Michele Bachmann pledges to ban “all forms of pornography” if elected president
Michele Bachmann just became the first GOP presidential candidate to pledge to ban “all forms of pornography” if elected president in 2012.
Bachmann signed the promise yesterday in order to secure the endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa activist who is the CEO of The Family Leader. Vander Plaats is asking candidates who want his blessing to sign a 14-point document that targets homosexuality, Sharia law, and porn.
While much of the document is aimed at restricting gay rights, bullet No. 9 is pointed squarely at heterosexuals:
Humane protection of women and the innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy — our next generation of American children — from human trafficking, sexual slavery, seduction into promiscuity, and all forms of pornography and prostitution, infanticide, abortion and other types of stolen innocence.
That’s a lot to unpack! But you can bet that it involves closing strip clubs, adult book stores, adult advertising, X-rated movies, birth control pills, pre-marital sex, and probably heavy petting.
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued numerous rulings upholding that just about every kind of pornography imaginable is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, the very document that the Tea Party and its Queen hold so sacred.
We await Bachmann’s further utterance in the hope she’s more specific than “I know it when I see it.”
Full Story Here:
Michele Bachmann pledges to ban “all forms of pornography” if elected president
Admirable stance Ms. Bachmann, admirable indeed…
Here is where my little *L* libertarian comes out. What about the Constitution?
Are you going to shred the U.S. Constitution in the process? I believe that you must if you have any hope of banning *ALL* porn.
OK…Ban it, and tear the Constitution up in the process.
You want freedom Ms. Bachmann, Don’t you claim to be a true Constitutionalist? Sure you do. Well, pornography is one of those freedoms that *some* people want. The Constitution either covers ALL or it covers NOTHING, you can’t have it 2 or 3 different ways.
This post was inspired by a discussion on Facebook where several people that support Ms. Bachmann want to see pornography banned, highly regulated, not accessible to anyone under a certain age (agreed on that one) and want to have ALL internet pornography set up so as to make it a PAID service only, one that requires a credit card to access in any manner.
If you have to PAY for porn, is that an act of prostitution?
My personal response to these people was, “Internet porn?? Ban it from adults?? What culture do you belong to exactly??
Monitor your children, their activities, BE a parent. Block the crap from YOUR computer, but BAN IT is a mantra libbers use when THEY hate something.”
You know the old drill; if libbers hate guns they want ALL guns banned, if a Conservative hates guns, they just don’t BUY one. The same logic applies to pornography, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Set your computer controls in a way that makes adult content an inaccessible option. Assume some responsibility for your children too, be a PARENT, not a buddy. Set their computers to where they can’t access it either.
That will work for about as long as it takes for YOU to leave the room.
The most repressive culture the world has ever known, Islam, has tried to ban porn, to NO success.
My Son spent a year in Baghdad and he told me that the Iraqis had a thriving black market for what was called *Hadji Porn*. He said that for $2.00 U.S. you could get a 2 hour long DVD of Iraqi women and men engaged in various acts of sex and perversion, not always with other humans, but, we ALL know that sex with a goat IS acceptable in the Islamic culture.
BAN ALL PORN? Anyone that starts screaming BAN this and BAN that, well, what does that equate to, freedom for thee but not for me??
I don’t give a damn who sleeps with who or what they do in their sex lives as long as they don’t push it off on me and tell me that I must do it or at least approve of it, I do NOT.
Do your thing at YOUR house, don’t do it in public. Get your groove on YOUR way and do it with CONSENTING adults.
I don’t think ANY normal person would want a child to see porn or BE porn, but here we are talking about an entirely different set of circumstances. Children and sex are a Taboo in most societies, and our laws reflect that. But you know, sadly, it doesn’t stop those that want to do so from finding child pornography.
I am NOT trying to make anyone accept MY views of morality, but here is where I have to draw the line with people like Bachmann; if I want to view porn, where is it HER duty to say I can’t or that I should pay for it??
During this same conversation on Facebook a person said this to a friend that was taking part, “I notice that you jump on things like this when it pertains to a candidate that you do not like, I just hope that you would sing the song had this been Rick Perry, and not Bachmann.”
My answer? “Yes, I would take issue with Perry if he were to try to limit MY choices in life.”
It’s not so much about it being Bachmann, it’s about the thought that folks LIKE her are always full tilt TALIBAN where morals are concerned. Bachmann, and many like her, want to dictate MY morality, and yours, and that is NOT acceptable.
Many shout IMMORAL or OBSCENE! Obscene is a matter of personal taste. To some the Renaissance nudes are obscene. It’s ALL about perception.
So, who determines what is immoral? Bachmann? Because she *knows it when she sees it*? Usually those who are shouting “Immorality” the loudest have the morals of a stick of gum.
I don’t want nor need Michele Bachmann, or her ilk, telling ME what I can or can’t see. I do NOT need to be a victim of *The Morality Police*, and their pandering to those on the religious right. That is obviously taking place here.
Remember, Bachmann and her husband can *Pray the Gay Away* for you. Yeah, sure they can.
I say again, if you don’t want to see it, don’t watch it. As long as it doesn’t involve underage kids, I have no problem with what ANY adult, or group of CONSENTING adults do in their PRIVATE lives, and if they choose to share those activities via the internet, and if other adults, CONSENTING adults, want to view those activities, so be it.
Further reading:
Pornography and the First Amendment
Constitutional Law: Supreme Court Obscenity Cases
Prosecuting Pornography
Her position is unacceptable for exactly the reason you cited.
The First Amendment protects nearly all speech, and particularly unpopular speech.
