Michele Bachmann?s high-profile entrance into the 2012 presidential race has been a boon to a media with a short attention span for issues pertinent to statecraft. Largely ignoring any actual qualifications the Minnesota congresswoman might have to abandon her position in the nation?s most important governing body and serve instead as President, news reporters, ?journalists,? and political commentators have, instead, fixated over the past few weeks on where Bachmann attends church, what medications she may or may not be taking for a ?medical condition,? and her husband?s education and career.
For instance, the media thought it important to drill down deep to find out why the Bachmann family left one church to join another. Similarly, in the journalistic tradition of the National Enquirer, the Daily Caller employed a series of anonymous quotes from former aides, advisors, and such to create a sensational news story about a stress-related condition that supposedly incapacitates Bachmann on a regular basis. With a headline that alleged heavy pill use on the part of the Minnesota congresswoman, the story couldnt fail to gain traction among a news media hungry for any bit of spice in Bachmanns candidacy.
Even when it was confirmed that the condition Bachmann suffers from is nothing more than migraine headaches a malady faced daily by countless successful and productive Americans (Thomas Jefferson and Ulysses S. Grant suffered from migraines) the Daily Caller coaxed a response from candidate Ron Paul, who labeled the condition a tough problem, but not one that disqualified Bachmann from running for President.
Two weeks ago NBCs Nightline sent a homosexual man with a secret camera into the Christian counseling clinic run by Bachmanns husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann (Ph.D.). The gay undercover agent, part of the homosexual activist group Truth Wins Out, secretly filmed a series of counseling sessions in which he posed as an individual wishing to leave the homosexual lifestyle. Prompted by NBC correspondent Brian Ross, the man accused the counselor from Bachmanns clinic of assuring him several times that he could be cured of his homosexuality.
While a spokesman for Truth Wins Out charged that Bachmann and Associates is involved in a type of reparative therapy for homosexuals that attempts to pray away the gay, the secret video showed a counselor concerned about an individual who he pointed out was in the midst of a storm of unwanted homosexual feelings, and that like others before him, he too could be totally free of his homosexual feelings.
Peter Sprigg of the conservative Family Research Council (FRC) noted, if Dr. Bachmanns clinic is indeed a Christian counseling center, then it should not be surprising that the counselors help clients live their lives [consistent] with Christian values.
The FRCs Tony Perkins pointed out that the majority of the country will view Marcuss work for what it is, a ministry of hope. Pointing men and women who struggle with same-sex attractions to God isnt a discredited form of therapy, its the path to sexual healing. And its capable of bringing thousands of people out of bondage and into healthy behavior and a fuller relationship with Christ.
Some analysts have noted that because Michele Bachmann isnt actively involved in the clinic, she can only be seen as a part of what many consider a non-news story by broad innuendo. They also note that the homosexual lobby was able to co-opt the ABC news franchise, if only for five minutes, helping to transform something that is a trivial sideshow for most Americans into a concern of major import.
Homosexual activists have said that they are making a concentrated effort to gay away the straight in society and force the normalization of their lifestyle on a majority of Americans. In the aftermath of the Nightline story, R. Clarke Cooper of the homosexual group Log Cabin Republicans predicted that Michele Bachmanns connection to family values would somehow hurt her among American voters. Purporting to speak for Republicans as a group, Clarke warned that if voters see us as intolerant toward homosexuals, that would not be a winning combination for the party. He added, Im not the only one who says this. There are many other strategists that, regardless of their orientation, are concerned that we could lose the voters that we gained in the 2010 election cycle.
Meanwhile, Bachmann continued her presidential campaign, discussing such issues as the economy, the federal debt, repealing ObamaCare, national security, and the price of gas.
While mostly distancing herself from the swirl of controversy over the Nightline segment, Bachmann did make one comment in an interview that part of her concern as a presidential candidate was job creation, and that she and her husband Marcus were very proud of the business we have created.
