Perhaps Rep. Michelle Bachmann may find that channeling the late and unlamented Sen. Joseph McCarthy wasn’t such a wise idea — not so much for her re-election (don’t hold your breath and expect her to be defeated, no matter what you hear on MSNBC), but in terms of her status in Congress and (most assuredly) any future, serious Presidential or Vice Presidential ambitions. She has now been in effect repudiated by another GOPer. Crooks and Liars:
Better late than never but it appears Michele Bachmann’s over the top fearmongering is losing her some more friends on the right. Last week it was House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers. Now we’ve got her fellow Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner pushing back at her nonsense as well.
Go to the link to read more and watch the video.
If she wins re-election, it’s unlikely she’ll have the same kind of clout within Congress that she had when she decided to run for President. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews indeed had her pegged correctly the first time, when he came out against her demonizing, McCarthy-like comments about Democrats in Congress. American political debate can occur without suggesting foes are anti-American or threats to national security.
But then Matthews’ take seemed perhaps a tad to harsh when she ran for President. But now his many characterizations of her seem correct. Now she has come full circle again, becoming not so much a spokesperson of the Tea Party in Congress as the living embodiment of The Twilight Zone and possessed by the spirit of a long-dead Senator who has not been judged kindly by Senators — or by mainstream politicians in both parties.
Yes, she has the support of Rush Limbaugh in her comments. But where is the surprise in that?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.