What a headache!
July 20, 2011, 2:56 pm
Posted by Margaret O'Brien Steinfels
“Michele Bachmann faces more migraine questions”
I’m no fan of Michelle Bachman’s but…. Next thing you know it’ll be Romney’s hang nails.
Next thing you know it’ll be Romney’s hang nails.
I could hardly be more astonished. Migraines and hangnails are not in the same ballpark. I have known two migraine sufferers, and migraines can be very serious. Check out the Wikipedia entry, which contains this passage:
While what we know at the moment doesn’t disqualify her as a candidate, migraines are potentially serious enough that it is not at all frivolous to want to know more.
Apparently you have never known someone who has a serious problem with migraines. It’s not a condition to joke dismiss lightly.
Be astonished at the media driving this into the ground!
If her migraines are as bad and as frequent as reported, she probably shouldn’t be President, no matter how perfectly perfect she is otherwise.
Is “migraines” a codeword for “menopause” perhaps?
Just wondering. Because that is the sort of thing a certain roid-addicted rubber-butt blogger at the Daily Beast could be expected to come up with.
Fear not! She will not be president with or without migraines; menopausal or not. The media is destroying her and since the Daily Beast has been brought up her husband is being destroyed as well.
“Be astonished at the media driving this into the ground!
Is Commonweal part of “the media”? Is this thread about “this”?
Many more stories about the poor woman’s migraines:
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=migraine&oq=migra
Brian Ross got in trouble for asking about the poor woman’s migraines.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/20/996625/-Media-pounds-Bachmann-migraines,-campaign-defends-manhandling-reporter
Well, the Bachmanns probably should not have expected to be popular at the Daily Beast. Old Rubberbutt doesn’t like fats and fems, after all, and they’re one of each.
This thread is about the power of the media to bring down people. As I said above, I’m no fan of Bachman or her politics, but there is no need for this level of scrutiny and/or attack at this point in the pre-campaign.
Disagree. There’s no time like the present.
Should a person with a debilitating condition that can be triggered by flashing lights and loud noise and weird smells be President of the United States?
Minimizing migraines by comparing them to hangnails is . . . whatever.
She is ignorant of American history. Should that fact be suppressed, too?
The media certainly has a lot of choots-puh for sweating Bachman on this.
This thread is about the power of the media to bring down people.
Margaret,
Over on First Things a few days ago, the media was going to bring her down over her former church’s belief that the pope (or papacy) is the anti-Christ. That’s old news, and today they are bringing her down because she has migraines. In a few days, nobody will remember that. I find that in your kind of complaint, it is not the media, it is the “liberal mainstream media.”
The reason Michele Bachmann will not be the nominee is not that she went to a church that believed the papacy is the anti-Christ and it won’t be because she takes medication for severe migraines. It will be because she’s too far right to have a chance at beating Obama, and she won’t get the nomination.
I’m not a fan of Bachmann, but I’ve been impressed by her handling of the media crucible that she is currently enduring. As Joe Scarborough correctly said the other morning, it is hard to imagine any other female candidate going through the kinds of rigors she is being put through, with the exception of Palin whom I think she is schooling in how to handle the pressure.
The fact that she is coming from a cultural background that is as familiar to most readers of the NY Times (and many Commonweal readers, as well) as Mars doesn’t help engender understanding.
And again, before I get crucified, I am not a Bachmann fan.
Politico which is linked to the story may be mainstream, but liberal? Don’t think so. In any case, if the liberal mainstream is pumping this stuff out, they should repent.
I have worked through many migraines, and felt this was a non-story. I took Bachmann at her word, that it has not impeded her ability to do her job.
That may be, but something is impeding it. She has the 11th worst voting attendance record in Congress. In my view, that’s a legitimate story. The fact that she has migraines oughtn’t to be up for discussion.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/47135/bachmann-has-houses-eleventh-worst-record-for-missed-votes
Yes, poor Michelle and Sarah. Big bad media asking all those intrusive questions about whether they are fit to, well, be president of the United States. How dare they!
There can certainly be sexism at work, and the original story’s slant seemed to point that way. So we have to be careful. But it’s certainly a legit story if she is “incapacitated” by these migraines, or otherwise laid low. These are the kind of stories that should be done, and for women to use special pleading because of gender to escape such scrutiny seems out of bounds. It’s a story, it’s an issue, she responds, and it’s done. The media presses male candidates for their medical history, and the size of their prostates, thank goodness.
