be interesting. People are going to forget Mitt Romney. I already have.

+++

surfcitysocal| 6.16.11 @ 2:07PM

Pulchritudinous? Really? She didn't garner my attention last year because of her "pulchritudinousness", but because I liked what she had to say and has continued to say. More importantly, she's the only one who can beat Obama. If the Republican party relies on good ol' establishment Plastic Man Romney, Gingrich or a host of other snoozefest candidates, then an Obama reelection is guaranteed.

Enzo McPhee| 6.16.11 @ 2:18PM

but she's an idiot, with almost no grasp of law or government or much else.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 4:31PM

Really? She has a Master's Law degree. Worked as a tax accountant( has a L.L.M. degree in tax law from William and Mary Law School), sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and you think she is clueless? Go back and try again.

jd| 6.16.11 @ 2:26PM

I'd vote for Bachmann over Palin anyday!

Cat Attack| 6.16.11 @ 3:17PM

Why? Is Sarah too Christian for ya?
Meeeoooww.

lanahi| 6.16.11 @ 2:48PM

It sure would have been helpful if Bachmann had some executive experience. This is why we like to elect former governors...the same skill sets are needed for that as it is president. And I just cannot see Bachmann standing up against the whole rotten governmental system in DC. Palin has been very vetted in the way the MSM likes to do with conservatives, neither Bachmann nor any of the others have gone through that yet. Whoever is our nominee will have to endure it, Palin already has.

Gwawr| 6.16.11 @ 2:52PM

"That is the proper sequence of events: raise a family, enter public life." So, it's okay for a woman to raise a family first, then enter public life, but it's okay for a man to enter politics early on? Yeah, I have problems with this. And it's called the double standard.

Drunken Sailor| 6.16.11 @ 4:32PM

The world is full of double standards. Just beause it is a double standard does not mean it isn't for a good reason or even true. The world isn't fair, not everyone is a winner, the sexes ARE different. Grow up.

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:57PM

Let me get this straight because the convolutions of your posts are a wonder to me.

When a double standard favors your point of view - that women are required to behave differently than men when it comes to entering public life, it's okay. When it doesn't, that's just "a good reason or even true?

So Bachmann gets a pass for zero executive experience while Obama was skewered six ways from Sunday for zero executive experience?

Drunken Sailor| 6.17.11 @ 9:05AM

No David. Once again you see sexism where none exist. One should concentrate on raising their children right, then if they want to enter public service, devote their energies there to continue to make life better for their children. Bachmann gets a pass for years for her accomplishments. Obama does not get a pass for voting present (I am from Illinois and know what a bang up job he has done for us) and for taking credit for the work of others.

JohnC| 6.16.11 @ 3:01PM

In the debate did M. Bachmann say she was for or against abortion in the cases of rape and incest – it was sort of muffled?

Also I believe (but not certain) that Sarah is for letting the states decide on abortion, which means blue states could have abortion (murder) on demand. I may be wrong on that and hope I am.

YeloStalyn| 6.16.11 @ 3:13PM

The way I understood it was that she did NOT support abortion under any circumstances. Although it took her a long time to not really say that. To me, one of her weaker moments of the night. But overall... she's one of my top two or three.

Not sure about Sarah's stance.

Paul Streitz| 6.16.11 @ 3:10PM

Milton Friedman was for no borders the right of anyone to live anywhere. We now have 30 million illegals in the United States and add 2 million legals per year.

Milton Friedman advocated Free Trade we have lost 8 million manufacturing jobs, import all our manufactured goods from China and we are bankrupt with China owning the American government.

Working class Americans have not received a real wage raise in twenty years, while the top earners wages go up. The disparity between rich and poor grows. Thanks to Friedman economics.

Maybe a few people might want to stop listening to Milton Friedman. And a few more to Pat Buchanan, Ian Fletcher, Pat Choate, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln, all who wanted a protected economy and high tariffs.

