Precisely because she represents a vision of 1950s America that is untouched by modern life, with its sexual and reproductive freedoms, the influx of minority populations right into the heartland of the U.S., and the need to adapt to an increasingly globalized world.

But Bachmann, 55, the mother of five children, has managed to appeal to both a rural constituency that views big-city American life with distrust verging on horror and people in the big cities who can help fund her run.

To moneyed fundraisers, she's the promise of deregulation and tax breaks, a standard-issue conservative Republican in the mould of George W. Bush.

To her rural Christian base, she's a social conservative, one of them.

They understand her when she acts on their behalf in ways that appear, on the surface, dumb.

In 2003, when the Minnesota state legislature had already passed a law making same-sex unions illegal, Bachmann nonetheless proposed an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage.

It was a move that could be interpreted in a number of ways: she hadn't bothered to see what was already law; she didn't care; the real point was to call attention to herself as a fearless campaigner against any deviation from a Bible-based, 1950s suburban/rural American norm.

Four years ago in New Hampshire, campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, John McCain said to voters, “I do agree with the majority of scientific opinion, that climate change is taking place and it’s a result of human activity, which generates greenhouse gases.” He made global warming a key element of every New Hampshire stump speech.

This week in New Hampshire, the governor of Texas and newest presidential contender, Rick Perry, said scientists have manipulated data to support their “unproven” theory of human-influenced global warming. He said increasing numbers of scientists have disavowed the theory altogether.

This is not simply a case of two very different politicians saying two very different things. The political discussion about global warming has lurched dramatically in four years — even as the scientific consensus has changed little. McCain’s 2007 description remains the scientific consensus: Human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is pumping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and warming the planet.

But that scientific conclusion has become a lively point of debate in the GOP presidential campaign. Joining Perry on the skeptical side, for example, is Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who suggested Wednesday that “manufactured science” underpins what a questioner called the “man-made climate-change myth.”

The nominal GOP front-runner, Mitt Romney, drew sharp fire from conservatives when he said in June that he accepts the scientific view that the planet is getting warmer and that humans are part of the reason. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) on Thursday tweeted: “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

“Climate change has become a wedge issue,” said Roger Pielke Jr., a University of Colorado professor who has written extensively on the climate debate. “It’s today’s flag-burning or today’s partial-birth-abortion issue.”

Historically, climate change has ranked near the bottom of issues that voters care about as they evaluate presidential candidates. It wasn’t a factor in 2008’s primary season or general election. The major parties’ nominees endorsed the scientific consensus and believed that the government should curb carbon emissions.

But even as it appeared that the government might take sweeping action on climate change, the political opposition intensified. President Obama favored a nationwide system in which industries would have to cap their carbon dioxide emissions and trade pollution allowances with one another. The then-Democratic-controlled House passed this “cap-and-trade” system in June 2009, but the plan stalled in the Senate after Republicans and major industries criticized it as a “cap-and-tax” system that would escalate energy costs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/climate-change-science-makes-for-hot-politics/2011/08/18/gIQA1eZJQJ_print.html

“Submission” is not a word common to presidential politics. But in last week’s presidential debate, it became a hot topic because of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

In 2006, Bachmann told a story about her career path. “My husband said, ‘Now you need to go and get a post-doctorate degree in tax law,’” Bachmann said. “Tax law! I hate taxes. Why should I go and do something like that? But the Lord says, ‘Be submissive, wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.’” (Actually, she was mistaken—Paul and Peter said that, not the Lord.) When asked at the Fox News debate Aug. 11 whether she would be submissive to her husband as president, Bachmann responded, “What submission means to us, it means respect. I respect my husband. He’s a wonderful godly man and great father.”

Some say Bachmann’s answer gracefully addressed an ungracious question. But many evangelical voters heard in Bachmann’s comments a familiar debate among Christian believers over the biblical rules of marriage. And Bachmann’s answer failed to clarify where exactly she stands.

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/08/19/understanding-michele-bachmanns-submission/#ixzz1Vf4FikI2

see toon at top...

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) told supporters God was sending a message to Washington politicians through the earthquake and hurricane that pummeled the East Coast this weekend, according to a report in the St. Petersburg Times. The hurricane killed more than 26 people, including at least two children.

While giving a speech about the merits of small government and tea party activism, Bachmann said:

"I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/under-god/post/michele-bachmann-jokes-that-god-sent-hurricane-earthquake/2011/08/29/gIQAUN6QnJ_blog.html

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Gawd... The spruikers of zelot want to poke your chest with guilt... by becoming president. Very popular song and dance with the ignoramuses... Hell! Idiots!...

I don't think Bachmann was joking:

Bachmann’s press secretary told reporters that she was “saying it in jest” to prove a point.

What point to prove? That global warming is crap or here to stay — or that god is in the clouds? Idiots...

On this line of comments I only use Elvis' song titles... as channeled to me by Michele... See toon at top.