Saturday, October 18, 2008

Who's Divisive Now?

Photo collage of Michele Bachmann with xray specs looking into the Capitol dome
Wow, my hands are shaking as I'm typing this. I just called Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign to say how upset I am about her recent statements about "un-American" or "anti-American" beliefs among her political colleagues. If you want to after reading this, you can call her, too, at 651-735-7512.

(Hands have stopped shaking now, thanks. I get like that when I have to confront someone I disagree with. I guess it's adrenalin.)

On the heels of Sarah Palin's pronouncement that there are "pro-America" parts of the country and therefore, one must assume, "anti-America" parts of the country, we have Michele B. going on MSNBC's Hardball show saying she suspects Obama of holding anti-American views.

And then she went further to say that "The news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America or anti-America."

A couple of other great Bachmannisms from the clip that haven't been quoted in the media, as far as I've seen:

  • Saul Alinsky (which she pronounced uh - line - ski) was anti-American. Well, he is considered the founder of community organizing, so in Michelle's book his anti-Americanism must go without saying, I guess.
  • "Most Americans are wild about America." This is just so jaw-droppingly simple-minded; I can't think of any other way to put it.
  • College campuses are home to people who "don't like America" or "detest America." No, Michelle, just people who detest what you and your ilk are trying to turn America into.
Well, I know I'd be one of the people Michelle would consider anti-American, so let me explain it to her.

Love of country means something different to me than it does to Michele. Love of country doesn't mean my government is always right. Just as we can love a member of our family who is on the wrong track, and try to help them get on the right track, we can love our country and want to change it. Wearing red, white and blue doesn't mean you love your country more than I do. Saying God Bless the United States of America doesn't mean you love your country more than I do. Supporting the Constitution and Bill of Rights, including allowing people freedom of association, seems like a good start for true love of country.

This Bachmann thing is so crazy, they're even discussing it on GardenWeb, which as you may suspect, is supposed to be about gardening topics!

LATE ADDITION: Someone set up a website yesterday or today called censurebachmann.com Its sole purpose is to collect electronic signatures to send to Congress calling for Bachmann's censure. At 12:30 they had 18,000 signatures; at 3:40 there were over 29,000.

SECOND LATE ADDITION: It sounds like Bachmann's opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, has gotten donations of almost $500,000 since the Hardball interview aired, and Bachmann's Facebook "wall" is being inundated with negative comments. Here's my favorite:

2 comments:

Alli said...

It's crazy who you can find simply by doing a blog search for a common book interest - I love your blog! I'm a Roseville/St. Paul native blogging about dove-tailing interests. I love what I've read so far and will continue to drop by!

elena said...

Thanks for putting all of this together. No longer living in Minnesota, I am only catching up with the whole Bachmann flap here at your blog. I can see why your hands were shaking. Great "Joseph McCarthy" comment!