By Walter Brasch
It wasn’t unusual that Rush Limbaugh went ballistic on his show, Nov. 13. He does that several times a day.

It wasn’t unusual that he mixed a few facts with opinion and outright lies in his three-hour daily show. Fact checking for the man who calls himself “America’s Truth Detector” is as rare as union organizers working for Walmart.

What is unusual is that Rush Limbaugh, whose web site shows a picture of him carrying a large gold-fringed American flag on a six-foot staff, spoke out against the Constitution of the United States.

Because logic and reason avoids his black-clad bouncy body, he may not have even known he was attacking the history of the United States and its Constitution. But on this Friday the 13th, the forces of evil spewed forth from his unfettered microphone mouth.

The United States had announced it was removing five persons accused of plotting the 9/11 terror from Guantanamo Bay and putting them into the federal judiciary system. Attorney General Eric Holder, at a press conference in Washington, D.C., had announced, “After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September the 11th will finally face justice. . . . I am confident in the ability of our courts to provide these defendants a fair trial just as they have for over 200 years [before] an impartial jury under long established rules and procedures.” He announced that the Department of Justice would “prosecute these cases vigorously,” and would seek the death penalty in each case. President Obama had said earlier that day he was “absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheik Mohammad [the alleged mastermind behind 9/11, and the other defendants] will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people insist on it, my administration will insist on it.”

Limbaugh called the decision a “disgusting travesty perpetuated here by Barack Obama.” That was just the beginning of his rant. Over the next few minutes, Limbaugh said the decision to bring terrorists to trial was solely “to satisfy the rabid, radical, far left that hates this country; that hates George W. Bush; that hates the U.S. military.”

Limbaugh opposed the use of lawyers; several times he branded them as leftist and Marxist, disregarding the reality that membership in the American Bar Association skews to the right. Although he came from a family of lawyers, he disregarded Constitutional guarantees that require even the most heinous of criminals to be assured their rights, including the right to be represented by an attorney. While erroneously claiming that terrorists have no rights, Limbaugh also objected to providing the defendants “fairness,” because in what he called the “new America,” fairness is something created by “a bunch of radical leftists.” He claimed that the defendants didn’t even deserve lawyers because, in the world of Rush Fairytale Logic, the lawyers would use the courts to attack the United States.

He attacked the federal judiciary, claiming, “There are a bunch of radical leftists on our federal bench,” all of whom apparently, if you believed the Mouth That Roared, are governed by such mundane and useless rules like—well—the Constitution of the United States. What Limbaugh didn’t say, possibly because the facts didn’t agree with his own distorted version of reality, is that there are more conservative judges than liberal judges in the federal judiciary. About one-third of all federal judges were appointed by George W. Bush, with a majority of all judges appointed by Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes. Limbaugh, in his deliberate distortion of facts also didn’t point out that 62 percent of all appeals court judges were appointed by Republican presidents, and that conservatives are the majority on 10 of the 13 appeals courts. He also failed to point out that six of the nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents. The Republican-dominated federal courts have cut down several unconstitutional provisions of the PATRIOT Act; the Republican-dominated Supreme Court has twice rebuked the Bush–Cheney Administration for procedures that are blatantly unconstitutional. In one major decision, conservative Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, speaking for the majority, ruled, “Any process in which the Executive’s factual assertions go wholly unchallenged or are simply presumed correct without any opportunity for the alleged combatant to demonstrate otherwise falls constitutionally short . . . [T]he constitutional limitations safeguarding essential liberties . . . remain vibrant even in times of security concerns.”

Like most conservative radio hosts and their teabag party followers, Limbaugh several times had blasted the Department of Justice for even thinking about bringing the terrorists onto the mainland, claiming the men were so evil that they would endanger all Americans. Unsaid by the talking mouths and empty heads was that the Department of Justice successfully prosecuted numerous gangsters, serial killers, and terrorists, and then successfully imprisoned them without danger to civilians.

For emphasis about how he thought a trial for the 9/11 terrorists would be unfair, Limbaugh threw veiled anti-Semitic attacks upon a possible jury pool. “Before it’s all said and done you’re going to find some whack nut jobs on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that are going to be on this jury,” said Limbaugh. The Upper West Side is largely identified as a community that was settled by refugee Jews, and which still has a significant percent of Jews.

