Michelle Bachmann Wants it Both Ways

Michelle Bachmann gave a speech a few days ago where she said that she was running for President and not her husband so questions about his business were off limits. Lets see how this works. Michelle is a co-owner of that business. She also states that one of her qualifications for the Presidency is the fact that she is a small business owner, that would be her husbands business. But yet we can't ask questions about that business. Maybe she was referring to the farm that she co-owns. No that one doesn't produce any income for her since some of the income generated comes from the Government. Unless of course, you look at her tax returns which state that she did make money as a farmer. But again, you can't ask questions of the Presidential candidate about the farm. The same thing is true about her family. On the campaign trail she touts that she has 23 children. Many of them are foster kids and it is noble that she took them in but yet if questioned about this family she says that it is off limits. She uses being a business owner, farmer, and family person all of the time in campaign stops, website, and literature but yet you can't know more than she is willing to tell. This is very similar to Sarah Palin who has been accused of using her children to get media attention but when asked about exclusives in the People magazine article for instance the response is that "my family is off limits". Well then don't put them out there in an effort to get votes but refuse the inevitable questions that will arise. The same is true for Michelle Bachmann. Don't talk about your small business credentials in a speech and then refuse to elaborate about the business to the press. If you have nothing to do with the operation of the business, farm, or family admit to that and we can move on, but if you insist on using props the press has a duty to ask questions about them.

On the Road with Sarah

As candidate (personality) Sarah continues her vacation in the East she continues to mangle the Nation's history. Her latest gaff is on the ride of Paul Revere. Her telling is that he was warning the British that they were not going to come and get our guns but we were going to be free. Not exactly, he was riding to warn the colonists that the British were coming not to get your guns but to put down an armed rebellion and they were serious about it. This revisionist thinking that everything was about the right to be armed is non-sense. The revolutionary war is much more complex than that. Some colonists were angry that they weren't represented in the House of Commons, some were angry that the taxes were too high, and still others were angry that they were not making enough money in their businesses. The gun right didn't come until later and because they wrote 3 clauses into the amendment it has been hotly debated ever since. It says as we all know " A well regulated militia as being essential for the protection of the nation. The right to keep and bear arms. Shall not be infringed." The strict constructionists out there (Sarah) focus on the right to keep and bear arms. They don't talk much about the well regulated militia very much or the infringement. We have passed some type of concealed carry in nearly every State. But, nearly all of those require some type of license and or training. That is an infringement. Not talked about much by the NRA or the right wing. No one is out there saying that you need to be a member of a well regulated militia. Well regulated implies Government run and we know that Government is the problem. If not Government who has the power to regulate? The founders were not anarchists. They were businessmen, scholars (elitists), and farmers who recognized that Government played a role in regulating (leveling the playing field) and governing in order to maintain a civil society. This would be at odds with our current leadership which ignores the general welfare clause of the Constitution in favor of removing the safety net so that desperate people are on the streets. That scenario has not worked out well in history.

Sarah Palin

Sarah has kicked off her nationwide vacation (to call it a tour would imply a schedule) by riding in a Harley parade. In her statement at the parade she channeled Robert Duval with her comments about how she likes the smell of the emissions. Some have said that she used emission as a slam to the liberal elite, I think that she was searching for something that would be remembered like Duval in Apocalypse Now. "Smell that,...that gasoline smell it smells like victory, I love the smell of napalm in the morning".