The reason Trump was so popular was that he was essentially against China and Free Trade.

Paul Streitz
America First

bc3b| 6.16.11 @ 3:15PM

We'll see how well Michele stands up if they give her the "Palin treatment" and micro-analyze every aspect of her life.

One difference we already know between Palin and Bachmann is that Sarah doesn't stab supposed friends in the back via surrogates. Michele prefers the "Romney approach."

I Survived Arlen Specter| 6.16.11 @ 9:21PM

Bingo!

Flee| 6.16.11 @ 3:30PM

I'm a conservative with an average college education and I have to look up the meaning of the title. Can you at least try to dumb it down for non Ivy leaguers like me. I think she would make a fine candidate indeed.

JohnC| 6.16.11 @ 3:55PM

Yes Paul, Trump resonated because of his America-first stance and is why he will be formidable if he runs as an Independent. He will draw vote from patriots across the political spectrum.

So what is Michelle’s voting record and positions on NAFTA and the rest of the free trade giveaways – is she pro-China or pro-America? Anybody know?

dominic | 6.16.11 @ 3:56PM

Thank you for bringing to the front the many attributes Michele B. has and that can and possibly will lead this country out of the malaise created by the Obama administration.

Osamas Pajamas| 6.16.11 @ 3:58PM

Bachmann, Palin, I'd vote for either one, and I'm not at all sure that Palin is ticked-off with Bachmann. Palin is busy smiling and traveling and making money and making Democrat heads explode --- and heck, I WISH I COULD DO THAT!

W| 6.16.11 @ 4:11PM

Bachman will be on the ticket as VP, i prefer her as President.

Greg Butko| 6.16.11 @ 4:14PM

Bachmann is NO Conservative. Bachmann voted for the NAZI Patriot Act. No Conservative would support the undermining of the Bill of Rights.

Bachmann is a Neocon. She likes undeclared wars around the world, and wars against our civil liberties. It is our own politicians who have brought terrorism to us with an aggressive, intrusive foreign policy. They are bankrupting our nation.

Mike| 6.16.11 @ 4:29PM

Keep digging. There is more.

TheNewCSA | 6.16.11 @ 4:27PM

Let's get back to normal. Start thinking in a more "timeless" way. Stop watching Oprah and 99 % of primetime TV which has done a killer job of brainwashing most of the sheeple.
"Women," should not be representatives or police or judges. Not only is it an abomination to God, ( yes, it's in the bible, ) it's also a "romance killer." The male psyche has been trained to see women as "same as." ( Equal.) This is not good for all those normal ladies out there who want 'romance.' It's also not good for society. TheNewCSA.blogspot.com

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:36PM

I want no part of what you describe as "normal."
Give me specific passages and which version of the Bible - and I assume you mean the Christian Bible - that disqualifies women to be representatives or police or judges. It's not in the Bible I read.

As for "romance killer," to each his own but seriously, dude, you're put off by a woman who's more than a housekeeping baby machine? My wife of 35 years certainly would disagree.

Your world is a sad, dreary, and perversely proscribed one when you deny half of humanity its due.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:39PM

David,

my wife is a stay at home mom who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Alabama with an accounting degree. She had TWO CONCURRENT full ride academic scholarships while in college and worked. EVERY discipline she studied attempted to recruit her for graduate work.

In addition to all that, she is a superb breadmaker, her kids are doing exceptionally well in homeschool (my little girl came within 6 questions of a perfect score on her second grade CAT), she is an excellent carpenter, plumber, and electrician. She can also run a farm, if needed.

She can also talk down a psychotic or suicidal person (my instruction), sing beautiful sacred choir, write a sonnet, make a fantastic cake (and incredible challah), draft a professional sketch, do a business audit, move a household with two small children overseas, shoot a gun well, write a perfect letter for any occasion, solve a quadratic equation, invest brilliantly in the stock market, run a medical practice, and be a loving wife.

