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Jul 20th, 2009


On May 3, 2009, I wrote that I had begun a “Bachmann Watch” blog at the St. Cloud Times, “because Minnesota media don’t.” I then proceeded by noting that “the sheer weight and volume of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s assault on reason may have reached critical mass, crossing the tipping point beyond which Minnesota media could no longer tune out the insanity or avert their gaze from  ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ in embarrassed silence.”

On June 29, Bill Prendergast, a contributor at the Dump Bachmann blog, wrote a similar (though more scathing and elaborate) opinion, from which I excerpt below:

[…] Up til last year, the description of Michele Bachmann that could be offered by people familiar with her name would be “attractive social conservative rising star, an outspoken Reagan mom of faith who wants to cut your taxes.” That was the image that Bachmann and the right wanted to present, and almost every piece of professional media in this state accepted that definition of Bachmann at face value.

We didn’t. We were convinced almost from the beginning that Bachmann was a nut, a liar, and bigot. And a political extremist and stealth theocrat posing as a member of the conservative right in order to remain electable. We were also convinced that she was potentially dangerous — that the success of such a person in politics might lead to the election of more “stealth bigots posing as Reagan Republicans.”

At Dump Bachmann, we have no perceptible budget, no reliable media connections or influence, and no political influence. All we had was this space, and the truth about Bachmann — as drawn from her own remarks before audiences of conservatives and conservative evangelicals.

And the truth, by itself, is never enough. You have to have a media that will present the truth — to a very large number of people — or the truth “does not count.” […]

The supposedly “liberal” Minnesota press ignored the stuff we sent them about Bachmann’s most insane moments. They ignored the fact that we had collected her most insane moments over the years — documented and sourced these, with the dates they occurred — and made them available to any reporter or editor absolutely free, available twenty-four/seven on the web on this site and at The Bachmann Record. […]

But they just wouldn’t print it. We laid that fact in their lap for them, did all the research, all the fact checking, handed it to them on a silver platter — and … they … just … refused … to … print it. …

Our attempts to shame the local media into identifying MB as a nut, liar, and bigot had little effect here in Minnesota. We had some small victories, but no local paper or broadcast outlet ever signed on to our definition of Michele Bachmann until this year. And when they did so, it wasn’t because of the pressure we had been putting on them — it was because there was enormous pressure coming from outside the state, in the out-of-state media.

It was shortly after MB began making national appearances in the out-of-state media that those media outlets began to recognize her for what she was. It took nine years for local Minnesota media to tell the truth about her, but the out-of-state media caught on to the fact that she was a nut, liar, and bigot within mere months of her entry into Congress. And by the end of her first term, the nuttiness was generally acknowledged in non-conservative press outlets everywhere: after her appearance on Chris Matthews’ Hardball, where she suggested that the media investigate Congress for anti-Americanism.

That’s when it began to tip. […]

Back in Minnesota, publishers and editors and professional political journalists became uneasy. It was becoming obvious to everyone “what Bachmann was” — how could they continue to justify their longstanding policy of silence on the issue of her kookiness and extremism? How can they justify their careers and reputations and salaries, if they had missed out on reporting one of the biggest political stories in Minnesota, their home turf? […]

Bachmann’s national reputation as an irresponsible kook and demagogue was growing at the end of last year, and it continued to grow as her pronouncements and accusations continued to be reported to the nation. Earlier this year, it finally became too much for one Minnesota daily to ignore, and the St. Cloud Times officially identified her as an “extremist.” The fact that she was an extremist would have been news — a scoop — back in, say, 2001. […] In 2009, the news story was the fact that a Minnesota paper was finally willing to identify her as such.

So the scales continued to tip. This week, the Star Tribune finally ended its decade-long policy of ignoring or suppressing Bachmann’s conspiracy nut thinking; its editors acknowledged that she was in fact a conspiracy nut and had been since her earliest days in politics. […]

That Strib surrender, in an editorial, is a big tip of the scales here in Minnesota, and it’s going to have a lot of consequences here in Minnesota. From now on, it’s not just “a bunch of cranks” on Dump Bachmann that have I.D.’d her as a nut; it’s the biggest paper in the state.

From now on, the story about Bachmann is not how “she’s such an uncompromising conservative voice” or “she’s cute on TV” or “she’s a populist.” From now on, because the Strib has signed on to our definition of her as a nut — “the Bachmann story here in Minnesota” is going to be “what has that nut done now?” […]

Here’s the St. Cloud Times editorial that set the new standard for reporting on Rep. Bachmann:

Our view: It’s Official: Bachmann Is Nonfactor

Editorial Board
St. Cloud Times
April 19, 2009

Barely into her second U.S. House term, 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann already has cemented her role not just in Minnesota politics, but in crafting public policy.

On the former, she is an extremist. Voters surprised by that simply have not been paying attention — for a long time.

On the latter, two years of making extremist, uninformed and unsubstantiated comments in the national spotlight have made her a nonfactor. Granted, a media-savvy one, but still a nonfactor.

And that’s the real tragedy here. We understand politicians need to distinguish themselves to succeed. But at some point those politicians must set aside extremist, distractive tactics and focus on making viable public policies.

Look no further than the late Sen. Paul Wellstone. He was an extremist, but he relished robust and diverse public dialogue, ultimately using it to work toward viable public policies.

