On Friday's edition of Countdown
(now on Current TV) host Keith Olbermann called presidential hopeful
and Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann's husband, Marcus, “Dr.
Ignorance” for his anti-gay views.
The segment is the latest in a string
discussing Marcus Bachmann's 2010 remarks on a Christian radio
call-in show.
“We have to understand: barbarians
[gay people] need to be educated,” he said during an appearance on
the Point of View radio talk show. “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.”
As Olbermann and guest Ken Vogel, chief
investigative reporter for POLITICO.com, discussed the subject,
Countdown displayed a “Dr. Ignorance” graphic of Marcus
Bachmann, who runs a government-subsidized Christian counseling
clinic that, among other things, attempts to turn gay people
straight.
When asked how Christian conservatives
like Michele Bachmann and Texas Governor Rick Perry hope to win the
GOP nomination by courting the religious right, Vogel said both
appear focused on winning early primary states such as Iowa and New
Hampshire, which tend to favor social conservatives.
“They both are kind of walking this
tricky path right now, where Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann have
positioned themselves as sort of Tea Party champions, but they also
have very strong roots in the social religious conservative movement.
And Tea Partiers, if you talk to them, they're not so keen on these
social issues and these religious issues playing a big part in their
movement. In fact, some of them really are averse to it and some of
this more overt religious identification – like what you're seeing
from Perry at this prayer event in Texas next month – that's stuff
that Tea Partiers are a little bit uncomfortable with, because it
does come close to that line between church and state.” (The video
is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Earlier, Marcus
Bachmann's comments prompted singer Cher to suggest he's gay.