"Specialization is for insects." Robert Heinlein.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:42PM

But, my wife also believes that kids need their mommy.

Michele raised her kids, helped raise 23 foster kids, got a subspecialty degree in tax law, became a famous Congresswoman, and is now running for President, and, G-d Willing, will win.

What part of stunted potential is that? Or is my wife? Does your wife of 35 years quote Wodehouse, Wilde, and Shaw?

David| 6.16.11 @ 6:23PM

Okay, you have an accomplished wife. That's great. I know that I can match your recitation with that of my wife's achievements - except for carpentry. She does find it impossible to drive a nail. While not your wife's choices, she's fond of Shakespeare and several other modern writers. BUT - so not the point.

Your wife is the perfect example of a Renaissance Man - my own personal model of how and what to be. And the living refutation of TheNewCSA's post.

So - What's your wife's life got to do with TheNewCSA's position that women should not be police, judges, or representatives? I asked for the Bible verses on which he based his ignorant screed. She seems to be your equal in every way that matters.

Your wife would only have "stunted her potential" (a turn of your phrase, not mine) if you told her that's ALL she was capable of doing or somehow forced/coerced her into her current life choices.

I doubt, given your description, that you would have been able to accomplish that.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 11:09PM

I disagree with the new CSA's commentary, but I do agree with RET, which is just one of the ways I differ with you, David. David's point is that women need to know when is the time for family. The ideal time to start is between 19-30. If one can work a career in, great. But the original thread was on what women should do first. After 35, the eggs are a time bomb. It is doubtful that insurance will cover oocyte freezing under 'Bamacare.

Raising children right is the MOST important work humans do, David. It should be obvious to anyone. We have a shortage of children in the West. That's why our culture is dying.

RET is correct. There are eternal verities. If you want to look at the reason Europe is failing economically and socially, EVERYTHING stems from hostility to children built in to modern culture. Bachmann achieved AND had sufficient children.

Given this, and the fact that there is an aggressive and hostile culture (hostile for over 1400 years---may I recommend that you review your Byzantine history? That's on my latest reading list in addition to my CME---I had one of the highest scores in the US on my last board re-exam, and plan to do it again in 2015. It is important to have extra intellectual interests besides one's professional ones, even in an all consuming field. Even during residency, I found time to read, say, Eugene Sledge's The Old Breed.), your approach is ignoring the Demographic bomb we're dealing with.

Go to the CIA factbook website. Look up the birthrates for Europe and then Saudi and Yemen. Look up the average age. I'm 49. You, I assume, are in your late 50s to mid 60s. Neither of us are going to fight a war.

Figure out in 2030 who's going to have the population to put boots on the ground and who will be a dying gerontocracy. Try NOT being politically correct. Review the history of the Byzantines. Realize that their enemies that destroyed them are THE SAME AS OURS, even since it has been about a millenia since they were militarily dominant (Manzikert, 1071).

Start thinking about your grandkids, if you have any. If you don't, or didn't adopt or foster kids, you were/are part of the problem.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 11:19PM

Sorry, not David's Point, RET's point.

David, you originally disagreed with Mr. Tyrell. My writing was in defense of him, not new CSA. I don't care what women do, but they should want to raise and protect children, as should men. Otherwise, something IS missing. Until I had my kids, I didn't realize the unbelievable blessing they are.

The New CSA| 6.17.11 @ 2:23AM

It's sad that some excuses of men have become so Oprahfied, so socially engineered, so "programmed," by a few primetime propaganda shows where there is no masculinity or femininity, no "normalcy," that they respond to anything normal "just like they were programmed to !!!" There's really nothing anyone can do for them. God gave them "instinct" but some of the girly men are just so weak that their instinct can be "over riden" by things that come out of a TV set !!! There's even verses for sheeple like this ... but it won't do any good. Deuteronomy 22 : 5, ( among other verses, ) has various translations about how it's an abomination to God when a women acts masculine and does a mans things. But showing this to someone whos instinct is shot won't do anything. Half the bible could be about this and it still wouldn't help them. You see ... they "like" being equal to a woman !!! This way they never have to put on their big boy pants and assume their position as chief of the tribe. They'ld rather be equal to the squaws ....

