You know, the US Constitution rules out religious tests for public office, but I don't believe it says anything about sanity tests.

I think the Republican party has decided to adhere to the principle that it's easier to be an expert on shit that you simply make up.

"Honestly, if Michele Bachmann didn't exist, we'd have to invent her."

I believe that I have a fertile mind and I believe that there are lots of comedy writers around and there are lots of science fiction writers around; but I don't think any of us have that warped a mind to be able to invent her.

OhNoNotAgain - Super comment!

I notice her proposed legislation only prohibits abandoning the dollar for foreign currency!

Is Ms. Bachmann setting us up for a return to beads and trinkets as a medium of exchange? Inquiring minds want to know!

this isn't something congress can ban -- it's a decision by foreign countries about what they do with their reserves.

That's the first thing I was thinking. Assuming she even knows what she's talking about (and she doesn't), it's the international reserve currency, and I don't think we have a veto power to stop the rest of the world from changing it.
This is the realm of UN conspiracy theorists, which is right where I'd expect to find Bachman.

We love to snarkerize about flakes like Bachmann, and I get that and play along (e.g. Steele has been one of the best "cow bell and popcorn providers" in the game, and see at Candorville cartoon.) But I think it's time here to get serious and wonder just what goes on in the minds of such people: how literally do they take themselves, are they just gaming things for partisan advantage with their horrid base, are they really off-balance people with mild (?) social pathologies, etc. IOW, I'm looking for serious "clinical" judgments, literally.

I love John Cole's take on this: "Bachmann is so crazy it makes me sorry that Will Ferrell is male."

Just go ahead and introduce her bill, but add similar clauses that make its status clear. I'd suggest mandating that oxygen and nitrogen remain official components of the U.S. atmosphere, and that any attempt to change the name of the country to "Tweedles" be forbidden.

Do Republicans claim her?

If I was Republican, I'd be embarassed. She's not the only one saying stupid shit as if it makes sense. Why aren't they (GOP) embarasssed by people like her, numerous GOP members who say embarassing, stupid, ill-informed, misleading, ignorant statements....constantly?! And no one is even slightly cringing at the idea of someone in their party saying this. It's like some GOP filter that allows them to filter out the stupid shit and fill the space in with something that they think is credible, logical, cogent. Tone deaf to stupidity as long as they understand that it's part of the 'ideology' then they'll listen and agree to almost anything.

Who are these freaks of nature that have no sense?

Does anyone else besides me like (I mean tactically and strategically) having Bachmann Moron Overdrive in the public eye? Even the least interested, non-brain dead folks can 'get' how completely bankrupt she is. I mean, I think her insanity 'makes sense' to even a casual observer the same way psychosis stands in as an easy to understand heuristic for....insanity. As opposed to, say, the insidious and truly dangerous insanity of Cantor, McConnell, Palin, Inhofe, Barton, et al. I say the MN lege should perpetually refine her district to make sure she never leaves the House.

I second SadVet. Who would dare dream up such a loony-tune, even as a satire? Bachmann actually makes seem Sarah Palin almost rational.

I'm wondering what sort of wing-bat lives in her district. I've been in Minnesota a few times and always had the impression that most people there were decent and sensible. Have they sequestered all the nutjobs in one place?

Last night Lou "I think I am slurring my words" Dobbs gave support to Bachmann's claims by asserting that Geithner had backed away from his statements re the dollar during a speach to the counsel of foreign relations. He said the dollar plummetted as a result. He never bother to mention the distinction between US currency and reserve currency. He treated the issue the same as Bachmann, and this supposedly a "money" guy. Is Bachmann asking whether the US would ever hold its reserves in say Euros rather than green backs. If yes, seems like a legit question. But that didn't seem to be what she was asking?

Well, once the US joins with the UN for the true One World Government, then the currency we use won't be foreign, but 'naturalized'.

I'm suggesting we go with latinum. Ferengi's can't be all wrong.

Maybe Greg Sargent could call her office and ask if her bill would make it illegal to return to the gold standard.

Steve, you've written before about the presumption of non-stupidity that we grant our elected officials, and how the Republican Party, as a rule, has decided to make a mockery of that presumption.

Strictly speaking, if the US adopted a foreign currency, it wouldn't be foreign anymore.