Several times, Limbaugh stated that since the defendants had already “confessed,” the need for a trial was not necessary, and would only embarrass the U.S., placating those “leftists,” and exposing the entirety of the American intelligence community. This, said Limbaugh, is the “hidden agenda” of the Obama Administration. “They want the United States on trial,” Limbaugh cried out. Disregarding the absurdity of his own remarks, Limbaugh never acknowledged that the “confessions” were made only after severe torture. Bringing criminals, who have been subject to torture, to trial, who have confessed, said Limbaugh “is yet another internal assault on the fabric, the traditions, the institutions that have made this country great,” he told his equally rabid listeners.

Having attacked the President, the Attorney General, lawyers, judges, the Department of Justice, and Jews, Limbaugh put Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) into his cross-hairs. Sestak, said Limbaugh, is “a dangerous left-wing radical ideologue.” What drew Limbaugh’s rage was that Sestak not only supported the prosecution of the 9/11 terrorists in federal court, but that on Fox News, he argued that “Most studies have shown that [torture] does not give you evidence as readily or as credible as other means.” Persons who are tortured, said Sestak, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the terrorists’ “confessions,” will often confess to anything in order to stop the torture.

What Limbaugh didn’t tell his audience was that Sestak was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a retired vice-admiral who had led a carrier battle group, and was the first director of the Navy’s anti-terrorism unit after 9/11. Sestak’s views are the same as John McCain’s, also a Naval Academy graduate who had led an air squadron. Listeners could now choose between two war heroes, one of whom had suffered torture as a prisoner of war, and a college drop-out who, said his mother, flunked almost all of his classes in his only year in college, was declared 4-F in the draft, and now hails on 600 radio stations as the mouthpiece for the right-wing fringe.

“We are in the process of destroying American ideals; we are in the process of subordinating America’s greatness, America’s exceptionalism,” Rush Limbaugh wailed.

The reality is that flag-waving fact-impaired Rush Limbaugh has no idea what American ideals are, nor does he have respect for the legal history of the United States or the power of the Constitution.

[Walter M. Brasch, an award-winning former newspaper reporter and editor, is a syndicated social issues columnist, author, writer-producer, and professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University. His latest books are Sex and the Single Beer Can, a probing and humorous look at the nation's media; and Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush, with a focus upon the shredding of Constitutional protections. Both books are available at amazon.com, and other bookstores. You may contact Dr. Brasch through his website, www.walterbrasch.com.]

The only question today after the Republican Party successfully engineered the loss of the New York 23rd House seat for the first time in 100 years is how much destruction in the GOP will follow. Surely the blame for this debacle for the GOP needs to be laid at the feet of the crazies on the extreme right, the Palins and Limbaughs, as the New York Daily News notes. It must also be laid at the feet of Glenn Beck, to whom the extremist right wing candidate Doug Hoffman owes fealty. Shall we throw in the extremist Club for Growth, the organization calling for fiscal responsibility that nonetheless wasted over $1MM in supporting Hoffman’s candidacy? Sure, why not.

The expected happened before the polls even closed with the Hoffman camp blaming ACORN for the defeat, despite zero evidence. They even claimed the sabotage of a campaign worker’s car, and had no comment when later it was found by Plattsburgh police that the worker had run over a bottle and blown his own tires. Whiney excuses are located near the soul of the Republican Party, right near the hate gene. And let’s not quibble that Doug Hoffman was a member of the Conservative Party. The Assistant Chair of the GOP, Michael Steele, was not ambiguous in celebrating and backing Doug Hoffman’s candidacy.

As Chris Kelly of Real Time with Bill Maher notes, this was a stunning loss for the teabaggers, for the 9/12ers, for Limbaugh and Giuliani and Fred Thompson and a whole raft of right wing crazies.

Doug Hoffman lost his election last night. He was supported by a plurality of talk radio entertainers, and a majority of former half-term governors of Alaska, but it wasn’t enough. An obscure quirk of constitutional law says you also need votes from voters. This is the same cruel hurdle that tripped up three of his other biggest supporters, Gary Bauer, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani, all of whom ran for President of the United States, but failed the “getting votes” test, because everyone hates their guts.

With their help, and a million dollars from the Club for Growth, Doug Hoffman lost a part of New York State that had voted Republican since the best way to get from Albany to Buffalo was by canal.

