It's been a couple busy month, hasn't it--

First we had a return to the Great Depression and now the McCarthy Red Scare is revisited.

I don't have one of those fancy Hallmark calendars with all the holidays and events listed--is it 'Twentieth Century History Month' and I missed the announcement?

I see her GOP primary opponent immediately filed to receive write-in votes...if the 6th District is foolish enough to even think of returning her to Washington, should we begin the recall election campaign now?

LAMBERT: As I've been saying, I'm out of town. But is it true that there has been no comment on the Strib editorial page or TPT's "Almanac"?

For some reason (feel free to guess) voters of the sixth district seem to feel some affinity for the bat-shit crazy gay rally stalker. Is it any surprise that her district comprises the central Minnesota "bible belt" ?

LAMBERT: And that's the way Republican legislators wanted it.

It may well be that progressives do better online than they did with talk radio, but given all the links bertram jr. keeps handing out, it seems the un-Reasonable have a lot of passion and similar resources as well.

What I'm pointing out here is that these folks are a larger group than you think. I don't have to go more than a couple of blocks down the street here in Blaine to hear how global warming is an illusion, or how liberals are the cause of the majority of societal ills. Bachmann may be the extreme, but there a LOT of folks who share 60-70 percent of her views.

LAMBERT: Oh, I believe they are a large group. Hell, giant corporations like Clear Channel have targeted their primary business plan to attract and hold Sixth District types. I just think it's imploding as anything like the credible insurgency it was perceived as in the Nineties.

The Bachmann phenomenon is an odd one. I think her district actually appreciates having such a well-known congresswoman, but she's won by a progressively slimmer margin for the last few elections, so there's some hope at least. Wetterling, for example, beat Bachmann her home town, so it would seem plausible that the better a given group of people knows her, the less likely they are to vote for her.

On the other hand, Anoka is the home of knee-jerk patriotism -- a land where tattered flags wave forlornly from the antennae of countless pickup trucks and Palin-esque redneck pride can oft be found. So despite Bachmann's recent foray into McCarthyism, it's all too likely she'll be around once the dust settles on Nov. 5.

LAMBERT: The DFL desperately wanted to find "another Tim Walz" to run in the Sixth. It'll be a stunner -- and indicative of a Democratic landslide -- if Bachmann loses.

Rich Goldsmith writes an excellent blog "The Defenestrator" for rakemag.com.

Now Bachmann is claiming that she was trapped by the interviewer. She says it was Matthews who first used the phrase "anti-American."

I went back and watched the video to be sure of my conclusions before I commented.

It's true, Matthews did use the phrase first (about 4:30 into the interview). But Bachmann enthusiastically agreed with the characterization and went on to discuss it in detail for the next 3-4 minutes. She clearly welcomed the discussion of that particular point and joined in with relish.

Let's also not forget that Bachmann is an experienced public speaker and has been interviewed hundreds, if not thousands of times.

So her protestations of being tricked by the crafty interviewer ring hollow to me.

See for yourself: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27243547#27243547?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUoaEaD_ec7PaP3iUiacyKUU

LAMBERT: Michele, please. At least be a big girl about this.

That beeping sound you hear is Rep. Bachmann frantically struggling to back away from her lunatic ravings on "Hardball." Unfortunately for the congresswoman, she made those remarks in plain English and will find that they'll follow her around for the rest of her political days like an unwanted cur, however few those days may now prove to be.

What is striking, though, is that as those malignant thoughts coalesced like a ball of phlegm in that squirming toad of a mind (to paraphrase Jim Morrison) of hers that there was apparently no superego to yank hard on the reins of the woman's dark id.

And now, as is so often the case among the lesser members of the party that likes to brag on it status as the party of personal responsibility, she blames the media for giving her the platform upon which she hung herself.

I think she knows she's stepped in it now that she's backtracking, "out of context", etc. But then there's that vacant but crazy way her eyes look....

The thing with Bachmann is that not only does she so willingly present the GOP talking points of the moment, but that she ACTUALLY BELIEVES THE TALKING POINTS TO BE FACTUAL THE TRUTH.

Kind of like Palin. Extremism of any kind is just bad. ESPECIALLY during times like these.

Can it get any uglier in the next two weeks?

LAMBERT: This stuff is more stupid than ugly. I have a hard time laughing at ugly, other than dogs.

Looking at the Republican Party self-destruct in front of our eyes makes one wonder if there is anything left at the GOP but a hate society.

Their issues have evaporated due to the fiscal incompetence of the Bush administration and a horribly failed foreign policy. They can no longer claim to be the Party of fiscal prudence and responsibility. They cannot claim to be the Party of free markets and deregulation since they just socialized the banks and the downside of risky derivatives.

I content they never been able to claim to be the Party of the middle class but even less so now as they cling desperately to their massive tax cuts for the wealthiest among us and the extreme compensation packages of CEOs and Executive Officers with financial institutions.

