Michele Bachmann flubs history of slavery and the Founding Fathers

• Couldn't agree with you more.  Yes, Hitler pulled his crap only for his personal gain, & unfortunately it looks like people didn't learn from history.  Why do we continually, let these types of people get into power?  American citizens as a whole, have become ignorant, selfish and lazy.  Not willing to go out on a limb and fight for each other and what is right!  Thank God there is a light (at least lets hope so) with the Wall Street Protestors.  Lets pray & hope that they haven't all been arrested at election time!  I can see it happening so that the status quao stays as it is now. The haves and the haves not! Wake up people!   

• Thats right she is doing fine on her own spewing garbage! Just what we need more garbage in this over polluted world!

• Earl Dumarest you are pathetic.  Liberals are full of love for the good of all.  They especially care about those who don't have someone to defend them and speak up for them.  Like the poor and the sick, especially those in that predicament through no fault of their own except the greedy and selfish GOP.  Liberals follow Christ teachings more than the so called right conservatives.  Remember the widower in the temple that gave all her coins and the rich who gave more than she did?  Who did Jesus think more of? Of course the widower, she gave from her heart while the rich showed no heart.  They did not sacrifice for those less fortunate.  Michele spews hate so do the tea partyers and the GOP.  She reminds me of Hitler!.  Check your history!  Check out all the stupid and heartless and ignorant things she has said.  She is a human hater!  They way she talks about gays & lesbians!  Gays and Lesbians are people too!  I am of neither inclination but I know Jesus would love and care for them which is the opposite of Michelle.  I can't believe that people believe what she spews out of her mouth - oh wait a minute people believed Hitler, or other cult monsters didn't they?  Please people we must pray hard for the Glen Becks, Michele Bachmanns of this world.  Why?  So they see the errors of their ways and repent!

• randomamerican:  In what ways did America enhance and institutionalize slavery after declaring independence?  Surely the main pillar of institutionalizing Slavery in America was the procurement and shipping of slaves to the continent which the conquering European countries had been doing for hundreds of years before the United States even existed.  A handful of states never allowed slavery from inception and the federal government gave more political power to states that abolished slavery by counting all non-slaves a full vote and slaves only a partial vote.  This meant that a state that abolished slavery would instantly gain a considerable amount of political power in the form of all the the previously held slaves as well as more votes in the future from refugee slaves that were able to get away from states that still condoned slavery. To your last point.  Who is debating the evil of slavery?

• mrademacher you're not accurate.  Slavery was greatly enhanced and institutionalized in the U.S. southern states after independence.  By the time of the Civil War it had the greatest value as "property" of anything in the U.S. And I can't believe that we're still debating the sheer evil of slavery, Jim Crowe, lynchings etc in the U.S. after all this time!

• No one has to twist her words. She doing fine on her own.

• I know that she represents Minnesota; but, this woman epitomizes a joke we used to use in college to discribe people of our neighboring state... Idiots Out Walking Around Actually, I have a lot of friends that live in Iowa and they are not Idiots. But while listening to this woman speak I just couldn't get that out of my head.

• Based upon reading the above comment I would venture a guess that you feel George W. Bush was a good President? What about the fact that when asked during a press conference about the Iraq War (and Hussein) he flat out said, "He tried to kill my daddy."  So.... how many Americans have now died because of a personal vendetta? How much more debt has the country ran up because of a personal vendetta? Clinton had the national debt PAID! What did Bush do? During the election in prior to Bush's second term PBS's Frontline did a profile on both candidates and showed how much of John Kerry's life and upbringing (and Gore's for that matter) had been directly involved with him prepairing for, and eventually gaining, the Presidency. While on the other hand Bush's father's cabinet members approached him in Texas.  Frontline reported that G.W. basically became a talking head for the former cabinet members.  They knew that whomever is put up for election, every Republican will vote for them because they are not the Liberal alternative. Bush agreed to be a figurehead and the rest is history. Perhaps though I'm a little bitter. After watching the economy go down the toilet for the eight years of Republican rule, and losing two jobs because of it...    I get tired of the people that want to say that because Obama is now the President all of the countries problems are all HIS fault. Lets not forget about what the condition of the country was in when he inherited it, verses its condition when Bush stole (or was it just a coincidence that his brother was the Gov.) the two elections that made him the President. No National Debt & Much Peace vs. Much Debt & No Peace I preferred things the way they were in the 90's.

