"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House -- with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." This humorous remark was said by John F. Kennedy at a dinner honoring forty-nine Nobel Laureates on April 29, 1962.
But what do John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson have in common with Michele Bachmann?
Both former presidents also experienced reoccurring migraines throughout their lives.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," along with the rest of the Declaration of Independence in June 1776 -- about one month after recovering from a bout of migraine headaches that had lasted five weeks and had begun in April.
Clearly, not even one of Jefferson's worst migraines, or as he called it, "a severe attack of periodical headache" left him with any permanent intellectual impairment. He could still think.
More alarming -- not to mention revolting -- than any revelation, which has come out thus far about Bachmann, Kennedy once commented to Democratic political adviser Bobby Baker, "You know, I get a migraine headache if I don't get a strange piece of ass every day" (see endnote 54).
Since neither Kennedy's philandering nor his migraines were questioned when he ran for the presidency in 1960, do we really believe Michele Bachmann should need to submit her doctor's note for a condition that is, given the advances in modern medicine, completely manageable?
She doesn't have a life-threatening illness. She is not experiencing the lead poisoning that Andrew Jackson was suffering from the un-removed bullets in his body. She has not suffered a heart attack as Eisenhower had in the year before he ran for reelection. She is not even prone to a reoccurring psychological malady, like depression as Abraham Lincoln was. Moreover, women in their forties and fifties are often in better health than men of the same age. Is there a reason President Barack Obama, a decades-long cigarette smoker, has not been required to submit to a chest x-ray or lung scan?
As an individual who has had chronic migraines for the past fifteen years, I can attest to the fact that that they are three things: painful, inconvenient, and controllable. As the medical doctor for the House of Representatives explained yesterday, migraines "have known trigger factors" (e.g., wine and chocolate) and those can be avoided.
Simply put, this is a manufactured issue and a sexist attack to stop Bachmann's surging poll momentum. Let's face it: in most polls, she is running either just ahead or just behind Mitt Romney. What better way for one of her GOP opponents (this story broke in the Daily Caller, a Republican online news site, meaning this smear was likely done by a Republican, not a Democrat) to undermine her growing support among religious conservatives and those aligned with the Tea Party movement. After all, questioning John McCain's health and senility helped the Democrats win in 2008.
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Migraine pains are turning into a political headache for Bachmann
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Michele Bachmann Rises in the Polls; Takes Heat Over Migraines
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
She's just another nail in the race to the bottom.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/06/14/michele-bachmanns-unrivaled-extremism-gay-rights-to-religion.html
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Those are a couple of trigger factors for some people, and not all.
Hormones and stress are the most common and the fact that Bachmann still has migraines indicates she's not managing to avoid them.
She's missed votes on the floor due to migraines and wound up hospitalized.
Both Jefferson and JFK were of different times, when the information reported to the public about a president's or a presidential candidate's health was limited. National security threats to the nation during Jefferson's time were on a different timetable than they are today; it would take months for European invaders to reach our shores.
During JFK's time, it wasn't known that he had migraines, although it was known he had a chronic back condition and in pain "from time to time". The extent of pain ("constant and unremitting" we come to learn) and the medication he was on was never divulged to the public, and it did interfere with his functioning. His meeting with Krushchev was a disaster because of it.
She handled it as poorly as any person, man or woman, could have handled it, with the possible exception of Sarah Palin.
We are in the era of the 24hr news cycle. It's news, albeit inconsequential. Submit a Dr.'s note and move on.
Aren't there more important things for a Ph.D. to do with her time than to remind us how ridiculous the constant stream of crap is that emanates from the keyboards and orifices of our national journalists?
BOTH!
It IS possible for it to be both, after all, don't be too simplistic or one-dimensional in this complex life...
Would it still be sexist?