Michele Bachmann’s Husband Didn’t Call Gays Barbarians, Except For That Time He Called Gays Barbarians

Marcus Bachmann is violating the first rule of political spouses, stay quiet and smile:

An audiotape circulating on the Internet depicts Bachmann as calling gays barbarians in a 2010 interview he gave to the “Point of View” Christian radio talk show.

“We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated,” Bachmann’s voice is heard saying on the tape. “They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road.”

Bachmann said that someone must have doctored the recording of the interview, in which he addressed child discipline as well as homosexuality and sex education.

The recording also became a focus of media attention this week, including ABC’s “Nightline.”

“I was talking in reference to children. Nothing, nothing to do with homosexuality. That’s not my mindset. That’s not my belief system. That’s not the way I would talk,” Bachmann said.

So it’s children who are barbarians?

Well here’s the recording, you be the judge:

BACHMANN: We have to understand: barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps…

And let’s face it: what is our culture, what is our public education system doing today? They are giving full, wide-open doors to children, not only giving encouragement to think it but to encourage action steps. That’s why when we understand what truly is the percentage of homosexuals in this country, it is small. But by these open doors, I can see and we are experiencing, that it is starting to increase.

Marcus Bachmann isn’t running for President, of course, but he is helping to reinforce the general impression that his wife is a flake.

Update: Here’s a longer version of the radio interview:

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Vast Variety says:

    That explains why my rainbow colored Viking Helmet didn’t seem so out of place at the longboat rowing competition.

  2. EddieInCA says:

    Doug –

    Don’t be be so hard on him. I’m sure “Barbarians” is one of the more innocuous things he’s called homosexuals over the years. It’s just a matter of time until those other names and comments are revealed.

  3. @EddieInCA:

    You have a point

  4. legion says:

    Jeeze… even taken in the best possible light, this guy is still saying, flat-out, that anyone whose philosophy differs from that of the majority (and he assume he’s in the majority on all points) ought to be forcibly re-educated to get with the program.

  5. OzarkHillbilly says:

    this guy is still saying, flat-out, that anyone whose philosophy differs from that of the majority (and he assume he’s in the majority on all points) ought to be forcibly re-educated to get with the program.

    He is not alone….

  6. PJ says:

    @legion:
    That’s the good kind of reeducation. Not the bad kind. Not the kind happening in the reeducation camps Michele Bachmann was warning us about in 2009.

  7. Pete says:

    “The Pink Swastika” by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams, the truth about the total homosexual nature of National-Socialism: http://www.defendthefamily.com/pfrc/books/pinkswastika/html/the_pinkswastika_4th_edition_-_final.htm

    Every society that stopped applying social pressure on homosexuals became facist, socialist, hyper-militarist, psychotic, violent, super-masculine, anti-feminine, woman repressing, feminine homosexual repressing and PEDOPHILE. Ancient Greece, Rome and Weimar/Nazi Germany.

    I think he has good reasons to call homosexuals (“gays” means “happy” and is nothing but a semantic weapon btw) barbarians.

    And if you still dont noticed how the Obama administration is packed with tyranical homosexuals, you are just not paying attention.

    It is downright scary to watch people that call themselfs “conservatives” bowing down to the Civilization-destroying virus. Why do you think our ancestors did not want homosexuals around? Why do you think NOBODY except the suicidal Western World wants them around? Because thousands and thousands of years of the process of trail-and-error gave them a very clear leason regarding homosexuality: “A Society that accepts homosexuality is a society with its days numbered”.

    Depressing how even conservatives dig their own grave…

  8. Pete says:

    @legion:

    The rpoblem with homosexuality is that if society doesnt keep them inside the closet very soon they will be the ones managing the re-education camps. Read “The Pink Swastika” and de-brainwash yourself.

  9. Janis Gore says:

    That’s right, Pete. And the first thing they’ll do is make you repaint your living room a contemporary color and get rid of that ugly recliner.

  10. An Interested Party says:

    Read “The Pink Swastika” and de-brainwash yourself.

