In a television appearance that outraged Democrats are already describing as Joseph McCarthy politics, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann claimed on Friday that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle held anti-American views and couldn't be trusted in the White House. She even called for the major newspapers of the country to investigate other members of Congress to "find out if they are pro-America or anti-America.".... Appearing on MSNBC's Hardball, Bachmann went well off the reservation when it comes to leveling political charges against the Democratic nominee.... "If we look at the collection of friends that Barack Obama has had in his life," she said, "it calls into question what Barack Obama's true beliefs and values and thoughts are. His attitudes, values, and beliefs with Jeremiah Wright on his view of the United States...is negative; Bill Ayers, his negative view of the United States. We have seen one friend after another call into question his judgment -- but also, what it is that Barack Obama really believes?"
If this doesn't give you an idea of how far the GOP has sunk into the mud and slime...well, I don't know what it's going to take. From the "Those Who Do Not Know History Are Doomed To Repeat It" Department, Michelle Bachmann crawls out of the slime long enough to smear Barack Obama for being..."anti-American"? Somewhere, Joseph McCarthy is smiling....
How desperate does a party have to be to descend to the sort of tactics engaged in by Bachmann? And how damning is the silence in reaction from the Far Right to Bachmann's comments? It's as if they realize- thought they can't admit- that they have no hope of being able to compete on the issues. They recognize that their only hope is to go negative and employ "fear and smear" enough to convince the ignorant and the undemanding that Democrats like Barack Obama really are the spawn of Satan. People like that don't care about issues, anyway...at least not enough to actually think critically about them. If they can be made to feel comfortable with rumor, innuendo, and character assassination disguised as truth and fact...well, why think when you don't have to?
This election is arguably the most important decision facing Americans in our collective lifetime. You'd think that, given the import of this decision, both parties would be attempting in good faith to convince Americans that their way is the correct way, the one most likely to lead this country out of the morass. While Democrats haven't exactly distinguished themselves in this regard, it's the GOP that has taken this campaign into the mud and slime, and they seem perfectly content with taking their chances there. Why not? When you have no hope of prevailing or even competing on the issues, what other choice do you really have? When it's all about winning, you do whatever it takes, even if it means taking the country down in the process.
Rep. Bachmann represents everything wrong with today's Republican Party. Rather than displaying leadership in trying to help turn things around, she's resorted to cheap insults, name-calling, and pandering to the lowest common denominator. THIS is leadership? THIS is how Republicans plan on shepherding this country out of the darkness produced by the past eight years of incompetence, thuggery, and ineptitude? Say hello to the Sarah Palin wing of the GOP. Then again, it certainly IS easier to trade in emotion, ignorance, and propaganda...especially when you have nothing of substance to offer under the best of circumstances.
Yes, I'm sure a Congressional "witch hunt" would make Bachmann happy...and it would certainly buy the GOP a lot of attention. The problem, though, is that it will do nothing to solve the very real and serious problems that this country faces, problems that demand leadership and sober reflection- not knee jerk ignorance cheap emotional McCarthyism.
Actually, if Bachmann really is serious about conducting a witch hunt, she might just want to start with the woman she sees in the mirror every morning.
The good news is that Bachmann's lunacy has garnered $500k in donations for her Democratic opponent. With any luck, perhaps voters in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District (where I went to high school) will send Bachmann back to her previous career as an oscure Right-wing, Jesus-uber-Alles baby farmer.