• The Community Organizer, Harvard graduate, President of the the United States in speech to the 10th Mountain Division Obama Flubs Medal Of Honor Winner, referring to one of the soldiers’ comrades who was killed in combat in Afghanistan as being alive. He mistakenly began a toast to the Queen of England at the wrong time, resulting in “God Save the Queen” blaring over his words and no one getting to drink what was in their cups. Flubbed his own daughter Malia's age. He slipped up when he signed the guest book at Westminster Abbey in London. "It's like — it was like Special Olympics, or something." — Barack Obama, responding to a question from Jay Leno on NBC's Tonight Show about his shoddy bowling game. In his campaign he said he visited all 57 states; as a Muslim that would be right. Is he? An on and on and on. The man is an empty suit!

• I really admire your comment, though I strongly disagree with you. I admire the fact that Sara Palin and Michele Bachman both have strong attributes.  But I don't believe that a Republican Run Government will repair the mess the 8 years of damage under the Bush Administration and the Republican House/Senate.  Most would agree that Obama inherited many natinal problems without any solutions. Health Care Reform was an answer helping the poor and disenfranchised, middle class and uninsured Americans who continue to loose everything because of their health conditions. This problem is not new and previous administratons handled it differently: 1) there were no answers under Bush Sr., 2) Lobbyists muted Hillary's push for health care reform under Clinton's 8 years. 3)  George W just ignored the whole thing.  Now finally the uninsure can recieve chemotherapy, insulin, and treatment instead of either dying horribly or being forced into squaller. The program is not perfect, but I challenge the Republican House to create an alternative soluton that solves these problems instead of continuing to watch people die needlessly from a neglectful heath care system. 

• HistoryProf:  Considering your name, I'm sure you already know that 7 states had abolished slavery by 1804 and that 9 states never allowed slavery within their borders to begin with.  Would you agree that slavery, in the form that the US is most often ridiculed for, was brought to this continent by European Countries and most of the slavery that happened on this continent was under European rule?

• Actually the U.S. was behind many European countries in abolishing slavery. For example Greece abolished slavery in 1822 but the U.S. didn't until 1865.

• Hey Hart- You damn hypocrite.  The Emancipation Proclamation was established in 1863.  If you're going to criticize someone's lack of historical knowledge look at yourself first.  Unbelievable.

• and yet, owning slaves cuz the Jones' are doing it isnt working..."tirelessly"...to abolish slavery, is it? words matter. understand them.

• wow, he gave up his slaves when he *died*? how noble. what sacrifice... re the rest -- bachmann is still wrong in saying that "founding fathers" (Adams isnt one) worked "tirelessly" to abolish slavery (they didnt, as you noted yourself...on death doesnt count!) try again.

• "But the white, male founders didn't consider African slaves fully human."  Uh ... not that simple.  Many of them did.  It wasn't a monolitic bunch.  They didn't start slavery, either.  Slavery came from Europe and existed all over the world thorughout history. Blacks enslaved blacks, whites enslaved whites and any combination you can come up with. Washington, for his part, inherited his when he was 14 or 15.  It wasn't all as cut and dried as it is for you and me who never had to deal with the issue of being raised with it being perfectly acceptable and slowly having our minds opened over time.  By the time the Revolutionary war was over, Washington's views on slavery had changed, and his slaves were freed upon his death. The Constitution not only didn't mention slavery, it didn't mention race, either.  At our founding, there were free blacks, and they could vote.  And the 3/5ths compromise was not intended to enshrine slavery -- quite the contrary.  It was seen as a step toward abolishing it.  The white plantation owners in the south voted AGAINST it, because they wanted slaves to count as a full person in the census, thus giving southern states MORE representation in Congress while at the same time voting against the interests of those very slaves they wanted to count.  The abolitionists among the founders saw that the chances of abolishing it would be greatly diminished if the South could use their slaves' numbers to inflate the South's representation and overwhelm the abolitionist vote. You're the one who should really go read some actual history of our founding like Bachmann has.  You might learn something. 

