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Wednesday, June 22. 2011

Palinization

An attempted palinization of Michelle Bachmann, by Taibbi



In modern American politics, being the right kind of ignorant and entertainingly crazy is like having a big right hand in boxing; you've always got a puncher's chance. And Bachmann is exactly the right kind of completely batshit crazy. Not medically crazy, not talking-to-herself-on-the-subway crazy, but grandiose crazy, late-stage Kim Jong-Il crazy — crazy in the sense that she's living completely inside her own mind, frenetically pacing the hallways of a vast sand castle she's built in there, unable to meaningfully communicate with the human beings on the other side of the moat, who are all presumed to be enemies.



It doesn't matter who you are: if you raise your head up over the trenches, they do this to you. And they are rougher on Conservative women than on the men - although Taibbi would have written a similar hit piece on Reagan - "ignorant and batshit crazy" - I'm sure.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays at 15:32 | Comments (21) | Trackbacks (0)

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No need to be ad hominem (and misuse psychiatric diagnoses).

They just need to quote her: she's self-defeating.

N
#1 nathan on 2011-06-22 16:03 (Reply)
Bird Dog ... As is frequently the case, "People accuse you of what they would do, or be, themselves." Taibbi obviously thinks that those who do not share her prejudices must be crazy. Batshit crazy. Condemned out of her own mouth.

Marianne

P.S. BD ... Note that my email address has changed. Same crazy person, but no longer held hostage by Comcast.
#2 Marianne Matthews on 2011-06-22 16:21 (Reply)
Missy Marianne,

Methinks, Matt Taibbi is a boy not a girl.
#2.1 Leag on 2011-06-22 17:04 (Reply)
Did she really say such things? (quoted from article you cited). there's much more than I've ever heard, some direct quotes.


"She believes that the Chinese are plotting to replace the dollar bill, that light bulbs are killing our dogs and cats, and that God personally chose her to become both an IRS attorney who would spend years hounding taxpayers and a raging anti-tax Tea Party crusader against big government. She kicked off her unofficial presidential campaign in New Hampshire, by mistakenly declaring it the birthplace of the American Revolution. "It's your state that fired the shot that was heard around the world!" she gushed. "You are the state of Lexington and Concord, you started the battle for liberty right here in your backyard."
#3 nathan on 2011-06-22 16:22 (Reply)
Yeah, she said that bit about Concord and then apologized. She is on a jihad against light bulbs and introduced a bill requiring the US to stay on the dollar!

She's supposedly a Tea party darling who worked for the IRS and hears God speak to her.

I can't understand how that is "raising you hand above the trenches" and not something that needs to be said.

BTW, you can find the photo of her hiding in the bushes at the Gay Prides by googling it. It is pretty humorous
#3.1 timb on 2011-06-22 17:41 (Reply)
Things that make you go, "hmmmm..."

The author of the Bachmann piece is an obvious psychopath himself, but enough "issues" were raised to cause me a bit of concern. Must--do--more--research...
#4 Big___Al on 2011-06-22 16:59 (Reply)
El presidente, Hussein0 is bat shit crazy and a proper fella will be needed to trump him.

Michelle is a striking lookin' chicklette, i'm certain Boo would concur but women need to keep there stuff at home and leave the ruling to men folk.
#5 Leag on 2011-06-22 17:24 (Reply)
I am neither defending Bachmann or anything else- just pointing out how quick they are with the hostile personal attacks/
#6 Bird Dog on 2011-06-22 17:45 (Reply)
Understood, and that's a given, right?

If she was even as half as kooky as those who attack her, we'd never hear the end of it.
#6.1 Big___Al on 2011-06-22 17:56 (Reply)
I don't know a lot about Bachmann. I suspect she's not as bright as some of her supporters contend and not nearly as stupid or crazy as just about anybody who writes for the Rolling Stone would claim.

I don't read that rag, but did they call Obummer an idiot for saying that he had visited 57, that he thought that Austria had its own language, and that the current year is 2008? Did they parse the content of "his" two books about himself (natch) for insights into how "sane" or smart he was or whether his philosophy may have been influenced by Marxists with which he spent so much time? Did they pore over his writings as the editor of the Harvard Law Review (or could they find any?)?

I'll remain suspicious anything they say about someone on the right till shown otherwise.
#7 mudbug on 2011-06-22 18:20 (Reply)
I agree with all this.
But Bachmann is VERY bright. I think she may be one of those borderline "crazy smart" people/personalities. I've known plenty of geniuses who had massive personality disorders. It seems to come with the territory, I guess.

Thing is - as you point out - why doesn't Obama's misquotes (which are frequent and quite obvious) get the same coverage that Bush's did? Or Bachmann's?