We see no hint of those latter characteristics in Bachmann.

Instead, she consistently invokes extremism, typically by flitting around today’s 24/7 media culture ad nauseam. She stops just long enough to drop her political bombs, yet never gives a serious thought to how to shape viable solutions in the partisan environment she knowingly inflames.

Sure, it infuriates opponents. More so, though, it does nothing to serve her district, much less the nation.

Witness comments she made to out-of-state media about a proposal to expand AmeriCorps: “The real concern is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward … It is a dream come true for people who want to transform our country from a free-market economy to a centralized, government-planned economy.”

Re-education camps? Really? This is vintage Bachmann. She provides no details, no proof, nothing of substance. At best, it’s extremism. Really, its more fear-mongering.

Making matters worse is that when confronted about her own words, she responds in themes ranging from “I misspoke” to “blame the media” or even silence. (Think “I know how the Iraq war will end” and her four-day lag last fall between questioning the patriotism of her peers, only to explain it as “I was trapped” by those evil partisan talk shows. Never mind that it was her 20-something appearance.)

This board has never been a supporter of Bachmann, but it was willing to treat her tactics and outlandish statements as errors in judgment and/or a need to get noticed. Sadly, we’ve had enough.

Two straight years of her consistently spewing misleading snippets about important issues yet never stepping beyond those statements to find realistic solutions make it clear she is all about extremism and cares nothing about crafting viable public policy.

———

Related reports

St. Cloud Times Editorial Board: Bachmann’s an EXTREMIST!
(Dump Bachmann, April 19, 2009)

After census dither, take a reality check
(Star Tribune Editorial, June 26, 2007)

Have we reached “The Truth About Bachmann” tipping point?
(Dump Bachmann, June 29, 2009)

——–

Related reports on this site

Bachmann: MN Press Pushes Back (May 3, 2009)

Bachmann’s March of Folly (July 10, 2009)

———

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago Today — July 20, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day Six

One year ago today, on the sixth day of my campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Sunday, July 20, 2008, I took a break from campaigning.





11 Responses to “Michele Bachmann Unmasked”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bachmann’s March of Folly Says:

    […] Michele Bachmann Unmasked (July 20, 2009) […]

  2. Aubrey Immelman Says:

    Cross-posted from the Minnesota Independent at http://minnesotaindependent.com/40096/bachmann-paulsen-most-vulnerable-2010/

    Linda commented July 24 @ 1:30 am: “You all would reject any happy, successful mom that stands by conservative principles.”

    Linda: That’s the false image of Rep. Bachmann that mainstream media in Minnesota presented until early this year, when first the St. Cloud Times, several smaller newspapers, and finally the Star Tribune began to call Bachmann on her extremism and hypocrisy.

    As commenter Bill Prendergast explained:

    “Up til last year, the description of Michele Bachmann that could be offered by people familiar with her name would be ‘attractive social conservative rising star, an outspoken Reagan mom of faith who wants to cut your taxes.’ That was the image that Bachmann and the right wanted to present, and almost every piece of professional media in this state accepted that definition of Bachmann at face value.”

    “We [the Dump Bachmann blog] didn’t. We were convinced almost from the beginning that Bachmann was a nut, a liar, and bigot. And a political extremist and stealth theocrat posing as a member of the conservative right in order to remain electable. We were also convinced that she was potentially dangerous …”

    Read more here:

    http://www.immelman.us/news/michele-bachmann-unmasked/

    and here:

    http://www.immelman.us/news/bachmann-mn-press-pushes-back/

  3. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bachmann: MN Press Pushes Back Says:

    […] Though the St. Cloud Times editorial board has never endorsed Bachmann, its stinging editorial two weeks ago (“It’s official: Bachmann is nonfactor”) reminded me of the conversion of St. Paul: “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose …” (Acts 9:18) […]

  4. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » The Empress of Exaggeration Says:

    […] The St. Cloud Times was the first newspaper in Minnesota to break its self-imposed code of silence regarding the bizarre behavior of 6th Congressional Distict Rep. Michele Bachmann in a stinging editorial on April 19, 2009, calling her an “extremist.” […]

  5. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bachmann Reels in CNN Says:

    […] Nearly all of those [media] appearances made news, featuring a supremely confident and combative Bachmann. […]

  6. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bachmann Suckers St. Cloud Times Says:

    […] After leading the charge in Minnesota earlier this year to set a new standard for calling U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann out for her radical extremism, the St. Cloud Times on Sunday backslid into the longstanding pattern of Minnesota media to gloss over or simply fail to report the full extent of Bachmann’s political paranoia and extremism. […]

  7. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » ‘Bizarre’ Bachmann ‘No Friend’ Says:

    […] Michele Bachmann Unmasked (July 20, 2009) […]

  8. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Response to Pro-Bachmann LTE Says:

    […] Michele Bachmann Unmasked … Bachmann’s Census Paranoia … Bachmann Brainwashing Paranoia … MN-06 Endorses Conspiracy Nut […]

  9. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Iraq-Afghanistan Casualties Says:

    […] Michele Bachmann Unmasked […]

  10. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bachmann Headlines British Press Says:

    […] Michele Bachmann Unmasked (July 20, 2009) […]

  11. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Ronald Reagan’s Plea to Raise Debt Ceiling Says:

    […] Michele Bachmann Unmasked […]

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