During a recent speech she gave in Iowa, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) attempted to rewrite American history by proclaiming that our founding fathers ended slavery. Minnesota Tea Partyer who wants to be President of the U.S. but never will be say what?! Come on man! You can find a 3rd grader who's failing history and they'd know that the founding fathers didn't end slavery! The antics of people like Michele Bachmann are just one reason why I and many others are leery of Republicans/the Tea Party movement. Not to mention the fact that they put up with the antics of the Michele Bachmann's of the world.
Below is a segment from the January 25th edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews, with Tea Party Express founder Sal Russo and Salon.com managing editor Joan Walsh. The segment contains footage of Michele's controversial/non-factual comments about slavery. Just watch how Russo squirms when Chris grills him on Michele's comments about slavery and slavery in general. As a fan of Chris Matthews' pressing style of interviewing, this was an instant classic for me. It's right up there with the time when he destroyed Michelle Malkin or when he tore talk show host Kevin James a new one.
25 comments:
Now see, it is this type of insanity that confuses young people that don't no any better. Children trust that adults are going to be honest and TRUTHFUL. Shame on Bachmann :-( I love Chris Matthew, he calls it as he sees it. Damn those trying to rewrite history to fit their agenda.
I had forgotten about the Malkin interview, and had never seen the Kevin James debacle, thanks for linking.
Do you know how people like Malkin, James, Bachmann, Fox News, and the AM radio wingnuts get away with it? Because there is a significant number of Americans who, for lack of a better word, are sadly ignorant.
NEWSWEEK did an article called America The Ignorant; Dumb Things Americans Believe that asks why one in five Americans believe the President is a Muslim, why a large portion of the population can name all Three Stooges but can't name one Supreme Court justice, and how we can be fighting a war in Afghanistan when most people under the age of 25 can't find that country on a map.
The Bachmann's of the world just tell people what they want to hear and it just backs up a very limited and narrow belief system.
It is pretty pathetic that a Republican congresswoman seems to be so ignorant of the fact that the party of Lincoln was founded to combat slavery. It's even more shocking to see that there are apologists lining up to defend her ignorance.
OK, is it just me or have we entered an alternate reality?
Since Bachmann says "The Founding Fathers freed their slaves as a justification that they 'worked tirelessly to end slavery' it might carry a little more validation if they never owned slaves or raped them and had kids with them to begin with. Don't cha think?
I mean that is like a bank robber freed his hostages so he is not guilty of robbing the bank, no?
For Christ sakes people, I am not proud of these facts either but that is no excuse to rewrite history or sweep it under the rug!
The Founding Fathers were not Christ, they were men that make huge “man made” mistakes (they were not infallible or Incapable of erring), why is it that some want to rewrite history and say that their Sh*t does not stink, please grow up.
I saw Chris pound Sal Russo, he was so angry at the sheer ignorance of Russo and his defending of Bachmann! Good for you Chris!
It's amazing what these teabaggers/rethuglicans get away with. But if your constituents are just as dumb and non-thinking then we can't expect anything more!
Pjazzy: I've noticed this (attempting to rewrite history) has been a tactic of the right over the last few years. If there was no Internet, just imagine what types of untruths they'd try to slip past us.
Hugh: Every time I see Michelle Malkin pontificating on Fox News, I think back with joy over her appearance on "Hardball" and how Chris took her apart. I think Michelle may have forgotten where she was when she implied that John Kerry shot himself on purpose.
Your theory about how the right wing noise machine gets away with spouting the lies they do is the same as mine. The best we can do is to continue slapping down that nonsense every time they spew it.
Speaking of right wingers defending Bachmann's idiotic statements, check out the comments thread of a post over at Newsbusters:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/01/27/tea-party-leader-battles-chris-matthews-defends-michele-bachmann-you-
Chris: No, it isn't just you. When I used to deal with conservative bloggers who have no interest in facts or logic, I felt like Oliver Wendell Douglas on "Green Acres". In the "Hooterville universe", the Eiffel Tower was in Washington D.C.
