Entitled To Her Own Facts

True, Michele Bachmann will not become the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 (or beyond). Nor will she be the vice-presidential nominee, as her popularity among candidates dip below chain-store pizza enthusiast Herman Cain. She exists mainly for entertainment value, operating much as a sound track does for television sitcoms, laughing loudly at anything even vaguely humorous uttered by one of the male presidential candidates during debates.

Bachmann is, further, one of a kind. At last night's GOP presidential debate (transcript here) in New Hampshire, she called herself "a federal tax lawyer. That's what I do for a living." Apparently, being a member of Congress is a mere hobby to Bachmann, who neglected to mention that her service as a "tax lawyer"- long past- was with the dreaded I.R.S.. Later, she would claim "I spent my whole life in the private sector," presumably confused about the status of the Internal Revenue Service.

Presumably confused. Criticizing the Community Reinvestment Act, she maintained "if banks failed to meet those rules, then the federal government said we won't let you merge, we won't let you grow." Switching gears later, Bachmann condemned the "Dodd-Frank bill" (Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection and Wall Street Reform Act), claiming "I have spoken to - to Iowa bankers, and they told me that they are going to see the collapse of community banks.... all across the state." One moment she wants to see community banks "merge" with national banks (not unlike piranha "merge" with other fish); the next moment it's a calamity.

Bachmann did not explain why the legislation would lead to "the collapse of community banks"- or name any of these banksters or the institutions they represent. If you let your mind wander a bit, it might have sounded like Bachmann claiming "a woman" told her the HPV vaccine led to mental retardation in her son. That charge was virtually debunked; the one about the community banks probably will go unexamined.

It always has been too easy to imply that Representative Bachmann is ill-informed, a flake, or makes rash judgements. But her remarks, including comments about the Community Reinvestment Act and about the alleged government role in the financial meltdown, or about the Independent Payment Advisory Board, may be prompted by something simpler.

In this debate, the giveaway occurred when Bachmann claimed

We asked him not once, but three times, "President Obama, what is your plan to save Medicare?"

and the president mumbled and he didn't give an answer the first time, the second time. And the third time the president said something very interesting, Karen. He said Obamacare.

Yes, because President Obama always refers to health care reform as "Obamacare."

But it's all okay. Representative Bachmann, asked about the source of her "spiritual growth," has attributed it "to the teachings of Jesus Christ and to the Old and New Testaments."

Some might call that slanderous.

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