Not bad for a first try.

Doug Hoffman didn’t just have money to burn and the staunch support of Facebooking frost bunnies, Fox News and the Ghosts of Vanity Campaigns Past. He also had coots on the ground; an army of volunteers from the tea bag movement, the 9/11 Project and the fanatic anti-choice fringe. The problem was, they could shout at the polling places as loud as they wanted, and they did, but they didn’t live there, so they weren’t allowed to vote.

There’s probably a lesson to that. Something about politics being local.

And beyond that, about the people who do live there resenting being told what to do.

Rush Limbaugh predicted that Hoffman would win. In fact, Hoffman’s victory was such a foregone conclusion yesterday that Rush had already moved on to mocking Democrats spinning their loss.

Oh, I will mourn the vote in Maine today, that good Americans have had their right to marry taken away. That will change for the good over time, though. I won’t mourn a bit for the governors in Virginia and New Jersey. Virginia reliably goes to the party other than that holding the White House and has for years. Big deal. And John Corzine was in real trouble in a state that’s in real trouble. Chris Christie will be a one-term Governor, though don’t be surprised if he tries to run for President in 2012, or is chosen as a GOP Veep nominee. The guy’s ego is as massive as his build.

The real question mourning here should be among sane Republicans. There was an insurrection in the NY 23rd, and because of that insurrection from the extremists on the GOP right, they lost. I don’t think for a minute that the Limbaughs and the Palins and the teabaggers will consider that they are done, though. Wait until Iowa in 2012 and watch the support for a GOP whackjob. Watch the moderates continue to flee what has become a party of extremists. It’ll be fun for those of us who are progressive, these next few years, but for my friends who are sane Republicans, this one is going to hurt for a long, long time.

Taegan Goddard is right, that one of the key turning points in the healthcare reform bill was Joe Wilson’s outburst, showing the nation as it did the GOP as a party of rudeness and “Just Say No.” He may end up responsible for better healthcare for many Americans, though it is still up in the air how many red states, where they need the public option most desperately, actually avoid providing care for their citizens. Is it poetic justice that this healthcare reform bill is likely to serve blue states far more comprehensively than it will red states, with its “opt out” provision? I’d wager it is not all that likely that even red states will opt out en masse, and the prevailing wisdom, at least, shows that Nevada will not opt out. But that’s a minor debate. This is really about the GOP actions of rudeness and ignorance that made healthcare reform possible.

It’s more than just Joe Wilson, though his rudeness in response to Barack Obama’s speech may have coalesced the Democrats wrangling over healthcare reform. (Perhaps the biggest example of hypocrisy is Joe Wilson’s wife coming down with Swine Flu.) But while Joe Wilson may be the poster child for the healthcare reform debate, so much so that I would rename the bill the “Joe Wilson ‘You Lie’ Healthcare Reform Bill,” the GOP should be worried that boorishness and ignorance and even racism is coming to define the GOP brand. It is debatable, after all, whether it was stupidity or racism that led to the posting of racist pictures on the newly revamped GOP web site. Neither conclusion is good for the GOP brand, however.

Examples of teh GOP stupid abound, from Sarah Palin and “death panels” to Michelle Bachman ranting about reeducation camps. These particular instances of whackjobbery get bounced around among the right wing talking heads, but the majority of Americans understand it for what it is — there’s some major stupid going on at the GOP. We’ve got the RNC Chair, Michael Steele, trying to lure African American voters with fried chicken and potato salad, while the real leader of the GOP, Rush Limbaugh, gets punked. Joe Wilson isn’t anything more than a small piece in a trend of rudeness, ignorance and racism, and the GOP, for its own good, needs to recognize that.

I have faith that the GOP will not do that. I guarantee when I post a link to this story on my facebook account I will get a nonsequitor comment that says something like, “Oh yeah, but what about Nancy Pelosi,” a sign that surely there will not be much needed Republican reform anytime soon. That pleases me no end.

This post also appears on Your Spin Zone, a place where you can write your own progressive opinions about politics, the arts, parenting, or most any topic. Please check it out. We’d love to have you there.