David | 6.16.11 @ 4:31PM

This is a good point. Obama in 2008 was skewered left, right, and sideways for his not having more experience.

But Bachmann gets a pass?

Smells of a double standard to me.

Apen| 6.16.11 @ 5:21PM

Obama is still skewered because he has NO experience but organizing rabble. You will see more of each candidates experience come out as time goes on. I can tell you right now that Romney's past experience as well as Newt's are not going to compare with the non-GOP molded candidates. I bet you're as sick of produced choices as everyone else. It's time the cream be allowed to rise to the top without the media or the party putting them on top.

Vince| 6.16.11 @ 4:32PM

I think Bachmann is an excellent conservative choice, but she has a long way to go to get the recognition she needs to be in the public consciousness like Romney and Palin. Let's look back 4 years from today. On June 6, 2007, did anyone see Obama coming? (I took notice when he keynoted the 2004 DNC, and my wife and I looked at each other and said simultaneously: this guy could win in 2008! But I don't think he was on most people's radar by 6/16/2007.) Likewise, one of the more unlikely candidates could be the frontrunner 10 months from now. Why not Bachmann? At any rate, job one is to get idiot Obama out of the White House. Greg Butko is entitled to his opinion, but the most important thing right now is to find someone who will win and won't go spending crazy like GWB. Ripping on any GOP candidate is not part of the current game plan. (PS, Greg - virtually every member of Congress voted for the Patriot act in 2001, but Bachmann's voting for it makes HER a Nazi? Get real.)

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:08PM

It's not Michele's bra cup size that needs to impress me, it's the scope of her ideas and her command of the facts.

But give credit where credit is due - I have to check out this Ludwig van Mises guy. Certainly all of the other vanguard economic theorists have fallen short.

Apen| 6.16.11 @ 5:12PM

Great article! This is why we have primaries, to get to know the candidates. Now if the media stops sucking the globalists toes this nation may once again lead the world in all things toward excellence.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 5:31PM

David,

some biology for you.

Becoming President requires a biological age of 35 at the minimum. JFK was elected at the age of 43. Down sydrome risk by age 45 for women is 1 in 40.

Women should first have their kids (and kids tend to be best raised in a two parent family with MOM as the primary caregiver) and then run for office. Sorry if Biology disgusts you.

We are being outbred by sharia advocates, David. You aren't too bright, are you? Michele is an exceptional woman and Congresswoman.

David | 6.16.11 @ 5:56PM

Your second paragraph is skipped as they are a mash of something I wouldn't want to step in. Certainly, they present nothing of interest.

But to your next point - we're chained to our biology? Slaves to our DNA? We should just blindly accept whatever biological toss of the dice we receive? We should just die of a cancer or another disorder simply because it's a biological process?

Then, if you're a medical doctor as hinted by one of your posts, you. have. wasted. your. life. Seems that the practice of medicine is all about understanding and then molding biology toward a longer, healthier life. Perhaps that realization motivates the morbid lashing out that you exhibit.

I heard on NPR (oohh, boo, hisss, he listens to NPR! Proves he's a liberal! You knew it all along!) that freezing of human eggs is becoming more common and practiceable. But that's wrong under your strictured view of things, isn't it?

Personally, I don't think we can afford to miss out on anyone's contribution to society and public life regardless of their fertility status.

Then you make the fantastic leap to "being outbred by sharia advocates." Why single out "sharia advocates" which is sly code for Islam, I gather? What about being outbred by the Chinese or the Indians or the Brazilians? None of those are majority Muslim cultures.

