McFadden v. Franken

Don’t wait! The campaign between Al Franken and Mike McFadden begins now. The issues are already making themselves clear and the battle is on! A Minnesota seat in the U.S. Senate is the prize!
by Charlie Leck

Michael McFadden, a Minnesota millionaire who lives in the St. Paul suburb of Sunfish Lake and a mergers and acquisitions business advisor, will run against incumbent U.S. Senator Al Franken.

You can find strong agreement among politicians and political polling organizations in Minnesota that our state’s voters put two considerations about a candidate first and foremost. They are: (1) Is the person a strong leader? (2) Does the candidate care about people such as I?

I think this year’s race will come down to the same two factors. I think McFadden will prove himself a strong leader, even as Franken already has, so, on that question, there will be a draw between the two candidates.

McFadden will have a hard time convincing the little guy that he really cares very deeply about him. McFadden will sing the old song about not raising taxes and removing some of the entitlements the government already gives to people with needs. And here, on the issue of preserving the strength of the middle class and attacking rampant poverty, the crux of the battle will be waged.

Candidate McFadden will have to attack Franken from the right. He’ll have to complain about Obama (who is still remarkably popular in Minnesota) and he’ll have to go after government spending – especially on entitlement programs. He should bear in mind that Obamacare is also popular in Minnesota (but he probably won’t).

And, a major strike against McFadden with a large, large percentage of Minnesotans, is his connection with retiring Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. It was the Congresswoman’s endorsement that put him over the top and took the endorsement away from a couple of long-time Republican regulars in the state. By all reports, the Tea Party is losing some of its gusto in Minnesota and that isn’t going to help any candidate endorsed by Bachmann. That endorsement will, however, send some of Bachmann’s old funding sources running to McFadden. Just remember, at this point, what happened to Bachmann the last time she tried stepping out of sixth district politics on to a bigger stage. She doesn’t function well on that bigger stage. I hope McFadden uses Bachmann extensively in the campaign – sending her everywhere in the state to speak for him – because that will be extremely damaging to his campaign.

Reports from the Republican’s state endorsing convention indicate that Tom Emmer, Republican candidate for congress in the sixth district, worked the crowd hard for McFadden. Emmer was a very divisive force in the last Republican campaign for governor here in Minnesota and he drove thousands to an alternative party in that election. He’ll be just as divisive in McFadden’s race and, like Bachmann, he’ll drive many voters away from the party’s regular candidate

So, the early betting is that Franken will win back his Senate seat in spite of huge amounts of money that McFadden will spend on this campaign if the dems can turnout a big percentage of their voters. This is the biggest worry about the election right now and it’s why Republicans have tried in every which way to make it more difficult for people to vote. I imagine a big part of Franken’s campaign will be a “get out the vote” effort. It has to be!

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Bachmann Tattle-Tale

A book about some of the naughty things Michele Bachmann is supposed to have done during her brief and failed presidential bid has hit the market.
by Charlie Leck

I just thought you ought to know about this e-book that outlines the nasty infighting going on among these evangelicals. I’m not recommending you buy it. I certainly won’t. However, if you have a Kindle book reader and an Amazon account, you can get it on-line.

It’s called Bachmannistan! Now, isn’t that a clever title. It’s written by the rightly reverend Peter Waldron with help from attorney John Gilmore.

Just remember that I told you Ms. Bachmann was a has-been long before she officially was. I could write a book!

Just picture this scene described in the book: On the advice of her psychologist husband, Ms. Bachmann is standing before a mirror saying, “I am the President of the United States!” I understand it is one of the more exciting sections in the book. Frightening, but exciting!

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So Long! It’s Been Good to Know You!

I may as well fold up the ollld blog. Who am I going to bash now that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has decided to give up her seat in Congress – that is, when January 2014 rolls around? Unless, of course, she has other ideas!
by Charlie Leck

Now Congresswoman Bachmann is saying that eight years is good enough for anyone. It is not, she emphasizes, that she’s afraid of her Democratic opponent in an election next year. And, she also assures us, it has nothing to do with the possibility of charges of campaign misconduct having to do with her Iowa presidential primary activities in 2012.

No, dang it! Of course not!