Thus, instead of offering concise economic plans to deal with the nations crisis, they are on a wildly unfocused attack, trying to fan the flames of fear with their extremist base, throwing out labels and false accusations of "socialists" "terrorists" and "communists" and as Michelle Bachman has done called for witch-hunts and McCarthite litmus tests for patriotism for elected officials.

And then Joe-the-Plumber suddenly become McCain's top national policy advisor. A man who cannot seem to pay his taxes, get a plumbing license and has joined a nutter political party is suddenly an expert on all issues pertinent to the nation.

Joe-the-Plumber is the mirror of Sarah Palin for his unsuitability for the role McCain's campaign has cast him into for the simple reason that there is no substance left and all McCain's operatives and proxies can resort to is hollow symbols and straw-men to cast their nets of deception upon.

A friend recently said he felt sorry for Sarah Palin and Joe-the-Plumber because McCain is using them. He has thrown them in the deep end, far over their heads, for avaricious gain. Perhaps that is true. However, it is amazing how willing these people are, just for a few minutes of fame and sophistical appellation, to be thrown into the spotlight and make complete fools of themselves.

The whole McCain show of late feels creepy like when the really bad contestants get up and sing on American Idol. Or act brutally bizarre toward friends and loved ones on Bridezillas. Or any of the freak reality shows where people inevitably are set up to make horrendous fools of themselves in a widely public forum so we can laugh at them just for the nightly TV ratings.

That's what a desperate McCain campaign seems to have resorted to -- putting on a nightly freak show to increase their ratings with the American public.

To take up your metaphor: Do any of them, Sarah Palin, Joe-the-Plumber, or Michelle Bachman know when they've stepped in it?

LAMBERT: The delusional reality show contestant analogy is apt. I don't think the trio you mention do understand what they're standing in.

I recently read the October 2008 issue of Mpls St.Paul and have to say the "When was the last time you knew you were being a b....?" article is a tad comical. I have to ask why is it that you associate "assertiveness", women & b!tch? A few coaching experts in the area may have a different definition of what assertive actually means.

LAMBERT: The test was how women define the term and what they think of it, which is why we had a woman ask. I personally wouldn't pretend/dare to define it.

Google "crazypants" and Bachman's rant is first page. Personally, I was disappointed that Michelle didn't wink at me while imploring the media to search for un-americans in congress. But what a tan!

LAMBERT: If you meet her in person, she'll wink.

I am not so sure that Bachman's sudden notoriety spells an instant defeat for her in the 6th. Tactically, it has a swift shift potential for Elwyn Tinklenberg but he's got a lot of work cut out for himself and must appeal to hardworking wage earners in Central Minnesota who see their household budget shrinking with this economic crisis.

The folks up in the 6th district are quite aware of Bachman's lunacy and a number of them enjoy it and support her views. But they will vote Republicans out of office, as they have in the past, if her brand of nutter politics she practices doesn't serve them. Tinklenberg must get himself before them and impress that he can, like Tim Walz in Southern Minnesota be a problem solver.

Of all the people serving in the Minnesota Congressional delegation, Bachman is the most knee-jerk, reactionary, and staunchest supporter of the failed Bush administration policies and actions. Tinklenberg has to ask the voters if that is good for the 6th as Bush leaves the White House.

LAMBERT: Tinklenberg's best hope -- as with Franken -- is a huge turn out for Obama and enough depressed republicans staying home.

Michelle Bachmann's eyes have that unique other-worldly glint that always makes me think I've accidentally turned on the film adaptation of a Stephen King novel. I'd hate to run into her in a dark alley.

Not that a well-lit one might be much of an improvement.

LAMBERT: So you're saying she casts a spell on you ...

You know, reading through these posts is actually hysterical, a stream of liberal elitists chortling to themselves, and not making one bit of difference.

The smugness is breathtaking.

As is the pervasive stink of anti-Americanism.

LAMBERT: Well you embody our point, thank you very much.

What? No rebuttals from bertramjr yet? Is he out of town, too?

LAMBERT: Check above. He's out of something.

Could we cede the 6th district to South Dakota? It would raise the average i.q. of both states.

LAMBERT: Last time anyone buys you a round in Yankton.

In an email from my 26-year old nephew, "Did you see Bachmann commit suicide on air? Awesome." Love that younger generation.

LAMBERT: Does he describe himself on his Facebook page as a "F**king red neck"?

Mrs. Bachmann, in so many words, out-Kerstan Kerstaned herself on this one. I only wish Chris Matthews would have asked her to expound on her rant about the vast left wing conspiracy to make us all switch to energy saving lightbulbs. Darn liberal media conspirators couldn't even man-up and ask the hard questions. I'm actually excited to see what Kerstan comes up to justify Bachmann's latest crazy eyed rant. You really can't make up the vision of her hiding behind bushes at the capitol in her Dress Barn suit.