The only meaning I can take from your words is that every woman whether she agrees with you or no must have many, many babies. Kinda like Hitler. Kinda like Stalin whose regime handed out medals for "Heroines of Soviet Motherhood" for having a bunch of children (10, as I recall).

Sounds dangerously like a command economy or a government mandate, Oc. Surely that's not what you meant.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:38PM

No, David.

As women grow older, they become more infertile. One can use surrogate mothers, but that is no substitute for having one's own kid, if possible.

One can freeze eggs, but viability is always going to be an issue. Freezing cells does not improve viability. Last I checked, it's not a major approach (I don't do NPR, I do PUBMED)---except in cases of cancer patients, for example. In addition, I doubt ObamaCare, etc. are going to be aggressively funding expansion of IVF programs.

"Display Reprod Biomed Online. 2007 Jul;15(1):24-30.
Truths and myths of oocyte sensitivity to controlled rate freezing.
Coticchio G, Bonu MA, Sciajno R, Sereni E, Bianchi V, Borini A.
SourceTecnobios Procreazione, via Dante 15, 40125 Bologna, Italy. coticchio@tecnobiosprocreazione.it

Abstract
The mammalian oocyte is especially sensitive to cryopreservation. Because of its size and physiology, it can easily undergo cell death or sub-lethal damage as a consequence of intracellular ice formation, increase in the concentration of solutes and other undesired effects during the conversion of extracellular water into ice. This has generated the belief that oocyte storage cannot be achieved with the necessary efficiency and safety. However, many concerns raised by oocyte freezing are the result of unproven hypotheses or observations conducted under sometimes inappropriate conditions. For instance, spindle organization can undergo damage under certain freezing conditions but not with other protocols. The controversial suggestion that cryopreservation induces cortical granule discharge and zona pellucida hardening somehow questions the routine use of sperm microinjection. Damage to mouse oocytes caused by solute concentration is well documented but, in the human, there is no solid evidence that modifications of freezing mixtures, to prevent this problem, provide an actual advantage. The hope of developing oocyte cryopreservation as a major IVF option is becoming increasingly realistic, but major efforts are still required to clarify the authentic implications of oocyte cryopreservation at the cellular level and identify freezing conditions compatible with the preservation of viability and developmental ability."

In addition, yeah, I do have problems with advocates of Sharia law advocates outbreeding us. History is Demography, and if you don't believe that it's a problem, ask yourself if you knew what CAIR was on September 10, 2011. Then ask yourself how many wars across the globe do NOT involve sharia advocates on one side at this time.

I've got a problem with someone calling my 8 year old a whore if she's not wearing a burqa, and thinking that she's of marrying age with her next birthday. Now, I know guys like you support this type of stuff, along with beheading 3 month olds, but I don't.

It's not the race of people involved that concern me. The Indian Hindus, for example, can have all the kids they want. But I have problems with people having kids who want to murder mine.

Finally, dumbbell, did it ever occur to your pathetically malformed head that the reason that we are having problems with our social welfare programs funding is because there aren't enough young workers around to fund them? It's the dumbass baby boomers like you (I missed GenX by 2 years), who didn't have kids who are responsible for the fact that your Medicare benefits are going to go boom.

Finally, David, I have devoted my professional life to care for the indigent and the rural after residency. Your life may be a waste; and I'm sorry for you. But every day I go to work and deal with the sickest of the sick from 3 Native American rural reservations. My professional life is quite satisfying. And my personal life, with a fabulous wife and 2 adopted children from Guatemala (one of whom required extensive ear surgery that he would not have gotten there), is also aces.

I'm sorry that you are stupid, Liberal, and useless. And that you hate children so much. But, given the Culture of Death you embrace, that is to be expected.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:54PM

No. I'm pointing out that morons like you have made it much more difficult to raise babies. No babies, no social welfare programs, no one to wipe your ass in the nursing home.

