The new wave of female firebrands striking fear into liberal America - Paul Harris, Guardian UK

[Bozita]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/15/michele-bachmann-president-sarah-palin

The new wave of female firebrands striking fear into liberal America
Right-wing radicals are already pinning presidential ambitions on a mother-of-five from Minnesota who calls herself a 'fool for Christ' and condemns Obama as a socialist at the head of a gangster regime

BY PAUL HARRIS NEW YORK
The Observer, Sunday 15 November 2009
Article history


She is a striking brunette with a decidedly outspoken attitude. She lambasts President Barack Obama as a socialist and has become the darling of America's right-wing activists who flock to her appearances. She is hated by liberals and loved by conservatives.

Sarah Palin? Not quite. Meet Michele Bachmann, a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota who is being hailed as a new and increasingly powerful voice in American politics.

Bachmann, at 53, is a darling of the so-called Tea Party movement, which has campaigned vociferously against healthcare reform, the economic stimulus package and legislation to combat climate change. Her followers have been behind mass rallies in Washington and smaller ones all over the country. She has emerged as one of the most visible politicians in America, frequently appearing on the conservative Fox News channel, whose hosts often champion her causes.

She is part of an increasingly visible "female brand" of conservatism that is rising in America in the wake of the election of Obama. They include notable syndicated commentators such as Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter, whose dislike for liberals has grown ever more shrill in recent months. And, of course, Palin herself. She is still a giant of the political and media landscape and next week embarks on a book tour to sell her autobiography. It has already sparked a media frenzy, with a heavily hyped appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show, and become a huge bestseller on pre-orders alone.

All these women express a mood of conservative discontent that is becoming increasingly vocal and, some experts warn, extreme. The Republicans have been kicked out of power in the White House and Congress. The party is becoming more white and southern at the same time as national demographic changes give power to other regions and minorities. Many Americans are also suffering in the recession. That is a grim picture but one that also makes many voters vulnerable to a talented rabble-rouser. "They are tapping into grassroots frustration... they are charging up an already highly charged group of people," said Shaun Bowler, a political scientist at the University of California at Riverside.

more...

[BrklynLiberal]

Funny... I think of them more like Medusas or Sirens...and I am certainly not

afraid of them.

What a hilarious story. Is this really from The Onion?

Anyone who thinks of Michele Bachman as a "striking brunette" either cannot be serious..or cannot be
trusted to make important decisions.

[Kali]

2. I am.

Don't forget 8 years of nimnult..."we" could surpass that stupidity easily if sufficient numbers of morans enjoy the teabagging enough.

These people (or rather their audience) scare the shit out of me!

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Do you think that the innate aversion to an American President of the

female gender would be over come by these nutbags?
Wouldn't THAT be a real kick in the butt..if the first female president was one of those insane bitches? :scared:

[Kali]

7. and they would say all our criticism was sexism

like they project, er I mean they say we are racist re. Thomas, Rice, Steele, etc.

[Syntheto]

13. Actually,

...your remarks are sexist.

[Kali]

17. mine? where?

[Atticus]

8. Agree wholeheartedly.

I made some of the same dismissive remarks in 1999 about the dimwit governor of Texas. History has shown that having a shoe-size IQ is not a disqualification for the Whitehouse if you can be "useful".

[BlueMTexpat]

10. Me too. n/t

And yes, "some" could see Bachmann as a "striking brunette" ... emphasis on the "striking" especially when she goes into shrill mode (which happens a lot).

[LakeSamish706]

1. Crap, can you imagine Bachmann being President? She's crazier than...

Palin by a good margin... Yikes.

[tblue]

3. They offer nothing.

[old guy]

5. Total fantasy.

A waste of time. Glad I stopped at the start of the second paragraph.

[Bitwit1234]

6. DAMN are we lucky we won the Revoluntary War

just think what we would be if the British media had control of us. Ours is bad enough.

[yurbud]

9. the only way these nutballs could win is if the Democrats do such a half-assed and transparently...

corrupt job that THEIR base doesn't bother to show up on election day and the mentally impaired 25% wins by default...

uh oh.

[Blue_Tires]

11. 'striking fear'?? um...no...not quite...

[depakid]

12. The author obviously hasn't heard much of her paranoid irrational ranting

If he had, he'd recognize that his subject is mentally ill and no political threat at all.

[Berry Cool]

14. Wow, I could've sworn we had a women's movement once or something.

But now I see that the journalists of the world are back to describing women in the public eye primarily by their looks ("striking brunette").

*sigh*

[niyad]

16. we did, but it didn't help much.

back in the dark ages of the third wave of feminism, the "joke" was that we would finally have a woman president and vice-president--only it would be phyllis schlafly and anita bryant. updating it to say the nightmare would be palin/bachmann.

[mulsh]

15. Not one of these women is new to the game. As usual

the guardian's writer is off the mark and behind the times.

[BR_Parkway]

18. I think it also fits into their worldview that women are ruled by their emotions

and allows the menfolk to look more rational.

[Zoeisright]

19. Bachmann is insane; she's not a 'firebrand'.

And anyone who believes her lies or takes her seriously is just as insane.

This 'brand of conservatism' is doomed to fail, because the country is changing. And NOT in their direction.

[pscot]

20. Bachmann, Palin, Malkin and Coulter have one thing

in comon. They're all crazy as bedbugs. Please, jesus, put Palin(again) or Bachmann on a national Republicon ticket. The GOP will never recover.

[Tutankhamun]

21. I don't believe Bachmann will be taken seriously

by anyone other than her wacko base.