The idea that the media is targeting Bachmann or “bringing her down” is, well, hysterical. The media is the media, at least in the U.S. (Uncle Rupert can’t quite make or break as he used to in the UK). They don’t care if you are male or female, neither or both. Besides, contra all the conspiracy theories, you have liberal outlets like HuffPo defending Bachmann and decrying this as sexism:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-schocker/michele-bachmann-migrane_b_904141.html
And the original story was from Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller, not exactly a liberal bastion:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/18/stress-related-condition-incapacitates-bachmann-heavy-pill-use-alleged/
I wonder if Tucker can’t stomach the thought of a woman as president, like most conservatives. But wait, conservatives love Palin. And Bachmann. And hate Hillary. But liberals voted for Obama over Hillary. Dang, the conspiracies get so complicated to follow! Help me!
BTW, Alex Pareene at Salon has a good critique of the original story I think:
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/07/19/tucker_bachmann/
Sorry, but to complain of the media attempting to bring down Bachmann is to forget the easy ride the media gave Sarah Palin — who but for the economic crisis would now be a heartbeat from the Presidency. The last think the world wants is a religious nut throwing her weight about. Obama has been such a disappointing leader that Republicans have a good chance of recapturing the office. But why do they keep proposing one freak after another?
All lib apologizers get back in your cages. Seems that the migraine story has been traced to Pawlenty and Carl Rove. “lamesteam libs off the hook’
David (7/20 10:14 pm):
With pleasure. Here, let me take that last cup of coffee out of your hands. Easy, now. Don’t spill it – it’s still hot. Caffeine withdrawal really isn’t bad, and you’ll sleep much better.
I think that what is being missed by a lot of posters but is alluded to in the article in the Huff Post by David is that there is a silent message that is communicated by way of foregrounding the migraine issue.
It is a form of gendering and gender politics. It is a fact that women are more often diagnosed with anxiety and stress disorders than men. There is a raft of feminist critique of psychiatry on this very point. They are also more frequently prescribed anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication. Whatever the medical reality, migraines are perceived as affecting women who tend to be “over-achieving, over-sensitive, petite” women as the Huff Post article notes.
The problem is that it reinforces subtle stereotypes of women as over-emotional, unstable, histrionic and hysterical.
The migraine issue is an issue not because it affects her performance. The Huff Post article mentions there was a story where Justice Roberts may have had to take seizure medication for mild epilepsy which is in the same medical family apparently as migraines. The coverage was calmer and serene. The reason it is raised is to play on gender politics in a negative way albeit very subtly.
Whatever the source, Pawlenty or Rove or media. It is dirty politics. Margaret is right. Don’t bite!
There are better ways to voice disagreement.
George D,
The requirements for president and chief justice are entirely different. Severe migraines could be a serious problem for a president but merely an inconvenience for a chief justice.
The health of a presidential candidate is legitimate for the media to report on. If the pressure of a campaign is too much for a candidate, he or she is not fit to be president. Bachmann chose to throw her hat in the ring knowing full well that she would be under intense scrutiny. There is no reason for the press to back off. She is not being persecuted.
Remember Terry Eagleton.
Ok David. It appears that it has been asked and answered. Think that will settle it? Not a chance!!!
It is going to be truther and birther redux. No answer will suffice because the information is somewhat complicated and the entire issue exposes and supports some kind of subliminal doubts. In Obama’s case it was that he is not really one of us and everything that implies and of course that means race.
Ditto with this issue.
All I am saying is that there is a picture behind the picture.
George D, you compare the birther issue — an obsession of loonies — with a reasonable question about a concrete physical health condition. There may be all sorts of prejudice to be read into those who push the latter question (I for one am very prejudiced against Bachmann on other grounds). But the question itself is not a crazy myth.
The answer to the spurious birther question was not sort of complicated: the President was born in Hawaii. The answer to the migraine question need not be complicated either. She does/does not suffer from chronically recurrent migraine. It would/would not seriously impede her functioning as President.
“a certain roid-addicted rubber-butt blogger” “Old Rubberbutt”
Felapton: you were called out at Bilgrimage more than once for your choice of terminology. I’m requesting that you raise the tone of your comments or migrate elsewhere. I’m not the site controller and do not have control of the “delete” button, but I sure as heck do not appreciate the tone that you have brought here once William was able to ID your IP address and you decided to go elsewhere.
Honest commentary is appreciated. Gutter language is not. A word to the wise should be sufficient.
The supreme court is a co-equal branch of government. The chief justice needs to be able to function effectively in terms of his or her analytical and decision making skills.
As the Huff post reporter notes, when this was raised the response was that medication is totally effective and he can function effectively. No biggie, next….