Babies are important. Survival is important. And if you want to be a lawyer, it is still possible to have 5 kids. Bachmann has contributed MUCH, MUCH more to society than you ever will, David. Even your mom had a kid, albeit a spastic, stupid, useless one.

Gary| 6.16.11 @ 7:28PM

David,

I understand your frustration with the current state in DC and around the country. We all share that. Wouldn't it be nice if politicians' first act wasn't to commit technical perjury by violating their oath of office?

The beginning, middle and end of my politics is the Constitution. The liberal approach is completely open-ended. Their relentless social engineering is an example.

Setting the aside the issue of legislating morals, most of the people here simply want someone in office who will check with the Constitution before pushing one more new scheme. And, that includes judges, who are the worst ones of all. They are our last line of defense and, as a whole, they're failing miserably.

Gary | 6.16.11 @ 5:34PM

Michele Bachmann's momentum continues to increase. It will be interesting to see how she does in the straw poll at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.

My last two posts on my site are about the RLC Conference and what the straw poll means, and the prior post was about Bachmann. Please read at http://gopprimary2012.com

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:42PM

Sorry, David, that was two "Finallys." See, I can admit mistakes. And your head is malformed in a microcephalic fashion.

You should still, however, blow your opinions out your atretic anus. I doubt you will be noted to respond due to the Argyll Robertson pupils you possess.

Drunken Sailor| 6.17.11 @ 9:12AM

Wow. Classic on many levels.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 6:50PM

The Doctorate, by the way, was the MD degree. That takes a bit of work. So did the Residency, lazy bones.

The One Who Runs Like a Duck| 6.16.11 @ 7:45PM

You are below average, Davy. Stop debating people that are much smarter than you. Read our talking points then get the heck out of here. After your performance today I am ready to vote for Bachmann myself. Oh well. You know what's coming up? No, not Weiner. No, not that war powers act thing. I like that law by the way but as a liberal you at least will know that bombing the living snot out of people is not war but some kind of kinetic something or other. Anyway that is my defense and I am sticking to it. The big deal of course is Boehner and me, mano y mano. I wish he could hear you go on and on about your pretend wife. He would be so groggy that I would easily defeat him and win all the marbles. Military tribunals forever, baby.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 11:11PM

Darkwing Duck,

You do know you are one of my favorite Superheroes, don't you?

The Web Footed One| 6.17.11 @ 10:25AM

De nada. The Merganser lives to amuse his friends and mock his enemies.

Cybercorrsespondent | 6.16.11 @ 8:31PM

In 2006, before Democrats took over Congress, consumer confidence stood at a 2-1/2 year high, gas was $1.50-2.00 and unemployment 4.7%. When Bush recommended a regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry, the Democrats refused and imposed penalties if not enough low income loans were made. Fortunately not everyone is stupid. Watch http://youtu.be/PnVTFpIgrMg and Cybercorrespondent
http://facebook.com/ccybercorrespondent

bluecollarbytes| 6.16.11 @ 8:42PM

Bachmann is a threat to leftist Utopians, so much so that they couldn't resist even slamming her for her service to the children she took care of, similarly to their continued attacks on Palin's family.

Andy Texan | 6.16.11 @ 9:09PM

The first I heard of Michelle B was on Mark Levin's show in 2008 fighting for her seat. She was so articulate and passionate for our issues that I marked as a politician with a future. When she wasn't on anyone's list back in early 2010, Bachmann was my pick as a great potential candidate for 2012. I glad she is running and too smart for the communist press to trip up. She's the most Reagan-like of any of the candidates. Her conservatism is innate no matter the direction of the wind.

Tenn Slim| 6.16.11 @ 9:29PM

There is still a long road to the final 2 competitors.
Obama, and the GOP canidate.
I would vote for Bachman/Palin combo in a heart beat.
It is going to take a hard nosed, simplistic message, driving daily into the Socialistic aspects of the Obama admin to win the election of 2012.
end
Semper FI

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Richard Baker| 6.16.11 @ 10:57PM

Is it just me or do most of the lefty women look and sound as if they've been hit with an ugly and stupid stick? Bella Abzug, Rose DeLauro, and Sheila Jackson Lee come to mind, as examples.