The world is upso down. FoxNews, in an editorial about the Obama Administration’s disdain for the network, and in as dramatic a style as they could muster, has compared itself to that left wing druggie journalist Hunter S. Thompson, while at the same time comparing the Obama White House to the Nixon White House. A comparison of FoxNews to a druggie? I can go with that, though Thompson certainly had a far higher ethical standard than FoxNews. Perhaps a more apt comparison would be to William Randolph Hearst. Anyway, there’s the end of the FoxNews editorial, where they basically suggest that Barack Obama go boozing with Roger Ailes.

Perhaps it is time for Gibbs and this administration to act like grown ups. Perhaps it is time for Gibbs and this administration to take a different page out of the 1972 campaign playbook. — After being thrown off the Nixon plane, Thompson sat down for a whole bunch of drinks with Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan. Thompson was back on the plane.

If Obama can get the prof and the cop together for a beer, he should be adult enough to call a truce and sit down with Fox’s Roger Ailes over a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Of course, the parallel here would be a FoxNews broadcaster sitting down and guzzling Jack Daniels with an Obama speechwriter, but the FoxNews staff is known neither for honesty nor good logical writing.

Speaking of logical writing, check out the gurgling nonsense from Victoria Jackson, pictured here doing a handstand in front of her homemade sign supporting Glenn Beck. Here’s a little taste:

I took my beautiful fake nails out to my car and drove to the car wash. Hard working, friendly Mexicans made it shiny. I don’t know if they were legal or illegal. I love everyone, but I think rules should be followed. Why can’t they be legal? Is it difficult? You’ll probably explain Amnesty to me tomorrow on TV, because you always know what I’m thinking. I did those minimum wage jobs for years, working my way up the Capitalist ladder. I did it with a happy heart looking forward to the day when I could have a great job! But, while Obama romances the racial minorities; defending Professor Gates, picking Sotomayor, having Latin dance parties, and hinting at Amnesty, don’t the minorities realize that if Obama continues to destroy Capitalism they will always be stuck on the bottom rung? There will be no Capitalist ladder.

Glenn Beck, I like your solution, “Replace the corrupt Congress.” Good plan. I’m studying the candidates right now. Jindal is good. Handstands for Huckabee. Palin for President.

Glenn Beck, thank you for 9/12. I went to the Westwood, CA 9/12. See my handmade poster, behind my handstand?

I went to the sign making place today. I designed a Glenn Beck bumper sticker because you don’t sell one on your website. Humility is sexy! It’s so rare these days.

If that new “Diversity Czar,” Mark Lloyd or his evil boss ever try to take away my Fox News, my Hannity, my Radio Shows, or my Glenn Beck, they are in big trouble, because I won’t let you go. I won’t let you go.

Love always,
Victoria Jackson xxoo

P.S. Joy Behar hates you, so you must be doing something right!

This is either a masterful stroke of satire by Jackson, or she is too insane to walk the streets alone. I just can’t figure it out. What’s with that Joy Behar line, after all? It’s like a line one 14 year old girl might use to another. Then again, this is a letter from Victoria Jackson to Glenn Beck, who cries far worse than a 14 year old girl. And check out Jackson’s references to Vietnamese and Mexican-American workers she encounters, references that show little awareness as to how the world might read them. Even Glenn Beck is more aware of his image. Still, is Victoria Jackson engaged in an elaborate satire? You make the call.

One of the lead stories coming out of President Obama’s congressional address last night was an outburst by Congressman Joe Wilson (R-Backbench, SC). “Joe who?”, you ask.

Exactly.

Wilson is a back-bench Republican congressman from one of the wingnuttiest districts in South Carolina. In the relative pecking order of GOP congresscritters, he’s somewhere near the bottom of the food chain. But when he shouted “You lie!” in response to a statement on illegal immigrants in the presidential speech last night, the stopwatch unexpectedly started on his 15 minutes of fame. In the history of presidential addresses to congress, no one can recall such a derogatory outburst in the middle of a speech.

For those reasons alone, I find it very hard to believe the “lone gunman” theory of Wilson’s screech. Someone put him up to it, as an ersatz kind of a continuation or extension of the congressional town hall meetings around the country over the past month. The conspiracy theorist in me believes that Wilson’s outburst was planned and scripted and sanctioned by the GOP leadership well in advance of Obama’s speech.

Do I have any proof for this theory? Of course not. But my gut instinct tells me that Joe Wilson has neither the seniority in the GOP, nor the balls on his own, to freelance in the way that he did.