29 co-sponsors at the moment, including (natch) Ron Paul.

That the president already addressed this in his prime-time press conference this week was apparently insufficient.

She was at the Britney Spears concert with Eric Cantor (that was her head bobbing in his lap), so she missed the President's comment.

Backmann is also demanding that Obama declare that monopoly play money will never replace the dollar as America's currency either. She is writing legislation to introduce the measure into congress next week along with legislation that robots will never replace people as the legal citizenry of America. She is demanding a response from Obama on the robot/citizens legislation.

She really needs medical care. Once a congress person steps over that crazy line they should not be allowed to waste the time of the congress but she's not just crazy...she's stupid too. She's an embarrassment without enough sense to keep her mouth shut.

Go ahead and laugh now, but when they've taken away your guns and your God, and replaced tour dollars with yen of francs, it won't be so funny.

I've been in Minnesota a few times and always had the impression that most people there were decent and sensible. Have they sequestered all the nutjobs in one place?

Yeah, I would expect a rep. from somewhere in Oklahoma or Mississippi or Idaho to come up with this stuff, or rural parts of my own state of Pa. Maybe Minnesota is on to something--confine the wingnut population to one district so the rest can do grown-up work.
The Census Bureau needs to check this out.

The Chinese want to replace the dollar? What kind of Americans are they?

Sean Hannity had her on his show last night and was praising her for speaking up on this important issue. I couldn't hear all of it, my travelling companion started ranting about what an idiot she is.

Al sez:
"Go ahead and laugh now, but when they've taken away your guns and your God, and replaced tour dollars with yen of francs, it won't be so funny."

Oh no! I LOVE tour dollars! And yen of francs so totally suck!

What really, really needs to happen is for Samantha Bee to interview Backmann. She should ask Backmann if she is aware that the U.S., in addition to "the dollar" also has "the penny" as its official currency and demand to know if she will be banning that as well to keep "the dollar" our only currency.

Please, please can we get this woman certified. I think she will find that the universal currency for dealing in oil is the dollar, the world could change that if they wanted, couldn't they? Of course we could use whatever we want, but we are at the mercy of the exchange rate.

Honestly, if Michele Bachmann didn't exist, we'd have to invent her.

Why would we have to invent her, Couldn't we just think about it, and then reject it as being "stupider-than-stupid?"

I'm no lawyer. but it seems to me that it would require an Act of Congress to change the currency of the United States. Wouldn't there be a need to overturn the Coinage Act of 1792, which I believe established the US Dollar as the official currency of these United States? and wouldn't that require an Act of Congress? so isn't this 'bill' just passing a law to forbid Congress from passing a law (which could, of course, easily be overturned by Congress passing a law allowing it to pass a law overturning the previous law forbidding it from passing a law?)

my head hurts.

But if Dems don't support this wingnuts can accuse liberals of trying to destroy the dollar by replacing it with the French Franc or something. The right wing mind is a wonder to behold.

I believe I heard that this (foreign currency( is a decision of the IMF. And that we(US) has veto power over IMF decisions. Not calling Bachman sane, but it sounds like there may be a nano point here.

The neocons have adopted the lottery approach to policy making. If you say enough 'different' things, sooner or later you are bound to be right and if Obama happens to be wrong about the same thing, then you(whoever happened to say that particular bit of drivel) is obviously the new savior of the 'movement'. Its a variation of the stopped clock method in which you tell time with a warehouse full of busted clocks.

Ummm, guys, the (French) Franc is no more. The French use the Euro. And have for quite a while now.

Still, you think the kooky Protestants would support the One World Currency (tm). This would surely hasten the One World Government lead by Obama the Anti-Christ and, eventually, the Return of Jesus. For the true believers this will be a painless process since they'll be Raptured away, leaving us godless types to get our just desserts in the Great Tribulation.

Actually, we're all overthinking this.

Michelle Bachmann does, in fact, represent a deeply right-wing district, made up mostly of quite affluent white people who seem to be about as smart as a sack-of-hammers. One wonders how they made their money.

But, my point it, Michelle was, I think, deeply frightened by the mess she made for herself when she got nailed on you-tube for her wing-nuttery.

Tinklenburg could not win as a Dem in her district, but he gave her a good scare. Further, I'm sure Michelle is paying attention to what's happening to Arlen Specter over in PA.