I’ll tell you what!
If Michele Bachmann sticks to her guns and leaves Congress and stays out of politics, I’ll hang up my spurs as well. On her last day in Congress, I’ll write my final blog here. With Ms. Bachmann gone, my blood pressure will go down and so will most of my reasons to rant, rave and rage.

Unless, that is…
I have no idea who will ascend to represent Minnesota’s sixth district in Congress. Only the election of an idiot like Tom Emmer, who happens to live in the sixth district, could get me to renege on my promise to stop blogging. And, Emmer is being talked about as one of the possible candidates to replace the congresswoman. I’d like to think that Emmer is unelectable but I’m afraid it may not be true in the sixth district – and only in the sixth.

So, even though Bachmann has pledged to leave Congress, we need Graves to stick to his promise to run for the seat. I think he would have beaten Bachmann (and frankly, I think that’s why she’s retiring) and I think he can defeat Emmer in a head-to-head fight.

The two zaniest Republicans in the state…
You know, from what I’ve written here, that I have little regard for either Bachmann or Emmer. They are the two weirdest Republicans in the state. They are both equally flakey and they both lack any sort of cleverness. I think Emmer would end up being even a greater embarrassment to the state than Bachmann has been.

So, stay tuned and I’ll try to keep you up-to-date on what’s going to happen in Minnesota’s sixth congressional district. The first thing I’ll watch for are hints that Emmer might be making a run for it. I have reasonable Republican friends who will keep me posted on Emmer’s intentions.

Tom Emmer cost the Minnesota Republican Party the governorship in 2012 and if, by some strange set of circumstances, he should get to run for congress, I believe he’ll do the same thing in that race by splitting his party again.

If the Republican Party is smart they’ll look for some kind of moderately conservative candidate out there in the sixth district – for a person who will have a more reasonable approach than did Michele Bachmann.

Now, one final possibility…
Could it be? Would she dare? Has Ms. Bachmann the idea that she might take a run for the U.S. Senate and oppose Al Franken in his 2014 bid for reelection? OMG! That would mean intensifying my blogging efforts rather than discontinuing them. Is it possible? What we have learned is that with her anything is possible.

If you’d like to watch the You Tube Video of Ms. Bachmann’s statement about her retirement, you can do so here…

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Why Do We Put Up with these Tea Partiers?

Meet a U.S. Congressman as loony as Michele Bachmann if you can believe that…
by Charlie Leck

Take Louie Gohmert if you will… Please! (a little line stolen from the extraordinary, late Henny Youngman)

New York Times writer Timothy Egan brought Louis Gohmert to my attention [read the Egan column]. This slightly off-kilter fellow is this U.S. Congressman from Texas (figures), and he is really strange, strange, strange! It never stops him from getting reelected because his constituency either admires him or thinks he’s comical enough to keep around. Indeed, Gohmert is one of the strangest ducks in the current Congress and one of the most outlandish and eccentric ever to hold such office. Currently serving his fifth term in the House, representing a geographically huge district on the eastern border of Texas, Congressman Gohmert seems remarkably unbeatable.

Gohmert is a graduate of Texas A&M University and has a law degree from Baylor University, eventually appointed by the state’s governor, Rick Perry, to serve as Chief Justice of the 12^th Court of Appeals. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran who rose to the rank of captain. He’s a good, old Southern Baptist who has served as both a deacon and sunday school teacher in his church.

In Congress, Representative Gohmert serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. He refers to himself as “a no nonsense” sort of guy.

I take a deep breath, shake my head, and wonder how Texas can keep producing such characters – guys with such spectacularly stupid ideas. It is because of guys like Gohmert that I am so nervous about ever visiting Texas. However, when you think about it, there are probably plenty of Texans who say the same thing about Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Minnesota. And, I must admit, they have a point! For, you see, Gohmert and Bachmann make quite a pair

As a cute aside, Gohmert plays on the red-uniformed Republican congressional baseball team as – you got it – a right fielder. It takes this assignment very seriously. During one game he tore his ACL in a collision with the Democratic Party’s catcher as he tried to reach home and score.