    And right after reading that, he can read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion…I mean, really Pete, after writing nonsense like that, how can you expect anyone to take you seriously…

  11. Ben Wolf says:

    Pete must be silenced for dicovering the truth. When finished with our dark machinations, we of the evil (and gay) left will be free to wear our heavily starched uniforms and knee-high leather boots proudly. Then we’re going to force Pete and his ilk to get gay married and require they touch boys inappropriately at least four days per week.

    Soon American men will all be shopping at Express and cutting off women’s hair so they look butch. You will be one of us Pete, a soldier in a dark army of gayness sweeping the earth!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA

  12. Pete says:

    @Ben Wolf:

    Ancient Greece, Rome and Weimar/Nazi Germany. Facist, socialist, hyper-militarist, psychotic, violent, super-masculine, anti-feminine, woman repressing, feminine homosexual repressing, PEDOPHILE hellholes. Not my fault.

    You resort to mockery because you have nothing on “The Pink Swastika”, it is absolutly unchallengeable, some tried but they didnt even pass the initial stages.

    “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party is a thoroughly researched, eminently readable, demolition of the “gay” myth, symbolized by the pink triangle, that the Nazis were anti-homosexual. The deep roots of homosexuality in the Nazi party are brilliantly exposed . . .” – Dr. Howard Hurwitz, Family Defense Council

    “As a Jewish scholar who lost hundreds of her family in the Holocaust, I welcome The Pink Swastika as courageous and timely . . . Lively and Abrams reveal the reigning “gay history” as revisionist and expose the supermale German homosexuals for what they were – Nazi brutes, not Nazi victims.” – Dr. Judith Reisman, Institute for Media Education

    “The Pink Swastika is a powerful exposure of pre-World War II Germany and its quest for reviving and imitating a Hellenistic-paganistic idea of homo-eroticism and militarism.” – Dr. Mordechai Nisan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

    “Lively and Abrams call attention to what Hitlerism really stood for, abortion, euthanasia, hatred of Jews, and, very emphatically, homosexuality. This many of us knew in the 1930’s; it was common knowledge, but now it is denied…” – R. J. Rushdoony, The Chalcedon Report

    “…Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams have done America a great service…” – Col. Ronald Ray, Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

    http://www.defendthefamily.com/pfrc/books/pinkswastika/html/the_pinkswastika_4th_edition_-_final.htm

    You have ZERO on that book hence the mockery. And i repeat it is downright scary to watch so called conservatives bowing down to what the Allied High Command called “The German Virus”…

  13. Pete says:

    @An Interested Party:

    Let me translate your post:

    “That book scares the hell out of me because it totally exposes what homosexuality really stands for and the lies the homosexual-agenda puts out there so i will resort to mockery”

  14. Pete says:

    One more thing, i see that the “poor innocent naive homosexual eternal-victims” are all over this Tea Party thing…playing “both sides of the game” now? You guys fell that if the homo-facist-ridden Obama regime goes down the homosexual-agenda goes down with it so you are trying to ride on the back of the Tea Party?

  15. An Interested Party says:

    Pete, you silly person…I’m certainly not scared by this book…rather, I’m amused by your rampant homophobia and your warped view of history…considering the Nazis put homosexuals into concentration camps along with Jews and others they felt to be undesirable, this book that you are promoting is no more worthy than The Protocols of the Elders of Zionhere’s some links to go along with the mockery…oh, and I’m sorry to break it to you, honey, but gay rights are only going to increase in this country as time goes on…

  16. Brainster says:

    Look, I don’t like Bachmann, and I certainly hope the GOP doesn’t nominate her. But her husband is getting a bogus rap here. Try using “children” in place of “barbarians” up above and you’ll see that what he said isn’t controversial at all:

    “We have to understand: children need to be educated. They need to be disciplined.”

    I believe it was Midge Dector a few decades back who made the observation that “Our society is invaded by barbarians every generation. We call them children.”

  17. Loviatar says:

    @Brainster:

    I like what you did, lets replace children with n!&&ers and see what that says.

