U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann says she fears the Obama Administration will set up "re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically-correct forums."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/0 ... 83546.html

This has the makings of an all-time great thread.

A good mod would pull all of the old posts about Bachmann and merge them into this thread...

And would split the torture discussion out of the flyover thread too, while he was at it.

anyone see this?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix ... v=rss_blog

Bachmann Goes Boom!

Five days ago, Minnesota Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann seemed headed to a relatively pedestrian reelection win in her suburban Twin Cities district.

Then this happened:



Those comments, made to Chris Matthews on "Hardball" last Friday, alleging that Barack Obama held "anti-American" views immediately lit up the blogosphere, energized the campaign of former Blaine Mayor Elwyn Tinklenberg (great name!) and turned Bachmann's race from an afterthought into one of the most high profile House races in the country.

Tinklenberg has raised more than $800,000 in the aftermath of Bachmann's comments and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee communications director Jen Crider has called this a "$1 million mistake" on the part of the Republican incumbent.

The DCCC, sensing opportunity, began airing an ad hitting Bachmann on her opposition to government regulation of the financial industry -- the leading edge of a seven-figure television buy that runs through election day.

And, the Cook Political Report -- one of the most highly respected handicappers of Congressional races and The Fix alma mater -- moved the race (subscription required) from likely Republican to toss up yesterday.

Of the race, Cook House editor David Wasserman wrote: "Bachmann's comments likely changed the complexion of her reelection race overnight and helped to turn the race into even more of a referendum on her."

Even though Bachmann's 6th district is comfortably Republican -- President George W. Bush carried it with 57 percent of the vote in 2004 -- its GOP roots may not be enough to save her from the tsunami she has created and, inexplicably, furthered with an op-ed piece in the Politico seeking to talk her way out of the controversy.

(Side note: Why was Bachmann, who was in a targeted if not top-tier race, appearing on a national television show to talk about Obama less than three weeks before the election? Anyone? Bueller?)

Recent history is littered with politicians whose stories sound eerily similar to Bachmann's.

Take former New Jersey Republican Rep. Mike Pappas who decided back in the summer of 1998 that it would be a good idea to go to the House floor and deliver a jingle (set to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star") that honored independent counsel Kenneth Starr. The move drew national attention and propelled Democrat Rush Holt into Congress.

Or former Virginia Sen. George Allen who was already being discussed as a 2008 presidential candidate when, during the summer of 2006, he referred to a Democratic campaign worker as "macaca." Jim Webb, former Secretary of the Navy, was going nowhere before the "macaca" comment but found himself riding a national wave after it and today sits in the Senate.

Bachmann could well join that ignominious list in just 14 days time. Not only did she commit a major blunder but she also did it at the worst possible time and in one of the worst election cycles in recent memory. In past years, national Republicans might have been able to bail Bachmann out. But, the money just isn't there this time around. Bachmann is on her own -- a very lonely place to be.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009 ... effect.php

Behold...The Bachmann Effect!
By Eric Kleefeld - March 24, 2009, 6:13PM

When Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) talks, people listen -- even if they're not entirely sure what they're hearing.

I've now discovered at least three examples of a curious phenomenon: The Bachmann Effect. When Bachmann is out there talking about the issues in an adversarial setting, her opponents find themselves on a very unsure footing -- mainly because they're shocked and befuddled to hear what she's saying.

Check out these three examples, in reverse-chronological order:



The first was from today's Financial Services hearing, when she demanded an answer from Tim Geithner as to what the constitutional basis was for his actions in the bailout. The second is from a debate this past October with her Democratic opponent El Tinklenberg. And the third is from an appearance on Larry King Live during the Republican Convention, in a peculiar exchange with James Carville.

These three individuals don't know each other, and yet on three separate occasions you'll see the exact same facial expression each time.




So is the Bachmann Effect more of a , or more of a , or is it more like a ?

A good mod would pull all of the old posts about Bachmann and merge them into this thread...

This has the makings of an all-time great thread.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/historian-michele-bachmann-blames-fdrs-hoot-smalley-tariffs-for-great-depression.php

Historian Michele Bachmann Blames FDR's "Hoot-Smalley" Tariffs For Great Depression
By Eric Kleefeld - April 29, 2009, 11:08AM

Make no mistake: When it comes to economics, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) knows her history -- even if that history is from another planet.

On Monday night, our friends at Dump Bachmann reported, Bachmann took to the House floor and paid tribute to the economic policies of Calvin Coolidge and the "Roaring 20s" (the era that ended with a massive monetary contraction and the Great Depression). One particular line really does stand out, though -- saying Franklin Roosevelt turned a recession into a depression through the "Hoot-Smalley" tariffs:



Here's what really happened: When Franklin Roosevelt took office, unemployment was already about 25%. And the tariff referred to here was actually the Smoot-Hawley bill, co-authored by Republicans Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon, and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover.

Interestingly, this speech also happened on the same day as when Bachmann connected the 1970s swine flu outbreak to Democrat Jimmy Carter being president, even though it was actually Gerald Ford in office at the time.

Late Update: A shout-out to Liberal in the Land of Conservative for also noticing Bachmann's false attribution of the tariff bill to Roosevelt -- and also to Matt Yglesias for pointing to the metaphysical possibilities.

for clarity, is it your argument that bachmann is batshiat crazy for claiming that the tariff contributed to the economic downturn, or that she is batshiat crazy for laying blame for the bill at roosevelt's feet?

I'm sure I could never be so lucky as to have this woman's star continue to rise in the GOP...

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009 ... hp?ref=fp1

Bachmann Blasts Obama's "Economic Marxism," Calls For "Orderly Revolution" To Save Freedom
By Eric Kleefeld - March 27, 2009, 11:59AM

Wow. Just plain wow. This past Wednesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on Sean Hannity's radio show, and sharply reiterated her calls for revolution in America, warning against the imminent dangers of tyranny under Barack Obama:

"We are headed down the lane of economic Marxism," said Bachmann. "More quickly, Sean, than anyone could have possibly imagined. It's difficult for us to even keep up with it day to day."

And then came this:



"If Tim Geithner is successful under President Obama, and they move us to an international currency," Bachmann warned, "Then we have no hope of standing on our own as a sovereign nation with our own economic system. It's over. We can't do that."

Bachmann also declared: "Economics works equally in any country. Where freedom is tried, the people rejoice. But where tyranny is enforced upon the people, as Barack Obama is doing, the people suffer and mourn."

And there was this exchange:

I would...you know.