Get this!
Gohmert actually wants to make the following a rule of Congress: No Republican can vote for a congressional bill that has not received the support of a majority of the Republican Congressional Caucus. I mean it! He said it! Now, how is that for not voting your own conscience? Don’t we have enough problems getting things passed in Congress already? It’s crazy! Not for Gohmert.

Yet, the very same man has been heard to say: “If you ever stand alone and make people mad like I have, you have tremendous respect for people who do that?”

Err! What? Put together, the last two paragraphs don’t make sense!

Obama influenced by Muslim Brotherhood!
On April 25 of this year, the Huffington Post published a quotation from Gohmert that knocked the socks off a lot of folks [you can see the video of the statement here]: “This administration has so many Muslim Brotherhood members, uhh, that have influence that they just are making wrong decisions for America.”

Oh, my! This guy was an appeals court judge in Texas! Wouldn’t you just love having him decide a case you’ve brought to the court? Honest to God! (I mean it!)

Gun Control and Bestiality
Representative Gohmert actually (I mean – actually) linked gun control to bestiality. Recently he was speaking on the limit of gun magazines and blurted out…

“And I point out, well, once you make it 10, then why would you draw the line at 10? What’s wrong with 9? Or 11? And the problem is once you draw that limit – it’s kind of like marriage when you say it’s not a man and a woman anymore, then why not have three men and one woman, or four women and one man, or why not somebody who has a love for an animal?... There is no clear place to draw the line once you eliminate the traditional marriage, and it’s the same once you start putting limits on what guns can be used, then it’s just really easy to have laws that make them all illegal.”

And I’ve been running around saying that Michele Bachmann is the craziest member of the U.S. Congress. Sorry, Ms. Bachmann! I really am! You’re now the second craziest.

The parking ticket flap!
A month or so ago, Representative Gohmert got a parking ticket for leaving his car in a spot reserved for National Park Service vehicles only! He became extremely upset about the ticket and went off on a rude rant. There’s actually a chance that Gohmert was improperly ticketed on that occasion (afterall, he’s a member of House Natural Resources Committee that oversees the parks), but displaying his temper and insulting park services employees just wasn’t the kind of thing a normal person does. It’s more like what Michele Bachmann would do!

With one more week of bombing, we could have won in Vietnam!
Really! He said it! A real student of history and war is this Gohmert character. With this one he wins the prize for being loonier than Michele Bachmann. OMG! With only one more week of bombing runs, Gohmert insisted, the Viet Cong would have been brought to its knees and would have surrendered. As one who stood four-square against that war and marched the streets in protest against it, I’m insulted and shocked!

I could go on and on… really! Gohmert thinks more guns, and not less, might really be the answer. He also thinks we may need our guns some day to fight off Sharia law from taking over America. He thinks the nation could be coming to the end of its existence because of its move away from biblical teachings. It’s one of the “main” reasons for the recent spate of public shootings, he says.

How do such fools get elected to the U.S. Congress?
I can’t blame it on Texans! We’ve done the same thing here in Minnesota! I can’t figure it out. Voters can’t be that crazy! It must be the comedy they love.

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Naughty Michele Bachmann!

The Congresswoman is under investigation!
by Charlie Leck

As you might imagine, I will keep a close eye on the news that congressional ethics investigators are looking into allegations against Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. (You can find stories about this investigation on news sources all across the Internet. Just google search it and your there.)

Oh, my!

What can I say? None of us wishes the congresswoman any ill; however, let the truth be known. Did the congresswoman fib a little here or there? Oh, no! That would be impossible!

Naturally, Ms. Bachmann is saying that the investigation originates and is motivated by her political adversaries – mainly the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The Congresswoman’s staffers spoke out and said: “They are willing to do or say anything in an attempt to defeat her in 2014.”

I need to tell myself not to get too excited. Congressional members rarely do anything to stain the reputations of their members – whichever party they might belong to. It’s part of the collegiality of the organization – better known as “protect your ass.”

I’m sure this investigation will go nowhere. Bachmann will remain alive and well and screaming out against the liberal attack on the Constitution of the United State of America.

At worst, she’ll have her fingers slapped. Nothing serious will come from any of this; however, it is another sign of the character of the woman – a congressional representative who is remindful of the fellows that Louisiana or Mississippi used to send to Washington.

