Orac is the nom de blog of a (not so) humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will. (Continued 
No one brings home the stupid the way Michelle Bachmann does:
I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence.
In just the same way that Kim Evans apparently doesn't know that there was no such thing as a flu vaccine during the 1918 pandemic, Michelle Bachman apparently doesn't know that the swine flu scare of 1976 occurred when Gerald Ford was President. In case Bachmann doesn't remember, Gerald Ford was a Republican. True, he was far too moderate politically ever to fit into today's Republican Party, but he was a Republican. Heck, he was even a mainstream Republican.
What is it about the swine flu scare that brings out the loony conspiracy-mongering in people? And don't even get me started on an e-mail by a certain well-known pediatrician to the stars' children and apologist for the anti-vaccine movement that's been circulated. If I choose to discuss it, the full e-mail (a brief version of which has appeared--where else?--in the Huffington Post) would "deserve" an entire post of its own.
Politics
Comments
Well it's somewhat understandable.
Politicans hear about "swine flu" and rush off to get their colon cleansing to remove those nasty Mexican toxins. Unfortunatly, this has the side effect of washing away their brains at the same time (or at least whatever nerve bundle acts as one).
The peddlers of this stuff should add a warning label to their cleansing products - ** Woomesiter General Warning - "This treatment is not recommended for people suffering cranial-rectal inversion syndrome" **
Posted by: LC | April 29, 2009 1:12 AM
I think the strangest part is not the mistake over the political party, per se, but the misguided notion that the president is master of the universe and somehow has control over and is responsible for viral mutations.
Posted by: adina | April 29, 2009 1:23 AM
An autism gene! ? ! ?
Posted by: SocraticGadfly | April 29, 2009 1:30 AM
Clearly, the subtext is that God will smite with plagues any electorate that puts a Democrat in executive office.
Heck, I'm not even sure that's subtext, it's practically straight-up text.
Posted by: Aaron Golas | April 29, 2009 1:39 AM
That's it. As a Californian, I now can look down on Texas and Minnesota as being filled with nutjobs. We Californians are positively normal in comparison.
Posted by: Michael Simpson | April 29, 2009 2:24 AM
These swine flu cranks are so dense they're warping space time. You could probably feel the gravitational waves when standing in the same room as them.
Posted by: Magnus | April 29, 2009 3:31 AM
Sounds like she is not up-to-date on her logical fallacies vaccine !!! I just hope the Dems don't use the Swine Flu as an excuse to grow the government like the Reps used 911.
Posted by: Sabio | April 29, 2009 6:41 AM
On behalf of all Minnesotans that are NOT in Congressional District 6-
We apologize for the flaming piece of stupid that is Michelle Bachmann. The 6th district is a particularly er..."interesting" district with a rather um..."interesting" electorate.
Trust me- we're not all a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. Just the 6th district is.
Posted by: Rae | April 29, 2009 7:47 AM
Maybe the strain of no longer belonging to the party in power has finally broken her tiny little mind?
I'm just looking for the little puffs of smoke to start wafting out of her ears.
Posted by: Lilly de Lure | April 29, 2009 7:50 AM
Bachmann doesn't seem to need any excuse to release her crazy or stupid. She does it all the time.
Posted by: scotth | April 29, 2009 8:04 AM
Why should Bachmann be worrying about swine flu? It's a completely natural virus, so obviously it's just as harmless as all-natural CO2.
Posted by: qetzal | April 29, 2009 8:07 AM
@Orac
I can tell you one thing; this woman is utterly clueless, as can be shown by her utter ignorance of history. Here's a clue, Kim: There was no vaccine against influenza during the 1918 influenza pandemic. In fact, influenza vaccines were only developed widely available during World War II, where they were used to protect our soldiers. You're either clueless or lying. I pick clueless, given how easy it is to find this information out.
I don't believe, based on your links, Ms. Kim ever specified influenza vaccine. Here's what she had to say:
And it's my understanding that many people who took regular enemas instead of vaccines during the 1918 pandemic made it out on the other side as well.
So she is correct since non-influenza vaccines were used in the treatment of the 1918 pandemic.
So who's clueless?
John Barry - The Great Influenza - Page 353
Carol Byerly - The Fever of War - Page 84
Posted by: Sid Offit | April 29, 2009 9:27 AM
I think perhaps Bachman should take the advice of Kim Evans and have a nice colonic, perhaps it would clear her thinking.
Posted by: aftercancer | April 29, 2009 9:36 AM
Sid, you forget (or suppress) she's thinking that enemas are as effective as vaccines, not that both were utterly useless at the time.
Posted by: Mu | April 29, 2009 9:55 AM
Sid: First of all, she certainly sounds like she's saying that people in 1918 had the choice of having vaccines; after all, she didn't say "regular enemas instead of standard medicines".
Second, you're missing the point that she provides no proof whatever for her rather startling statement that enemas were responsible for saving lives. I've been reading about (s)CAM for years and never come across this claim before. You'd think that if it really did save lives, then somebody would have noticed and at least done some trials.
