Browsing Gateway Pundit today, I ran across Michele Bachmann’s response to the hit piece that accused the Minnesota Congresswoman of suffering from “stress-related” chronic migraine headaches that “incapacitate” her and which she combats with “heavy pill use.”
I fully expected blogger Jonathan Strong to end the piece with: “Don’t trust anything that bleeds for a week each month and doesn’t die.”
Bachmann responded to this asinine “story” with her trademark professionalism, asserting that:
Like nearly 30 million other Americans, I experience migraines that are easily controlled with medication. . . Let me be abundantly clear – my ability to function effectively has never been impeded by migraines and will not affect my ability to serve as Commander in Chief.
Case closed, right? Should be, but the narrative has been launched. This is, of course, part of Bachmann’s opponents’ efforts to paint Bachmann as some sort of crazy radical. The left has gone after her personal faith and social beliefs, as if they are relevant regarding the fiscal mess we’re in and what she might do to solve it, and now they are employing an old “women are nuts” narrative to tear her down. That approximately 75% of migraines occur in women is no irrelevant fact here. I’ll be expecting feminists to come to Bachmann’s defense any minute now . . . oh wait, this is America; they are probably too busy silk screening a batch of “Michele Bachmann is an Addict (and a
As I see it, female politicians are generally tougher than nails. To excel in what is perhaps the quintessential male profession is impressive. I admire Hilary Clinton and Gabrielle Giffords in this regard as much as I admire Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Attacks like these attempt to tap into that old theme of women as prone to unpredictable bouts of anxiety and other debilitating mental imbalances: “You may like her, dude, but she’s a chick. She may just freak out one day.”
As someone who has close family members who deal with migraines on a continual basis, I can attest that they can be quite intense, and they can also be treated with a wide variety of medications, none of which create any sort of diminished capacity for thinking. And guess what? In my personal case, these people are all successful professionals regardless. As far as I’m concerned, living with any chronic medical condition, and thriving in spite of it, is huge test of character.
The fact that Michele Bachmann has migraines only adds to her appeal. I am thinking, “Hold on. She did everything she did and has migraines to boot?” That’s someone I want in my foxhole.
So my message to anyone taking a look at Michele Bachmann is this: this woman not only understands the financial mess we’re in but is also tougher than hell. End of story. If you’re concerned about her regarding social issues, don’t be. One person doesn’t not decide anything in this country. That’s why we have this country in the first place, so that one person can’t do a whole lot. Michele Bachmann brings a forceful leadership style to the table. Love her or hate her, she’s a focused, principled politician. And I say this as someone who generally loathes politicians.
While I do not agree with all of Bachmann’s stances on social issues, I’ll take a Bachmann over someone who is afflicted with the philosophical affliction of big government. . . you know, the chronic problem that is flushing this country right down the crapper.
We never get the candidate who fits our beliefs to the letter. Right now, America needs strong leadership that understands the failure of Keynesianism and the magical healing powers of the free market. Bachmann has been promoting that cure as consistently and forcefully as anyone, headaches or not.
Michele Bachmann’s migraines are not our problem; our problem is the people in Washington who see the mess we are in and continue to promote more spending anyway. It’s that affliction, the disease of responding to the world based on how you want it to be instead of how it actually is, that is the problem.
That’s my definition of insanity.
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