The way to control pornography is through societal and cultural stigma, not through laws, except when porno actually is involved in breaking a law, such as child pornography, which is a crime against a child.
This knocks her out completely for not knowing what is in our Constitution.
I did not know she was that dumb…or was it “female emotion” ??
I knew she was that dumb as soon as she opened her mouth about vaccinations causing mental retardation.
Ban all pornography?
Well…then…uh…what purpose will the internet serve?
I would have been disappointed if you had said anything otherwise… LMAO
*ROARS LAUGHING!*
And that friends, is why I say; BLUTO for President!
Someone said today on FB that Glenn Beck has endorsed her. Porn is an entangling sin. No doubt about that. But not every sin is a crime.
Further, it should be noted that this is another example of conservatives not knowing or understanding the separation of powers. Even if Bachmann were elected president (something I consider about as likely as a meteor hitting the white house), she does not have the constitutional authority to ban anything, including child porn or any other kind of porn to which she may object personally. Further, if Congress may not do as it violates the first amendment and if she may not do it as it violates the separation of powers I conclude it is not a federal issue at all.
So, unless she intends to “bypass Congress” with EOs like King Barry the First, there is zero chance of this ever happening.
Keep your powder dry
If presidents had the power to ban pornography, it would have been done. If they had that kind of power, they could have banned a lot of other things too. It took a Constitutional Amendment to ban alcohol. When you look at banning something like this, there’s a couple little things called Congress and SCOTUS that might want to have a say in this.
I agree with you 101% Fred. In my counseling practice I deal all the time with the harm that porn causes. Having said that, the use of porn is a personal choice that sometimes, and sometimes all too often, has really bad consequences for the individual and the family.
Well said Amigo, and Bachmann really ought to know better. If you can ban porn with enough “conservative values” votes, will it be far behind when you ban conservative speech with enough “liberal” votes?
Rick Perry signs controversial Family Leader pledge
Well, lets see who jumps all over this one… Perry signed the exact same *pledge* that Bachmann signed… Perry has pledged to ban ALL forms of pornography…
Apparently Rick Perry has no concept of the Constitution either… And yeah, I WILL blast Perry just as fast I did Bachmann…
I really wish these guys wouldn’t sign these pledges. They’re to govern and lead and they may have to go against what they signed for the good of the nation. The only pledge I sign is my Oath of Enlistment.
Porn will be eliminated only when they stitch up all the vaginas and cut off all the penis’s.
And that will only happen when Hell freezes over.
So, all of mankind will always be afflicted by and with these ills or pleasures.
So, live with it and to each his own.
I’m not a big fan of “porn” and I have to admit I didn’t read all the way through the article, so it may well have been addressed there, but…
WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO DECIDE WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN’T PORN? Other than the obvious, illegal forms of porn (child, animal, blah, blah, blah, blah) WHOSE job is it to define what I think of as porn? Or anyone else for that matter? Isn’t that an INDIVIDUAL decision?
I think I’m quite capable of making my OWN decision regarding this and any other issue, regarding my own morality. If I don’t like something, I just switch channels, change books, don’t bother with it or whatever.
Damned idiots.
Since banning alcohol worked out so well, why not?
Have ya had enough government yet?
Yep…
This would be yet another ban on inalienable rights. Any ban on one right is a ban, or at least a weakening of all other rights. Gads but that woman is stupid.
Ban porn? Oh pleeeeease, give me a break. Let’s ban Bachmann first.
As you wrote: “Do your thing at YOUR house, don’t do it in public. Get your groove on YOUR way and do it with CONSENTING adults.” And that is where MY Libertarian bent comes into play as well. It’s either FULLY one way or the other. You don’t get to pick and choose like a Chinese menu.
Let’s just pass a law. Right. I am SO tired of the bleat on BOTH sides of the aisle: “pass more laws, pass more laws!”
How about THIS unique slant: let’s just enforce what’s already on the books — with just a FEW updates.
How about these, Ms Bachmann:
1. Congress mandatorily adheres to EVERY law it passes for everyone else. No exceptions, no exclusions.
2. Balanced budget amendment: mandatory.
3. Truth in bills: only ONE topic per bill. NO RIDERS.
4. TORT REFORM to include LOSER PAYS.
5. Money intended for a specific area can NEVER be co-mingled into any kind of “general fund.” Targeted money can be used for that purpose or topic ONLY.
6. Congressmen and women, upon retirement, acquire a pension commensurate with the median household income of the year retirement occurs. For example, the median US income for 2010 is $49,000.
7. Lobbyists are completely eliminated.
8. Cap on all campaigns: $1 million. Period.
9. Cap on all donations: $100 maximum from persons or corporations.
When I think of more, I’ll write them. These are off the top of my chrome dome.
Hey Bachmann: how about we pay attention to the ECONOMY FIRST and the petty bullshit can wait.
BZ
BINGO!
“I will make government as inconsequential in your lives as I can……. after I ban porn, and anything else I can think of.” Rick Perry
It is obvious that Ms Bachmann hasn’t read the Constitution nor any history books. Does she remember prohibition? Is she aware of how much of a failure the Government’s war on drugs is? Has she never heard of book burnings? If she is willing to pander herself for the support of just one group she has just proven that she is willing to be bought and we really don’t need another leader who is controlled by the highest bidder.
Wow. Bachman has really trampled all over the Constitution with that statement.
Two words:
Define Pornography.
WOW!! I’m out of breath just reading these posts!
All are poignant and exactly correct.
I really don’t know what to say.
We are all in the same boat.
Our Politicians looking to stay in office must be e-mailed all of these comments.
All of these truths mentioned here must become part of our Republics answer.
Great Post !!!!!!!!!!!!!!