She's simply doing whatever she thinks is necessary to corral and keep her voters in her district happy. That's it. Politicians generally do and say things for one reason: to get and keep power. For Michelle, it's all about placating the most extreme elements in her voting base.

This does not mean she isn't a complete whack-job--I think she is--but she isn't operating in a vacuum either. She has aides. Advisors. Rich constituents. She's taking the temperature all the time, and latching onto any issue that can keep her looking good to her psycho voters back home.

That's pretty much it.

Steve,
Luv ya babe, but not you, nor anyone else could "invent" her.
Joseph Heller would have rejected her for "Catch 22" for being too absurd.
Hunter Thompson should have waited. Instead of killing himself with a gun, he could have died of laughter listening to this twit.

Since you mentioned the Fairness Doctrine, I'm going to raise this here, and hope you make a post about it. When did ABC decide to give Mike Huckabee radio time? I listen to AFN radio to and from work each day, and apparently they've decided to give Huckabee the time slot they used to have Paul Harvey in (may he rest in peace). It would be a challenge to sound less informed than Huckabee does, but he's now got broad exposure, and a platform to launch himself from.

Why DO the good folk of Minnesota put up with an unhinged looney like Michelle?

I blame it on the fact that the Weekly World News stopped publication. Once the crazy builds up enough pressure, it's got to erupt somewhere, and without the WWN to provide a safety valve, Michelle is the weakest link.

She needs to start legislating on immigration as well. Stop those illegal Bigfootians sneaking over the border from Canada before they overrun Minnesota and make common cause with leftist moose. (Mooses? Moosi? ah, to hell with it: Beware the Commimoose threat!)

Faux news also needs to give Michelle her own show. Or maybe MadTV will.

Oh, Ali G, where are you when we need you most?

How about a Bachmann watch list, similar to the McCain Flip Flop list last year? Ridiculous statements and questions from the wacky and wild congresswoman from the 6th District of Minnesota.

BTW the Weekly World News is alive and well on the web and as a matter of fact has recently weighed in on this very topic!

http://weeklyworldnews.com/politics/7088/michele-bachmann-armed-and-dangerous/

Actually, the dollar does periodically come under threat of being toppled as the world's reserve currency and default denomination. As wiser heads have highlighted, there's absolutely nothing the United States can do about that. One reason Iran turns some politicians' teeth sideways at the very mention of its name is their opening of the Iranian oil bourse, or stock exchange, with oil prices denominated in a basket of international currencies - all tied to the Euro rather than the dollar.

The Euro is unlikely to replace the dollar, though, as it has demonstrated by sliding just as erratically in value as the dollar. Still, introduction of an alternative makes people think. Hey; why do we buy dollars, anyway? China could kick the underpinning out from under the dollar any time it wishes, as evidenced by the panic wave in the markets when the Chinese Prime Minister expressed "concern" over China's dollar investments' decline in value. Such remarks are tests, probing for weakness, which is certainly present.

None of this takes away from the fact that Michelle Bachmann is barking-at-the-moon, rolling-on-the-floor crazy. An excellent advertisement for Republican mental health in general.

How do you know that she isn't just getting into character for a Stillwater Community Players production of Marat/Sade or One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest?

I love John Cole's take on this: "Bachmann is so crazy it makes me sorry that Will Ferrell is male."

I wonder if Tina Fey is looking for a new gig.

We also need a law saying the Grand Canyon can't be sold and moved to any other nation.

I demand a bill blocking Esperanto as the official language of the U.S. or any other country.

It's got to be confusing to other members of Congress. Judging from her questions to Geithner and Bernanke, she either doesn't understand fundamentally how her own government works, and what her job entails. She also doesn't seem to have a sound grasp of world finance (which is disconcerting given our financial problems.)

As much as we think this is amusing, we all have a much better appreciation for how serious the problems are, and how important it is to get this mess fixed. She is in an important position with a important job. It would almost be necessary at some point for us to clearly hear her say that she is functioning rationally and just pandering to the nutjobs that elected her to office.

What is the official mechanism when you have to deal with a Congressperson that may have serious mental issues? How do you have her checked out to make sure she is fit for office? It would not be pleasant to realize that we have quite literally watched a member of Congress go nuts before our very eyes, and no one has acted to help her.

