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
jnewnam | Jun 28, 2011, 12:19 PM EDT
She was referring to John Wayne whose parent were born in that town and who grew up in that state. The only clowns here are the liberal press who continually get facts wrong. I mean look how wrong they were about Obama and look how many facts about the O the hide from the people. Please Cahir why do you find it so hard to tell the truth.
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jdi2269 | Jun 28, 2011, 12:13 PM EDT
YO.....CAHIR.....REMEMBER WHEN YOUR HERO OBAMA SAID WE HAVE 57 STATES?
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hancock | Jun 28, 2011, 11:46 AM EDT
She couldn't be any worse than the current moron.
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tomgallagher | Jun 28, 2011, 11:30 AM EDT
It seems like the only time this broad opens her mouth is to change feet.
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cillowen | Jun 28, 2011, 11:13 AM EDT
she'd be perfect for SNL laughs.
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1IrishMedic | Jun 28, 2011, 11:08 AM EDT
This woman has so many gaffes in her stories about history and historical figures that she leads me to believe she has a smaller brain than the gnat. For her to even think she could be President of the USA is pure grandiosity and arrogance. She's a "fekin" ijit.
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olovely | Jun 28, 2011, 11:02 AM EDT
Katiemac it was Anglo Irish Bank, the CEO's of high finance and the IMF that bankrupted Ireland - just like the Lehman Brothers, etc bankrupted the US economy with a blank check from the Bush administration. You're a credulous fool if you try to pretend otherwise.The only socialism at work was the socialism for the rich (who played the market and left the Irish taxpayers with the bill). You shouldn't offer opinions on subjects you can't grasp.
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IAPRINCESS | Jun 28, 2011, 10:48 AM EDT
I cringe each time I hear her speak. I think she is a flake of the more dangerous kind. One who opens her mouth and starts talking despite the shoe that is there. She keep speaking when asked a question. I bet she could never answer just a "yes" or "no":EVER!
I will not vote for her.
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mikehoulihan | Jun 28, 2011, 10:35 AM EDT
I read Irish Central to learn about Ireland as well as Irish-American events. What the hell does this have to do with anything Irish? Nothing, just the ranting of a negative fool. Niall, why do you continually crap all over your fine publication with this kind of garbage?
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pndirishandprou | Jun 28, 2011, 10:31 AM EDT
what Obama gaffes? While Bachmann, Palin & Co's numerous 'misstatements' are glaring, one has to hair split to construe Obama "gaffes".
@Fran Connor: Austrians speak a German dialect that is quite different from 'high German' and natives of the Alpine republic do routinely refer to their dialect as 'Austrian'. Like most Americans, Obama may not have been fully aware of this subtle difference, but to call it a gaffe is far fetched.
Bachmann is a big joke and deserve all the derision that is heaped on her by the 'mainstream media'. She won in her ultra-conservative congressional district and it is not even certain she would win a statewide election as MN is a relatively moderate state. Obama would welcome her winning the GOP candidacy.
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colkelley | Jun 28, 2011, 10:18 AM EDT
As a lifelong atheist and student of religions I can state unequivocally that evangelical Christians - with the exception of some tiny cults - are nowhere near as dangerous as the run-of-the-mill Muslim.
What I love about people like Cahir who worship Obama as the Second Messiah is that while they criticized Dubya for stammering and used that as proof that he was "stupid," they use stammering as proof that Obama is a genius...since his brain is working so fast his mouth can't keep up.
I have an IQ of 152 and both of my sons have IQs measured repeatedly in the 170s and the only speech trait we have in common is that we speak very rapidly and without a single stammer, stutter, or spare syllable.
Obama stutters because his brain is working so fast to try to remember what lie he told previously.
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Sarge524 | Jun 28, 2011, 10:10 AM EDT
Cahir, your bias is showing.
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Jamcelt | Jun 28, 2011, 10:02 AM EDT
America has dug yet another whack-job up. Why is it so hard for America to accept that these Evangelical Christians are just as dangerous as they claim Muslims are?
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joma5004 | Jun 28, 2011, 09:48 AM EDT
Bachmann need not admit to being a flake as we all know she is one. She is nothing more than comic relief.
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