Reckless, irresponsible peddling of conspiracy theories — sometimes meandering into the realm of political paranoia — has been a fixture of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s political career. Here is a sampling of Bachmann’s extremist rhetoric, incendiary demagoguery, and fringe beliefs documented since her first Congressional reelection campaign in 2008.

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Summary: Today marks the second anniversary of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s despicable Oct. 17, 2008 “anti-American” remarks on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews that propelled her into the national spotlight. As I reported two years ago, Rep. Bachmann “dishonored her office and brought shame to the 6th Congressional District and the State of Minnesota by calling for a media investigation reminiscent of McCarthy-era witch hunts to ‘find out [which members of Congress] are pro-America or anti-America’.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on October 17, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that bomb attacks killed three American troops in Afghanistan, while civilian casualties sparked a protest by a group of angry villagers shouting “Death to America!” and a suicide bomber driving a dynamite-laden truck destroyed a key bridge on a highway in Iraq’s western Anbar province linking Iraq to Syria and Jordan.

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Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann says if Republicans win control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm election, “all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another” to “expose all the nonsense that is going on.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 24, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee had added U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to its list of most vulnerable incumbents for 2010 in the NRCC’s “Patriot Program,” while the Swing State Project rated Bachmann as being in “real danger” of losing her seat in the next election. He also noted that a survey of 25 nations conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in spring 2009 found that positive public attitudes toward the United States had surged in many parts of the world since President Barack Obama’s election, to levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

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Summary: This weekend marks the first anniversary of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s despicable Oct. 17, 2008 “anti-America” remarks on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews that made her a national celebrity. As I reported a year ago today, Bachmann “dishonored her office and brought shame to the Sixth District and the State of Minnesota by calling for a media investigation reminiscent of McCarthy-era witch hunts to ‘find out [which members of Congress] are pro-America or anti-America.'” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 39th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman reported that Pakistan was scrambling for foreign aid to ward off a possible economic meltdown while trying to contain sharply escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists. He also highlighted looming economic problems, citing a Washington Post report that the U.S. federal deficit was soaring toward the $1 trillion mark by the end of 2008, “creating the deepest well of red ink since the end of World War II.” In response to Rep. Bachmann’s shameful anti-American commentary on “Hardball” with Chris Matthews, Immelman petitioned the Minnesota Secretary of State to run as a write-in candidate against Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District election for U.S. Representative.

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Summary: Year-end “honors” for U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann that couldn’t be accommodated in the December 31, 2008 Minnesota 6th Congressional District Year in Review. … Comparing the U.S. decision to hasten elections in Iraq with the Bush administration’s support for a vote in the Palestinian territories that was won by U.S. foe Hamas in 2006, Iyad Allawi, a former U.S.-installed prime minister of Iraq, said that despite repeated warnings, U.S. officials blindly foisted a Western-style democracy on Iraq, helping plunge it into sectarian bloodshed and a political morass.

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