If I was Republican, I'd be embarassed.

Just be glad you aren't a constituent.

I would love to hatefuck her. With those crazy eyes, you just know that she is nuts in bed. I would fill her up then tell her how great I think the democrats are, and then try to hold on for the ride.

What is the official mechanism when you have to deal with a Congressperson that may have serious mental issues?

Are you kidding? Strom Thurmond's staff propped him up and wheeled him into the Senate to vote for years after he was seriously dead.

"Honestly, if Michele Bachmann didn't exist, we'd have to invent her."

(quickly packing Fisher-Price DNA Splicing Kit from childhood into box in back of closet)

What? I've got an alibi and you can't prove anything! Really should have studied harder in science classes, though...

What is the official mechanism when you have to deal with a Congressperson that may have serious mental issues?

Election.

Seriously I don't think there's much you can do. There have been some real crazy-loons in the House in the past. Unless she gets fingered for a corruption charge or something else impeachable the best you can hope for is that her district isn't as crazy as she is and that they might be embarrassed enough at her antics next election to throw her out.

From what I've heard from friends who live in her state, the odds of that happening aren't all that good.

I suggest a US Representative introduce a bill overturning the law of gravity. That way, twits like Michele Bachmann can just... float... away... leaving the rest of us in peace.

-Z

the only thing I can figure is that Bachmann is trying to out-do Sarah Palin in idiocy.

Isn't the U.S dollar fiat currency? In other words, isn't the greenback legal tender because the government (congress) made it so?

If(?!) that is the case--if it isn't, I apologize for sleeping through my government class--then why do we need another law stating that the USD is the only currency?

Bachman is a (somewhat) good-looking airhead, but that's about it.

Perhaps she's thinking that if dollars were good enough for Jesus then they're good enough for us?

I'm wondering if we could use Steve Duncan's idea about the Grand Canyon to somehow harness the power of Republican stupidity. Perhaps we could start a PAC to ask for donations to fight the Obama plan to sell the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the Iranians just to pay off the national debt. (We could ask for additional funds to make a counter-offer, and complain that the rims are a matched set that God gave America to support tourism and the Winnebago industry, and moan about how horrible it would look if the government dug the canyon up for sale and just left a big hole in the ground.) (/snark)

Ummm, guys, the (French) Franc is no more. The French use the Euro. And have for quite a while now.

The Swiss franc, OTOH....

If you invented her, no one would believe you.

Thlayli, the poster mentioned the French franc. There are tons of other francs, none of which would really serve as a useful reserve currency: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franc.

One post made mention of the Rapture, but in another blog I saw the suggestion that she is dog whistling to the End Times crowd in that supposedly one of the signs of the End Times is a Universal government with a Universal currency.

Sixth District, can you tell us whether your district has a preponderance of Bible Thumpers?

Texas Aggie: "Sixth District, can you tell us whether your district has a preponderance of Bible Thumpers?"

ah, yes, Minnesota's 6th district. Much of this district was settled, not by Bible-thumpers but by German Catholics. German was the first language spoken there until the 1950s. It is the region in which "Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life"--a group that energized the anti-abortion movement after Roe v Wade--got its start. Drive through it today, and you'll enjoy a number of graphic anti-abortion billboards. It is not particularly affluent nor particularly well-educated--think "parochial, suspicious of outsiders, narrow-minded, bigoted, conservative"--think "Kinder, Küche, Kirche." Whether she wins again in 2010 will depend on whether the DFL field a candidate attractive enough to win Independent voters.

In her first Congressional race in 2006, she received most of her funding from outside the district. Iirc, she was hand-picked by the Bush WH for the position and received funding from the RNC. In the last election, Bachmann narrowly won with only 46% of the vote--3.6% more than her Democratic opponent. She was helped by a third party candidate who took 10% of the vote. If Minnesota had instant run-off voting, Bachmann might not have won (in addition, we would have a second senator.)

She is an effective candidate; she seems polished and articulate to true believers. The fact that she is babbling nonsense and has those crazy-Jesus eyes flies over the heads of her base because she is saying what they want to hear. If they were thinking people, they wouldn't be Republican.

She's Katherine Harris 2.0.