Migraines overwhelmingly effect females (approx 75% in some studies). They are in the same medical family as seizures which affected John Roberts.
Not the difference in response from the reporters and even medical professionals who commented on the case.
So when we are discussing migraines as a medical condition, stress, diet, exposure to stimuli all has an affect – not unlike seizures. Yet the connotation is totally different when applied to women and men. Again, as the reporter wrote comparing treatment of Roberts and Bachman. She is bang on!
So yes it is a legitimate medical issue. But there are also political (and I mean political in the broader gender difference sense not partisan sense) echoes to the interpretation of that medical disorder.
I just think it is tough for women politicans in the USA. Hillary was clearly way more experienced, smarter, and a much harder worker than Obama but she did not get the nomination.
Bachman is by all accounts strong but now they are using “headaches”. Could there be any more quintessential female stereotype.
With Palin, she was sexualized. Tina Feye’s impersonation exaggerated her sexuality (winks, movement to the side, shoulder lowered, etc.)
I agree that Felapton’s attitude to Andrew Sullivan is objectionable. Signorile is the scurrilous bully here; see http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/06/02/sullivan/index.html.
Could there be any more quintessential female stereotype?
How silly.
When people criticized Clinton as a philanderer, did Clinton’s defenders ever use such a defense? Did they ask, ‘could there be any more quintessential male stereotype?’
Tina Faye’s Palin was brilliant and served to undo her candidacy.
Palin’s femininity was an asset of that candidacy and was supposed to galvanize McCain’s.
Tina did not feed on the femininity but on the asininity of Palin.
Actually the real Palin is more of a caricature of herself, including of her femininity, than Tina Faye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTySAvtLvFU
Some men do get so hysterical when they find themselves the target of the kind of crap they spew at women. Rubberbutt should take Sarah Palin for his role model, She didn’t whine when he tried to make a national election about when and where whose water broke and how fast whose cervix dilated when her child was born.
FWIW, I like Bachmann, but I think Romney is a much better candidate. I like his versatility: he can win, and he’ll do a good job once he’s won. Bachmann should be his Secretary of something-or-other, then run for Governor of Minnesota.
I concede that Romney can seem a little bit odd, but he’s extremely competent.
Felapton,
There’s something creepy about your determined effort to be crude and offensive. It’s a kind of indecent exposure of your psyche.
“roid-addicted rubber-butt”
Is this accepting homosexuality “with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”?, or is this in fact how homosexuals are treated by the RCC. My experience says the latter, despite the catechism
“Rubberbutt should take Sarah Palin for his role model.”
One begins to remember Nancy Danielson fondly. Whatever happened to her?
Language issues here?? Below my pay grade. Control yourselves whomever you be.
I do think that migraines, if debilitating, are very relevant in a president who has a finger on a nuclear arsenal, but I fail to see how it is more important than asking her which 40% of the budget she would cut. No one is asking her that, and that is the issue that is facing your nation right now.
She has replied to the migraine issue, she has not replied to the budget issue……….maybe because no one has asked her the question.
“I do think that migraines, if debilitating, are very relevant in a president who has a finger on a nuclear arsenal.”
Yeah, well, is there really ANYbody whose finger we want on a nuclear arsenal?
Sorry, I’m no Bachmann supporter–hell, I think there should be MORE government–but I can see where men might be overly concerned about it, particularly since more women have migraines than men and they can be related to hormones, something many men alternately fear and make fun of.
Anyway, I think this is a non-story, which I’ve now said three times, so it’s time for me to get offa here.
One begins to remember Nancy Danielson fondly. Whatever happened to her?
Jean,
Oh, she writes exactly the same messages on Mirror of Justice and occasionally First Things that she used to write here. I think it was made crystal clear to her that she was not welcome here. Possibly she was formally banned. I believe Margaret Steinfels herself used to delete Nancy’s messages. Nancy was (in my view) extraordinarily irritating, but she was never deliberately offensive, and while her views on homosexuality were quite peculiar, she never engaged in crude anti-homosexual slurs the way Felapton is doing regarding Andrew Sullivan.
but I can see where men might be overly concerned about it, particularly since more women have migraines than men and they can be related to hormones, something many men alternately fear and make fun of.