•  "She graduated from Winona State University and later received her J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University and an LL.M. degree in tax law from the William & Mary Law School.[12][13] She was a member of the final graduating class of Oral Roberts' law school, and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school to what is now Regent University" (wikipedia) Yeah I'd say she's smart, so STFU

• This article quotes her as calling John Adams a forebearer and then rips her because he's not a founding father... am I missing something or did she never call John Adams a founding father? Possible article slant here? I feel like in general the US doesn't get enough credit for abolishing slavery. European Countries colonized and shipped slaves over here for hundreds of years. The form of government put in place by our founders led to the liberation of slaves. Her facts and time-line were off but the point was still valid.

• Hart Van Denburg Flubs History of Slavery and Our Founding Fathers Mr. Denburg’s rant against Michele Bachmann isn’t about slavery or our Founders it is about his own ideology and politics. Denburg is calling the kettle black. He knows no more about our American history than does Bachmann. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was nothing more than a piece of propaganda Lincoln had written himself and placed in his desk until he could claim a Union military battle victory. Lincoln’s Proclamation was released after the actual stalemate at the Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg). It was no victory for the Union and Lincoln. The Union had more troops than the Confederates but lost more men killed or wounded than the Confederates and no ground was gained by either side, a stalemate. But, that is all Lincoln had. Lincoln, who repeatedly stated in speeches and letters that he was opposed to slavery on its merits but would do nothing in the U.S. to end it. His Proclamation freed not one single slave. The only slaves it purported to free were slaves not under his or the Union’s control which he had no ability to free. In his Proclamation he never proposed to free any slaves in the border-states and none in the North. Bottom line Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed zero slaves. This piece of propaganda has been long used by progressive revisionist to myrtar Lincoln who was an unquestionable despotic President who acted throughout his term against the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and usurp the constitutional powers of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Lincoln’s Proclamation was an attempt to raise the moral of his troops and the citizens of the northern states. Denburg’s rant against Michele Bachmann is a similar attempt to attack a popular conservative politician. His article is more about him, his ideology and political bias than about Michael Bachmann or our American history.

• First off the founders designed our constitution in a way that slavery wouldn't survive. For them to out right abolish slavery would have caused a great amount of distress in a fragile union. Yes many of them did own slaves as it was the norm of the time, but we all own clothing created in sweat shops if you want to go to that extreme. Bachmann's facts were correct or incorrect depending on which side you prefer to align with.

• NO. Earl, it's YOU conservatives who are the quickest to lash out in hate and ignorance when you get called out on your bullshit. Um, slavery was already the law of the land when slves were counted as three fifths a person. You're wrong anyway---slaves were counted as three fifths a person in order to GIVE the state holding state more power---I could be wrong, but at least I can ADMIT, unlike a crazy,messed-up right wing conservative.

• The only strong attributes either Bachmann or Palin have is just playing to their audiences' predjudices----it dosen't mean either of them would be good politicians inthe long run, beacuse let's face it----they're just Tea Party wingnuts who get a lot of media face time. Getting a lot of face time dosen't sustitute for getting experience to be a good politician.

• Yeah, right, he's so stupid he graduated from Harvard, unlike John McCain, who graduated at the bottom of his class, or Bush Jr, who barely graduated after drinking his way thru Yale, and only becasue his daddy pulled some strings. Calling Obama stupid because of some honest mistakes just shows how silly & petty your little conservative mind really is. At least he would admit to making these mistakes, which is something these ignorant Tea Party wingnuts would NEVER do.

• Frightening? This appeal is to the least educated mass of voters, Bachman is the last person we need(don't) in a position of power. Like Hitler her influences are only personal gain and her "love or admiration" of our country is bullshit. How she got to a position of power is one more reason that we need to restore our education system starting at square one.

• Exactly... we are so screwed

• This completely pegs the "unintentional comedy" meter.

• so when is Barry Sotero going to release his grades from college? LOL

• Did a lawyer write this crap? Who is this picky over words? "contribution of our forbearers " means founding fathers? That's not what she said. And slaves were not counted as a full person because that would give slave holding states more power and ENCOURAGE slavery. Liberals are so full of hate that they escape from the world of logic and reason. They have to twist her words to attack her. Pathetic.