Having just finished listening to a crazy Leftist on the radio state that the mainstream media "kowtows" to the Right....I'm sitting her wondering what the heck he's referring to after reading such nutty articles as this.
#7.1 Rick on 2011-06-22 19:41 (Reply)
Little Matty is just barnyard excrement & wouldn't have a readership without his daddy holding his hand. and you're right BD his type always goes after the women with more bile and viciousness (what loathsome private thoughts must he have if he voices things like the above). It's not exactly manly behavior, but sadly it's par.


That said, I'm not sure I'm sold on Bachman, but I'll surely stick to the relevant issues whenever I oppose her.
#8 Gordon on 2011-06-22 19:31 (Reply)
On a business trip to a particularly left-wing portion of our nation (oh hell...Los Angeles), and had the good fortune to stumble on the most reliably communist radio station I've ever heard. When I'm out here I sometimes find it by accident, and listen just for giggles.

It's astounding how the Left can (just as much as the Right) be so conspiratorially inclined. I got to listen to a news reporter (former Bloomberg, former AP) talk about how the Right is using CIA-perfected tactics to "destablize the US economy and thereby win political office". He commented that he realized how bad it was when his management (presumably at AP, since he didn't come out and say) said they were "tougher on Democrats just to show that they were unbiased". Which, of course, only shows just how biased they really are.

The fact is, if the mainstream media was fair and honest, they wouldn't be "tougher" on anybody. But the facts are they play fast and loose with the Democrats. Most Democratic scandals are of the sexual (Weinergate, Clinton) variety. Real scandals like Rangel get short shrift and are often swept under the rug. The response, of course, is that a Weinergate shows just how misguided the Right is because....um....well, the Right is the one that "started it" (Breitbart).

The Left is just horribly misguided, but so is the far Right. Bachmann gives the Left so much ammunition with which to work - and sadly, we do little to prevent crazy people like her from appearing as standard bearers.

Palin, I give a pass to. I liked her. Liked being the operative word. Sadly, she fell so quickly and easily into the silos that the mainstream media created for her, it's easy to THINK she's crazy, even though she clearly isn't. As a result, she has become a caricature of her old political self. It's unfortunate. She's more comfortable being a People Magazine style politician, as opposed to an Economist style politician.
To the Left, this means she's irrelevant and evil. I say it just means she sold out.

But, overall, the Left will attack Republican women viciously because, of course, women are "Natural Democrats". You know, like blacks. Herman Cain, Thomas Sowell, and Justice Clarence Thomas are "traitors to their race". Which, coming from Democrats, cannot possibly be construed as racist. So, since women are "Natural Democrats", attacking a Republican woman is not at all misogynistic. It's just being "honest".
#9 Rick on 2011-06-22 19:37 (Reply)
Excellent write-up, Rick.

The only thing I would contend with you on is that Sarah Palin "sold out." I think more accurately, she's selling the only thing she can, because her political career is toast. So, good for her.
#9.1 Big___Al on 2011-06-22 20:19 (Reply)
I think she had a shot at being a player. But the MSM quickly demonized her, created a cartoonish persona for her, and she willingly adopted it.

In the end, she did wind up selling the only thing she had available, but the press put her in a position to have to prove she was more than they said she was, and she took the easy path.

Nothing wrong with that, mind you. But I think she could've done alot more.
#9.1.1 Rick on 2011-06-23 10:41 (Reply)
I'm not so sure she had a realistic shot at being a political heavy Washington insider. I'm also not sure that is where she can be most effective. I think being a powerful and popular voice for the commonsense, common, middle class, flyover, public schooled citizen is where she can be most influential. I think it was just go against her character and blunt what is so fresh and honest about her to conform to the norms of beltway politics and political fashion. That is no place for a lady trying to raise a family. I think she and her family are very fortunate that she didn't become the sitting VP.
#9.1.1.1 phil on 2011-06-23 12:45 (Reply)
Those Dems...members of the He-Man Women-Haters' Club.
#10 Sam L. on 2011-06-22 22:05 (Reply)
Matt Taibbi: Hunter Thompson on an all-night vita-gummie binge. Gotta respect that.
#11 WKimbell (Link) on 2011-06-23 00:14 (Reply)
As far as I'm concerned, once the left sold a bunch of adolescent, ignorant girls a teenage boys' wet dream of sexual freedom, it truly revealed what they thought of womanhood and what their plans for women were. And it has not been good for the women OR men of this country.
#12 J on 2011-06-23 11:15 (Reply)
It's so cool to be the right kind of bigot these days.
#13 ccoffer on 2011-06-23 20:03 (Reply)
To all you brainiacs out there.... Bachman has 20 some children in her home... if she is able to manage 20 some children and keep them schooled, well fed and educated, any other job she might take on appears to be a piece of cake.......
#14 Jamain (Link) on 2011-07-11 10:22 (Reply)

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