Jean,
With all due respect, at the end of the day (just to remind you of Nancy), I don’t think there is significant sexism involved in discussing Bachmann’s migraines. We know for a fact she suffers from them, and we know for a fact that they have kept her from fulfilling obligations, although rarely. This is not like saying women shouldn’t be president because of their hormones. Men do have migraines, too, although with considerably less frequency than women, and I am reasonably confident that if we found out a male candidate seeking the presidency had migraines so severe that he had on some occasions gone to the emergency room, I think it would be an issue. In fact, I think it might be more of an issue, since I think some might scoff at the idea of a future commander-in-chief going to the ER because of a headache. (I can’t figure out how to work in a reference to the Declaration of Independence and the Founding Fathers.)
EEEEEEE!
I didn’t say I thought that the fooferaw over Bachmann’s headaches were primarily sexist (though men do fear women and their unpredictable hormones, because, gosh, most serial killers and other unstable individuals who engage in criminal behavior are women who can’t control themselves. Oh, wait …).
I DID say that it may be why SOME men are making more of this.
I also said that the reason for Bachmann’s poor voting attendance record, not how she manages her migraines, should be the issue.
I’m very late to this, but it struck me that the question here would be enlightened if we had a responsible medical statement about the effects of migraines.
I ‘ve alread ysaid I think Bachman and her followers are nut jobs, forget the migraine isue or the putative sexism issue.
I alosthink Felapton, whoever that is, is both given to easy simplification and occasional offensiveness and shoulsd listen to what folks here are saying.
Jean,
I said I didn’t think there was significant sexism involved, by which I meant there might be an element of sexism, but it wasn’t the dominant factor.
My sexists joke: The red phone rings at 3:00 a.m., and President Bachmann mutters, “Not tonight. I have a headache.”( © 2011 by David Nickol. Willing to sell to any opposing candidate for $1 million.)
I think we all expect, and hope, that when full equality is achieved, there will be equal numbers of male and female serial killers. I think the liberal mainstream media have a deleterious effect on female crime by showing—on news broadcasts, in movies, and in television series—violent crime to be largely the province of men. To remedy this, I urge that women be equally represented in all media depictions of violent crime.
Can’t believe I’m about to write these words, but I think Michael Sean Winters nails it:
“There is some sexism at work in this, playing to a stereotype that is palpably false. It works against Bachmann only because she is so little known. Can you imagine anyone being disturbed to find out that Hillary Clinton had migraines? Of course not.
Historically, some of our greatest presidents have suffered from serious medical conditions. FDR was a great president, and he was also confined to a wheelchair. JFK was on so many pain-killers it is remarkable he was able to get through the day, but he did alright in the Oval Office.”
http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/give-bachmann-break
I think I’d agree with the sensus fidelium here — some sexism, to be sure, but a legit issue, hardly disqualifying. And not exactly a vast right/leftwong conspiracy. Indeed, how she responds will either deflate this kind of story or affirm the stereotypes.
But the sexism issue is the most neuralgic and enduring and legit and interesting, I think. To really sets things off, is it fair to talk about how Bachmann and Palin (in particular) use their good looks to leverage their candidacy? Palin protests, but carefully poses fetchingly for magazine covers. Evangelicals love the Queen Esther meme of beauty as a tool.
And good looks are central to success in public life, for men and women. Obama looks great, and so does Romney. That helps them, whether we like it or acknowledge it or not.
Historically, some of our greatest presidents have suffered from serious medical conditions.
Yes, but historically, presidents with serious medical conditions have gone to great lengths to keep the public from knowing about them. Lincoln apparently had terrible bouts of depression, but the idea of a clinically depressed president in the White House today is extremely disturbing. The idea that some presidents did their jobs well with serious medical conditions may help voters put a candidate’s health issues into perspective, but I hope no one is foolish enough to say, “A depressed president? No problem! Look how great Lincoln was.”
A slight distinction: Sarah Palin was actually the vice-presidential candidate, the nominee of the Republican Party. Michele Bachman is a wannabe who won’t be (or so I think). Palin, of course, was hardly vetted by John McCain, so the vetting went on during the campaign. That ended in showing McCain’s poor judgment in selecting her, her poor judgment in accepting, and the Republican Party’s poor judgment in going along with McCain.
Bachman’s political and policy positions are fair game as several have pointed out, especially perhaps in these early days.
For example Anderson Cooper: “The issue at hand is that Bachmann was a beneficiary of a family farm that received funding from federal corn, dairy, and livestock subsidies – all while railing against federal intervention in the free market. Bachmann was a partner in Bachman Farm Family, LP, and did receive income from the farm owned by her father-in-law and later by others.”
Read more: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/matt-hadro/2011/06/29/anderson-cooper-again-hits-bachmann-over-farm-subsidies-lead-segment-cnn#ixzz1SlTclHxX
“Bachman’s political and policy positions are fair game as several have pointed out, especially perhaps in these early days.”
