Bachmannian Ethics

Published: September 21, 2011

By Jim Lichtman
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While Aristotle is often referred to as the “philosopher of common sense” due to his works on logic, being, nature and ethics, Tea Party Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann eschews all of that in bringing forth all manner of false facts and flawed thinking.

This is the same congresswoman who declared at a Florida rally, “I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. [God] said,” according to Bachmann, “ ‘Are you going to start listening to Me here?’ ”

When asked if her remarks might be a skosh insensitive given the approximately $1billion in damage and loss of lives, Bachmann quickly added, “My comments were not meant to be ones that were taken lightly. What I was saying in a humorous vein is there are things happening that politicians need to pay attention to. It isn’t every day we have an earthquake in the United States.”

You’re right, Michelle. The last recorded earthquake in the United States happened, oh… let me think a moment… in Colorado just hours before the Virginia quake. Then there were a series of 10 quakes in March 2011 in California. But it’s not like California is part of the “real” United States.

Then there’s Bachmann’s most recent pronouncement during the Tea Party Republican debate where she chastised Texas Governor Rick Perry for mandating a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer telling her audience that vaccines for school girls was a “violation of a liberty interest,” reported CBS news.

“I’m a mom of three children,” Bachmann continued, “And to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong.”

The next day, Bachmann appeared on NBC’s Today Showreinforcing her stance when she detailed how a mother came up to her after the debate and told the presidential hopeful that her daughter became mentally retarded after receiving the HPV vaccine. “It can have very dangerous side effects,” Bachmann added. “This is the very real concern, and people have to draw their own conclusions.”

However, a few days later, she then says: “During the debate, I didn’t make any statements that would indicate I’m a doctor, I’m a scientist, or making any conclusions about the drug one way or the other.”

I’m glad she cleared that up… especially since we’ve have more than a few doctors and scientists weigh-in.

According to CBS News, “Evan Siegfried, a spokesman for the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership, told Politico. ‘There is zero credible scientific evidence that vaccines cause mental retardation or autism. She should cease trying to foment fear in order to advance her political agenda.’”

CBS further reported that “The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement to ‘correct false statements’ Bachmann made on the HPV vaccine. ‘There is absolutely no scientific validity to [Bachmann’s] statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record,’ the statement read. ‘This is a life-saving vaccine that can protect girls from cervical cancer.’

“The medical consensus,” CBS confirmed, “among officials recommends 11- and 12-year-old girls should be vaccinated because that’s the age when the vaccine produces the best immune response in the body, and because it’s important to protect girls before they are sexually active, the academy said.”

According to Politifact.com, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning fact-check organization, of 35 Bachmann statements checked,80 percent were rated as Mostly False, False or Pants-on-Fire False.

So, what would Aristotle have to say about all of this? “Education is the best provision for old age.”

All those in favor of Bachmann hiring a personal Director of Education raise your hands…. (I just lost count.)

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