Michele Bachmann Is Offended
As has been noted below, Rick Perry performed well in tonight's debate until the subject of HPV inoculations for school girls came up. The other candidates, sensing that Perry was vulnerable on this topic, piled on. "To have innocent little 12-year old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong," Michele Bachmann interjected down the stage from Perry. From that point on in the debate, Perry never quite recovered, signaling to his opponents an opening for attack.
One such attack just arrived in my e-mail inbox from Michele Bachmann. Subject line: "I'm Offended"
Dear Fellow Conservative,
I'm offended.
If you watched tonight's Republican debate, you saw Rick Perry defend his decision to mandate a vaccine for young girls through an executive order while he was governor of Texas. As a mother, I have raised three biological daughters and 23 foster daughters, and I believe taking away a parents right to direct the health care of their children is flat out wrong . It’s a violation of liberty and everything you and I stand for.
Tonight, I also questioned why Governor Perry made this executive order. When you look at the facts, the question becomes, is this about life or is this about millions and potentially billions for the drug company?
We cannot forget that in the midst of the executive order, a big drug company made millions of dollars because of this mandate. This drug company's PAC made thousands of dollars in political donations to Governor Perry, and his own former Chief of Staff was working as the lobbyist for this drug company when he issued the mandate. This is flat out wrong.
Governor Perry says if given the option again he would not issue the mandate. However, as President of the United States there are no mulligans; there are no do-overs.
Congresswoman Bachmann is right -- as President of the United States, there are no do-overs. But that's why we prize executive experience in our candidates so much. A humble executive will have known successes, made mistakes, and learned by trial and error. In theory, that's what makes for a better chief executive.
I'm satisfied with Gov. Perry's admission that his executive order to force inoculations was wrong. But I suspect that we haven't heard the last word on this.
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Comments :
Nov '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
I'm offended as a tax-payer.
Sep '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
But that's why we prize executive experience in our candidates so much.
And why the United States rarely nominates or elects legislators to the Presidency of the United States.
May '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Michele has jumped the shark. To take this farther, and give aid and comfort to the enemy (Democrats), is a violation of Reagan's 11th Commandment. This is NOT about her. We need to win this thing, regardless of who ends up being the nominee. As of tomorrow, I'm unsubscribing to her listserv.
Jul '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
No mulligan's? So, ObamaCare can't be repealed? Taxes can't be cut? SS can't be reformed or eliminated?.....
Sep '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Right or wrong, this issue does not define Rick Perry as a person. We have all wished we had done things differently. This issue should not even be on the radar. It makes ALL of them look like children in the back seat of the car fighting over a crayon. The world is burning. All are fools if they keep this up.
Jun '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
A young woman can be a virgin until marriage, and still get HPV from their non-virgin (or cheating) husband. Some people take it as an insult to the woman's own character, but it shouldn't be. The inoculation is a good thing. It prevents something that causes 70% of all cervical cancers. So what's the downside? The downside is that parents don't like other people, especially the State, making medical decisions for them. That's a big one, but that's the only downside.
Edited on Sep 12, 2011 at 9:20pmAug '11
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
I am soooo tired of hearing how many biological and foster children Michele Bachmann has had.
It's like an applicant for an executive position telling you over and over how many push-ups he can do; yeah, that's great. But it's also irrelevant.
Sep '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
The bizarre part of the attack is that only someone who's never held executive office would keep hammering away on it. Romney steered clear of it (though he may be shrewd enough to let her go at it hammer and tong while benefiting from the attacks on Perry) and I don't think anyone else with the exception of Ron Paul and maybe Harley Davidson and the Huntsborough Man would keep after him on it.
As a strategist, she seems to be all tactician.
Sep '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Tom Paine: I am soooo tired of hearing how many biological and foster children Michele Bachmann has had.
It's like an applicant for an executive position telling you over and over how many push-ups he can do; yeah, that's great. But it's also irrelevant. · Sep 12 at 9:24pm
I agree with you on that. Its starting to grate.
Nov '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Don't ask me to pay for it! Take care of your own, y'all.
Jun '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Pseudodionysius
Romney steered clear of it (though he may be shrewd enough to let her go at it hammer and tong while benefiting from the attacks on Perry) and I don't think anyone else with the exception of Ron Paul and maybe Harley Davidson and the Huntsborough Man would keep after him on it.
I didn't think it was possible to love you any more than I do. But my goodness. How I do.
Aug '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
I'm glad that Perry has begun to use the defense that Romney gave him in the prior debate on this issue. He would do it differently now. That's good. No President should think that an Executive Order can have the weight and power of a law that has gone through legislature and has been signed by an executive.