—-
Everything about her is fair game, imho.
(And these days are not really that early. The candidates are out and about. How long should we wait before noting their flaws, their medical histories, their appearance, their spouses, their religion, their education, etc., etc.?)
“Everything about her is fair game, imho.”
So I suppose that it was legitimate, in your humble opinion, for people to tear into Obama’s alleged radical ties with Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Saul Alinsky, etc. etc.?
Palin is going to be a granny for the SECOND time, by the way, so that may alter the gender dynamic, no?
http://gawker.com/5823062/sarah-palin-is-going-to-be-a-grandmother-again
Hi, Jeff.
Yes, of course. They had a right to tear into all of that. I wasn’t happy with Obama’s tossing of Wright under the speeding bus.
If I were African-American, I would probably be an adherent of Wright’s religion. I could certainly understand why Barack and Michelle attended his church.
That period of the campaign got me interested in Cornel West and his strange oeuvre.
And “ties with Saul Alinsky” are good, imho. (I don’t like Ayers, but that wasn’t enough to prevent a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat from voting the right way.)
When a person runs for office, s/he’s got to expect the media to do their job.
Bob (7/21/2011 – 11:19 am):
Nah, this isn’t a medical controversy.
More chitchat on this at NYT — http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/opinion/22warner.html
Interesting op-ed piece in the great NYTimes this morning:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/opinion/22warner.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
“During all my years of migraines, I’ve talked to many other women with the condition, and found that the ways in which we deal with it reflect deep truths about ourselves.”
Chief Justice Roberts had a seizure in 1993 and he temporarily limited his activities, e.g., driving. At his confirmation meeting in 2005, this was not considered significant enough to bring up (probably due to the fact that it had been 12 years since the event). Then, two years later in 2007, he had a seizure while on vacation (presumably not a stress-induced incident) and as a result, fell more that 5 feet on the dock near his home, causing minor injuries. He has the best of health care I am sure and is taking some kind of anti-seizure medication.
However, if it is true that Michele Bachmann was admitted to an urgent care facility three times in six months, I think it is appropriate to put this issue on the table as she runs for the presidency.
This is not being sexist.
A comment at the NYT:
104. Master Mariner
Hilton Head Island
July 22nd, 2011
11:46 am
I worked for a man who would turn over the running of the business to me, on those terrible days when he suffered from a migraine.
He never; however, suffered from thinking that men and dinosaurs co-existed.
“I’m very late to this, but it struck me that the question here would be enlightened if we had a responsible medical statement about the effects of migraines.”
I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on TV. I have had infrequent bouts with mild migraine. My mother and her siblings suffered from them from the time they were children.
1. Migraines are not mental illnesses any more than epilepsy or tremors are. Those with migraine may also have depression. Those with the flu may also have depression. There is no clear cause/effect. Those with migraines seem to have a slightly elevated incidence of stroke. Again, there is no proved cause/effect.
2. Migraine varies among individuals in duration, intensity, and frequency.
3. Migraine presents in many ways. It may be a very bad headache. It may cause nausea and vomiting. It may cause neurological symptoms like tingling and slurry speech. It may come with extreme senstivity to light, sound, or smells. Often there is a 24-hour “migraine hangover,” during which one feels somewhat loggy.
4. Stress is only one, and not always the most frequent, trigger. Where stress is a factor, the migraine usually comes on AFTER the stressful event. Common triggers include Caffeine, chocolate, hormonal fluctuations, flashing lights, too much sunlight, perfumes and other cosmetics.
5. Migraines can be aborted with meds in some people, especially if they get the precursive aura.
6. Treatment for migraine symptoms may be as simple as Tylenol (that takes the edge off for me), stronger meds, dark glasses, etc.
7. Migraines can be debilitating for some people who get them in clusters. However, moderate to mild occurrence is easily managed. I have missed many work days staying home with a sick kid. In 41 years of working, I have missed a total of one day due to migraine.
Severe migraines can incapacitate people for days and leave them with difficulty thinking or speaking clearly for days after that.
There are some conditions a President shouldn’t have, IMHO. McCain’s apparently untreated PTSD made him a poor candidate in my eyes because a President should not be acting out of PTSD; his recurrent melanoma was also a problem, as was Tsongas’s lymphoma. Severe migraine (the kind that sends you to urgent care and makes you miss work) is a disqualifier to me–and it would be if I liked the candidate. This is a job in which no one can cover for you.