The woman from the 6^th district is not really representative of Minnesota and, therefore, we ought to throw her out and suggest that she and her husband go to more friendly territory (perhaps, in Jackson, Mississippi) where her shoot-from-the-hip style and her bombastic language is more acceptable.

Our local newspaper, the StarTribune, carried a front page story about the investigation this morning. It was written by Kevin Diaz.

The investigation is being conducted on behalf of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The office is made up of equal numbers of Republican and Democrats. A former and highly regarded Minnesota Congressman, Bill Frenzel, is on the panel. Frenzel is a Republican. Investigation proceed only if two members of the panel request it and they must be from different parties.

There is definitely some smoke here. We’ll have to wait and see if there is really any fire.

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Michele Bachmann and our Minnesota Spring

This lovely farm, just up the road from our home,
is only a few hundred yards from the 6^th Congressional
District where the embarrassing Michele Bachmann
serves as a Congresswoman.

Even though spring is officially here, it’s colder than a witch’s chest in Minnesota. (I don’t know if I’ll get away with that or not!)
by Charlie Leck

Let’s put it this way. The witch is Michele Bachmann, sixth district congresswoman from Minnesota, and she is one cold bitch… er, witch! I’ve never met a chillier dame in my life. Whenever she opens her mouth, the winds come blowing down from the great northwest and the entire state is blanketed in ice. I can’t explain the science behind this, but if we ever want to join the warming trend that the rest of the nation is talking about, we’ve got to get rid of the icy congresswoman.

Here it is, the third day of spring and it is barely going to get above freezing in Minnesota. The cold must have addled Mrs. Bachmann’s brain because it is on the loose again and the rattling sound it is making is overwhelming.

The congresswoman turned on President Obama again last week. I don’t quite get it. There’s all kinds of work to do in congress and the lady (if you dare call her that) from Minnesota wants to attack the president as if the campaign has started up again. Mrs. Bachmann is on some kind of rant about the dangers of Obama Care – that it is going to kill untold numbers of woman, children and seniors. No one can get a handle on what she’s trying to say because it’s all so irrational. There ought to be some kind of law protecting us from the woman’s explosive mouth.

People all around the state are wondering.

“Uh, what? Would you repeat that part about the movie projectionists in the White House who are forced to spend the nights there in case one of the first daughters wakes up and wants to watch a movie a 3 o’clock in the morning.”

“Umm! And then, repeat that part about the part about the dog walkers who you say the White House hires to take the presidential dog out for midnight strolls. And also that stuff about the five chefs on Air Force One.”

How do you make this stuff up, congresswoman? You are a fantasy machine! You ought to leave Congress and go on out there to California where I think you can buy that rope legally.

Charles Blow, writing in the NY Times this week, said of Bachmann: “She burst back on the scene with a string of lies and half-truths that could have drawn a tsk tsk from Tom Sawyer.”

Blow goes on to say that “people like Bachmann represent everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. She and her colleagues are hyperbolic, reactionary, ill-informed and ill-intentioned…”

The goofy congresswoman from Minnesota has spent the last week making a huge fool out of herself again. In doing it, she also deeply stains the good name and reputation of the Grand Old Party.

Listen, she’s just got to be beaten in 2014. Even Republicans are coming around to realize this. Mercifully, we can not let her go back to Washington. It’s doing some serious damage to her brain. We’ve got to get her into some kind of institution for treatments. She’s got to be kept away from sharp objects and self-published books by fools.

Oh, my! I hope you haven’t spent time following the Michele Bachmann saga of the last week. Of course, I have! I’m hooked on the drama. I find it more intriguing than even Downton Abbey. Insane woman destroys her reputation while her family, including the Lady Dowager, stands helplessly by with no way to stop her.

The woman has utterly destroyed herself and no one – no one, mind you – not even the Koch brothers – take her seriously anymore. She’s nothing but a silly comic book character whose antics go far beyond the realm of the believable. And, her stuff is not selling anymore! No one is buying it. No one really gives a damn about the stuff that spews from her lips (as ugly as it is).

Ms. Bachmann is like the little boy who cried wolf just too many times. Now folks just turn and laugh at her. The rage in her eyes concerned us once. It doesn’t anymore because we’ve all become aware that is just an inner imbalance in her that can’t be controlled.

