YaHooka Forums - View Single Post - Congresswoman Michelle Bachman calls liberals "un-American"

11-06-2008, 05:02 PM

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Community Reinvestment Act
On September 26, 2008, Bachmann was criticized by the Congressional Black Caucus for reading an article that blamed rule changes in the Community Reinvestment Act for the economic crisis of 2008 on the House floor.[86][87]

[edit] Calling for the investigation of members of Congress
On October 17, 2008, Bachmann gave an interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews in support of the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. She spoke of Senator Barack Obama's association with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. Bachmann stated "…usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us, and it seems that it calls into questions what Barack Obama's true beliefs, and values, and thoughts are. His attitudes, values and beliefs with Jeremiah Wright on his view of United States, which is negative. Bill Ayers his negative view of United States. We've seen one friend after another. It calls into question his judgment but also what is it that Barack Obama really believes and we know that he is the most liberal Senator in the United States Senate and that's just after one year of being there. …[With Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ] you have a Troika of the most leftist administration in the history of our country."[88] When asked if liberal views are anti-American. Bachmann said "The liberals that are Jeremiah Wright and that are Bill Ayers they are over the top anti-American, and that's the question Americans have. Remember it was Michelle Obama who said she was only recently proud of her country. And so these are very anti-American views. That's not the way that most Americans feel about our country. Most Americans, Chris, are wild about America and they're very concerned to have a president that does not share those values. …I am very concerned that he [Barack Obama] may have anti-American views."[88]

In light of Sarah Palin's comment about "pro-America areas of this great nation", Bachmann was asked which areas are anti-American "I don’t think it's geography. I think it is people who don’t like America, who detest America and on college campuses a Ward Churchill another college campus a Bill Ayers, you find people who hate America and unfortunately some of these people have positions teaching in institutions of higher learning but you’ll find them in all walks of life all throughout America."[88] When asked about the Democratic Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader, Bachmann said "I am not going to say if they are anti-American or pro-American."[88] When asked by Matthews "How many people in the Congress of the United States do you suspect as being anti-American?" she replied "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that."[88]

Later in the same show Chris Matthews got reactions from Katrina Vanden Heuvel, co-editor of The Nation, and Pat Buchanan. Vanden Heuvel said "I think what we just heard was a Congresswoman channeling Joe McCarthy… There is an... extremism unleashed in this nation which you just heard on this program, which could lead to violence, and hatred, and toxicity, and against the backdrop of the great depression we're living through...could lead, and I don't use this word lightly, to a kind of American fascism which is against the great values of this nation and which people like that are fomenting."[89] "I think you have a socialist [[[Vermont]] Senator] Bernie Sanders who is a left-wing individual he’s not anti-American. You have liberals who are not anti-American." When asked if he thought that there were any anti-American members of Congress he said "No, I don’t know of any." Buchanan contrasted these people with Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and Ayers, whom he compared to a Ku Klux Klan church bomber.

[edit] Reaction
Political commentators soon weighed in on Bachmann's comments. Don Frederick, an editor at the Los Angeles Times, wrote that "before Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was done, she raised the specter of the days of Joe McCarthy."[90]

11-06-2008, 05:02 PM	#16 (permalink)
Roach Guest Posts: n/a	[edit] Controversies [edit] Community Reinvestment Act On September 26, 2008, Bachmann was criticized by the Congressional Black Caucus for reading an article that blamed rule changes in the Community Reinvestment Act for the economic crisis of 2008 on the House floor.[86][87] [edit] Calling for the investigation of members of Congress On October 17, 2008, Bachmann gave an interview on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews in support of the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. She spoke of Senator Barack Obama's association with Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. Bachmann stated "…usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us, and it seems that it calls into questions what Barack Obama's true beliefs, and values, and thoughts are. His attitudes, values and beliefs with Jeremiah Wright on his view of United States, which is negative. Bill Ayers his negative view of United States. We've seen one friend after another. It calls into question his judgment but also what is it that Barack Obama really believes and we know that he is the most liberal Senator in the United States Senate and that's just after one year of being there. …[With Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ] you have a Troika of the most leftist administration in the history of our country."[88] When asked if liberal views are anti-American. Bachmann said "The liberals that are Jeremiah Wright and that are Bill Ayers they are over the top anti-American, and that's the question Americans have. Remember it was Michelle Obama who said she was only recently proud of her country. And so these are very anti-American views. That's not the way that most Americans feel about our country. Most Americans, Chris, are wild about America and they're very concerned to have a president that does not share those values. …I am very concerned that he [Barack Obama] may have anti-American views."[88] In light of Sarah Palin's comment about "pro-America areas of this great nation", Bachmann was asked which areas are anti-American "I don’t think it's geography. I think it is people who don’t like America, who detest America and on college campuses a Ward Churchill another college campus a Bill Ayers, you find people who hate America and unfortunately some of these people have positions teaching in institutions of higher learning but you’ll find them in all walks of life all throughout America."[88] When asked about the Democratic Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader, Bachmann said "I am not going to say if they are anti-American or pro-American."[88] When asked by Matthews "How many people in the Congress of the United States do you suspect as being anti-American?" she replied "What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that."[88] Later in the same show Chris Matthews got reactions from Katrina Vanden Heuvel, co-editor of The Nation, and Pat Buchanan. Vanden Heuvel said "I think what we just heard was a Congresswoman channeling Joe McCarthy… There is an... extremism unleashed in this nation which you just heard on this program, which could lead to violence, and hatred, and toxicity, and against the backdrop of the great depression we're living through...could lead, and I don't use this word lightly, to a kind of American fascism which is against the great values of this nation and which people like that are fomenting."[89] "I think you have a socialist [[[Vermont]] Senator] Bernie Sanders who is a left-wing individual he’s not anti-American. You have liberals who are not anti-American." When asked if he thought that there were any anti-American members of Congress he said "No, I don’t know of any." Buchanan contrasted these people with Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and Ayers, whom he compared to a Ku Klux Klan church bomber. [edit] Reaction Political commentators soon weighed in on Bachmann's comments. Don Frederick, an editor at the Los Angeles Times, wrote that "before Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was done, she raised the specter of the days of Joe McCarthy."[90]