Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

When awards are handed out for Wingnuttiest Congressperson, Michelle Bachmann's got a damned good chance of taking the grand prize:

A friend passed along an item from the weekend, with an audio clip of Michele Bachmann chatting with a conservative talk-show host in Minnesota. In the ongoing debate as to which member of Congress is the single most ridiculous, this interview is very compelling evidence that Bachmann is, at a minimum, near the front of the pack.

The whole interview is about 13 minutes long, but it's worth listening to, if only to appreciate just how truly disturbed some far-right members of Congress have become.

Bachmann "explained" to the host and Minnesota audience:

* ACORN is "under federal indictment for voter fraud," but the stimulus bill nevertheless gives ACORN "$5 billion." (In reality, ACORN is not under federal indictment and isn't mentioned in the stimulus bill at all.)

* many members of Congress have "a real aversion to capitalism."

* the stimulus bill includes a measure to create a "rationing board" for health care, and after the bill becomes law, "your doctor will no longer be able to make your healthcare decisions with you."

* the recovery package is part of a Democratic conspiracy to "direct" funding away from Republican districts, so Democratic districts can "suck up" all federal funds. Bachmann doesn't think this will work because, as she put it, "We're running out of rich people in this country."

* the "Community-Organizer-in-Chief" is also orchestrating a conspiracy involving the Census Bureau, which the president will use to redraw congressional lines to keep Democrats in power for up to "40 years." When the host said he was confused, noting that congressional district lines are drawn at the state level, Bachmann said Obama's non-existent plan is an "anti-constitutional move."

There's no point in trying to fact-check such unhinged stupidity, but I should note that none of this is in anyway grounded in reality.

It seems that our Cons were standing behind the door when reality was handed out. That little space must've been rather crowded. Arizona's very own J.D. Hayworth was there, and from what I remember of him, he qualifies as two wingnuts all by himself. Here he is on Hardball, making an utter ass of himself as per usual:

Hayward [sic]: No, I'll tell you what was bad. The sneak attack on our economy, the dress rehearsal of Indy bank, when Chick Schumer helped get that started and the guy in the background George Soros manipulating all the currency.

Matthews: What?

Hayward [sic]: You want to keep that going?

Matthews: You mean the economic situation we faced right now...JD you can talk fast but I don't know what you're talking about.

Arizona has a hard time kicking out it's batshit insane reps, but they did a good job voting this assclown out the door. Like John Amato said:

Hayworth, the EX-Congressman from AZ. is the perfect example of what the Republican party is. They're a party of insane people parading around with the American flag draped around their shoulders while James Dobson whispers in their ears that gays are trying to destroy the world. Let them obstruct and perform like the sideshow---circus acts that they've become. Bring it on JD, you are the perfect messenger for a message-less and dangerous ideology.

So my question now is, why the fuck is this irrelevant fucktard on teevee? Entertainment value? But we've got so many other fucktarded Congresspeople who are currently serving to fill that role...

And it seems Americans are starting to get just a little bit tired of them:

On Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attended the NBA All-Star game at US Airways Center in Phoenix, AZ. Though McCain “might be fan favorite during Phoenix Suns games,” he “didn’t receive a warm hometown welcome” when he was introduced at the game:

McCain, who’s held his seat in Arizona for 22 years, was greeted with a smattering of boos and hisses when introduced with wife, Cindy, during a break between the first and second quarter of the NBA All-Star game Sunday night.

I can't emphasize enough how unusual it is for John McCain to get booed in Arizona. Methinks the tactics Cons are so proud of themselves for employing are having the desired effect only in their dreams. Taking marching orders from Rush Limbaugh may win points with a frothing few, but the more rational people are taking a swift step back from the insanity.

How bad is it getting? Well, let's put it this way:

When do you know Rush Limbaugh has gone too far? When TV preacher Pat Robertson questions his rhetoric and judgment. (via Faiz Shakir)
Robertson told U.S. News that he wants to give President Obama "the benefit of every doubt, and I definitely hope he succeeds." Dan Gilgoff followed up, asking, "So, you don't subscribe to Rush Limbaugh's 'I hope he fails' school of thought?" Robertson responded:

"That was a terrible thing to say. I mean, he's the president of all the country. If he succeeds, the country succeeds. And if he doesn't, it hurts us all. Anybody who would pull against our president is not exactly thinking rationally."

I'm not at all accustomed to agreeing with Robertson. It's a strange feeling.

Indeed. And anyone turning to Bill O'Reilly as a potential voice of reason - at least compared to Rush - has another think coming:

The absurdity that is known as Bill O'Reilly continues to get more absurd with each passing day if you can believe that. C&L wrote about BillO's mean spirited attack on Helen Thomas after she asked a question that he deemed ridiculous to President Obama during his first national press conference. He called the plus-eighty year old Thomas a witch and an old woman.

He took so much heat for it that he lied about what he actually said: O'Reilly flat-out lies to defend calling Helen Thomas the 'wicked witch'

On Monday's Factor, he used an online poll that came from his own website which was voted on for the most part by his followers that said he shouldn't have to apologize to her by a 93-7% margin as some sort of rationalization that the PC police are dead. And then linked a completely irrelevant protest to make his case. No, seriously. He's delusional.

That's today's right. Too crazy even for the frothing fundies, and living in a self-created world where everything's juuust fine and everybody luuuves them, despite all evidence to the contrary.

It would be hysterically funny if it wasn't so damned pathetic...