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Be on the lookout for a tall, skinny English guy who carries a noisy screwdriver and travels in a blue box. There's no other explanation I can think of for this quote from Rep. Michelle Bachmann (MN-06):
I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter, and I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence.
What's Bachmann Said Now?
To start with, the only "fact" Bachmann mentioned in this quote is not a fact at all, as this quote from the New York Times should make clear:
By HAROLD M. SCHMECK Jr. Special to The New York Times
March 25, 1976, Thursday
Section: The Week In Review, Page 73, 1079 words
WASHINGTON, March 24 President Ford called today for a Government-supported campaign to vaccinate the entire United States population against a new influenza virus to forestall possible epidemics next fall and winter.
Ford Urges Flu Campaign To Inoculate Entire U.S.
The President at the time of the outbreak, which occurred in February of 1976 according to Wikipedia, was Gerald Ford, a Republican. Nor, apparently, does she know the name of the other major political party in America.
In short, not only was what Bachmann said in that television interview embarrassingly superficial for a member of Congress, but it was completely wrong.
UPDATE: Taking any bets on how long before this "fact" makes an appearance at the Conservipedia?
4 comments:
You so did a better job at bashing her for this than I could've. Thanks!
I just remembered reading a story about Ford being innoculated for the 1976 swine flu the other day. The rest was easy.
Coincidence my arse. If she wasn't making some attempted political shot at President Obama (which, if she was, was a horrible one), then why bother saying it at all? Did she feel some sort of compulsory need to? And she can't even get her Presidents and their times in office straight. Good to know the level of intelligence of the people that are running the country. My confidence in Congress has shot through the roof.
While I try not to guess peoples' motivations when there isn't some clear documentation, I also had to wonder at this. It was as though she wanted to associate Democrats with pandemics. Given that Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, was not too long ago very pleased with herself over cutting $1 billion from the stimulus package for disease prevention, this could very well have been some sort of counter imagery.
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