# I'm convinced! Bachmann is insane. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 19, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317 "2011-08-19T14:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/1 "2011-08-19T14:45:08Z")
I am a socially progressive, fiscally conservative Republican. Ever since the early 90’s I have felt like a strager in my own party. I have actually had other Republicans tell me I am not a Republican because of my views on abortion and SSM. IMHO, the problem is the Republican Party is that it is not longer inclusive of people left of Pat Buchanan and Sarah Palin so when Bachmann gets on her stump like she did last week and tells me that Republicans need to ATTRACT the social Nazis and not let them leave once we have them, I now believe that she is living in Bachmannland and any similarity with reality is purely coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/2 "2011-08-19T14:58:03Z")
A social conservative whose party has done very well electorally by attracting social conservatives in the past thinks they should continue to try and attract social conservatives? I think your defining down the word “insane” by a considerable margin. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/3 "2011-08-19T15:05:49Z")
Do you have a cite or transcript? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/4 "2011-08-19T15:12:14Z")
She claimed she worked at the IRS, after becoming a tax attorney, so she could “know her enemy”. That is one of the rules of was according to her. She worked there 4 years, taking off 2 1/2 for maternity leave. She took bigtime advantage of the benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/5 "2011-08-19T15:23:43Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > She claimed she worked at the IRS, after becoming a tax attorney, so she could “know her enemy”. That is one of the rules of was according to her. She worked there 4 years, taking off 2 1/2 for maternity leave. She took bigtime advantage of the benefits. I currently work for the Army. I guess I might be a spy! It’s the only explanation! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/6 "2011-08-19T15:24:09Z")
I hope it doesn;t take a generation or two for Republicans like you to recognize that their party has been taken over by lunatics, and that the Democrats should be more than right-wing enough for you. Once that occurs, we can open a meaningful dialogue between Conservatives (Democrats) and Progressives (liberal Democrats), and abandon the hard-line ideologues (Socialists on the left, TPers on the right) on the margins. Until that understanding, we’re in a Mexican stand-off, unable to govern or even to discuss policy. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/7 "2011-08-19T21:00:28Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Do you have a cite or transcript? No. It was a clip of one of her speeches that I heard on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/8 "2011-08-19T21:02:00Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > A social conservative whose party has done very well electorally by attracting social conservatives in the past thinks they should continue to try and attract social conservatives? I think your defining down the word “insane” by a considerable margin. I wish I had the quote handy but according to her, the Republicans don’t have social conservatives in the party and needs to get them on board. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/9 "2011-08-19T21:10:39Z")
It’s not exactly insane… around primary time, you can set your watch by evangelicals harrumphing about how the Republicans aren’t doing enough to attract them. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/10 "2011-08-19T21:34:52Z")
Hijack: how Bachmann is NOT insane, or even misinformed. When she misspoke and referred to the Soviet Union being a threat (rather than Russia), Democrats just rolled their eyes for the most part, assuming she made a minor (if amusing) gaffe. Very few concluded that she hasn’t heard about the end of the Cold War–just that she misspoke. But I haven’t heard the end of Pubbies claiming that Obama genuinely seemed to think that there were 57 states when he made a similar (if less sinister) gaffe on the campaign trail in 2008. On this, Bachmann is NOT insane. Pubbies who continue to harp on the 57 states thing, however, may well be. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/11 "2011-08-19T22:11:37Z")
I wanna sing her [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHN6AViJAvI) in close range with “Out” changed to “In”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/12 "2011-08-20T01:50:47Z")
She’s not insane, she just gets these headaches . . . ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/13 "2011-08-20T03:44:53Z")
Neighborhood pets keep disappearing… ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/14 "2011-08-20T16:37:40Z")
I have similar political views as the OP, then my wife pops this tidbit on me yesterday: [http://technorati.com/videos/article/video-michelle-bachmann-promises-a-return/](http://technorati.com/videos/article/video-michelle-bachmann-promises-a-return/) > [@](#): > > Michele Bachmann says that under her Presidency there will be a return to $2.00 a gallon gas Come On! What does that mean to a Pro-market party. That statement is pure insanity. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/15 "2011-08-21T01:38:41Z")
Thank goodness we have Christine O’Donnell to remind us of just how much more insane someone could be than Rep. Bachman. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/16 "2011-08-21T02:05:02Z")
I don’t think she’s insane, but she isn’t very thorough in her knowledge of politics and national affairs. She’s just like Sarah Palin: She’s an attractive successful woman that at first blush seems like she can be a winner. She can give a stump speech and stick to her talking points just fine. When she goes any further than that, she is exposed as being out of her element and lacking a consistent, thoughtful approach to things. The $2 per gallon article is a good example. The only way that happens is if the economy tanks again. The refusal to raise the debt ceiling is another. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/17 "2011-08-21T02:15:12Z")
What does she propose- conquering the Arabian peninsula, exterminating it’s inhabitants and mandating that the petroleum has to be sold to Americans for cost plus five percent? For even that to work, you’d have to forbid the American companies that would presumably now own the oil fields to not sell on the world market for what price they can. SOCIALISM! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/18 "2011-08-21T22:15:11Z")
She proposes that a Bachmann administration would be so economically ruinous that domestic demand for gasoline would collapse. Voila, $2 fuel at the pump. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/19 "2011-08-24T18:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Michele Bachmann says that under her Presidency there will be a return to $2.00 a gallon gas. And a chicken in every pot, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317/20 "2011-08-24T19:59:03Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I don’t think she’s insane, but she isn’t very thorough in her knowledge of politics and national affairs. She’s just like Sarah Palin: She’s an attractive successful woman that at first blush seems like she can be a winner. She can give a stump speech and stick to her talking points just fine. When she goes any further than that, she is exposed as being out of her element and lacking a consistent, thoughtful approach to things. > > The $2 per gallon article is a good example. The only way that happens is if the economy tanks again. The refusal to raise the debt ceiling is another. I think the difference is that Palin would say something which indicates she doesn’t know what the debt ceiling is. Bachmann does know, but is so insane in her economics that she doesn’t understand the impact. Which is not to imply that Palin isn’t insane also. An alternative explanation is that Bachmann know full well what would happen, but is they type who would destroy the country in order to save it, thinking that the depress that would ensue would ensure Republican control. Kind of like those terrorists convinced that blowing up government buildings will cause the people to rise up in revolution. This seems more plausible to me, since Palin never actually had to learn anything in college while Bachmann did. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-convinced-bachmann-is-insane/593317.md?page=2)