MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
The latest Michele Bachmann controversy revolves around the first words of a speech she made inside a tent at an outdoor Christian meeting in Iowa. It had been raining and the first words out of her mouth were, "Who likes wet people?" Someone leaning to the left either misheard or deliberately chose to present it in a doctored YouTube video as "Who likes white people?" Guess what happened then? Yesiree, it went viral.
The clip making the rounds on Wonkette and other sites left out her next sentence, which was, "Yeah, that's right. Because we have the God of the winds and the rain, don't we?" On the un-doctored video I watched she clearly says "wet people". Clear as a bell.
I hate that I have to defend someone who is so clearly against all that I stand for, but I'm going to do it because, as a long time liberal, I know what comes of any attempt at hanky-panky at our end. We get trounced for it and it never goes away. But beyond that, phony attacks are their game, not ours. Or I should say, mine. I'll never be a part of that idiocy. There is enough honest ammunition against Michele Bachmann without resorting to lies.
This is the true version of her remarks.
And this is the doctored version. (I'm still hearing "wet" instead of "white" but many people swear she's saying "white people". Judge for yourself.)
If you want to see Michele Bachmann at her dangerous worst, watch her here as she defends South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for making sure her state remains a Right-to-Work state. Bachmann couches it in terms of "Pro-growth" but what she's saying here is that she wants to see every state become an anti-union, low wage state. She says, "A right-to-work state is a good thing", and she's saying it clear enough for everyone to get the message.
In that same speech there's no doubt about her words as she threatens to take out both the National Labor Relations Board and the Environmental Protection Agency if she becomes president. This from Politico:
“Our president decided to allow the National Labor Relations Board to try to stop what Boeing is doing in South Carolina,” said Haley, referring to the NLRB’s complaint that Boeing moved the plant from Washington state to South Carolina to punish union workers, in violation of law. “It’s the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen. If you were president — knowing he is saying he can’t do anything because it’s an independent agency, what would you do?”
“Why thank you for asking that question,” Bachmann said, inviting the crowd to applaud Haley and promising she would take her calls if elected president. “If the NLRB would also be continuing their current stance, they may not last very long. Once they see what I do to the EPA, they may shape up.”
(For the record, I'm not at all convinced the NLRB made the right decision about Boeing's move after the fact -- the plant has already been built; Americans are already working in those jobs -- but I am convinced that Boeing decided on South Carolina because of it's lax labor laws.)
If the polls weren't showing this ridiculous excuse for a candidate as a Republican front runner it would be easy to dismiss all that she says. Nearly every day it's something new and attention-getting. (This weekend it was God trying to get our attention about the deficit by sending us earthquakes and hurricanes.) The times are such that we surely need to pay attention to what this woman who would be president has to say, but we don't need to make it up as we go along.
I mean, literally, we don't need to.
Comments
Agreed Ramona. It is dishonest and it waters down the legitimate arguments.
by emerson jr. (not verified) on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 5:31pm
Em, this sort of thing just drives me nuts. With their histories, we really don't need to play games. They're the ones who need to play games. They've got nothing else.
We just need to shout out the truth.
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 5:55pm
And any minute now I'm going to stop using that word need.
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 5:57pm
I didn't notice you overusing the word need. I say keep on needing. But here are some alternatives: it is essential, we have to, we must, it is required... etc. etc. etc.
by emerson jr. (not verified) on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 6:10pm
I think I've overused etc., too. I'll have to scratch that. The others I'll use. (not utilize. Not ever.)
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 9:36pm
Oh, no. Ramona. You can never overuse etc. Besides if you feel like you need to define those other things that etc. stand for then you risk coming off as an arrogant elitist know it all lefty who needs to spell everything out to those too stupid to understand your etc. For shame Ramona. For shame.
I think I need to go to sleep. I had weird dreams last night that were a mix of things I read from what's his name's book and a trampoline. Not sure where the trampoline came from.
by Emersonian (not verified) on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 10:08pm
Okay, okay! Etcetera is back in. But you can't make me use "utilize". I won't!
This is the year for nightmares. I blame it on Bachmann, Perry, Boehner, McConnell and now Cheney. Sweet dreams.
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 10:17pm
Ha! Joke's on you! Emerson got you to utilize "utilize" not just once, but twice!
by Verified Atheist on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 6:29am
Damn!
by Ramona on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 7:51am
Here is one problem with false prophets, if God sent the rain and wind to DC as a warning, isn't she missing the fact that wind and rain was sent her way as well?
There are acts of nature and acts of God. If you get turned into salt, that seems to be a very strong message. On the other hand, sometimes wind and rain is just wind and rain.
by rmrd0000 on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 5:32pm
They were two different events. She talked about "wind and rain" in Iowa earlier in the month. The other, about earthquakes and hurricanes, came in a talk yesterday. Sorry if I made the two confusing.
But yes, they never seem to make the connection that God may be just as angry at them. You would think they would stop all the God is punishing us garbage already. How many times can they repeat the same joke?
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 5:49pm
Right, Ramona.
But, I'm having trouble figuring out who hates the EPA the most, Perry or Bachmann. Or for that matter, which one is Jesus-ier than the other.
Seriously, though, the broad swath of voters does not want to eliminate the EPA, so this issue is going to be a liability in the general election should Bachmann or Perry get that far.
by Oxy Mora on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 5:46pm
I keep hearing that nobody is going to buy all the crazy stuff that's coming from the Republicans, but I can't get past Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann being number one and number two in popularity. That means a whole lot of likely voters want either of them to become president. That means I don't know this country anymore. That means my nightmares have returned.