LAMBERT: The Bachmann Lurking Crouch should be a logo for her campaign.

"Crazypants"?

Is that the column above Lamberts's by the woman obsessing over her wardrobe?

LAMBERT: Come by sometime and she'll obsess about your tailored and pressed duck hunting outfit.

Bartender, another glass of Cutty Snark, please.

Were ALL of you left off the kickball team in third grade?

Geezus.

Hey - cede the 6th to South Dakota?

I can assure you that many of us here in the 6th would like to cede Michele Bachmann to somewhere else.

Here in Woodbury, for example, we have voted against her twice...but alas, other parts of the very well gerrymandered 6th over-ruled us.

Or, to be more accurate, I should have said that here in Woodbury, we voted for Patty Wetterling twice--and thus against Mark Kennedy and Michele Bachmann each once. But frankly, Kennedy was almost as bad as Bachmann, so they tend to blur together.

And in Woodbury in 2006, we also ousted our three extremist Republican legislators, replacing them with moderate Democrats.

So please don't lump us all together in the 6th. There are many of us, all across this district, who want to send Bachmann packing.

LAMBERT: We know you're there. But you're badly out-gunned. At least until the RNCC pulled its ad money away from Bachmann. It soon could be morning in Woodbury.

To find a discussion of Robb's question -- what do conservatives stand for -- I suggest John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience. The book argues for an absence of any coherent set of shared principles within conservatism today other than a pnehcant for authoritarianism and an opposition to "anything and everything they perceive to liberal." (That explains the Bachmann lightbulb obsession.) In other words, they believe in little more than winning.

LAMBERT: Excellent book, that one.

I take it you're supporting the Amendment then?

Today Bachmann is saying that Chris Matthews set a trap for her on Hardball, a show she'd never seen before. Even Joe Six-Pack watches Hardball occasionally. It's not as if the show is on Sunday morning, so she can't watch it because she's at church.

Don't most politicians have staff advisors who prep them for interview shows they're going to appear on (including watching clips of the interview style of the host?) Don't they have staff advisors to keep them informed on what the American people are watching and thinking about? Her staff has access to TIVO, DVD players, and VCRs. They could tape Fox News and CNN News reports, Democracy Now and Bill O'Reilly, and all across the spectrum of the Sunday morning political talk shows, and then condense it for an hour viewing once a week. Surely she's got an hour a week to inform herself.

You have to work at being that clueless. I was reminded of the scene from W, where Condee is reading the news to George. In another scene, George receives a brief from Cheney. He says, "Good, it's only three pages long."

Someone needs to ask Bachmann what happens after the media investigates and names the Senators and Congresspeople who are anti-American. Do we send them to "reeducation camps"? Hello, Great Leap Forward. Sounds Communist to me. Next, Bachmann will say that third graders should report to their teachers any anti-American comments or activities, so their parents' way of thinking can be "corrected."

LAMBERT: I mentioned the Stasi in the blog post. I suppose that went over her head.

Interesting how she somewhat back pedals somewhat in the mainstream media, today goes on knuckle-dragger radio (Hugh Hewitt) and basically says the same thing with the caveat of the media is liberal, they want her "scalp on a platter" and that Olbermann and Mathews raised on $1 million dollar for her opponent (paraphrasing, but that's the gist of it).

Like I said she really BELIEVES this stuff. I'm still not convinced anyone named "Tinklenberg" can be elected, but maybe there is a higher power...dreams are always free, right?

LAMBERT: Her response, almost as much as her original comments is probably why the RNCC is thinking she is untenable. She's a on-going punchline. If they have to lose -- to a "Tinklenberg" -- do it now, and find someone stronger in '10. It's still the Sixth District. They always have good odds to win.

I'm sure Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin think Stasi is a upscale handbag and accessory shop from Italy.

LAMBERT ... that they think they can buy at the Woodbury Outlet Mall.

BL - The DFL desperately wanted to find "another Tim Walz" to run in the Sixth.

Maybe I'll campaign for the DFL spot in 2010. It's the only political party I've ever been a member of. I'm quite Walz like. Or rather, Walz is quite 108 like.

But a lot of us are waiting for the return of Gerry Sikorski.

LAMBERT: Hey, give it a shot. But be forewarned, if you don't think climate change is a liberal hoax and that Obama and every Democrat wants to take away your gun(s), you're a tree-hugging Pelosi-lover.

Look into the Pelosi - Starkist - Samoa thing when you're done stuffing your face down there...

LAMBERT: The Buenos Aires Friends of the Junta Society has several openings for new members.

Digby reports the latest on Bachmann's rise to National Nitwit.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/at-what-point-do-you-get-your-house.html

Now I know where the people who think Stephen Colbert is a closet conservative come from - MN-06. Because clearly they elected one of their own to represent them.

LAMBERT: You have to be born with some kind of irony deficiency to be this dim. That's the only explanation.