Clinton's warning: Tea Party is a corporate front
Stumping in Minnesota, he calls Michele Bachmann "the ultimate example of putting ideology over evidence"
By Joe Conason
Salon.com
Minneapolis -- As Tea Party activists celebrated their upset triumph in Delaware, Bill Clinton showed up in Minneapolis to support the Democrat challenging the insurgent Republican movement’s favorite member of Congress: Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., the founder of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus.
At a late-night fundraiser for state Sen. Tarryl Clark, Clinton described Bachmann as the epitome of a trend he regards as profoundly dangerous to the nation’s future. "Your opponent," he told Clark, "is the ultimate example of putting ideology over evidence."
"I respect people with a conservative philosophy," he continued. "This country has been well-served by having two broad traditions within which people can operate. If you have a philosophy, it means you’re generally inclined one way or the other but you’re open to evidence. If you have an ideology, it means everything is determined by dogma and you’re impervious to evidence. Evidence is irrelevant.
"That’s how I see Rep. Bachmann. She’s very attractive in saying all these things she says, but it’s pretty stupid."
Clinton lamented that "a distinguished former governor of Delaware was beaten tonight by the so-called tea party candidate" because enough primary voters had accepted a "new narrative" promoted by the extreme right. "They’re saying that Barack Obama represents the spearhead of this vast socialist conspiracy to have government swallow up the fabric of American life and he’s going to crush our individualism, and our freedom, and the vitality of small business ... They tell us that they they represent America the way it used to be, self-reliant, virtuous individuals and small businesses. And the truth is, what they want to do is dismantle government so corporations, big corporations will control our destiny."
The former president said that over the past year, "their party has moved closer to Michele Bachmann. Look, in Utah a very conservative senator, Bob Bennett, was defeated for one reason -- because he dared to sponsor a healthcare plan with a Democrat, Ron Wyden. And he did that because he looked at the evidence, that this country was going to be killed economically if we didn’t begin to control healthcare costs."
(More here.)
By Joe Conason
Salon.com
Minneapolis -- As Tea Party activists celebrated their upset triumph in Delaware, Bill Clinton showed up in Minneapolis to support the Democrat challenging the insurgent Republican movement’s favorite member of Congress: Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., the founder of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus.
At a late-night fundraiser for state Sen. Tarryl Clark, Clinton described Bachmann as the epitome of a trend he regards as profoundly dangerous to the nation’s future. "Your opponent," he told Clark, "is the ultimate example of putting ideology over evidence."
"I respect people with a conservative philosophy," he continued. "This country has been well-served by having two broad traditions within which people can operate. If you have a philosophy, it means you’re generally inclined one way or the other but you’re open to evidence. If you have an ideology, it means everything is determined by dogma and you’re impervious to evidence. Evidence is irrelevant.
"That’s how I see Rep. Bachmann. She’s very attractive in saying all these things she says, but it’s pretty stupid."
Clinton lamented that "a distinguished former governor of Delaware was beaten tonight by the so-called tea party candidate" because enough primary voters had accepted a "new narrative" promoted by the extreme right. "They’re saying that Barack Obama represents the spearhead of this vast socialist conspiracy to have government swallow up the fabric of American life and he’s going to crush our individualism, and our freedom, and the vitality of small business ... They tell us that they they represent America the way it used to be, self-reliant, virtuous individuals and small businesses. And the truth is, what they want to do is dismantle government so corporations, big corporations will control our destiny."
The former president said that over the past year, "their party has moved closer to Michele Bachmann. Look, in Utah a very conservative senator, Bob Bennett, was defeated for one reason -- because he dared to sponsor a healthcare plan with a Democrat, Ron Wyden. And he did that because he looked at the evidence, that this country was going to be killed economically if we didn’t begin to control healthcare costs."
(More here.)
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