Bred in conservative evangelical talk radio reality, Bachmann is used to a political climate in which even her most obvious lies can pass unchallenged.
So she sometimes prefers to "forget" that people who live in the real world will occasionally fact check her. That explains her claims about the turnout for the Glenn Beck rally in Washington DC. Here's Bachmann on the Laura Ingraham show:
"Unofficially, off the record, we talked to one of the guys from the National Park Police who told us he thought it was 1.6 million. There had to be over a million people there.Unofficially, off the record, we talked to one of the guys from the National Park Police who told us he thought it was 1.6 million. There had to be over a million people there. People were packed in from the Washington Monument all the way to the Lincoln Memorial."
But along comes this University of Arizona professor who's in the business of estimating crowd sizes from photographs. According to him, Bachmann "somewhere between 1 million and 1.6 million" estimate is--well, according to him it's ridiculous.
(continued)
It caught the reporters and the professional political media by surprise--but you guys, the ones who regularly read my Bachmann stuff here--*you* weren't that surprised, were you?
I'm referring to this:
Beck's marriage of politics and religion raising questions
By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A few weeks before organizing a massive rally on the Mall that had the feel of a religious revival, Glenn Beck sought the blessing of some of the country's most prominent conservative Christian leaders.
The Fox talk show host wanted their support as he shifted from political commentary to a more spiritual message, he told the group of about 20...
If you read these things I've been posting on Bachmann for the past five or six years--you already have an idea about who some of names in "the group of about 20" that Beck went to for support.
For five or six years now, I've been telling readers that the rise of Michele Bachmann and her proto-fascist garbage was facilitated by a religious right that has already been organized as "a de facto third party" in American politics.
(continued)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is in a bit of hot water over a copyright infringement. Bachmann's latest attack ad against Tarryl Clark uses the Minnesota State Fair logo without permission.
Bachmann accuses Clark of raising taxes on the corn dogs, deep-fried bacon and beer people consume at the fair via her meat puppet, Wide Stance Jim. They use the logo twice in their ad. First at the 0:11 mark and then for the last 4 seconds of the ad.
Fair spokesperson Brienna Schuette said the Bachmann campaign "did not get our approval" to use the logo in the ad. Fair officials are looking into what steps to take to protect their intellectual property.
(MinnPost)
"It's unfortunate. We don't want the perception out there that we're endorsing her, we don't endorse anyone," [State Fair spokeswoman Brooke] Dillon said. "So of course our logo was misused and we want that taken down as soon as possible."
Dillon said the Fair hasn't decided whether to take legal action. Bachmann's campaign says it's looking into the matter.
(MPR)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) simply has a problem with the truth. Especially when the truth doesn't jibe with her version of reality. She claimed that 1 million people attended Glenn Beck's rally last Saturday in DC:
"We're not going to let anyone get away with saying there were less than a million here today," she hollered later at her own gathering near the Washington Monument. "We were witnesses."
There's only 1 problem. It's nowhere near the truth.
CBS News: Commissioned AirPhotosLive.com, which estimated the crowd at 87,000. With a 9,000-person margin of error, the real number could be anywhere between 78,000 and 96,000.
(Dump Bachmann)
Beck and his looney's brigade pumped this event up as HUGE. Millions were going to attend and send a clear message to Obama that they're sick of it (depending upon whatever "it" happens to be).
So ... let's just compare and contrast a couple of pictures. Here's one from Beck's rally and two from the 1995 Million Man March which was verified at over 1 million:
I'm Zach Rodvold, Campaign Manager for Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress against Michele Bachmann in MN-06.
Last week, Michele Bachmann took her name-calling to the airwaves with an ad attacking Tarryl and her record. This week, we're telling Minnesotans what they really need to know about Tarryl in a new TV ad.
The ad, called "Need to Know," begins airing later today thanks to the financial support of over 30,000 supporters, and we wanted you to be among the first to see it. Check it out here:
As opposed to Bachmann's attack ads, ours features real people - Tarryl's family, faith leaders, veterans and business leaders who support her and believe that Minnesotans need to know that Tarryl has been standing with and for our communities her whole life. She's one of us.
They just did a big piece on her in Minnesota Monthly--the link is at the end of this post.
