For the second year running, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann figured prominently in 2009 year-end lists.

In the next few weeks, I will feature some of those tokens-of-recognition-for-all-the-wrong-reasons — but only sporadically, so as to minimize Bachmann fatigue and mitigate detraction from the primary focus of this blog, U.S. national security.

To kick off the series, the following wrap, courtesy of the Minnesota Independent, provides a concise overview.

Bachmann No. 7 on Washington Independent’s ‘Best and Rightest’ List

Rep. Michele Bachmann (Photo credit: The Washington Independent)

By Paul Schmelzer
The Minnesota Independent
December 31, 2009

Rep. Michele Bachmann has made plenty of year-end lists, including many with not-so-flattering names, from Mother Jones’ “Capitol Hill’s Most Unhinged Republicans” to mnPACT’s “Top 10 Worst Political Persons in Minnesota 2009.”

One tally where she’s getting props is by our sister site, the Washington Independent: Reporter David Weigel includes the Sixth District Republican in seventh place among “The Best and the Rightest: The Top 10 Conservatives of 2009.”

Weigel writes:

Omnipresent and ahead of the curve, the Minnesota congresswoman has become a 21st-century answer to Jesse Helms — a controversialist who gravitates to issues that drive liberals crazy. Sarah Palin’s Facebook post that alleged the creation of “death panels” in the health care bill was inspired by Bachmann’s floor speeches. The successful Republican drive to defund ACORN was borne from months of Bachmann’s attacks on the group [link added]. A year of liberal outrage has only furthered Bachmann’s credibility among conservatives: When the House passed a financial reform bill in December, Bachmann merely had to send out email alerts [related link added] positioning it as a grave threat to freedom, and the conservative base was sold.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — January 21, 2009

U.S. Army Sgt. James Bishop, center, and other soldiers from the 229th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (Photo credit: Maya Alleruzzo / AP)

Obama’s Agenda . . . Day 1: Iraq

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that in his inaugural address President Barack Obama promised to “begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people” and forge “a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan,” and that his promise to end the war in Iraq was on the agenda for the first full day of his presidency, January 21, 2009, when the new commander in chief was scheduled to meet with his top national security aides and senior commanders.