As Michele Bachmann climbs in the polls, Obama-loving media members are working overtime to dig up and/or manufacture dirt on the conservative Congresswoman from Minnesota.
One of the new flavors of the day is that her religious beliefs might make her too submissive to be president, a silly concept the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus felt was necessary to share with her readers Wednesday:
She’d never taken a tax course in law school, Bachmann told the Living Word Christian Center, but her husband decided she should pursue an advanced degree in the subject.
“Tax law! I hate taxes! Why should I go and do something like that?” Bachmann recalled thinking. “But the Lord said, ‘Be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.’ ”
Notice Marcus linked to a July 10 article from the perilously liberal Daily Beast. Author Jill Lawrence hyperventilated:
There’s nothing unusual about a conservative evangelical woman quoting the biblical admonition that wives submit to their husbands. But it delivers quite a jolt when that woman is trying to become the leader of the free world.
The article teased in bold print:
In a stunning video, the Tea Party titan says she follows the biblical rule that women should obey their husbands. But, Jill Lawrence asks, isn’t that a problem for a presidential candidate?
Well, here's the "stunning video" and transcript. See if you find this "stunning" or at all concerning:
MICHELE BACHMANN: And during those dorm years, when I was busy studying, the Lord put in my heart, that if I would be diligent and I would be steadfast, He would take me to law school. And I thought, law school? I have no interest in going to law school. But I put that in His hands and I put in His plan, and I put it in His hands, and pursued that, and eventually He did, He took me to law school.
And I went to the first Christian law school that there was in the United States, down at Oral Roberts University, where they taught the law from a Biblical worldview.
And from there, my husband said "Now you need to go and get post-doctorate degree in tax law." Tax law? I hate taxes. Why should I go and do something like that? But the Lord says: Be submissive, wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.
And so we moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, and I went to William and Mary, to law school there, for a post-doctorate degree in tax law, and I pursued this course of study. Never had a tax course in my background, never had a desire for it, but by faith, I was gonna be faithful to what God was calling me to do through my husband, and I finished that course of that study. [...]
And in the midst of all this, as if we didn't have enough to do, He called me to run for the Minnesota State Senate. I had no idea, and no desire to be in politics. Absolutely none. [...]
And in the midst of that calling, God then called me to run for the United States Congress.
And I thought, what in the world would that be for. And my husband said œYou need to do this." And I wasn't so sure. And we took three days, and we fasted and we prayed. And we said "Lord, is this what you want, are You sure? Is this Your will?" And after, along about the afternoon of day two, He made that calling sure.
And it's been now twenty two months that I've been running for United States Congress. Who in their right mind would spend two years to run for a job that lasts for two years? You'd have to be absolutely a fool to do that.
You are now looking at a fool for Christ. This is a fool for Christ.
So, in a speech to the Living Word Christian Center, Bachmann discussed her calling and how she believes there are times when God speaks to her through her husband. Is that so terrible?
To folks like Marcus, it is:
One way to thread the theological needle is to argue that the Bible assigns leadership roles to men in the family and church but is silent on, and therefore leaves room for, women in politics. This seems like a stretch, especially since Bachmann has credited her husband with directing her professional life.
I don’t lose sleep over Marcus Bachmann as Oval Office puppeteer, mostly because I cannot imagine Michele Bachmann making it there. But given where she is in the polls, it is fair and necessary to ask her about how she would reconcile the tensions between her understanding of the biblical view of woman’s role and the demands of the presidency. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind hearing from her husband, too.
Let's be honest: if Bachmann was a liberal talking about universal healthcare and raising taxes on the rich so that there don't have to be any changes to Medicare and Social Security, female writers like Lawrence and Marcus wouldn't care at all about her religious beliefs or the respect she gives her husband.
There's a true conservative presidential candidate captivating the imagination of millions of Americans, and she needs to be taken down - whether by "Pray Away the Gay," migraines, or "submissiveness" - in order to prevent her from possibly replacing the man these folks helped get into the White House.
And when they're through with this "stunning" revelation, they're going to find another one to hyperventilate about.
Sources tell me the next one is she claimed back in her college days, "Miller Lite tastes great."
Film at eleven.
