Introducing: Joan of Bachmann Watch
The Tea Party has discarded Sarah Palin in favor of a new icon: Michele Bachmann.
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The incense and hallelujahs once heaped upon the Martyr of Wasilla have been redirected to the Saint of Waterloo. As with Palin too, the Bachmann-mania seems likely to prove both embarrassing and temporary. Before it subsides, we thought it might be a useful service to future generations of Republicans to preserve some of the most effusive statements - in hopes of inoculating this party against recurrences of this form of delusion in the political cycles to come.
David French on why Bachmann is facing the same "unfair" attacks that Sarah Palin did:
Why the hate? The secular feminist world view was built around multiple destructive cultural lies: motherhood is a barrier to self-actualization, orthodox religion traps women unhappily in the home, and the only real path to power and happiness is exploding, not upholding, traditional religious values. Yet a mother of five (with 23 foster children), happily married in a Christian family, and who proudly espouses the very traditional values most repugnant to the academic feminist Left is a leading candidate for the most powerful office in the world. She is a living refutation of their foundational beliefs, and — like Sarah Palin — she must be destroyed.
As we enter a primary season where Republican infighting threatens to reach a crescendo, I hope we can learn a lesson from Sarah Palin’s ordeal. You may or may not support Michele Bachmann for president, but we can (and should) defend her against the coming ideological onslaught, an onslaught that is aimed at her but whose real targets are the core values that govern many of our lives.
Jennifer Rubin on Bachmann's fortitude:
Perhaps the most un-Palin quality Bachmann possesses is her refusal to play the victim or to complain about her attackers. Instead, she has mastered the art of making them look petty and silly while reemphasizing the qualities she hopes will impress voters — tenacity, strength, a sense of humor and empathy for average Americans. As I have said many times, those expecting Bachmann to crumble under the glare of intense scrutiny are kidding themselves.
A rousing indictment of Bachmann's treatment by the media, posted on Redstate:
Oh, yes: We must get to the bottom of THIS [Referring to the Daily Caller's report on Bachmann's Migranes]–, and quickly, too! Not a moment to spare, before she gains more traction. If there’s one mission the leftist-media complex must pursue with dogged, rabid determination, it’s that NO strong, accomplished conservative woman should ever be allowed to peer above the fox-hole: They must be destroyed at all costs.
This enthusiastic embrace of Bachmann might be something conservatives will come to regret as more of her past come to light. We have already seen The (very Catholic) National Review make space for arguments that it's ok that Bachmann's old Church thinks the Pope is the Anti-Christ. Andrew Stuttaford writes:
Even the original Atlantic article (written, doubtless, to create a spot of bother for Rep. Bachmann, who has, the article reveals, had to deal with this issue before and did not do so as well as she might have done) includes this quotation from a WELS spokesman:
Some people have this vision of a little devil running around with horns and red pointy ears. Luther was clear that by ‘Antichrist’ [he meant] anybody who puts himself up in place of Christ. Luther never bought the idea of the Pope being God’s voice in today’s world. He believed Scripture is God’s word.
Roman Catholics will not see eye to eye with Lutherans about this (and vice versa), but that should not be breaking news.