Was he put up to it? Or did he go to, say, Eric Cantor (who was caught on camera texting during the speech) ahead of time and explain what he was going to do if he had the opportunity? It’s hard to say, and we’ll probably never know.

Joe Wilson (R-SC) played the role of GOP street thug last night. Submitted for your consideration: low level hit men don’t go out and take a whack at the opposition’s “Don” unless the family Capo approves in advance.

Obama’s MySpace page says Barack Obama is 52 years old! The conspiracy is starting to unravel! OH NOES!!!!11!! Well, that’s the latest wingnut theory from WingNutDaily.

If President Obama were indeed born in Hawaii, was it while the islands were a territory of the United States?

A new wrinkle in the dispute over his birth – and whether he is eligible to be president under the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that the president be a “natural born” citizen – appeared today when Obama’s official MySpace page declared his age is 52, thus placing his birth year at 1957 instead of 1961 as has been claimed.

That would mean he would have been born during the archipelago’s time as a territory of the U.S., the islands’ status from about 1900 until statehood in 1959.

As always, happy to keep you all informed about the stupidities on the right. I’m sure the Republicans will be pushing for an investigation soon.

The Americans are revolting!

All across the country—from Boston to Atlanta to San Antonio—thousands of Americans, inspired by Fox News and radio conservative talk show hosts, took to the streets to protest.

They protested a fascist government that has restricted their freedom of speech and freedom of religion, protected by the First Amendment. They protested thousands of instances where the government infringed upon their rights of privacy, protected by the Fourth Amendment. They called out the government for violations of the rights of due process, protected by the fifth and sixth amendments. They protested the use of about $1 trillion to fight an unnecessary war in Iraq. They protested the apparently unregulated policies of the banks, money lenders, and Wall Street financiers who brought this nation into the current recession that has led to an 8.5 percent unemployment rate and several hundred thousand to lose their homes to foreclosure actions. They protested the fact that about 46 million Americans don’t have health insurance, that as many as five million Americans are homeless, about a fourth of them veterans. They protested the use of torture, of the destruction of the environment, of the awarding of no-bid sweetheart deals worth hundreds of million dollars to companies that do business with the President and Vice-President.

Actually, they didn’t do any of that. Not now and certainly not during the Bush–Cheney years.

What they protested was taxes. For these protestors, April 15, the deadline for paying taxes, was Tea Day.

They cried out against taxation without representation, conveniently forgetting that the United States, because of its revolt against the monarchy more than two centuries ago, has one of the most representative democracies in history. Without understanding either history or government, the protestors wore tea bags on their baseball caps, wore revolutionary era costumes, threw tea bags onto the ground and into the rivers, and even littered the grounds outside the White House with tea bags. Since every protest has to have signs, these protestors also carried signs—”Give me liberty, not debt,” “No more spending,” and “Taxation is Piracy.” Ironically, it was tax-provided rescue equipment that volunteers used to rescue one protestor after she fell into the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.

Their “official” website attacked the government for “spending trillions of borrowed dollars, leaving a debt our great-grandchildren will be paying,” conveniently forgetting that it was the Bush–Cheney Administration that left the nation with the largest deficit in history. Underlying the protest was their hatred of the policies of Barack Obama, whom they called a fascist, a socialist, and a Communist, unable to understand or differentiate among terms they loosely threw out. President Obama, although in office less than three months, is riding high with a 67 percent popularity rating. But these souls, very few of whom voted for him in November, have now not only protested policies that are bringing the nation out of a financial abyss, but are often calling for his impeachment, something they never called for during the previous eight years.

So, they complained about fascist—or socialist—or communistic—policies, and failed to understand that it’s only the wealthiest 5 percent whose taxes go back to the rate it was when George Bush took office and lowered taxes for the wealthy.

But, these protesting masses aren’t the rich, and they aren’t being forced to give up more of their income. In fact, the Obama tax cuts benefit about 95 percent of all Americans.

The idea of a Tea Party was probably that of CNBC commentator Rick Santelli, who ranted against any government assistance for persons who lost their homes through foreclosure. Pushing the tea bagging of America were Fox mouths Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and dozens of other conservative talking mouths who are among the top 5 percent, and whose seven-figure incomes would be reduced under the Obama plan to restore fiscal sanity to America.

Well, I guess it’s true. Americans really are revolting.

