Michele Bachmann

So I just heard about Michele Bachmann's comments to the Iowans for Tax Relief event last Friday on the founding fathers of America. I don't know where she read or studied her history but OMG. I'm not sure if she misspoke or was trying to convey something different but she failed horribly. Here are a few of her statements:

"How unique in all of the world, that one nation that was the resting point from people groups all across the world,". "It didn't matter the color of their skin, it didn't matter their language, it didn't matter their economic status."

"Once you got here, we were all the same. Isn't that remarkable?" she asked.

She also stated how slavery was a "scourge" on American history, but added that "we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."

Right there is her first mistake. First of all not all the founding fathers were against slavery. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (who impregnated at lest one of his slaves), Benjamin Franklin (who later freed his slaves) and James Madison and of course numerous southern delegates to the Constitutional Convention all were for slavery. Some weren't of course such as John Adams (who never really spoke out against it because he wanted to be elected president), John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall.

Second, the founding fathers didn't work hard to end slavery or erase language supporting it from the constitution. While privately some may have been against slavery, their goal of uniting the country and appeasing Southerners made them "compromise". The 3/5th compromise which started years before our constitution was ratified counted those bound to service (slaves) as 3/5th a person. The fugitive slave act of 1793 was actually written into the consitution. From wikipedia:

When Congress created "An Act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters", or more commonly known as the Fugitive Slave Act, they were responding to slave owners need to protect their property rights, as written into the 1787 Constitution. Article IV of the Constitution required the federal government to go after runaway slaves. The 1793 Fugitive Slave Act was the mechanism by which the government did that, and it was only at this point the government could pursue runaway slaves in any state or territory, and ensure slave owners of their property rights.
Section 3 is the part that deals with fugitive or runaway slaves, and reads in part:
SEC. 3. ...That when a person held to labor in any of the United States, or in either of the Territories on the Northwest or South of the river Ohio... shall escape into any other part of the said States or Territory, the person to whom such labor or service may be due...is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor... and upon proof...before any Judge... it shall be the duty of such Judge... [to remove] the said fugitive from labor to the State or Territory from which he or she fled.
Section 4 makes assisting runaways and fugitives a crime and outlines the punishment for those who assisted runaway slaves:
SEC. 4. ...That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct or hinder such claimant ...shall... forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars.

She then states that John Quincy Adams was a founding father. He was not a founding father but I guess I'm just nitpicking a minor detail as he was a abolitionist and did spend his years after his presidency in the congress fighting to end slavery. Too bad he died well before the emancipation proclamation. She probably watched "Amistad" and thought it took place around the time of the founding of this country.

I point this out because way too may of our politicians and leaders do not know their history whether it is American or World history. They constantly spout untruths (sometimes intentionally) or just come off as being very ignorant. Of course they are not alone as a majority of Americans I feel are very ignorant of our country's history. We will have the blind leading the blind. Both groups need to wake up and learn a thing or two. Sad sidebar. I heard a stat this morning that around 77% of Americans can name all 7 dwarfs from Snow White but only 27% can name at least 2 supreme court justices. C'mon, there are nine justices and 27% can name only two or more. Just pathetic and a clear example of American's lack of knowledge on current events and history. Just watch any clip of Jay Leno's jaywalking. It will make you laugh but at the same time make me you feel sad.

Anyways I say all this because Bachmann is gearing up for a run at the Republican nomination in 2012. I think she has a good chance to win the nomination especially if Palin doesn't run. I think Palin will throw her support behind Bachmann and she is a darling of the tea party which will be a vocal and much more powerful group than I think people realize. However, one of the biggest issues I have with the tea party is their view of the founding fathers and American history. Frankly I think if they knew the founding fathers, they wouldn't like them very much and I don't think the founding fathers would like the tea party very much. They are trying to manipulate history to fit their viewpoint and their base which is growing is falling for it hook, line and sinker.

In closing I would like to end with a statement by Jamelle Bouie of The American Prospect (note: A liberal magazine)

"This is not to condemn the Founders are horrible, terrible human beings but to situate them as men of their time, filled with the prejudices of their class, and unwilling -- or unable -- to transcend them. If we're out to respect the Founding Fathers, then we should acknowledge their flaws and try to remember them as they lived, not as demigods in a morality play."
Well said sir!