Does Newsweek Hate Michele Bachmann?

Are pigs flying? Have the fiery straights of the underworld frozen over? There are fewer scenarios to explain why the National Organization for Women, one of the nation’s premier feminist and abortion-rights groups, have come out in defense — yes, in defense — of Michele Bachmann, one of their archenemies, against Newsweek for their ridiculous and offensive cover photo.

The liberal magazine has an unflattering picture of the GOP presidential candidate on its cover this week, turning an otherwise attractive conservative woman into someone who looks crazy, with the headline “Queen of Rage.”

There is nothing the left fears more than a conservative, pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun woman. Throw in the fact that she’s intelligent and attractive, and sorry excuses for men, like Bill Maher, will be hurling vulgarities at her in no time.

Almost unbelievably, months ago, when Maher went on a rampage against Sarah Palin, four days after the show aired, NOW said “Sorry, but we can’t defend Palin or even Hillary Clinton from every sexist insult hurled at them in the media.” Further, the organization endorsed California Democrat gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown over Meg Whitman in 2010, even after he called her a “whore.”

The mud-slinging fest against these women has obviously reached a tipping point if NOW has finally gotten in the game and joined Concerned Women for America to come to the defense of even their enemies.

The Newsweek cover is despicable on many levels, and we are very happy NOW has spoken out and that they understand the need for women to stand up to injustice against other women regardless of political or ideological beliefs. Quite fittingly, the president of NOW, Terry O’Neill, said that the magazine is “basically casting [Bachmann] as a nut job. … The ‘Queen of Rage’ is something you apply to wrestlers or somebody who is crazy. They didn’t even do this to Howard Dean when he had his famous scream.”

Imagine those magazine covers of Howard Dean. Can’t seem to picture it? Probably because the mainstream media would never do something as crazy as that. No, they would rather put a smiling Michelle Obama on the cover of Newsweek with the headline, “Feed Your Children Well,” or a contemplative profile of Hillary Clinton titled, “Hear Her Roar.”

But they had no problem using an unflattering photo of Michele Bachmann and titling it “Queen of Rage” in a sorry attempt to sell the magazine. Bachmann has an appropriate amount of ire given our country’s situation. Why can’t she give a fiery speech without being called “crazy” or the “Queen of Rage”? Former Colorado Congresswoman Pat Schroder gave tough speeches in her day and never endured this kind of ridicule by the media.

So even though NOW took a long time to come to the defense of conservative women who have been taking an unfair and unjust beating in the media, we are certainly happy they spoke out. As their president said, “The main reason why we would stand up for Michele Bachmann and defend her against these kind of misogynistic attacks is we want women to run for office.”

We certainly want more conservative, pro-life, pro-family, fiscally responsible, intelligent women to consider running for office. Women like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, or even Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers have proven to be resilient and thick-skinned, but there is no reason why they should be forced to endure sexist and degrading attacks from the mainstream media.
Penny Young Nance is CEO and president of Concerned Women for America.