• Yea and don't forget .... the Panama Canal is in Egypt. ha ha ha ha ha! Oh wait that wasn't Bachmann who said that is was Chris Matthews ... sorry about that.

• They certainly do not have a very good record of who they will vote in the office in Minnesota do they? Does anyone remember a politician named Jesse? haha

• Well, that's just "elitist." Knowledge and learning of actual "facts" is elitist. Why do you hate America?

• There is a clear difference between a person who graduated cum Laude from Harvard making verbal slips, and an obvious fool who clearly doesn't know basic information that was once considered requisite knowledge for a sixth grader.

• Unfortunately we are in the midst of a dumbing down of society. Starting with the W Bush Administration we have come to the place that the "average Joe" or "good ole boy" best knows whats best for all. Why aren't we educating better and learning to think for ourselves. Sheep follow sheep. Reading, writing, arithmatic.....hmm...

• Let me start by saying; I respect EVERYBODY'S right to freedom of speech, religion and politics......But this bitch is CRAZY!!! (and ignorant)

• please excuse the typo : trail blazers

• so the immigrants that came before were trailbalzers, today they must be stopped? cant have it both ways michele

• Yup, I can hardly wait for her to say something really stupid like there are 57 States. Or repeatedly on different days refer to a certain ranking military man as a Corpse-man. Or blurt "Eau Claire [Wisconsin] is a big important state." Or to mix up Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Or not know Afghanistan is not an Arabic speaking country and say "We only have a certain number [Arabic translators] of them and if they are all in Iraq, then it's harder for us to use them in Afghanistan," Or to publicly state that "Austrian" is spoken in Austria. Or any of a dozen or so more gaffes like those above made by the current occupant of the White House. Yep that dizzy Michele Bachmann better step to fetching because she has a lot of ground to make up on the utterly stupid Barry Sotoero

• Yup, I can hardly wait for her to say something really stupid like there are 57 States. Or repeatedly on different days refer to a certain ranking military man as a Corpse-man. Or blurt "Eau Claire [Wisconsin] is a big important state." Or to mix up Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Or not know Afghanistan is not an Arabic speaking country and say "We only have a certain number [Arabic translators] of them and if they are all in Iraq, then it's harder for us to use them in Afghanistan," Or to publicly state that "Austrian" is spoken in Austria. Or any of a dozen or so more gaffes like those above made by the current occupant of the White House. Yep that dizzy Michele Bachmann better step to fetching because she has a lot of ground to make up on the utterly stupid Barry Sotoero

• She's dummer than a bag of hammers....

• Stop insulting yourself then.

• Ben Franklin was an abolitionist. She refered to John Quincy Adams as a "FOREBEARER" not a founding father. All men being created and treated equal in America is a wonderful thought. If Michelle Bachman walked on water I feel it would be reported here as She could not swim

• i’m convinced that people like Bachmann don’t know what they believe in; they’re simply trying to capitalise on conservatives’ righteous indignation after the 2008 election. i don’t remember who said it first, but it’s a case of being sore losers, as opposed to having a legitimate grievance pertaining to any one issue. As i’ve said many times in the past, conservative Republicans are chagrined because they had such high hopes for Bush, and when he couldn’t deliver, the inevitable consequence was Obama, and the Democrats’ takeover of Congress. That’s what happens in a two-party system. Love him or despise him, Obama’s election in 2008 was far more an eventuality than it was a victory. The GOP ran McCain–and especially Palin–as a crapshoot; they knew it was doubtful they would win, but they wanted to see what would happen. Today’s teabaggers, and pols like Michelle Bachmann, are merely manifestations of conservative hand-wringing; recalcitrant children whining about their decline in power. However, just as entertainers (take Marilyn Manson, for example) are blamed for the sometimes overzealousness of their fans, the outlandish rhetoric and apocalyptic tone employed by people like Bachmann, and does make an impression upon those with compromised intellects. Consider the so-called ‘Hutaree’: it’s impossible for any rationally thinking person to take a group like this seriously, and my guess is even the FBI didn’t seriously give shrift to the notion that they posed any legitimate threat to the government, however, if a few far-right nutjobs decided they could catalyse a revolution by gunning down government employees or blowing up a post office, that’s more than enough reason to intervene. Bachman, Palin, Beck, etc. should consider the volatility of their audiences’ mental health, and avoid feeding the animals.