It's a long piece...too bad they gave the subject so much space and said so little. That's understandable, because the piece is largely composed of "what people are saying about Michele Bachmann," rather than "who is Michele Bachmann and what does she actually represent." And even within the limitations it sets for itself, the piece is flawed from the get-go. Because the reporter started out asking the wrong questions:
...does Bachmann mean what she says? And does she practice what she preaches?
Better questions are:
Is she really--as her opponents charge--a nut, a liar, and a bigot?
Exactly how and why did this person come to national prominence in American politics?
It doesn't make sense to ask whether Bachmann "really means what she says." Bachmann has been speaking on national issues since the beginning of her career. None of us have any idea what Michele Bachmann would do if she was handed actual power--say, the power to shape national policy and legislation after a major GOP pickup of seats this November.
For example: Would she really advocate use of nuclear weapons to stop Iran? (As a candidate, she said that use of the nuclear option against Iran shouldn't be "taken off the table." Would she really want Congress to spend all its time doing nothing but issue subpoenas to the GOP's political opposition? (She's said this, but it didn't make the article--is that really what she would do if she had the power?)
(continued)
Posted at 9:56 PM on August 29, 2010 by Annie Baxter (1 Comments)
I tell ya, folks, I don't know who it was that wrote that headline for Minnesota Public Radio--but whoever it was, they're wasting their time here in Minnesota, they should be writing for the Daily Show or Colbert.
Because I know, that's "big yoks" to tell people that there's no personal antipathy there--after Bachmann tells a national audience that Obama's "practicing tyranny" and has been telling conservative audiences around the country that he's running "a gangster government"--over and over again, repeating that stuff like it's her mantra--
...but it's not personal. It's designed to put a bullseye on the back of the president of the United States, when you tell television audiences that you're very concerned he "may have anti-American views"...but "there's nothing personal about it, Mr. President, I'd put that bullseye on the back of anybody I had policy differences with. Nothing personal, it's just the way the GOP and conservatives do business now. We tell paranoid nuts with weapons that you're an anti-American tyrant trying to end liberty and freedom. And yeah, you get a lot more death threats than previous presidents and Dem legislatures--but it's not personal."
Read the story at the link below. It's an object lesson in why we have a nut, bigot and liar representing Minnesotans and other Americans in Congress.
This time it's Dennis Lien of the St. Paul Pioneer Press who's passing off a promotional piece as "journalism."
This is what Tarryl Clark is up against: she's not just up against the national right, the evangelical conservative right, the talk radio and Fox right--she's up against the local press, the big papers.
Michele Bachmann is the biggest news story in Minnesota and one of the most controversial figures in national politics. Knowing that, Lien and the PiPress run this:
(continued)
Hi, I'm Carrie Lucking, the Communications Director for Tarryl Clark's Campaign for Congress in Minnesota.
Last Tuesday, Michele Bachmann introduced us to "Jim the Election Guy" in the first of what will apparently be a series of attack ads. In it, "Jim" calls Tarryl Clark names - with a smile on his face. Very "Minnesota Nice" isn't it?
No one knows who "Jim the Election Guy" is, but today, we'd like to introduce you to Jim the Actual Voter. Actually, we'd like to introduce you to three of them. All are named Jim, all actually live in the 6th Congressional District, and all are sick and tired of Michele Bachmann's nonsense.See what they have to say about it:
Despite the fact that she dumped tea party primary candidates in favor of machine Republican candidates in New Jersey and Missouri, teabaggers continue to worship Bachmann. (I was telling somebody here last night that to a large degree, it doesn't matter that she kicks her supporters in the teeth regularly--it's a personality cult; proto-fascism, you know...)
Well, anyway--tonight her campaign announces that she won't be support any tea party challenges to machine Republicans. That news is buried in this story about how she's obtained a bus to do a Bachmann tour. So, yes: at the same time she's announcing that she's throwing the tea party under the bus, she's announcing that she acquired an actual bus to do that. (If you live long enough, you will see everything. I swear it's true.)
U.S. representative said her new PAC will support "constitutional conservatives."
By ERIC ROPER, Star Tribune
Last update: August 25, 2010 - 9:00 PM
HUGO, MINN. - During a carefully coordinated bus tour of her district Wednesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said she hopes to use her fundraising power this fall to propel "constitutional conservatives" into Congress...
