Michele Bachmann: Marriage equality a "frivolous," "fringe" issue...

---

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 08:35 PM

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but within the context of what's going on in the world right now - economic collapse and wars, just for starters - I, also, consider it a 'fringe' issue. It certainly wouldn't be amongst the first items on my agenda.

I don't think I would use the term 'frivolous', however.

Q, you have to see it as part of a larger context, and that's what Michelle Ma DingaLing Bell is precisely not doing.

---

And just for giggles, if this is such a fringe issue that affects such a supposedly tiny part of the population, then why do so many people make such a big thing about it?

---

mad - I would say the voting issues are fringe, but I can't see something that potentially compromising as frivolous.

And I can't see anything about the abortion issue being either, frankly. It may be a simple issue if you have it worked out a particular way in your own mind, but as a society we are far from coming to any sort of agreement.

While I understand the representative nature of the equal rights issue, it still wouldn't be a priority of mine right now. The other issues constitute emergency, to me.

Besides, I would have focussed on ENDA before the marriage issue, anyway (with the exception of the immigration policy affected, which could have been addressed separately through those channels.)

Updated On: 8/8/11 at 12:57 AM

Sadly, even though I think the woman is crazy, she is neither frivolous nor fringe. Which makes her dangerous.

---

What continually bugs me (and to be fair, Bachmann is not the first politician to do this) is the "we have other things to worry about first" argument. I find it highly insulting that politicians seem to think the American people (and the government, for that matter) don't have the ability to multi-task.

I'll try to clarify my remarks, knowing full well that I may only muddle them further. The frivolous issue that the GOP is using is voter fraud. There is no evidence of any widespread voter fraud, but the GOP is using the perception to make it much more difficult to vote, putting in restrictions that are aimed at young voters, the poor, and minorities.

They're also making up various issues to undermine the right to choose. From state to state, these folks who are supposedly against regulations are putting in regs about office space, bathrooms, etc, that are specifically designed to shut down or impede access to a legal medical procedure.

The issues of voting rights and abortion are indeed important issues. However, the GOP is using frivolous issues to circumvent taking these issues on directly.

---

What utterly astounds me is that she's served five terms. Who keeps electing this woman???

---

Equality is neither a fringe nor a frivolous issue.

You're absolutely right. I'd imagine that in 1964, folks like Strom Thurmond or Jesse Helms might have said the same things about integration, racial equality, and ending miscegenation laws as Bachmann is now saying about gay equality. And when people make the argument that we have more important things to focus on, I think back to Martin Luther King, Jr.: "A right delayed is a right denied."

---

That cover absolutely does not make her look crazy. She can do that all by herself.

---

But Newsweek did indeed use an unflattering image knowing full well the impliciations, I think.

---