She doesn’t draw crowds any longer. News people of all stripes refuse to take her seriously. If they need something comical for one of their broadcasts they might run a piece about her utter stupidity, but she doesn’t get serious time anymore. Her stuff has grown stale and no one cares. How sad!

The Washington Post gave Ms. Bachmann four Pinocchios again last week for some of her ranting against the President. Again, I say: "Who cares?" We’re so used to it now; though it remains pretty embarrassing for those other members of the House of Representatives.

A little piece of her congressional district is just a mile or so up the road from our place. I plan to get involved over there in a campaign to end her tragic tenure in the U.S. Congress. Enough, already! Really!

“Ding-dong! The wicked witch is dead!”

      Ding-Dong!

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Michele Bachmann as Anacoluthon

I’ve left Michele Bachmann alone for quite long enough! I'm lying awake nights wondering if there is any chance she might lose this election. How wonderful that would be for Minnesota! It would restore some of our dignity!
by Charlie Leck

Oh, how I enjoy the odd anacoluthon! (It’s my word of the day from Dictionary.com, you know!)

anacoluthon – an-uh-kuh-LOO – thon (noun)
1. An interruption of a grammatical statement’s direction, as “I am so happy – oh, I’m not really all that happy at all!”

While watching Michele Bachmann on the telly last night I realized – oh, what’s the use of getting myself all riled up again about her? Even those who support her know in their heart of hearts and their mind of minds that Bachmann is a dizzy dipwit (I just invented that delightfully delicious word).

Dipwit!... Dipwit!... Dipwit!

I just happily and proudly tweated my word invention! The following reply came back almost instantly…

Diptwit would be better!

I suppose!

Anyway, the Dipwit is being challenged quite seriously in this year’s election up there in Minnesota Congressional District 6. The Graves organization (Jim Graves, her Democratic opponent) is claiming they’ve moved up to only 2 points behind her. Of course, that polling was done by a firm hired by the Graves organization and it’s now nearly a month old. I’m not saying it isn’t accurate, but I’d feel better if some leading polling organization or the local newspaper (StarTribune) would have some information about voter opinion in the district.

Sadly, no one else is polling this race as far as I know. If an outside polling organization would confirm that this is a very tight race, Jim Graves would be inundated with political contributions that – oh, what’s the use of dreaming? Since childhood my mother has been telling me I’m just a hopeless dreamer. Even now the words come up from her grave and smack me in the face.

Michele Bachmann is one of the really terrible realities of my life. She’s a constant embarrassment when I travel because people always want to ask me about her – like, is she for real? Is she really that dumb? Does she really think that?

I know folks, it’s hard to believe! Yet, she really is all that crazy and dumb. Oh, my! You’d have to follow her activities, statements and appearances as I do to really appreciate it. I use to laugh about this dipwit. Now I break down and ball!

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Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and her Happy Meals

I remember seeing my first McDonald’s restaurant sometime in 1960
or perhaps it was in ’61; and I think it was in Sioux City, Iowa. It was pretty
amazing and I was not unimpressed with the hamburger and fries. It
was nothing nearly as good as what my old man served back in his
luncheonette in Chester, NJ, but it was a great gimmick and the prices
were cheap.

She’s incredible, this Congresswoman from Minnesota, and just when you think she can’t out-do herself she does!
by Charlie Leck

Listening to Michele Bachmann talk politics is like listening to my wife’s mule talk space science! No, that’s wrong! The mule actually is quite literate and amazingly intelligent.

Listening to Representative Bachmann talk about American History is like listening to a drunk trying to cough up a handful of popcorn kernels he’s choked on! Really! They both actually make about the same degree of sense.

Congresswoman Bachman got into the 47 percent discussion in the last couple of days. Geez, you would think she’d have a staff that would have the sense to advise her occasionally to keep quiet. I don’t want to ridicule her! Why can’t she just keep quiet?

Everyone is America should have to pay something, Ms. Bachmann told the video camera – even if it’s only the price of two Happy Meals – about ten dollars.

Democracy isn’t free, she told the camera, and everyone should have to pay something! Everyone benefits from this great country.