[Walter M. Brasch is a university professor of journalism, social issues columnist, and the author of 17 books. His current book is Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush, available from amazon.com, bn.com, and other stores. You may contact him through his website, www.walterbrasch.com]

Attention Teabaggers:

Every year about this time, the Tax Foundation calculates the date that the average American will have made enough money to cover their tax obligations for the coming year (federal, state, and local). This date is known as Tax Freedom Day. Guess what?

Tax Freedom Day will arrive on April 13 this year, according to the Tax Foundation’s annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes.

This is eight days earlier than in 2008, and a full two weeks earlier than in 2007…

That’s change I can believe in.

So, Teabaggers - where were you in 2008 and 2007? Oh, that’s right. Faux News and Rush Limpballs weren’t directing you to attend the “Obama Fail” (tea party) rally near you on Wednesday.

Yeah, I get it.

As usual, it is all about the GAY! Newt Gingrich knows if his comeback is to be successful, he needs to pay homage to the radical Christian extremists who whine about gay marriage and gay anything. So he’s slamming Barack Obama’s appointments to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Newt is slamming the appointments, but he’s really slamming the gay, and he’s got a lot of support ont he extremist anti-gay wing of the Republican Party. Here’s what Newt had to whine about, from CNN:

Newt Gingrich said Tuesday the Obama administration is “intensely secular” and “anti-religious,” the former House Speaker’s second hard-hitting criticism of the new administration this week.

In an interview with FOX News, Gingrich said he strongly disagreed with Obama’s choice of Harry Knox — an outspoken activist for gay rights — to the White House advisory council on faith-based initiatives.

“I think their goal is to have a very secular America in which government dominates everything,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you put an anti-religious, left-wing zealot on a faith-based group? It’s a perfect pattern for this administration.”

Since 2005, Knox has served as the director of the Human Rights Campaign, a national organization that advocates on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. He is also a former Methodist pastor.

Newt evidently missed the list of people Obama appointed. (Here’s the list, Newt, since you obviously haven’t read it.) It’s got a ton of people who are quite religious. sure, Newt might not like that there’s a Hindu on the list, and he might not agree with the politics of Jim Wallis, but that doesn’t mean those folks are irreligious, as Newt claims. Knox isn’t irreligious either. But he is gay, and Newt attacking his appointment with falsehoods is par for the course. Newt himself is converting to Catholicism as a serially divorced man, so the hypocrisy of him defending religion falsely is rich, rich, rich.

More scandalous is the ugly politics of attacking gay people in this country. Why scandalous? Such attacks and ugliness lead to an environment where real people, real Americans, are hurt. Sirdeaner L. Walker is one of those Americans. She came home Monday in Springfield, MA on Monday to find her 11 year old son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, hanging by an extension cord. The boy had been taunted at school. He’d been called gay by the other kids. Repeatedly.

America’s tragedy, and the Republican Party’s shame is that they treat gay and lesbian citizens as if they were trash. In doing so these “leaders” give license to those they lead, license to taunt, license to shame an 11 year old. In an America where being gay was considered merely being a citizen with full rights and responsibilities, such taunts would have not nearly the same power. Alas, we don’t live in such a world, and it is Newt’s fault that we don’t. He panders to the extremists, and in doing so he empowers their taunts. Jesus help him. There may be nobody else with the mercy to do so.

There’s not much to tell here. Michelle Bachmann now opposes the Kennedy volunteerrism bill because it will lead to reeducation camps. I kid you not. The woman’s whackjobbery is not leashed one little bit. OK, it’s not exactly that the GOP is reining in any of its members or anything, and we on the progressive side are thankful for Bachmann giving the impression that GOP stands for “Goofy Old Partisans,” but really, this woman seems to have no shut-off valve, you know? Does she have no friends who whisper in her ear that the sideshow is going to reject her as far too nutty for their taste? Wow! Anyway, that Bachmann whackjobbery is reported by the Minnesota Independent, where they provide the audio of Bachmann’s comments.

Meanwhile, the constituents in Michelle Bachmann’s district are suffering from the mortgage default crisis more than in almost any other congressional district in the country. Bachmann is doing nothing at all to ease that burden her constiuents are toting. Yes, that’s right. Michelle Bachmann would rather go on radio or television and spout the whackjobbiest conspiracy theories she can think of rather than try even a little bit to tackle the most pressing problems of her constiuents.