Sunday 14 August 2011

Michele Bachmann, a Corn Dog and the Oral Office

Photo: Toby Harnden, Telegraph
The origins of this fast food which has become a stable at sporting events, outdoor gathering and fairs across North America are disputed but seem to point to the United States in the 1920s then popularized nationally during the 1940s. Whatever its history, this hot dog sausage coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried in oil then served on a stick is a well-known staple at any occasion from your simple carnival to your political happening. And it is a political happening where we find a candidate for the GOP nomination and vying to be the next president of the United States making a journalistic splash across the globe as readers everywhere have a chuckle at the phallic symbolism of a corn dog.

According to Wikipedia, The Iowa Straw Poll occurs in Ames, Iowa, on a Saturday in August of years in an election cycle in which the Republican presidential nomination seems to be undecided (that is, in years without an incumbent Republican President running for re-election). The pundits question the value of this Straw Poll as the results apparently do not correspond to the winner automatically pulling up their moving truck to the White House. Nevertheless, the event is on and provides fodder for analysts everywhere trying to decide what's coming down the pike in 2012.

At this year's event held on August 13, 2011, at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, Michele Bachmann was the declared winner with 28.6% of the vote followed by Ron Paul with 27.7% and Tim Palenty in a distant third with 13.6%. That unto itself would probably be enough for any journalist to whip off a thousand words or so, but the real news, and here I may be saying comic news as in Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, were photographs taken of Ms. Bachmann as she partook in the culinary tradition of the corn dog.

Photo: Daniel Acker, Reuters
Joseph Curl of the Washington Times wrote, "Soon-to-be president Michele Bachmann swept off with the top prize, but only after eating her body weight in corn dogs."

Robert Basler of Reuters in an article "Michele Bachmann: the wurst winner ever?" added:
Q: Hey Blog Guy, so Michele Bachmann won that Iowa thing. What do you think swung it her way?
A: Are you serious? She ate a corn dog in public. How could anybody top that?


Toby Harnden of the Telegraph reported, "She beat a hasty retreat after being aggressively heckled by a young man who shouted that she believed homosexuals were “second-class citizens” and that she should not try to “pray away the gay”. Driving away on a golf cart with her husband Marcus beside her, Mrs Bachmann stopped to buy a foot-long corn dog – a chicken and beef sausage in deep-fried batter. After applying mustard and allowing Mr Bachmann to take the first bite, she chomped into it with gusto."

Some of the best
In surfing around the Net, I have discovered that many people have taken to adding their own captions to these photographs of Michele Bachmann eating a corn dog, of course, making note of the phallic symbolism.

‎"I'll get every man's vote once they see me with THIS!"

‎"I TOLD you I could take on Obama!!!" (My favourite: #lmao)

"Perry and I agree that Paul is the wiener, I meant winner!"

‎"Marcus told me this was okay because I'm a woman."

‎"This is what I mean by 'submit'."

Then there were the comments as captions:

Deep Throat '12: Chick From The Sticks Swallows For Hicks.

I think I'm in love...

Clearly, she doesn't compromise.


Published on Aug 14, 2011 by itnnews
Bachmann wins Iowa Republican poll
Michele Bachmann has won the Iowa straw poll, in the first big test of the 2012 Republican presidential campaign.



Final Word
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll with 28.6%. While various news analysts and Ms. Bachmann herself have supposedly called this an important win or a solid or resounding victory, an article in the Huffington Post by Richard Greener points out something so obvious, so overwhelming obvious, it is surprising at how these people could be so blind. 71.4% of the voters did not pick Michele Bachmann. At a GOP-sponsored affair where the most fervent supporters of the Iowa Republican Party come together and nearly three-quarters of those people do not vote for Bachmann, how can anyone, media or Bachmann herself, say that this in any way resembles a victory?

Returning to the photographs, I remember one commentator, a woman, said that nobody can eat a corn dog gracefully and especially without anybody not seeing the phallic symbolism. Amen.

I do return to the candidate herself. Michele Bachmann, like Sarah Palin, is a good looking woman and very photogenic. Unfortunately, like Sarah Palin, she is an intellectual featherweight with a far, far, far right wing view of the world which is positively scary in its steadfastness to an ideology that is totally divorced from reality. In my blog: Michele Bachmann: the next president of the WTH!?!, I report on her signing a pledge written by a socially-conservative advocacy group which endorses the view that homosexuality is a choice rather than a biological trait and goes on to condemn adultery, “quickie divorce,” infidelity, pornography, cohabitation and Islamic sharia law and suggests that more African-American children are born out of wedlock now than they were under slavery.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. If either Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin get into the White House, I'm going to move to Mars.