“Everyone can afford to pay, at least, that!” She meant at least the cost of two Happy Meals!

I just read the following in a fortune cookie: “Kindness is the ability to love someone more than they really deserve!”

I’m trying to be kind here. Congresswoman Bachmann is trying hard. She’s working at it. I mean she doesn’t say this stupid stuff to be funny. Lots of people say she really knows better. Actually, to be fair and kind, I don’t think she does, but she’s trying

Somehow, on the day God was passing out brains, Ms. Bachmann skipped the assembly so she could go over to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. So, we ought to be kind to her and more patient with the really silly nonsense she is constantly spewing. She really does think everyone can afford to pay federal income taxes.

She does! Even with the cost of gasoline and food these days! Even though they also have to pay community taxes, county taxes, sales taxes and state taxes.

I don’t think Ms. Bachmann understands there is some really harsh poverty in America. No, no, don’t laugh at her. Be kind! I don’t think she really understands. Ms. Bachmann is so enchanted with the mega-millionaires in the nation that she’s become starry-eyed and can’t see what would seem so obvious.

Ms. Bachman thinks that even people with no income should pay “income” taxes – even if it’s only the price of two Happy Meals! Perhaps she didn’t mean it. Is it possible she’s sharpening a bit for an appearance on Jon Stewart’s show?

So, a retired couple, trying to buy food and pay for the energy costs in their home and properly clothe themselves on their Social Security checks (which is their previously earned money and which they must declare on income tax returns), should have to pay at least some amount of “income” tax.

Congresswoman Bachmann doesn't realize that Mitt said the 47 percent are made up of three types of people and, in confusion, she lumps them together. I’m sorry Ms. Bachmann! Maybe someone could explain this to you.

The 47 percent, Mitt Romney said, are the folks who are going to vote for President Obama anyway! Right? Now, Ms. Bachmann, those numbers would include me – and my wife. We are, indeed, going to vote for President Obama. We are not poor and we do pay at least the cost of two Happy Meals in income taxes. Now, madam, Mitt said there are 47 percent of Americans who do get some sort of government benefit. Yup, I’m in that group also. I do get a monthly Social Security check and I do have to pay taxes on that income (even though it is money I made and paid into this federal savings plan). And finally, the last group Romney lumped into that 47 percent are people who don’t pay federal income taxes. Well, unfortunately or fortunately, I’m not in that group.

Yet, it seems statistically true that 47 percent of Americans on a given year don’t pay federal income tax. Wow! Ms. Bachmann, all of those, in that group, are not poor people and are not always people who will vote for President Obama. There are quite a few wealthy people who’ve managed to avoid paying income taxes in one way or another through the mega-loop-holes provided by our income tax system. Or, they might be business people who actually lost money in a given year and aren’t required to pay taxes. Some others of them are very poor people who can’t afford to pay anything – not even the cost of two Happy Meals – even if you refuse to believe that. And then there are lots of people in between those two sorts who, though they don’t qualify to pay income taxes to the federal government, do pay lots of taxes of other sorts – property tax, sales tax, school bond taxes, community taxes, county taxes and state taxes. I pay all of those taxes listed here in addition to my federal income taxes, Congresswoman. I’m still going to vote for President Obama.

I don’t mind paying those taxes and I’d even be willing to pay a bit more if it would take the pressure off people who cannot afford to be paying all those taxes mentioned above. Go down to the capitol city of your own state sometime, Congresswoman, and visit one of the homeless shelters – like the Union Gospel Mission – and see how many people need to come to them to be fed and sheltered because they can’t afford even a single Happy Meal and because MacDonald’s doesn’t have any place where they can legally sleep. And that isn’t the only charity serving the homeless in our area either, Congresswoman. There are a number of other organizations doing the work also – like Sharing and Caring Hands, Minneapolis Homeless Shelter, Simpson Housing Services, Catholic Charities and St. Anne’s Place. Most of the people that these shelters serve can NOT even afford to pay the government the cost of one Happy Meal.

You must really know that, Congresswoman Bachman. You must! If you don’t, I want to introduce you some time to Mary Jo Copeland, the founder and director of Sharing and Caring Hands, and she can explain it to you. She’ll also explain to you that these are not pikers, Congresswoman, but they are people in distress and in need of our compassion and assistance.

