Politics & Government
Bachmann Beat: How Waterboarding Is Like Hiroshima
An aggregated daily roundup of news and commentary about U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.
Sixth-district congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann continued her strategy of portraying her opponents as ideologically impure Wednesday, accusing rival Republican Newt Gingrich of "shilling" for Freddie Mac.
She made the remark in Iowa after a report was released that Gingrich’s consulting firm received $1.6 million from the government-run mortgage corporation over the last decade.
"Whether former speaker Gingrich made $300,000, or whether he made $2 million, the point is he took money to also influence senior Republicans to be favorable toward Fannie and Freddie," she said. "I want them ended. I wasn't shilling for them, I was fighting them."
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In a meeting with the Des Moines Register’s editorial board, Bachmann expanded her attacks on President Obama, repeating her and saying he is putting the country’s politics ahead of its security.
“He’s not listening to General (John R.) Allen in Afghanistan. He’s not listening to General (Lloyd) Austin in Iraq,” she said. “He’s listening to General Axelrod, and he’s essentially moved CentCom to Chicago.”
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Calling waterboarding “uncomfortable,” she compared the decision to waterboard detainees to Truman’s decision to use nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“It was a terrible decision that (President) Harry Truman had to make. He made it. And he said, ‘If I have to kill a thousand Japanese to save one American life, I will,’ ” she said. “If I had knowledge that we could use something like a waterboarding to be able to save the American people, would I use it? Yes, I would.”
After meeting with Obama officials about the St. Croix River Crossing project, she released a statement in support of a new bridge.
“First, I extend my appreciation to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for taking time today to have a conversation with me and my Congressional colleagues about the status of the St. Croix River Crossing Project. This discussion shows their commitment to solving this long-term, unresolved issue for residents in Minnesota and Wisconsin,” the statement read.
On Friday, Bachmann will cast her first House vote in more than a month in support of a balanced budget Constitutional amendment.