Bachmann is concerned about the rise of the SOVIET UNION

[Shadowbound]

Is it just me, or does the GOP really just not care about the "details" of foreign policy anymore beyond their rote talking points?

GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann said today that Americans "fear the rise of the Soviet Union" during an appearance on a conservative radio talk show.

The Soviet Union broke up into 15 separate republics 20 years ago. Boris Yeltsin was the first freely elected leader of Russia, the largest of those republics.

"What people recognize is that there's a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward," Bachmann said on Jay Sekulow's radio show.

Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, was trying to explain that Americans are concerned about issues in addition to jobs and the economy.

Bachmann's comment about the Soviet Union is making the rounds in the blogosphere. It was first reported by People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch and picked up by websites such as ThinkProgress, a project of the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

The GOP presidential candidate has flubbed some facts in history before, such as when she mistakenly said that the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord occurred in New Hampshire. This week, she mistakenly wished Elvis Presley a "happy birthday" on the anniversary of his death.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...8/michele-bachmann-soviet-union-/1?csp=34news

I would say it's a unified message. It really is about jobs and the economy. That doesn't mean people haven't [sic] forgotten about protecting life and marriage and the sanctity of the family. People are very concerned about that as well. But what people recognize is that there's a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward. And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he'll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we're fighting three wars. People recognize that.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bachmann-american-people-are-concerned-about-rise-soviet-union

The problem is, this is probably going to make her more popular with the Republican party. It'd be great to go back to a much simpler time, wouldn't it? When you could accuse your opponents of being Communists and dismiss any and all ideas that look even a little bit like socialism, while pouring out tons of blood and treasure in support of foreign dictators fighting a long war against a concept.

...wait.

 

[bombshoo]

She obviously just meant Russia. My dad accidentally still refers to Russia as the Soviet Union all the time. It doesn't mean anything.

 

[Lord of Elves]

Link to video.

And rightly she should.

 

[classical_hero]

Link to video.

and rightly she should.

It seems not to be working, but I bet it is from the Simpsons.

 

[Ajidica]

Errr.... Wha?

I'll admit that occasionaly I'll use Soviet Union and Russia interchangeably, much to the hatred of Ukranian nationalists, but talking about the Soviet Union as rising?

Unless...

Link to video.
"That is just what we wanted you to think!"
"Must...Crush....Capitalism...And....Eat.....Brains"

(Sorry for the spanish, I couldn't find a version that was even half decent in English)

 

[Miles Teg]

Really? I mean, Bachmann says tons of crazy stuff that doesn't get its own CFC thread. Are we going to have a thread about the fact that she confused Elvis's birthday and the anniversary of his death? I mean, some of those stories actually scarily representative of her world view, not typical old people gaffes.

Like how she "submits" to her husband, and only became a tax lawyer because he told her to and she had to listen to him!

Or the fact that one of her staffers was arrested for terrorism in Uganda back in 2006!

Or the time she was almost kidnapped by lesbians!

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Based on what little info is presented here, I would assume that she meant that Americans fear the United States becoming a new Soviet Union under the democrat's "socialist" policies.

Edit: never mind. I answered before reading far enough to see the context of the statement.

 

[Dreadnought]

Maybe you're just taking the statement at face value.

Now, don't we all have better things to do with our time than hunt the internet for stories like this?

 

[Ajidica]

Maybe you're just taking the statement at face value.

Now, don't we all have better things to do with our time than hunt the internet for stories like this?

Yes. We have nothing better to do so we ridicule a lady who made a mistake on the same level of calling America the "British Colonies" when talking about the year 2011

 

[carmen510]

Now, don't we all have better things to do with our time than hunt the internet for stories like this?

This is a presidential candidate we're talking about here; someone who is actually supposed to represent America. I don't think I've seen a gaffe this bad since Dan Quayle.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Very likely could have just meant Russia - half the globes I see wherever I go are decades out of date.

That said, anybody seriously bidding to be President should do the ten second research to know the USSR is gone and Russia, while it has taken up much of its functions, is not the same entity, even if its government wishes it was.

Now, I'd give her credit if she was by some chance critiquing Russia's policy of bullying post-Soviet states. You know, imperialism not ending, but in a new form.

 

[aelf]

So? Saying things that are factually correct is for liberal elitists.

Maybe you're just taking the statement at face value.

Ooh, I want to hear a different interpretation.

 

[Dreadnought]

Yes. We have nothing better to do so we ridicule a lady who made a mistake on the same level of calling America the "British Colonies" when talking about the year 2011

This is a presidential candidate we're talking about here; someone who is actually supposed to represent America. I don't think I've seen a gaffe this bad since Dan Quayle.

Ooh, I want to hear a different interpretation.

Maybe she means there may be a new Soviet Union in the future; or, maybe she's insulting Russia by equating it to the Soviet Union. I have no idea. The fact of the matter is, there could be a whole different topic or context for the comment and we could be misinterpreting it.

Gosh, I don't even like the lady, but topics like these on the internet get swarmed like weak hungry piranhas scavenging a corpse.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Ooh, I want to hear a different interpretation.

Obama is obviously turning the United States into a muslamic-communazi state, hence the rise of the Soviet Union, and the downfall of America.

 

[amadeus]

The Soviet Union? That is so back from when we had only 50 states.

 

[bombshoo]

It was the Soviet Union for the first 35 years of her life. It's really easy to see how one could slip up and refer to Russia wrongly if they've been calling it something different for the majority of their life.

 

[LucyDuke]

This woman is a billowing idiot.

This mistake is excusable coming from a person who knew that country by that name for the first thirty-five years of their life.

EDIT: crosspost

 

[aelf]

Maybe she means there may be a new Soviet Union in the future; or, maybe she's insulting Russia by equating it to the Soviet Union. I have no idea. The fact of the matter is, there could be a whole different topic or context for the comment and we could be misinterpreting it.

You don't suggest in a political speech that there might be a new Soviet Union in the future for no reason. If there's some redeeming context to the quote, I'd like to know it. As for the insulting Russia interpretation, that's clearly nonsensical.

Gosh, I don't even like the lady, but topics like these on the internet get swarmed like weak hungry piranhas scavenging a corpse.

... because calling stupid stupid is clearly not in the spirit of rational debate?

 

[Tani Coyote]

It was the Soviet Union for the first 35 years of her life. It's really easy to see how one could slip up and refer to Russia wrongly if they've been calling it something different for the majority of their life.

But as the President is the head of state, it would be useful for her to know the names of all the countries we might be dealing with. The USSR no longer exists, so if she wants to appear even remotely credible, she shouldn't be calling Russia the USSR.

 

[Maniacal]

They really should require an IQ test or something for presidential candidates.