Congresswoman, when government loses its compassion all hope will also be lost. Part of government’s role in this world is to even the playing field so that all people get a fair shot at a good life – with justice and freedom for all.

I know these are difficult concepts to understand, Ms. Bachmann; but give it a try! Please!

And, while you’re at it, Congresswoman, read these comments that Bill Clinton made on a couple of Sunday TV shows and it might be a little easier for you to understand the facts of life.

“First, they do pay taxes — they pay Social Security taxes, they pay Medicare taxes, they pay state and local taxes,” he said. “Second, they are out of the income tax pool for two reasons: one is the economic crash, which lowered a lot of peoples’ incomes.… Now the second reason is interesting, it’s a bipartisan reason in the past: it’s because of the combined impacts of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.”

 It's complicated, I know, but most people get it. I'd be happy to buy you a Happy Meal sometime and explain it to you.

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John McCain’s Decency

Michele Bachmann appears to be sticking to her guns about Muslims infiltrating key government offices and positions. Well, I look forward to the terrible scene that comes at the end of this fight. I am old enough to remember the communist purges and blacklists of Senator Joseph McCarthy; and I remember the man* who shook a finger in his face and asked: “Have you no decency, sir?”
by Charlie Leck

John McCain is a very decent sort of man. I have a number of Republicans I think highly of and he is one. Senator McCain could try to run a dirty and mean campaign, but he can’t do it. He is a decent man who prefers honesty to scandalous lies and down-right dirty meanness. It’s probably why he wasn’t able to get elected to the highest office in the land even though he had the credentials and toughness to serve in that office.

Now don’t get me wrong. I voted against him. And, given the same circumstances I’d vote against him again. Yet, I’ve never failed to salute him as a genuine American hero, a hard working U.S. Senator and an honest and decent man.

What higher tribute can anyone pay to one than this: “He (she) was an honest and decent man (woman)?

When Michele Bachmann snapped in the last few days and began seeing Muslim Brotherhood representatives seeping into our federal government – and in nearly every quarter of it – John McCain faced her down and said: “No! You go too far! Don’t go there! Don’t harm innocent and good people!”

I got the clear impression that John McCain, as he spoke (it was in his eyes), was remembering the damage that Senator Joseph McCarthy did to so many people. If you’re of a generation that doesn’t understand about Joe McCarthy, I have a recommendation for you. Run! Don’t walk! Go to somewhere where you can rent or buy the Woody Allen movie called The Front. Put your feet up on your hassock and watch it and don’t let anything disturb you.

Senator Joseph McCarthy needlessly and recklessly destroyed the productivity and creativity of a great many American citizens. He destroyed them! Innocent people, with their lives in wreckage and with nowhere to turn, gave up their lives (killed themselves) because Joe McCarthy had poisoned the American public against them. Senator McCarthy was – with no exaggeration – a fool and an evil man.

Senator John McCain heard the chorus singing behind U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann and it worried him. He said it quite simply: “Stop!”

He knew it was a trail down which we must not go.

I salute you Senator McCain. I commend you and thank you.

And I? I want nothing more to do with the dirt and scum and lies that drive Representative Bachmann so recklessly within American politics.

Thank you, Senator McCain! Thank you.

*Joseph N. Welch, distinguished Boston lawyer, who was born in Primghar, Iowa, in 1890.

In 1994, before a nationwide television audience, Welch defended one of the young lawyers of his firm, who had been accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy of communist leanings because of his law school association with the National Lawyers Guild. On 9 June, the 30^th day of the Army-McCarthy hearings Welch stood his ground and dressed-down McCarthy.

“Until this moment, Senator, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Fred Fisher is a young man who went to the Harvard Law School and came into my firm and is starting what looks to be a brilliant career with us. Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel as to do any injury to that lad. It is true he is still with Hale and Dorr. It is true that he will continue to be with Hale and Dorr. It is, I regret to say, equally true that I fear he shall always bear a scar needlessly inflicted by you. If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty I would do so. I like to think I am a gentle man but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me.

