Dances With Vultures

The Ames Straw Poll is in with Michele Bachmann out front. And just when we think it can’t get loonier, Texan Rick Perry, who recently prayed for rain in his parched state, swaggers his candidacy to show us the way, his way, god’s highway. Now, we have two Lordites in the race. Heaven’s the limit. And with The Rapture in his sights, Gov. Perry has his own army to invade, occupy, and plant the flag.

The vultures are circling.

I had watched via laptop a segment of David Gregory’s interview with Bachmann on August 14th’s Meet the Press. Gregory showed footage of Bachmann’s 2004 condemnation of the gay lifestyle:

It’s a very sad life. It’s part of Satan, I think, to say that this is ‘gay’. It’s anything but ‘gay’. It leads to the personal enslavement of individuals. Because If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyles, it’s bondage.

Bachmann’s face wore that strange, mechanical smile as she said, “Well, I am running for the presidency of the United States. I’m not running to be anyone’s judge.” Gregory pushed and prodded, reminding her, again, of her remarks. She said, “I, I, I don’t judge them. I’m running for presidency of the United States.” Gregory persevered, asking Bachmann if she’d appoint someone who’s gay to a cabinet position. She answered, “My criteria would be the same for that–for, for–which would be, where do you stand on the Constitution, are you competent, and do you share my views.” When Gregory returned to those 2004 judgments (to emphasize, again, her views), Bachmann, smile intact, robotically repeated that she doesn’t judge.

My reactions: Bachmann is a journalist’s dilemma and a viewer’s WTF. Her behavior could have a code of its own in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

And this: David Gregory’s an ass. And a vulture. Like most of the corporate media, he circled in, unwilling to stop when it was clear he couldn’t penetrate Bachmann’s carapace.

I remember counting the days until George W. left office. And, no, I did not support Barack Obama. How could I, a peacenik, advocate for a man who called Afghanistan the right war and who selected as his running mate avowed Zionist Joe Biden? Still, I didn’t think it could get any worse than it was with Bush, the president who not only believed he had the ear of god but who, also, thought his ear received messages from god.

Yet, it has.

And so it goes, as usual. The 2012 election will offer the lesser of two evils.

Rick Perry said, “I hope I’m President Obama’s worst nightmare.”

He could be, in a tug of egos. But there is no mainstream politician who isn’t a nightmare for all but Wall Street bankers, other politicos, and those at the summit of American wealth. One frightening dream may be slightly less frightening than another, but it still is frightening.

The system is broken, corrupted. At the crime scene, the vultures dance.

Missy Beattie lives in Baltimore, Maryland. She avoids deep-fried butter. Reach her at missybeat@gmail.com.

Missy Beattie has written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. She was an instructor of memoirs writing at Johns Hopkins’ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in BaltimoreEmail: missybeat@gmail.com