    “We have to understand: children n!&&ers need to be educated. They need to be disciplined.”

    and

    I believe it was Midge Dector a few decades back who made the observation that “Our society is invaded by barbarians every generation. We call them children n!&&ers.”

    cool huh

    /snark

  18. Ben Wolf says:

    @Loviatar: What?

  19. Loviatar says:

    @Ben Wolf:

    what Brainster doing is a another form of saying someones being overly sensitive (i.e. politically correct).

    Marcus Bachmann was not making an innocuous remark, he was calling gay people barbarians. Brainster attempted to downplay the remark by switching out the offensive term with a non-offensive term to make his point that it was an innocuous remark. I switched out his non-offensive term with a strikingly offensive term to show yes it is an offensive remark.

    I’m tired of the people downplaying offensive remarks and yelling Politically Correct as a slur after insulting others, so I decided to call him on it. If you got offended by my changes, then you got my point.

  20. James Joyner says:

    Pete, above, is why I haven’t dumped the Like/Dislike buttons yet.

  21. OzarkHillbilly says:

    I do have to say the “click here to read” button makes a difference. Of course I didn’t, just as I tend to pass over the remarks of some who just regurgitate the same nonsense ad nauseum

  22. reid says:

    @James Joyner: After reading one of Pete’s dumps, I’m also starting to like the auto-hide feature.

  23. Brainster says:

    Loviatar, I am not saying people are being politicially correct. I am saying they are intentionally ignoring the context of the quote to make it seem like Bachmann’s husband said something stupid and hateful (and completely illogical), when in fact he said something banal and acceptable.

    Everybody’s focused on the “barbarians” part, what about the disciplined part? “Gays need to be disciplined.” Does that make any sense?

  24. James in LA says:

    Pete, two words seem to sum up your position: BOO-HOO. Also: why are you so fixated on gay people? What adult straight male safe in his sexuality concerns himself to this extent with what sex other men are having? Big Gay Al Bachmann seems to have the same mental disorder, the one where we have to denigrate in the most foul terms that which we are…

    Pete, fer Pete sake, is there something you’d like to get off your chest? I’ve helped many men come out, and they have said worse than you. Lived worse than you, to be sure.

    Your theories can be summed up thus: a skunk smells his own hole first.

    Advice: stop picking on gay people and they will leave you alone.

  25. James in LA says:

    @Brainster, it is not for Mr. Bachmann to decide how children other than those under his legal supervision are to be disciplined. To equate even children with barbarians accuses them of murder, rape, arson, and general mayhem, all in an effort to denigrate a key, intimate part of their personality.

    It is beyond banal, and certainly NOT acceptable. It is the type of rhetoric that is at the core of why gay people have to come out and cast off the self-loathing yokes many straight people would like them to wear for life.

    I invite you to knock it off.

  26. Robert in SF says:

    I don’t think he was calling gay adults barbarians…listening in context to the question that was asked about how Christian parents should react when their children announce they are gay, he states the party line: repress your feelings and you’ll be A-OK!

    In other words, children who question what their sexuality is, need to have parents who re-enforce that feelings need to be tempered before they should turn into actions or decisions.

    I think @Brainster is correct, and his reference to the quote about barbarians as an analogy for children is the reference we are missing. I think what Marcus is saying here is that children don’t have a censor built in yet, no moral compass to guide them about right and wrong yet…that comes from parents. Children are, by their level of maturity, limited in their restraint and are prone to impulsive actions based on their casual thoughts and feelings. In other words, they are children in thought and deed….so they are, in effect, “barbarians”…they need discipline from their parents to help them realize that not every thought needs to be expressed (out loud) or acted upon. And any person who has ever heard of or been embarrassed when their child says loudly in public, “Daddy, that person is soooo fat!”, or similar, knows what I am talking about.

    Now whether you agree with him that this applies to a core identity such as sexuality, something that exists without cultural or educational exposure, is another topic….as well as the damage that could occur in suppressing a natural urge that harms no one (let’s not even get into comparisons of being gay and other supposedly similar -philias or conditions…that’s not up for debate).

