January 5, 2012 7:40 AM

Michele Bachmann: Back to baby farming?

I will continue fighting to defeat the president’s agenda of socialism…. The people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice…. I have no regrets. I never compromised my principles.

So the first pandering ignoramus has fallen. That may seem a bit harsh, but how else could one reasonably and accurately describe Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who, at least by PolitiFact’s accounting, had by far the most tenuous relationship with the truth of any Republican candidate? Given that the GOP field is by any definition a collection of liars, Bachmann had some stellar competition.

Never one to let facts or truth stand in the way of her desire to remake reality in a way that suits her prejudices, Bachmann threw cheap accusations at President Obama as if they were spitwads. If one didn’t stick…well, no worries; there were plenty more available to her. Having accused the President of everything short of kidnapping and killing the Lindberg baby, Bachmann’s devotion to her own twisted reality was only tangentially related to the truth.

One might gather from my scathing critique of Bachmann that I hold her in low esteem. Nothing could be further from the truth; the reality is that I hold her in NO esteem. Bachmann clearly had no idea that, had she been elected President, she’s be President of ALL Americans…not just intolerant, self-righteous, hatred-driven Evangelical Christians. Promising to force your narrow ideology/theology upon all Americans, most of whom strongly disagree with such rabid intolerance, is a damned poor recipe for leadership. I find it impossible to respect anyone who conducts themselves as Bachmann has. I respect her right to her beliefs, as odious as I may find them, but I won’t pretend to respect her as a politician.

With Bachmann finally and gracelessly exiting from the GOP campaign, the veracity factor will not noticeably increase. With Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum ready, willing, and able to make things up on the fly and lob all manner of unsubstantiated accusations at the President, those hoping for an honest discussion of the issues facing this country will continue to be sorely disappointed.

Bachmann will likely neither be long remembered nor sorely missed. During her time as a Presidential candidate, she’s managed to tarnish the reputation of Christianity, Conservatism, and the GOP…no mean feat that.

I can only hope that the people of Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District (where, I’m ashamed to admit, I went to high school) will come to their senses and send Bachmann back to her career as a baby farmer. They, and all Americans, deserve better.

(After the jump, 10 Reasons Michele Bachmann Will Be Sorely Missed)

1) Her proposal to build a border fence through the Rio Grande and across the length of Big Bend National Park, even though that would have the unintended consequence of diverting the course of the river and, by extension, the US-Mexico border.

2) Her autobiography, which made its first of many egegious factual errors on the very first page.

3) The time she tried to sway undecided Iowa voters by dancing to Train’s “Soul Sister.”

4) Bachmann Eyes!

5) The time she accused Rick Perry of giving teenage girls a vaccine that made them “retarded,” was soundly rebuked by the entire pediatric community, and insisted that she was just relaying what had been told to her:

6) Her obsessions with light-bulbs, the regulation of which she believes is a stepping-stone to United Nations tyranny.

7) The time she promised to close the US embassy in Iran, which does not currently exist.

8) Her insistence that the CIA had outsourced its interrogation policy to the ACLU.

9) The time she paid strategist Ed Rollins $90,000 to help run her campaign.

10) Her use of the title “Dr.,” even though she is not a doctor by any commonly accepted standard.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 5, 2012 7:40 AM.

Newt Gingrich 2012: Because crybabies are the most fun to watch, aren't they? was the previous entry in this blog.

A New Year's resolution I can get behind is the next entry in this blog.

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