The news today on the 2012 campaign trail has been about Michelle Bachmann's migraines. The Daily Caller, a conservative publication, published a story online today which charged that Bachmann "suffers from stress-induced medical episodes that she has characterized as severe headaches. These episodes, say witnesses, occur once a week on average and can “incapacitate” her for days at time. On at least three occasions, Bachmann has landed in the hospital as a result."
The Daily Caller went to quote an unnamed former advisor:
“The migraines are so bad and so intense, she carries and takes all sorts of pills. Prevention pills. Pills during the migraine. Pills after the migraine, to keep them under control. She has to take these pills wherever she goes.”
In fact, all the sources were unnamed for the article.
So what image are we left with after reading the story?
Bachmann's a stressed-out pill-popping woman who can't handle the rigors of the presidency.
Bachmann's policies give me migraines. She's far enough to the right that she makes George W. Bush look like the grand marshal of a gay pride parade. The Tea Party loves her because she embraces their idiocy on economics - policies the would drive the world right off the cliff Bush left it on.
But what I hear in this story - from unnammed advisors, of course - is the unspoken: a woman can't handle the job of the presidency.
The New York Times reported this afternoon:
WASHINGTON — Representative Michele Bachmann suffers from migraine headaches so intense that she has sometimes sought emergency medical treatment, but the congresswoman said Tuesday that the condition would not preclude her from serving as president if elected.
“Let me be abundantly clear — my ability to function effectively has never been impeded by migraines and will not affect my ability to serve as commander in chief,” Mrs. Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, said in a statement. She described the headaches as “easily controlled with medication.”
Mrs. Bachmann, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination and was campaigning Tuesday in South Carolina, was responding to a report in The Daily Caller, which published an article about the migraines on its Web site Monday night. It cited unnamed advisers, including one who said the congresswoman “carries and takes all sorts of pills” for migraines that at times rendered her “incapacitated” — an assertion her campaign and family strongly disputed.
“She would not in any respect meet the definition for not having capacity in one of these episodes,” Dr. Lucas Bachmann, the candidate’s son and a medical resident at the University of Connecticut, said in a telephone interview. “She is probably not going to run a mile, but in terms of being able to engage, she can comprehend and assess information — without a doubt.”
Bachmann isn't an ethical person. She has questioned President Obama's birthplace and his patriotism. The congresswoman has made vile comments about gays and lesbians and embraces irresponsible economic policies that if enacted would bring about a worldwide depression. These issues should disqualify her from the presidency. Not claims from anonymous sources who play on steroptypes about women.