Posted by: sophia8 | April 29, 2009 10:54 AM
Rae@8
Speaking as a member of the gerrymandered 6th district who has done his civic duty (twice!) to get Michelle out of public "service", not all of us are picnic-less.
Just a majority of voters are.... sigh.
Posted by: chasmotron | April 29, 2009 12:15 PM
I think the strangest part is not the mistake over the political party, per se, but the misguided notion that the president is master of the universe and somehow has control over and is responsible for viral mutations.
Maybe she thinks Obama is the messiah. Oh, wait...it's only democrats who think that. You know what that means...Michelle Bachmann is a DEMOCRAT!!!!111one!!
Grab the pitchforks! Man the barricades!
Posted by: ??? | April 29, 2009 1:08 PM
A friend posted this comment when I referenced this post:
hey! do space shuttles only explode under Republican regimes? i'm not blaming Republicans. i just think it's an interesting coincidence.
Posted by: Joe Shelby | April 29, 2009 1:31 PM
She has never really marketed herself as anything other than a hardcore republican. Bachmann runs a little to the right of Stalin and they keep electing her (even though it was a slim margin this time). I guess she is accurately representing the largest portion of her voting district.
Is anyone else completely puzzled at how the Republicans can come out of last November completely oblivious to what happened? Do they honestly believe that the reason they were mass voted out of power was because most of America believed they weren't far enough to the ultra right?
They put Steele in front of their party because some idiot thinks Obama was elected simply because of the color of his skin. News flash, he was elected because they wanted a moderate that isn't controlled by the church and big business. Embrace that, force the Rush devotees out and then they will become competitive again.
Posted by: ababa | April 29, 2009 3:28 PM
Am I mistaken or isn't Jay Gordon one of the "doctors" who help Chritine Maggiore (deceased HIV denialist) kill her own daughter, EJ Scovill? (btw, EJ died from AIDS complications)
JTD
Posted by: J Todd DeShong | April 29, 2009 6:26 PM
Some poll-correcting for you:
Do you think homeopathy can help in the current swine flu pandemic?
Yes
No
Can't say
Yes, but won't be allowed to!
http://www.hpathy.com/diseases/Swine-flu-symptoms-treatment.asp
Guess which option is currently in the lead?
Posted by: Paholaisen Asianajaja | April 29, 2009 7:23 PM
I wonder what would result if you bred Bachman and Alan Keyes...
Posted by: Shay | April 29, 2009 9:52 PM
Bachmann topped that mind numbing stupid with an even better one. Check out Keith Olbermann's Worst Persons in the Wolrd for tonight (yeah I know he got snowed by David Kirby, but it's worth it tonight). And she was only third place.
Posted by: ababa | April 29, 2009 10:27 PM
No to the first question, yes to the second. It's exactly what cognitive dissonance theory predicts. Thinking "I didn't try hard enough" is less damaging to one's self-image than thinking "I was doing the wrong thing"; that works on a collective basis as well as an individual one.
Posted by: ebohlman | April 30, 2009 12:51 AM
"What is it about the swine flu scare that brings out the loony conspiracy-mongering in people?"
What were the headlines the week before the swine flu? "Drug war in mexico moving into USA".
Then the next week swine flu hits mexico. Almost like someone started it there on purpose to stop all the drug war stuff. Have you seen a mexican drug war story since the swine flu started?
Who exactly are the victims of this swine flu in mexico? Did it just happen to kill a large number of drug gang members or their families? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Or maybe it is because when the Iraq war was starting up, the government talked and talked and talked about swine flue to get people frightened so they would support the Iraq war.
Now, just 5 or 6 short years later, with the USA economy almost bankrupt and no more Iraq war to distract people, boom, up pops something they call swine flu.
The week before the news was distracting people from the economy with "Pirates of the Somalia coming to get us".
Don't those propaganda guys read the news? Boat people from Haiti drown trying to get to Florida from Haiti. Exactly how are Pirates of the Somalia going to get to the USA to "get us"?
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People go for conspiracy theories, because the government lies are so obvious a 5 year old can see through them. If the government is lying about something, then there is a conspiracy somewhere.
Posted by: happeh | May 4, 2009 11:01 AM
Joe Selby - "hey! do space shuttles only explode under Republican regimes? i'm not blaming Republicans. i just think it's an interesting coincidence."
No. The space shuttles only blow up when Israelis are on board. Judith Resnick was on the first shuttle that blew up.
"Resnik was born in Akron, Ohio and attended Hebrew school."
The second shuttle blew up with the Israeli air force colonel Llan Ramon on board. Right before the Iraq war.
Shuttle Colombia blows up - Feb 1st, 2003
Iraq War begin - March 20, 2003
The shuttle Columbia blew up a little over a month before the beginning of the Iraq war.
No shuttle, no shuttle spying on the middle east.
Posted by: Happeh | May 4, 2009 11:11 AM