Josh Voorhees at Slate wants you to know that “Bachmann says Irene, Earthquake were messages from God.” Never one to miss a scoop, The Huffington Post relates that “Michele Bachmann says Hurricane Irene and Earthquake were divine messages to Washington.” Reuters adds, “Bachmann: Irene is God’s message to Washington.” The Boston Globe also got in on the action with, “Bachmann: Irene was political message from God.” I can’t wait to see what Newsweek does with this angle. Maybe they can run a cover story calling her the “Queen of Plagues.”
The Globe story includes a photo of Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., at a Baptist church in Florida, and continues by pointing out that this “comment about Irene is only the latest of Bachmann’s religious views likely to draw scrutiny.”
ACK! Someone “affiliated with fervid subsets of evangelical Christianity” is at it again! Uh, right?
Actually, no. Bachmann’s comment about Irene does not, despite the frenzied stories to the contrary, qualify as one of her religious views. To quote presidential candidate Herman Cain, “America has got to learn how to take a joke.” Or, in this case, the media have got to learn to take a joke when it comes from a political figure associated with evangelical Christianity.
What did Bachmann say that provoked all these stories? The St. Petersburg Times of Florida has the quote:
If you think about it, that’s a little funny. In fact, watch the video. Bachmann was smiling while she said it. And the audience, they all laughed. They thought it was funny, too. I hate to explain a joke, because that just beats all the comedy out of the moment, but – it’s funny, because earthquakes and hurricanes have apocalyptic connotations, and they don’t happen in Washington D.C. very often; it’s almost like Bachmann is blaming Obama for these natural events.
But too many members of the media can’t laugh at this joke, because they have a narrative that Bachmann is a kook, the latest in a long line of kooky Christians, and they faithfully recite that position at every opportunity. Unfortunately, this dogmatic conviction leads them into intellectual absurdity, bordering on dishonesty. (Note: kudos to the hosts of CNN’s “American Morning” for providing the video with reliable coverage.)
Bachmann’s joke gets funnier when you remember that Obama said that his winning the Democratic nomination for president marked “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Originally, that comment was funny in a ridiculous, absurd sort of way. Now, after the flooding caused by Hurricane Irene, it’s funny in an ironic sort of way.
