Maybe I was wrong about Bachmann. Maybe the migraines are a bigger worry than the hot flashes. In a sign that this story has legs, the Politico website published some blockbuster information today that casts serious doubt regarding Bachmann’s ability to serve as president. In Politico’s words, the migraine issue that I so cavalierly dismissed has “threatened to spiral out of control as the media sought more details about a potentially debilitating condition.” Why, you ask, is this illness so potentially debilitating? Politico gives us the unvarnished truth: “The issue may be complicated for Bachmann by the fact that the condition affects her brain and requires her to take psychoactive drugs.”
Migraines affect the brain? Who knew? And what about those “psychoactive” drugs? I can tell you that caught my attention. Does she inhale, I wonder?
And listen to this. According to the same story, “A migraine attack in May 2010 forced Bachmann to retreat to her congressional office and lie down in the dark.”! Imagine that! And this wasn’t an isolated incident – indeed, according to a staffer who remained anonymous, “it was a common for the congressional office to literally go dark when Bachmann had a migraine.
‘The congresswoman would go into her personal office, turn off the lights and close the door, sometimes for hours, waiting for the headache to pass,’ the staffer said. ‘On multiple occasions, we had to basically turn out the lights in her office, shut the door and put a virtual do-not-disturb sign on her office for hours on end so she could lie there and try to recuperate from the headaches,’ according to the staffer.” Shades of Strom Thurmond!
But it gets worse. “The Daily Caller [the conservative website that originally broke this story] also reported an October 2010 incident that forced Bachmann to lie down at the home of a Connecticut donor who was hosting a fundraiser, then to seek urgent care in New York. Sources with firsthand knowledge confirmed the report to POLITICO.”
So it appears that Bachmann spends much of her time in the dark, lying down on the job. I don’t know about you, but these aren’t the qualities that I want in my president. No wonder “there are signs that the issue is overwhelming her campaign’s ability to respond effectively. One reporter’s attempt to get to the bottom of the story resulted in another unwelcome headline for Bachmann on Tuesday when her campaign seemed to manhandle ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross. As he pursued her to her car outside an Aiken, S.C., event, Bachmann staffers grabbed and pushed him forcefully, according to one reporter’s account of the incident.”
I’ve seen “campaigns” “seem to manhandle” things before. Let me tell you, it’s not a pretty sight. I hope that type of rough handling doesn’t intimidate reporters like the intrepid duo at Politico that brought us this groundbreaking story. Note that Bachmann is not suffering from ordinary headaches – migraines are “a neurological disorder characterized in part by its incompatibility with normal activity… .” Read that again: Bachmann’s not normal! Doubtless you won’t be surprised to learn that migraines afflict women more than men. The always helpful Politico told me so.
Lying down on the job? In the dark? Abnormal brain activity? Using psychoactive drugs? These are not the qualifications for an effective president. And this is before the hot flashes!
Michele Bachmann. It’s all in her head.
Ho hum, another day another cut-and-paste anti-Bachmann smear. Juan Williams wrote: Whenever the press attacks Bachmann she “gets a flood of support and money. She becomes ‘Every Woman,’ a misunderstood Tea Party mother of five facing down an elitist, arrogant, Obama-leaning press corps.” The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
7/19/11 A national poll from Public Policy Polling shows Bachmann is not just an early-state phenomenon, and she hasn’t yet hit her ceiling: Bachmann: 21% of Republican primary voters vs. 20% for Mitt Romney.
Sigh. All my hard work, wasted. Clearly the internets don’t reward subtlety. Derek – read my post again. Slowly. You’ll see that I wasn’t “barking”.
Matt, how would you compare the Bachman medical condition with the Tom Eagleton problem?
Jack
Jack,
I think you are conflating two separate issues – Eagleton and Bachmann with depression and migraines. Today, I think most people understand that neither migraines nor depression disqualify anyone from serving as President. (Our greatest president, Lincoln, had severe bouts of depression while in the White House). And migraines? That we are even talking about it as a disqualifying factor is a reminder that a) we are in the silly season and b) Bachmann is a woman. I don’t see this happening at all if she was a man. I have no proof of that, of course, but that’s my gut feeling.
Eagleton’s problem was not that he was treated for depression – it’s that he hid the condition and the treatment from his own boss, McGovern, and from the press. When he did reveal it under pressure, it allowed the press to frame it in the most sensationalist way possible, by making repeated references to shock treatment. McGovern, to his everlasting regret, folded under the pressure and dropped Eagleton. In hindsight, it hurt him.
In both cases, Bachmann and Eagleton served years in high pressure jobs with these conditions having no substantial impact on their performance. Today, of course, we understand much more about depression and the Eagleton affair would have likely played out much differently.
But migraines? Are we seriously considering debating whether Bachmann should drop out because she has migraines? The news must be really slow this summer…
So, wait, I am confused. You were being sardonic in the last two posts?
Who, me? Sardonic? You know better than that! ;~)
Matt Dickinson uses emoticons?! Clearly, the heat is affecting everybody. I’ll pledge the first dollar towards an air conditioner for the Ripton compound…
Paul – It IS hot up here, but I broke down not because of weather conditions – it was because half my readers didn’t get what I was writing. If I have to spell it out directly, it’s no fun for me. I thought the emoticon might help. Maybe it would be better if I used a hammer.