• I watched the clip of her speech, and I can't understand why anyone with even a basic knowledge of American History would get her facts so wrong. Did she write the speech herself? Did someone write it for her? Either way, when she was practicing it, why didn't she stop herself and say "wait a minute, this part doesn't make any sense; there were founding fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution who owned slaves; the Revolutionary War was to break away from the British Empire, but the British Empire actually abolished slavery years before it was abolished in the U.S., and without a civil war . . . this part just doesn't make sense . . ." I think this incident just proves that Rep. Bachmann doesn't think before she speaks.

• Michelle Bachmann's version of history fits with the first dictatorship. The first dictatorship is when there are no longer elections, when successive dictators are the relatives of Michelle Bachman. Michelle Bachman is going to improve technological progress by removing elections. Not having elections will result in having a higher level of technological productivity, so you can trust it. When there aren't elections you will feel safer. Michelle will put the FBI on every corner to frisk you and touch you with agressive homosexual males who also assault females.

• It's going to be interesting to see how Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, Levin and all the other "patriots" (who by the way never wore a uniform) defend and spin her ignorance.

• Thanks-you City Pages. the press has been throwing soft balls to her for years. It is time to speak truth to power and let people know what she is about. Maybe if her constituents can hear her for what she is they will re-think their vote. Let's hope so.

• The '57 states" was a reference to the 50 states and 7 US territories that got to vote (although US Territories do not count in the general election). There is a huge difference between that and an entire speech about a falsehood. The biggest reason the deficit went up in 2009? The Federal Government actually started to put the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars into the spending. Prior to that, it was simply not listed, nor counted - for 7 years. So save the sanctimonious BS. After 7 years of keeping 2 sets of books, its about time it was revealed what the war actually costs us in real dollars.

• she only opens her mouth to change feet.

• Michele, who pays for your health insurance?........... That's what I thought.

• I guess I must be a hopeless Michigander. I like Michele and I sent her campaign some money (along with seven other Republican candidates) I wonder how many of the erudite and informed writers have similar opinions about Ellison. I could mention Obama's reference to "57 states" or the "breathalyzer" comment.... There are some dimbulb Congresswomen democrats I could mention. I don't know what presidential ambitions Michele Bachman may have (or Sarah Palin) but they must have some strong attributes or they wouldn't be quasi-libeled by the likes of the writers posted hereon. I hope and pray that these ladies and the Republican Congress can rescue our nation from the headlong rush into national bankruptcy the Obama-ists are pushing, with TRILLION DOLLAR deficits and the Obamacare mega-scam.

• I blame people from Minnesota. You all must be crazy in her district. That's where the dang fence should go up, to keep all the crazies there.

• She doesn't even know what the facts are, so how could she "play" with them? It is rather obvious her deck is half empty, and all the cards are blank - but only SHE knows exactly what is on each card. There is no game here.

• Also, basically the biggest draw of many of the early white settlers to the America's was a grant of land...one might even call it a type of government handout.

• I am totally ashamed of myself. While BAchmann represents the worst of the worst of anything American, particularly patriosm, I thought she was more intelligent than Sarah Palin. My BAD!

• it's a truly sad state of affairs when a woman this ignorant and stupid can not only be elected to the House of Reps but reelected multiple times! it's just ridiculous. it truly is.

• I hope to god she runs for president. I can't get enough of the hilarity!

• Unfortunately, many of her "Tea Party" followers are ignorant about US History and our US Constitution--she relys on ignorant people and plays into their fears for her support.

• I hope some cameras were facing the audience and we get to see the pictures of people laughing hysterically at Michele's stand-up comedy act.

• This woman is an embarrassment.

• To say that Michelle Bachman is an idiot is a libelous insult. A libelous insult to every idiot in the world.

• Michele Bachmann plays fast and loose with the facts. No surprises here.

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