Michele Bachmann and the killer clown comparison
Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 09:52 AM
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But that's exactly what happened to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann when she got her John Waynes seriously mixed up yesterday.
Mistakenly comparing herself to a notorious serial killer instead of a laconic Hollywood legend, she told a Fox News reporter:
'John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too.'
Unfortunately the John Wayne she meant was born in Winterset, Iowa, which is more than 100 miles from Waterloo. The John Wayne of Waterloo was a homophobic serial killer who was known for his creepy compulsion to dress up as a clown.
Twitter exploded with derisive laughter after her gaffe, and the news cycle was suddenly full of roughly photoshopped images of a smiling Bachmann wearing clowns makeup. It was a rough enough welcome to the big leagues.
"Are you a flake?" Fox News' Chris Wallace asked her on a fairly hostile Fox News Sunday. 'I think that would be insulting to say something like that because I’m a serious person,' Bachmann replied testily. She did not accept his apology, which was delivered via a web video the next day.
Social conservatives love her, and the Tea Party seem to think she's now the candidate to beat, but the majority of the American electorate may be a tough sell. Why? Because she's so gaffe prone (which reminds us all of someone) because she often seems to deliberately mislead the public with her statements, and because her rhetoric is often completely absurd.
By way of example here are two of my favorite Bachmann quotes:
"Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn't even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas."
And the always hilarious:
"(Gay marriage) is probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and our nation in the last, at least, thirty years. I am not understating that."
Perhaps in future she'll beware of grandiose announcements, but I somehow doubt it.
35 Comments
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hollabackgurl | Jul 07, 2011, 11:25 PM EDT
I check it out. GayPatriot is written by a deluded individual who gives his allegiance to a party that wants to enshrine his second class status in federal law.
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maloney | Jul 04, 2011, 05:12 PM EDT
The people of NY need to check out the website "GAYPATRIOT".
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maloney | Jul 04, 2011, 05:10 PM EDT
obama said after a Kansas tornado that 10,000 people were dead. 12 people died in the tornado. obama said he had been to 57 states with one more to go. obama called Sioux Falls, SD. Sioux City. obama said Iran doesn't pose a serious threat to America. The next day he said the threat from Iran was grave. obama said the soldier he gave the Medal of Honor to was alive. The soldier was KIA. obama didn't know the age of his youngest daughter, he stated her age wrong twice in the same speech. Sounds to me like Bachmann is over qualified.
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Springfield9 | Jun 29, 2011, 10:07 AM EDT
Michelle is just an ice breaker for an alien species planning on settling here. They want us to know they may fly in space but they are "spacey" by any measure.
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seanomelbourne | Jun 29, 2011, 12:18 AM EDT
Bachmann !! just a snow flake she will melt away trying to work out how dinosaurs roamed the earth 5000yrs ago. If I were her I'd ask for Adams birth certificate may be lied about his age and he really was a founding father,she cannot ask her mentor john wayne gracy he's dead. There's nothing intelligent about her design.
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JimMcGarity | Jun 28, 2011, 10:54 PM EDT
Are all politicians stupid. Some send porn to others and show there face, the President thinks we have 57 states. And now this.
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jamieLM | Jun 28, 2011, 07:14 PM EDT
Btw: our vice-president Joe Biden has stuck his foot in his mouth enough times and then there's Nancy Pelosi. I'd say both parties have members who can vie for the title of "Dumb and Incorrect Things I've Said."
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jamieLM | Jun 28, 2011, 07:07 PM EDT
As annoying and inane as the gaffes are that are made by both Democrat and Repbulican politicians, voters should be more concerned about scrutinizing the platforms of all of the candidates. Unfortunately, too many Americans aren't as knowledgeable about Am. history facts as they should be and that includes politicians. John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison) was born in Winterset, Iowa and I'll bet almost no American cares about or knows where his parents were born. That all comes under the heading of "trivia."
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jamthecat | Jun 28, 2011, 06:11 PM EDT
Michelle Bachmann is mentally ill. She shows a number of symptoms -- confused thinking; excessive fears, worries and anxieties; delusions or hallucinations; denial of obvious problems...and on and on. Of course, so are most of her supporters. It's scary how quickly madness can take control of an entire portion of the population and set them on a course of destruction. As for Obama, if a Democrat would run against that back-stabbing SOB in the primaries, he'd lose. But the DNC won't let that happen. O's their guy and they will destroy any true progressive who tries to topple him. So we'll get four more years of Bush's policies gussied up to look like they are anything but. It's disgusting.
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hancock | Jun 28, 2011, 03:30 PM EDT
Obama said you could keep your coverage, and prices would go down. just a sampling. 57 states? What an eejit.
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BiffSissy | Jun 28, 2011, 01:32 PM EDT
I agree w/mikehoulihan's comments re printing any story w/ a vague Irish connection.
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Ratslayer | Jun 28, 2011, 01:06 PM EDT
More from the RIGHT-WING IDIOT CLOWN (thanks to Daily Kos)
*Bachmann can't tell John Wayne from John Wayne Gacy?
*Bachmann believes John Quincy Adams was a Founding Father even though he was nine when the Declaration of Independence was signed
*Bachmann believes Concord and Lexington were battles in New Hampshire
*Bachmann believes evolution is a hoax and creationism should be tought in schools
*Bachmann believes that the Census could be used to put Americans in concentration camps
*Bachmann believes the school lunch program is unconstitutional
(Just a sampling ...)
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lokionline | Jun 28, 2011, 12:35 PM EDT
The liberal media and the conservative media in the US both commit howlers all the time. If you find one more incredulous than the other, that says a lot about you.
US citizens would be better off making up their own minds after reading both.
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lokionline | Jun 28, 2011, 12:28 PM EDT
colkelley - "I have an IQ of 152 and both of my sons have IQs measured repeatedly in the 170s" - LOL
Perhaps you should have your sons make comments!
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