McCarthy, unaware of the deep historical power of the moment, renewed a rambling attack on the Guild and the young man. Welch interrupted him and spoke again.

“Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyers Guild. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no decency, sir? At long last, have you no sense of decency?”

McCarthy, totally involved in himself, at the center of the stage, tried to ask Welch another question. Welch, again, cut him off.

“Mr. McCarthy, I will not discuss this further with you. You have sat within six feet of me and could have asked me about Fred Fisher. You have seen fit to bring it out. And if there is a God in Heaven it will do neither you nor your cause any good. I will not discuss it further...”

Watch this dramatic and historic exchange on the American Rhetoric web site.

[NOTE 2]
Rumor abounds, and perhaps they are set in motion as a result of internal polling in the Bachmann camp, that shows she is not doing well against her new opponent, Jim Graves; and that is why she is trying to awaken her base and get them more stirred up about this election.

We wait with anticipation some of the official non-partisan polling that will soon be made available.


[NOTE 3]
Last night on the Glenn Beck Show, Michele Bachmann stood her ground and renewed her charges against Huma Abedin (Secretary of State Clinton's aide de camp). Then she opened up on Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison. If you wish, read a report of Bachmann's appearance on Beck's radio program.

  

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Obama on Scripture

Oh, if only Jesus could have a little sit-down with Michele Bachmann and some of those who spew out Christian judgment of President Obama!
by Charlie Leck

"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7

The President made a STATEMENT yesterday when he appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast gathering in Washington, D.C.. He clearly wanted to send a message that the fundamental and ultraconservative Christians out on the far right do NOT have exclusivity when it comes to spouting scripture.

In his comments, President Obama, made clear that he is influenced by the Judeo-Christian concepts of caring for those who are in need. Very casually he threw out verses from scripture that motivate him.

“For unto whom much is given, much is required!” [Luke 12:48]

“I am my brother’s keeper!” [Genesis 4:38-8]

“Care for the least of these!” [Matthew 25:40)

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves!” [Proverbs 31:8]

“They are values,” he said, “that have made this country great when we live up to them.”

I am not being simplistic here. Yesterday’s remarks were carefully planned. I think the President is tired of fundamental Christians speaking ill of him but not really defending their dislike of his health care innovations and his programs to serve the elderly and needy in relation to their scriptural beliefs.

You know, it is interesting to imagine what it would be like if Jesus were the chief advisor to the President of the United States. Fundamentalists ought to think about this! We would not, I guaranty you, reduce entitlement spending. We would not be cutting our financial aid to needy foreign nations. We would have American technicians working in those places that need to improve their water supplies and their ability to establish a sustainable agricultural system. No American would be turned away from proper health care assistance. All children would be enrolled in outstanding educational environments and teachers would be among the most highly paid workers in the nation.

Oh, my! The high and mighty would be brought low and those of low esteem would be lifted up! Those who pray on the street corners just to show off their religion would be chased away and the meek and fully faithful would be rewarded with God’s blessings.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  [Mathew 25: 35-40]

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The Books Awaken

Today I present, for you viewing pleasure, a danged cute cartoon! Enjoy!
by Charlie Leck

I keep telling you about Open Culture. I sure hope you’ve gone there and found out what a clever and entertaining web site it is. You’ll find a ton of very serious and educational material; however, you’ll also find some plain old fun.

This morning they featured a Warner Brothers cartoon, Book Revue, that was named one of the 50 best of all time by a group of 1,000 animation professionals. The scene is a closed book store and it is the middle of the night. Suddenly the books begin to stir. Take it from there….

If this didn’t make you smile a little, what can I say? I’m just tired of ranting so much. This was a nice break.

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However, after that nice bit of comedy, we’ll turn to a real cartoon character – Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Ned Ryan, the President of American Majority, an organization closely identified with the Tea Party, has urged Ms. Bachmann to knock it off. “It’s time for Michele Bachmann to go,” reads the first line of the statement.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that Michele Bachmann is about Michele Bachman,” the Executive Director, Matt Robbins, said.

Even the right and the very heart of the Tea Party is starting to tire of Ms. Bachmann’s love affair with Ms. Bachmann.

I can only hope her run is over.

That’s all, folks!

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