That said, I am getting tired of the HPV is an STD and therefore is a vaccine to be avoided. As has been mentioned, this vaccine prevents a horrific cancer. As a parent, I will be making sure that my daughters receive the vaccine. I don't want to even contemplate how horrified I would be if -- God forbid -- my children have a sexual assault or a philandering husband become a death sentence. Advancements like the HPV vaccine and PAPP smears have vastly reduced the fatality rate of cervical cancer among women.
Let's not become the Party of "vaccines are bad" or that abandons the Boy Scout Motto "Be Prepared."
His error was in using an Executive Order to do something only a state legislature could do. He abandoned the democratic process. That's the sin.
Feb '11
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
I posted on this issue in Peter's thread, but this seems to be a better spot for it.
I'm willing to agree with Perry that the Gardasil law should have gone through the legislative process. That said, I just can't get too worked up on the HPV vaccine issue. I've yet to hear anyone criticizing a Republican candidate over mandatory mumps, measles, or chicken pox vaccines. Each vaccine is required to attend public school and many universities. While none of the other candidates (to my knowledge) gave executive orders for vaccines, none of them advocated that other vaccine mandates be removed.
Is it wrongheaded of me to believe this is part of the anti-vaccine nonsense that we usually hear from the left?
May '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Michele Bachmann:
Took away parents' right to direct healthcare? Is that really what he did? Why should I vote for somebody who insults my intelligence and stretches the truth in trying to leave a mark on her opponent?
And quit with this "I'm offended" act. I don't care if you're "offended"--what are you, a liberal? No, you're running for the most powerful office in the world. Imagine how "I'm offended" will stand up when Vladimir Putin or Hugo Chavez makes a belittling remark about female executives at the United Nations.
Edit: I want to make it clear that I quoted, and am responding to, Michele Bachmann, not Diane Ellis.
Edited on Sep 12, 2011 at 11:03pmApr '11
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
I have enjoyed Michelle Bachman but she is becoming "that shrill small voice". I'm not interested, as Mark Wilson stated, in what offends her. I want her or any other candidate's policies to rise and fall on whether what they are proposing is constitutional or not, period. If we could just keep that as our main focus it provides us the freedom from defending the emotional elements of an issue which is next to impossible.
Jan '11
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Giving young girls Gardasil is the right thing to do. Isn't getting rid of cancer (or at least certain cancers) a pretty good idea? Without HPV immunization, even if they attempt to be in monogamous relationships, there are guys out there that will lie, and can infect them, and potentially kill them. I've seen it. The real world is out there.
It's nice to talk about angels dancing on the head of a pin and all, but if there was smallpox circulating out there, I'd make sure my children were immune, and I would be happy if our government mandated the vaccine.
Playing an ideological purity game on this makes me very very disheartened
And, yes, I would be tempted to transfuse the Jehovah's Witness post-partum mother bleeding to death, FYI
Nov '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Erik Larsen:
It's nice to talk about angels dancing on the head of a pin and all, but if there was smallpox circulating out there, I'd make sure my children were immune, and I would be happy if our government mandated the vaccine.
I would not- in a million years- compare a viral disease with a sexually-transmitted choice.
May '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Ha! Well said. Sounds kind of like something from the mouth of Yogi Berra.
May '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Elizabeth Dunn
Erik Larsen:
It's nice to talk about angels dancing on the head of a pin and all, but if there was smallpox circulating out there, I'd make sure my children were immune, and I would be happy if our government mandated the vaccine.
I would not- in a million years- compare a viral disease with a sexually-transmitted choice. · Sep 12 at 11:11pm
You know what the V in HPV stands for, right?
And if I am reading between your lines correctly, I don't think a behavior prescription corresponding to one religious tradition represents a practical healthcare policy for a state as large and diverse as Texas.
Nov '10
Re: Michele Bachmann Is Offended
Mark Wilson
Elizabeth Dunn
Erik Larsen:
It's nice to talk about angels dancing on the head of a pin and all, but if there was smallpox circulating out there, I'd make sure my children were immune, and I would be happy if our government mandated the vaccine.
I would not- in a million years- compare a viral disease with a sexually-transmitted choice. · Sep 12 at 11:11pm
You know what the V in HPV stands for, right?
And if I am reading between your lines correctly, I don't think a behavior prescription corresponding to one religious tradition represents a practical healthcare policy for a state as large and diverse as Texas. · Sep 12 at 11:15pm
Yes- I stand corrected. They are both virally transmitted, but one disease can be avoided if teenagers and their parents choose to act responsibly. If they can't,and need a shot to protect themselves, they need to pay for it themselves.