  27. James in LA says:

    @Robert in SF, children are NOT barbarians, unless I’ve missed the news reports about roaming gangs of kids bent on arson, rape, murder, and such. This is such a ridiculous argument, made by a foolish man who thinks it’s his business to encourage self-loathing and shame as solutions to actual problems in life. It matters not the context once you bring in words like “barbarians.”

    Marcus Bachmann is a know-nothing busy-body. As for parents being embarrassed by what their kids say, here’s some advice: don’t have kids. They are not your masterpieces, and you will be embarrassed by them at various points until they haul you away in a pine box.

  28. Robert in SF says:

    @James in LA: I don’t disagree with you on much of that…but I think in the context of his discussion, and granting him some poetic license (let’s call it dramatic license), he was using an analogy to say that kids are less restricted to express their casual thoughts…not your Conan the Barbarian, or even Groo the Barbarian, but more like bohemian….

    [is there an automatic ellipses remover for this editor? I use them a lot!]

  29. DRF says:

    I have no idea what his reference to “barbarians” is supposed to be referring to; it’s not exactly the most coherent speech I’ve ever heard.

    But more importantly, what exactly does Bachmann think is going on in public schools that he objects to? Does he believe that public schools are encouraging children to be homosexuals? That’s absurd.

    What is going on in a lot of schools is that children are being taught tolerance. Does Bachmann really object to this? I’m curious as to what lesson, if any, he thinks public school teachers and administrators should be teaching about homosexuals? How does he suggest they deal with the bullying that goes on daily in some schools? Does he have any specific criticisms or suggestions?

    Bechmann is representative of an entire group of Americans who are fearful of changes in the culture, changes in attitudes and an increasingly multi-ethnic and modern country. They focus that fear and frustration on homosexuality and homosexuals as a stand-in for all that they fear, and in the process they greatly exaggerate the “dangers”. That’s one reason we keep hearing right wing Christians going on about the danger to traditional marriage represented by same-sex marriage; it’s completely irrational, because their objection isn’t really to same-sex marriage but to the acceptance of homosexuality and other trends in our society which challenge their traditional culture.

  30. An Interested Party says:

    That’s one reason we keep hearing right wing Christians going on about the danger to traditional marriage represented by same-sex marriage; it’s completely irrational, because their objection isn’t really to same-sex marriage but to the acceptance of homosexuality and other trends in our society which challenge their traditional culture.

    Exactly, they are losing the Culture War and they know it…these are the last gasps of a slowly dying movement…

  31. JohnMcC says:

    Whatever Dr Bachmann called gay people or perhaps children is hardly a worthwhile issue. What really is an issue is whether his two clinics are practicing the ‘ex gay’ or ‘reparative’ therapies that are not recognized by the APA as therapeutic. He is getting paid by Medicare/Medicaid which means he is charging them for approved (‘coded’) therapies. If he then practicing some other unapproved therapy, he is committing Medicare fraud. (I emphasize ‘IF’ — I have no particular knowledge.)

    This is apparently a possibility because (if you trust what you read on the internet) Minnesota does not require licensing of mental health clinics.

    There is also a dispute (again on the internet where no one ever tells a fib) as to whether Dr Bachmann actually holds a PhD. It was apparently granted by a ‘distance-learning’ (‘correspondence school’) institution that may or may not have been accredited at the time and may or may not have been some other ‘certification’ & not a degree.

    There is a Politico article worth reading if you’re interested in all this.
    http:www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58291.html

  32. Barb Hartwell says:

    I find it appalling that he actually took taxpayer money Medicare to cure in his words Barbarians I thought he was such a good Christian, don`t they council for free? What about taking government money, I thought they thought that was bad. He is such a phony and a hypocrite, how could anyone trust him or his crazy wife?

  33. anjin-san says:

    What about taking government money

    The Bachmann’s are raking it in with both hands. Do as I say, not as I do…

  34. A Voice from another Precinct says:

    @Barb Hartwell: Please note that the original statement on this particular side trip of the thread said “If” and acknowledged that the author did not know what services the clinic offered for which it took Medicaid money. Try to stay consistent to the intent of the commentators rather than using their comments to promote your own agenda. Honesty–a trait seemingly missing on the blogosphere at times–dictates nothing less is acceptable.