Recently, at a book-signing in in South Carolina, a young boy at the age of eight walked up to Michele Bachmann and said "My mommy's gay, and she doesn't need fixing." For such a small statement, you can take a hell of a lot out of it. The fact that a child is eight years old and already has some idea of equality for gays and lesbians is fantastic. The fact that he is eight and understands that some people don't like his mom for being who he is, is not.
There is a link to this video in the article that is linked above. If you watch the video, you see the sequence of events goes like this. Rep. Bachmann is extremely welcoming to the boy, and when she can't hear what he says (after his mother says to him "didn't you have something you wanted to say?"), she asks him to come closer, eventually encircling him in some kind of odd, over-the-table hug so she can hear what he says. You'll notice how purely nice she is to the child, including lowering herself to his level, and speaking to him in child-friendly language ("I couldn't hear you, I think my ears were too far away."). However, once she hears what young Elijah has to say, she immediately recoils, removes her embrace, stands up, and basically dismisses him without another word.
Afterwards, as quoted in the article, Rep. Bachmann said, about Elijah"[He] obviously didn't want to say what he was put up to say, and I just think it's reprehensible when someone uses a little child to advance a political agenda." (Before I continue, if anyone just thought of how shamelessly Sarah Palin uses her family, especially her children, to further her political agendas, you get brownie points). Now, with all honestly, Rep. Bachmann may be right in her assuming that child was asked to say that to her, without much knowledge on his part, but the fact that she assumes this child cannot possibly hold opinions of his own about how people, and particularly politicians like Michele Bachmann treat gays and lesbians, like his mother, is terrifying.
I am pretty sure that at the age of eight years old, I had opinions about shit. It might have been that Honey Nut Cheerios were (are) better than regular Cheerios, or that the garlic pepper my dad puts on everything is disgusting (I have since learned better), but I had opinions. And I strongly believe, had my parents been the ridicule of every Republican candidate around, I would have an opinion around that too. Rep. Bachmann thus makes it clear in her statement that she has a slim understanding of children when she infers from Elijah's nervousness about speaking to, in his mind an incredibly important person, and the fact that he is a "little child," that he cannot have formed that opinion by himself. Dear god, EIGHT YEAR OLDS HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT THINGS? Preposterous.
I also want to point out how incredibly undignified Rep. Bachmann's actions were towards Elijah after he completed his sentence. You're right, Representative, he is a little child, thus your cold indifference to him after you learned of his stance on gay rights truly proved to him just how truly awful a person you can be.
Perhaps this could all be forgiven if Rep. Bachmann just didn't have a lot of experience with children, which is highly possible given her chosen career. But, alas, Rep. Bachmann has five biological children, and was the foster mother to twenty three teenaged girls. Somehow, a mother, who has cared for twenty eight children throughout her lifetime, quickly and unashamedly accused a young child of not having the ability to construct his own opinions, simply because she did not agree with his view.
So yes, the fact that Michele Bachmann has raised five children, and cared for twenty three more, and somehow has not gathered enough insight to continue to be a welcoming, warmhearted presence for a child who simply is tired of his mother being a victim of society's antics, scares me. It scares me she simply couldn't have said, while still remaining close to him, "I'm sorry you feel that way," or "Just because your mom and I don't get along, doesn't mean I think something is wrong with her," etc.
It seems as if pundits and commentators have consistently said that if a woman was to take office, she would need to discourage the "feminine" traits of being motherly, caring, considerate, and so on and so forth. Well, America, you may have found your perfect match.
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