The propping of the founding fathers to near mythic status by the GOP has become tiresome to me. I once asked a conservative blogger to explain the contradiction of how she and others like her could put the founding fathers on a pedestal on one hand, while also using a quote by Thomas Jefferson as evidence that Democrats are racists. Of course, I never got an answer.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you back in the future.
Sue: Chris had Sal Russo on the ropes. Did you catch Sal's embarrassing laugh throughout the clip when he was faced with Chris' questioning? He reminded me of Peter Griffin from "Family Guy".
It's frustrating that so many on the right are allergic to facts and logic. Here is the link to a excellent segment that Cenk Uygur did on The Young Turks about interviews conducted at a Sarah Palin book signing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27QTX46XNLM
Good God, if the Tea Party wasn't such a corporate GOP scam, they'd try to stop her. But since it's such a shill anymore, I can't see them doing anything but using her idiocy for profit. All classic clips - good to see them again!
And as a teacher, you're right. Even elementary school kids know that the Civil War came after the Revolution. Maybe she should cancel the Constitution classes she's sponsoring and go for a little American history instead!
Great post, Malcolm, my friend.
"Good God, if the Tea Party wasn't such a corporate GOP scam, they'd try to stop her..."
Bingo! This is the crux of the problem. If the Tea Party were a legitimate grass roots organization, Bachmann and her ilk would have been an embarrassment to it and she would be shunned. Instead, the Koch Brothers welcome dimwits like her because she brings attention to the TP. And any attention is better than none.
It appears that the one qualification for stardom in the TP is galloping stupidity.
The University that awarded Congresswoman Bachmann a law degree should be ashamed (Please don't tell me it was Oral Roberts University). If the founding fathers (I suppose she included the Southern founding fathers who owned slaves) worked tirelessly to abolish slavery how come the country fought a civil war over slavery? Did the law school that granted Bachmann a law degree fail to teach, or even mention, the 1857 Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision? If everyone who came to America was welcomed as equal, regardless of race, then why was it necessary to pass three Constitutional Amendments: the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth? Did Rep. Bachmann learn any thing about the Jim Crow period that ushered in legal segregation of the races in the Southern States? Is it possible that the college and the law school she attended omitted any mention of the Supreme Court's "Plessy v. Ferguson" decision? I have a sneaking suspicion that, Rep. Bachmann, a college educated and a lawyer, is not that ignorant. Rather, she seems determined to re-write history to conform with teabaggers' claims that their mission is to restore the ideals of the pure and blameless founding fathers.
Who is dumber?; Michelle for saying the Founding Fathers eliminated slavery, or Sarah for saying that the Soviet Union collapsed because of Sputnik. What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qideaIA_NpI
Malcolm, can you help me out here?
I'm tired of trying to enlighten these people.
Momma Politico: Thanks for the kind words! Watching Sal Russo hem and haw during his appearance on "Hardball" is indicative of what you see from many conservatives who will cover for one of their own no matter what. The same thing happens in the blogosphere. If some of these clowns would actually have the guts to call out one of their own, I'd have a little more respect for them.
Shaw: Michele Bachmann is tailor made for the puppet masters controlling the Tea Party. To complete the domino effect, Michele's mindless followers are tailor made for her. Years from now when people study the Republicans during the Obama era, they will be amazed at the craziness/stupidity that stemmed from the GOP.
I don't know if you got my email or if you've been back to Lisa's blog since last Friday, but I commented on the post you linked to and another one.
Nathkatun 7: Thanks for stopping by. You raised an interesting question. I think Sarah might have a slight edge over Michele in the brains department, although that's not saying much. From a economical perspective, it was smart of Sarah to quit being the Governor of AK. Since then, she has made a boat load of money with her brand of phony patriotism and criticizing The Obama administration at every turn.
Everyone knows it was a "Republican" who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and lost his life for supporting equal voting rights.
And also a Republican who helped o end segregation.
Unlike the party of Robert Byrd and Al Gore Sr.
