I know that making fun of the utterly ridiculous things that come out of the mouths of Tea Partiers is somewhere between art form and cliché. The fact that this is particularly true of the group’s female members is especially dismaying.
And yet, as was recently pointed out in the case of Christine O’Donnell crying “sexism” over being called to the carpet for saying … well, completely stupid things, they keep doing it.
And Michele Bachmann, who for some reason is being viewed as a serious contender for the 2012 Republican nomination, has really kept the ball rolling with …
… this one.
The east coast of the United States, already a bit jittery with the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 looming, has had to contend with an earthquake and then a hurricane.
I didn’t feel the earthquake, but I can tell you that Irene, while no Katrina, wreaked some serious havoc in my neck of the woods (no power to over 100,000, trees down, people killed, schools canceled—except for mine, large parts of towns underwater) … and based on footage from The Weather Channel (along with the streaker), New Hampshire got off lightly.
So, yeah, this was no laughing matter, not something to joke about.
Unless, of course, you’re Michele Bachmann, who is either the most crass woman on the planet or possesses a never before seen hubris that is just appalling.
The Minnesota congresswoman and presidential candidate told an audience gathered at a Shriner’s temple in Sarasota, Fla., Sunday that God was trying to communicate a message about fiscal responsibility via the two recent natural disasters.
From the St. Petersburg Times:
I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.
And, as is often the case when these people say stupid things, the fix-it people tried to play it off as a joke.
“Obviously she was saying it in jest,” spokeswoman Alice Stewart told TPM in a statement.
Stewart did not immediately respond Monday to The Ticket’s request for comment.
A clip circulated Monday of Bachmann’s comments shows the lawmaker clearly smiling and nearly laughing as she delivers a similar message about “God’s wrath” during that speech.
You know, Michele Bachmann, I don’t think that was funny. People freaking died as a result of Irene. States of emergency were declared up and down the east coast. The Washington Monument was damaged in the earthquake.
And you’re laughing?
Uh, let me rephrase that … you think you have any business being considered for the office of the presidency?
What are you going to do if there’s another terrorist attack, do a fucking stand-up routine, add to your already considerable fortune that you fervently hope the lower and middle class that you’ve totally snowed don’t know about?
And if this was not merely a beyond tacky joke, I am deeply offended as a believer in God.
You use your supposed strong faith as a weapon, wielding it as proof that you are doing God’s will. I don’t spout off about my relationship with God, but it exists. It’s strong. I don’t need to talk about it all the time; it’s enough for me to know that it’s there.
And you know what, Michele Bachman? I would never, ever even consider joking about the conversations that go on between myself and God.
I cannot imagine a true believer presuming to know if God is passing judgment …
Or having the truly poor taste to use your alleged relationship with God to garner support from a certain demographic, then pulling this sort of shit.
Bachmann is an evangelical Lutheran who has long stressed her personal relationship with God in public forums. She previously revealed that while serving as a state senator, she asked God for guidance “and just through prayer I knew that I was to introduce the marriage amendment in Minnesota” that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. She also has said that God gave her and her husband visions of marrying one another prior to their first meeting, and that God called her to run for Congress.
I know that the extreme right wing will go on and on about how the so-called “liberal media” (the same entity that has named Vice-President Biden “Gaffe-a-Minute Joe”) pounces on their every word and blows it completely out of proportion, but I would love to know how this little slice of Michele Bachmann can be taken as anything other than offensive …