Occam's Tool| 6.16.11 @ 11:15PM

Yes, most do, except for actresses. However, Weiner and Kucinich have good looking wives.

But to find "Beauty and Brains all in one chick," as one of my Truman scholarship winning ex-girlfriends was described by a University of Illinois varsity football player (I got her, he did not), requires a Conservative woman (said chick became a drug company corporate attorney).

Albert W. L. Moore, Jr.| 6.16.11 @ 11:35PM

Unless exhaustive official investigations expose Obama for what he is, nobody will beat him.

JonH| 6.17.11 @ 2:15AM

Have a busy schedule lately so this may be incomplete.

Day after the debates Mitt Romney was outside of a dairy supply store--was it still in New Hampshire (?). He had a lot of cameras around him and I thought the discussion was about NOT JUST KNOWING what to say and all the right answers in a debate or in an interview but the level of KNOW HOW a person has and their associated accomplishments. Here's THE POINT: Mitt Romney is REAL DEEP into accomplishments as they relate to business and economics. He is REAL DEEP into the LEADERSHIP it takes to make things HAPPEN for the RIGHT CHANGE.

People who know him in both his volunteerism at the SLC Olympics and in his business successes say his greatest skills though astoundingly brilliant wonkish feats in business are still not his greatest strengths ( I'm assuming you know of many of his accomplishments). His greatest abilities are administrative. These are things done behind the scenes that only those close to him understand in real depth.

His accomplishments are based on his personal intellect. Some things he's done are copyable. Many simply are not. His average return on investment for 14 years at his start-up was 113%.

He bought or invested in firms with problems. SO WITH PROBLEM FIRMS that's the success he offered investors. Owners and leaders of firms that had been wrecked their firms and wanted out sold at good prices and Romney and company fixed them....more than that they turned them into GREAT performing operations!

Romney's resume displays REAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS. More so than all other candidates combined--truly.

Mitt's work and achievements exceeded the best out there. One of the top three consultant company's in the world today is Bain and Company (B&C). Even they ran into problems. Who did they call? They called one of their past youngest VP's to return and fix them. He had been trained in the "Bain Way" ( get an idea what this is using the expression as keywords on Google). This is a story where the student grew passed his teacher's knowledge. Mitt was called and it was believed that he could solve their issues in about 3 years. This is after Mitt had spent many years at his own start-up (fixing close to 200 firms). Mitt was made Pres. of B& C with full authority unanimously by all partners to do what it would take to fix the problems. Within a year (9 mos) the fix was reached. By 12 months Mitt had left. He declined any payment to his old friends and mentors just as he did with SLC Olympics fixer and as MASS. Gov. The guy is known to have a heart and highest of ethics too.

There are a lot of good people running for POTUS. None stack up with Romney in brains (might want to read about that too--in and out of Harvard), and what he's accomplished. Does anyone recall from the last election who was considered the hardest working and longest hours candidate? Ya, that too!

I want the candidate who not only talks the right answers but has walked and lived it, accomplished it, and in some cases when experts said it could not be done he proved he could do it---again and again.

Albert Einstein said, " a problem well defined is a problem half solved." The recent debate showed candidates basicly saying the same things about problems as theyall identified our great country's brokeness. Fixing the problems (and they're bigger than ever) is the issue that is hidden from discussion. The ability to execute AFTER accessing the pieces that make up the real problems impresses me most.The future of my kids and grandchildren are at stake. Gender does not cut it, religious faith doesn't, cleaning up NY City isn't enough, being a super smart mom with lot's of knowledge about the issues doesn't, sincerity never did and conservative governors with typical-- even noteable achievements aren't going to be enough this time around.