Lisa: I love it when people such as yourself use the fact that Lincoln was a Republican as "proof" that the Republican party of today is all for equal rights. There was a time when the Republican party was more progressive than the Democratic party and had a better track record in the area of civil rights as well. As many people know, the Republican and Democratic parties underwent ideological shifts during the early to middle of the 20th century. In all likelihood, if many of today's conservatives/Republicans were alive when Lincoln was president, they would have been Democrats! The reverse is true for many of today's liberals/Democrats.
Predictably, you resorted to another tired right-wing tactic used to slam Democrats by hauling out Robert Byrd and Al Gore Sr. What you conveniently failed to mention is a politician from our more recent history: David Duke. Although he originally ran as a Democrat in 1988, he didn't make much of an impact until he became a Republican later that year. It was only then that he achieved any political success. Interesting how you didn't include that in your comments.
I also find it interesting that you failed to address the topic of this post: Michele Bachmann's severe lack of knowledge when it comes to the history of slavery in the United States. Did you not address it because you're afraid to admit that Michele has no idea what she's talking about on this topic?
Malcolm Actually I don't waste my time with what Michelle Bachman says and I not only mentioned Lincoln,Nixon was the other president I was referencing regarding segregation. I prefer to listen to what message the president brings being that is the voice we all hear.
And why can't I use Robert Byrd and Al Gore Senior?
You know if they were republicans Chris Matthews and the rest of MSNBC would be tingling about it every chance they got.
God, how I love to see this woman knocked down a peg or two! Thank God for those who take on the idiots of the world! Great post, as always, my friend.
See this is why we shouldn't listen to politicians or let our kids listen to them either otherwise they might think the U.S. has 57 states:
Now I know Michelle Bachman didn't say that one otherwise we would be reminded of it 24/7.
Lisa: You can mention Robert Byrd and Al Gore Sr. as much as you want... but what's your point in doing so?!
Nice try with the link to Obama talking about 57 states. In case you didn't know, that was debunked/explained a couple of years ago:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/57states.asp
Your claim of not wasting time with what Michele Bachmann says is a weak dodging of the topic. You are welcome to comment on any post here, but at least have the guts to address the topic. Since you've managed to avoid it so far, I'm going to come out and ask you:
Did Michele Bachmann know what she was talking about when she claimed the founding fathers ended slavery?
Momma P: Thanks.
Did Michele Bachmann know what she was talking about when she claimed the founding fathers ended slavery?
No to which I replied
"See this is why we shouldn't listen to politicians or let our kids listen to them either otherwise they might think the U.S. has 57 states:"
Doesn't that sound like I said she was wrong?
Nice try on the Snopes link,it didn't debunk anything.
The award for outstanding handling of a troll goes to...Malcolm! Keep fighting the good fight, my friend!
Lisa: You said,
"Nice try on the Snopes link,it didn't debunk anything."
Lisa, all I can do is lead you to the water. If you don't wanna drink it, that's on you.
Your comparison of Michele Bachmann's slavery screw up to Obama's "57 states" slip up is false equivalency. Do you really think Obama didn't/doesn't know there are 50 states in the U.S.? His slip up was similar to when Sarah Palin recently mixed up North and South Korea during a radio interview on Glenn Beck. I think she knows South Korea is our ally. Although I will criticize Sarah for what I consider her intellectual shortcomings, the North/South Korea mix-up looks like a simple slip of the tongue.
Had you compared the Bachmann fiasco with the incident when Dan Quayle foolishly attempted to correct a young boy's spelling of the word "potato", it would have been more fitting. Oh right, you wouldn't have used that because Quayle was... wait for it... a Republican! Oops!
Momma P: Thanks! I'm having fun. As long as Lisa wants to come over with that weak sauce, I'm gonna keep busting her up.
Behind ya 100%, my friend. The fact that you are having fun definitely shows! Go get 'em! :)
Hey Malcolm are you going to make me grow old waiting for your comment? I answered your comment. Come on over and shake things up.
Lisa: Are you being serious?! It's only been a day since your response. You on the other hand kept me waiting damn near a week before you replied to me! Trust me, I will be back to light you up.
By the way, do you have a response to my last reply (which was a week ago) in this thread?
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