We all knew that this would happen eventually. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) would start running television ads. To nobody's surprise, the ad is negative.
Today, Michele Bachmann is airing her first ad of the campaign season, and it's no surprise she's gone negative - distorting reality and calling names. Bachmann has no record of accomplishment to run on, so she's resorting to more of the same recycled negative attacks - and putting $239,000 behind them this week alone.
If Michele Bachmann spent any time in her district, she would know that these are exactly the type of attacks that voters have had enough of. Instead, she's traveled the country, skipping events in Minnesota to headline a rally in Dallas just this past Saturday.
(Daily Kos)
It's time to start the fight back. Please stop on by Tarryl Clark's donation page and contribute. Every drop in the bucket helps.
I'm Zach Rodvold, Campaign Manager for Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress.
Today, Michele Bachmann is airing her first ad of the campaign season, and it's no surprise she's gone negative - distorting reality and calling names. Bachmann has no record of accomplishment to run on, so she's resorting to more of the same recycled negative attacks - and putting $239,000 behind them this week alone.
If Michele Bachmann spent any time in her district, she would know that these are exactly the type of attacks that voters have had enough of. Instead, she's traveled the country, skipping events in Minnesota to headline a rally in Dallas just this past Saturday.
While Bachmann travels the country, Tarryl Clark travels the district, attending over 30 community events in the past 30 days alone. Talking directly to people in the district, Tarryl hears time and again that voters are sick of Washington's - and Michele Bachmann's - ways.
Make no mistake, thanks to her special interest supporters and right wing activists across the country, Bachmann has big money. And they're going to spend it running a campaign that's straight out of the Karl Rove playbook.
Rep. Michele Bachmann has a habit of saying some pretty crazy stuff. We might be willing to cut her some slack in that she might have misspoken, but considering the sheer volume of conspiracy theories, bald-faced lies and kookiness that comes out of her mouth, it is possible she meant what she said:
She says the Germans used "U2 boats" to sink U.S. ships during World War II. Achtung baby!
German subs were were nicknamed "U boats" because of their "U" classification by the German navy. The U-223 struck the Dorchester off Newfoundland, and it sank in less than 30 minutes. Hundreds of men died. The chaplains sacrificed their life preservers so that GIs might live.
Is anyone surprised Bachmann's mangling military history again? After all, this is the congresswoman who used the failed Charge of the Light Brigade as a rallying cry for tea party victory.
(City Pages Blotter)
Eric Roper at the Star Tribune tells us that Michele is going to be riding a big bus with her face on it, real soon:
The Stillwater Republican's campaign announced today that they will be touring the district in a bannered campaign bus (pictured above), including stops this week in Woodbury, Anoka, Hugo and Waite Park. There will be a second tour in September.
Then article lists the stops that the Michele bus will be making along with the dates and times. The most interesting stop is this one:
Federal Ammunition
Time: 10:30AM - 11:45AM
***No Photography or video will be allowed***
Thursday, August 26
900 Bob Ehlen Dr., Anoka, MN
That line about how "no photography or video will be allowed" during Bachmann's appearance at Federal Ammunition is not something I inserted in there. The Strib printed that; apparently it's from the Bachmann campaign's announcement.
Why doesn't she want pictures of herself with the crowd at the Federal Ammunition stop? (Apparently photography and video are permitted at all the other events on the tour. Hey, wait a minute--*can* a member of Congress legally forbid citizens from taking photographs or video at a public campaign appearance?)
There's a picture of the bus with Michele's face on it at this link, if you want it for your scrapbook.
Another good column from Guardian pundit Michael Tomasky. He's inclined to see Republicans gaining control of the House this fall. And he spells out the reason why:
But the bottom line is this: the Democrats are afraid of the Republicans. They - all of them, from Obama on down - are afraid of Rush Limbaugh and Michele Bachmann and you name it. You hear Democratic operatives talk strategy, and there's always a "logical" reason why this or that aggressive attack might not work. But it's nothing to do with logic. They're just afraid. Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who wants the government out of everything, is a good case in point. It's been revealed that her family farm has received $250,000 in federal subsidies. If she were a Democrat, the Republicans would make sure the entire country knew it.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is in a bit of hot water over a copyright infringement. Bachmann's latest attack ad against Tarryl Clark uses the Minnesota State Fair logo without permission.