They say that a great event takes place at the intersection of preparation and opportunity. Today, we need a great event or actually many events and processes to repair America! Mitt Romney as a seasoned problem solver of business and economic things IS OUR PREPARATION. We need to do all we can to make certain the OPPORTUNITY can intersect with that preparation.

If this candidate can fix things this well and this fast...............

weddingdresses | 6.17.11 @ 5:29AM

Yes, most do, except for actresses. However, Weiner and Kucinich have good looking wives.

weddingdresses | 6.17.11 @ 5:40AM

Unless exhaustive official investigations expose Obama for what he is, nobody will beat him.

Ed| 6.17.11 @ 6:32AM

Social InSecurity; we can no longer trust the government to keep funds safe "in a lock box". Privatize Social Security, tax deductions to save to a private IRA or equivalent account. The Roth IRA was a great idea. Make everyone eligible and build incentives. Thanks

Bea| 6.17.11 @ 10:26AM

Sarah Palin & Michele Bachmann; a duo to turn this country around. They have it all, so move over establishment Republicans and make room for the gals to show their stuff.

unreceivedogma| 6.17.11 @ 11:32AM

"pulchritudinous"

Why use this word when simpler, readily available, and more easily understood ones are at hand? This is the kind of word that a good friend of mine uses, and then he wonders why everyone thinks he's a snob.

Scholars need to be granular; pundits need to persuade. They won't get very far if they litter their op-eds with words that, in this case, sound to the average person like the opposite of what they really mean.

Or maybe that is your intent.

Bob Grant| 6.17.11 @ 8:38PM

At least he didn't use unctuous.

Mark Anderson| 6.17.11 @ 6:00PM

Of course George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove all thought that by making homeowners of people, they would turn Republican. Hey, you could look it up.

POST American| 6.18.11 @ 10:34PM

HAS Bachmann said anything compelling about
the 1.4 quadriion in FAKE derivatives debt?

The preposterous billions, or is it trillions in
debt to our US taxpayer created RED Chinese
'miracle'?

The UNDENIABLE state of full blown, Globalist
funded and engineered war (Rockefeller/Ford
Foundations fund 'La Raza' and 'Reconquista')
underway in Mexico? (28,000 confirmed
dead in the past 2 years)

Our 4 decades of carefully planned RIIA/CFR
RED China set up and TREASON?

The deadly sinister TAX FREE Rockefeller/Carnegie/Ford at al EUGENICS and
cultural subversion pushing foundations?

The ILLEGAL and deadly sinister Federal Reserve?

-----AGAIN, in this, the 11th hour, as the police
state is being rolled out against the American
people ---IS Bachmann saying ANYTHING?

Anything at all---------------------?

cheap t shirts | 6.18.11 @ 11:15PM

Yeah. No, not that war powers act thing. I like that law by the way but as a liberal you at least will know that bombing the living snot out of people is not war but some kind of kinetic something or other. Great

Richard Baker| 6.19.11 @ 8:26PM

Nothing wrong with using different words such as the one in the article describing Michele Bachmann. When I started to read National Review and William F. Buckley, Jr in the mid '70s, I'd read his columns with a dictionary so that I could expand my vocabulary.

weddingdresses | 6.20.11 @ 2:27AM

Yeah. No, not that war powers act thing. I like that law by the way but as a liberal you at least will know that bombing the living snot out of people is not war but some kind of kinetic something or other. Great

John Wilson| 6.20.11 @ 3:34PM

My biggest reservation is her stand on abortion.Otherwise, I agree with you assesment of her qualifications

JCOMMAND@aOL.COM| 8.16.11 @ 5:41AM

WOW YOUR AND YOU
"ALLEGED" STRAIGHT" HUSBAND...WOW.. WHAT A CALL.. WOW.. YOU ARE A 100 PERCENT LIar

The American Spectator

The Current Crisis

The Pulchritudinous Michele Bachmann

About the Author

Letter to the Editor View all comments (380) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

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