References

Wikipedia: Corn dog
A corn dog is a hot dog sausage coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried in oil, although some are baked. Almost all corn dogs are served on wooden sticks, though some early versions had no stick.

Wikipedia: Ames Straw Poll
The Ames Straw Poll is a presidential straw poll taken by Iowa Republicans. It occurs in Ames, Iowa, on a Saturday in August of years in an election cycle in which the Republican presidential nomination seems to be undecided (that is, in years without an incumbent Republican President running for re-election). Because it draws many voters from all over the state, the Ames Straw Poll is by far the most prominent of the several straw polls held in Iowa. Thus it is also commonly known as the Iowa Straw Poll. It was first held in 1979.

Reuters - Aug 14/2011
Michele Bachmann, the wurst winner ever? by Robert Basler
Q: Hey Blog Guy, so Michele Bachmann won that Iowa thing. What do you think swung it her way?
A: Are you serious? She ate a corn dog in public. How could anybody top that?


The Washington Times - Aug 14/2011
Maybe Iowa straw poll not so pointless after all by Joseph Curl
Soon-to-be president Michele Bachmann swept off with the top prize, but only after eating her body weight in corn dogs.

Telegraph - Aug 13/2011
Fried food and retail politics at the Iowa State Fair by Toby Harnden
Michele Bachmann, Iowa born and the favourite to win the Straw Poll, arrived half an hour late for her slot and then spoke for just over two minutes, saying that Iowans were “going to send the signal” to the rest of America just as they had in 2008.  “This is where Barack Obama got his start. This is where he’s going to come to his end, in Iowa.”

She beat a hasty retreat after being aggressively heckled by a young man who shouted that she believed homosexuals were “second-class citizens” and that she should not try to “pray away the gay”.

Driving away on a golf cart with her husband Marcus beside her, Mrs Bachmann stopped to buy a foot-long corn dog – a chicken and beef sausage in deep-fried batter. After applying mustard and allowing Mr Bachmann to take the first bite, she chomped into it with gusto.

CBS News - Aug 12/2011
Michele Bachmann makes last ditch appeal in Iowa By Brian Montopoli
It was at this point that a young man stood up on top of one of the bales of hay that had served as seating and began screaming "shame on you" at Bachmann over her opposition to gay rights.

"I'm a second class citizen because of you, Michelle," he said. "Second class citizen. Where's the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for every American, Michele? You can't pray the gay away." He also complained that Bachmann's husband Marcus had "called me a barbarian."

my blog: Michele Bachmann: the next president of the WTH!?!
Ms. Bachmann has now signed a pledge written by a socially-conservative advocacy group in Iowa called the Family Leader, led by Bob Vander Plaats, an unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial candidate and evangelical Christian leader in Iowa. The pledge “The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family” endorses the view that homosexuality is a choice rather than a biological trait. It condemns adultery, “quickie divorce,” infidelity, pornography, cohabitation and Islamic sharia law. It also suggests that more African-American children are born out of wedlock now than they were under slavery.

Huffington Post - Aug 8/2011
Newsweek's Michele Bachmann Cover Raises Eyebrows
Conservative websites are already crying foul over the cover, with some saying it makes Bachmann look "crazy" and one blogger asking, "Can anyone really say with a straight face that the mainstream media is not totally biased against conservatives?"

Huffington Post - Aug 14/2011
Michelle Bachmann or the Media: Who Is Crazier? by Richard Greener
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann won what's been called everything from a "solid" to a "resounding" victory in the Ames Iowa Republican Straw Poll. Strange, isn't it, that supposedly credible news analysts on supposedly credible TV networks all said so -- all spoke glowingly about Ms. Bachmann's "important win" -- when Rep. Bachmann was actually rejected by 72% of the voters at this event, a GOP-sponsored affair which draws the most dedicated and devoted partisans in the Iowa Republican Party? When the party's most fervent supporters gather together and nearly three-quarters of them don't vote for you, how is it you can go on TV with a straight face and claim a great victory while being congratulated for your achievement by all those supposedly credible pundits? Explain that, if you can. Just who's crazy here?

Google video search: woman swallows balloon

Uploaded by LGBTQNation on Aug 14, 2011
Michele Bachmann: 'I don't judge gays'
Michele Bachmann, fresh from a victory in the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning, and was again dogged with questions about her anti-gay platform, this time declaring, "I don't judge gays."



2011-08-14

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll be moving to Mars with you.

bitter divorcée said...

Simpatico!