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 9:32pm
This just proves how people totally misunderstand Bachmann. With the help of an lingo-cognitve specialist, I've performed a complete spectroliturgical analysis of the video, and I can confirm with 99 percent confidence that she actually said, "Who likes wart-people?"
The wart-people are members of the Church of the Divine Protuberance, a little known religious sect in southwestern Iowa which preaches that Christ will return as a small benign skin growth shaped like the letter B. Though small in number, they're very involved in Iowa Republican politics, and their vigorous protests have shut down all the dermatology clinics in southwestern Iowa and parts Nebraska and Missouri.
by Michael Wolraich on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 7:22pm
Thanks so much for that clarification. Goes to show I shouldn't believe everything I think I hear. I was going to run right out and slap your news on FB and Twitter but I'll need a little more info before I do.
The significance of the letter B eludes me, for example. I thought about "Bachmann" but you said benign. (Waiting for a YouTube rendition of "Who likes wart-people?" It's just a matter of time. That's entertainment.)
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 7:59pm
The wart-people believe that the H in Jesus H. Christ is a mis-translation. According to their interpretation of Matthew 56:39, Jesus's middle name was Bertha. There is a splinter sect that claims it was Barracuda, but most wart-people regard the Barracuda warters as dangerous heretics.
by Michael Wolraich on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 8:50pm
I've been doing some research and found that the Warthogs were actually the ones who turned them all to the Right. Then of course the Barracudas took it to the next level, and here we are today.
Jesus Bertha Christ. Has a nice ring to it. lololololol (I heard he was named after his Aunt Virgin Bertha.)
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 9:24pm
The Wart-people actually attend their own school as well, The Wartburgh Theological Seminary, where Learning Leads to Mission (for warts I presume)! You are correct about their location as well... Dubuque Iowa, long live the Wart-people.
Betcha' didn't know that, :/.
by tmccarthy0 on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 9:04pm
Nice one. I grew up in Iowa, and a friend of mine attended Wartburg, so shame on me for missing the connection.
by Michael Wolraich on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 9:15pm
Well, that explains her displeasure over Perry's decision on the HPV virus.
PROTECT THE WART PEOPLE!
by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 09/12/2011 - 10:45pm
I clipped these from NYT comments on Krugman piece on the anti-science GOP today, they seem applicable to almost any Republican, anytime:
(1)So, this is what the Party of Lincoln has degenerated into...a breeding ground for Washington-hating, labor-loathing, secessionist-leaning, anti-science, Jesus-preaching, gun nuts, homophobes and racists.
(2)...same old plantation thinking that started the Civil War. It sounds good on the mansion porch while your black (or Latino) servants bring you a mint julep.
by NCD on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 7:52pm
Ooooo, harsh. But so true.
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 9:25pm
Wow, is the crazed and dazed Bachmann now a reverend, she can take her place next to the other flakes like Jim Jones, Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart, (all silly jimmy’s), Ted Haggard, John Hagee, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Franklin Gramham (son of Billy), and we can’t forget the rev. Mike Huckabee. Maybe she is just channeling the fruity Pat Robertson. Isn't she suppose to be helping her husband in some "pray the gay away sessions" so he can get some of that evil "Federal Money", thats she is always railing about, hypocrite, both of them!
But alas we probably will hear more or the same lies that we heard today. So who is the bigger fool, Bachmann or her followers?
by Montana (not verified) on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 10:46pm
That's easy. None of the above. One fool is just a fool. No harm there. But while we're laughing at that fool, her hundreds of thousands of followers have a chance to make fools of us all.
by Ramona on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 11:05pm
The Post Office has been stolen.
And the mail box is locked.
An auditory hallucination, or paracusia,[1] is a form of hallucination that involves perceiving sounds without auditory stimulus. A common form involves hearing one or more talking voices. This may be associated with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia or mania, and holds special significance in diagnosing these conditions. There are three main categories into which the condition can fall: a person hearing a voice speak one's thoughts, a person hearing one or more voices arguing, or a person hearing a voice narrating his/her own actions.[2] However, individuals may hear voices without suffering from diagnosable mental illness.[3] The Hearing Voices Movement is a support and advocacy group for people who hallucinate voices, but do not otherwise show signs of mental illness or impairment.
GOD TOLD HER TO DO IT!
by Richard Day on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 4:51am
Flip Wilson and Geraldine. They were funny!
Bachmann is crazy like a fox. She's a master panderer and while we're having great fun with her, she's building a fortress behind her. That's the genius of those people. They know which buttons to push, which weaknesses to exploit. Onward, Christian Soldiers!
If she can convince the Christian Right that they're under attack she gets them on her side. The problem is, the rest of the candidates see it, too. They're all going to try to out-Christian the others. That leaves Romney out, of course, since the Religious Right doesn't include Mormons. But in the meantime we're in for God talk like we've never seen before.
It's making me crazy but so far I'm not hearing voices. At least I don't think I am.
by Ramona on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 8:28am
Well Michele (my belle) has spent the last decade misquoting other people or just making up quotes out of thin air.
It is a funny misquote though. hahahahaha
by Richard Day on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 1:29pm
Are you sure she's not talking about Mexican migrant workers? As in: "Who doesn't like wet-backs?" (Just kidding) I agree we have enough legitimate material from her, we don't need to fake any. (Besides, do we know for sure that the faking was not part of a misinformation campaign by Bachmann's own staff to discredit some of the other true gaffes? Just wondering.
As for Christ's middle name, I believe if you check the Dead Sea scrolls you'll find that in ancient Hebrew, the word 'the' was often pronounced, 'fuh', and that instead of his middle name, the people in that time period would have been more likely to include his title, 'The King' when saying his name, thus, Jesus "Fuh-King" Christ ...
by MrSmith1 on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 11:27pm