The most unintentionally hilarious political quote of 2013 so far, in my opinion, is the following gem from U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), in her announcement that she will not seek re-election in 2014: “[T]his decision was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or my former presidential staff.”
The best responsive quote is from John Avlon at The Daily Beast: “In a word: bullshit.”
The current Congressional session is scheduled to end on January 3, 2015. That gives us 612 more days of putting up with Michelle Bachmann’s crap. (There is a website that counts days.)
I’ll go back to Mr. Avlon for a few extra thoughts:
There is an impulse at the end of things to search for a redeeming quality, a handshake even between opponents for past battles well fought—and no doubt by midday someone will be offering a Slate pitch to go alongside the glossy partisan media farewells. But without attempting to characterize her personal life, the way Bachmann chose to use her time at the podium of public service was a disgrace.
She degraded national debate, consistently chose fearmongering over facts, and exhibited every impulse of the demagogue and the ideologue. If she ever bothered to do her homework, she could have been dangerous. Instead Bachmann will stand as a sad cautionary tale, a curious footnote used to explain the reality-show auditions of the 2012 GOP presidential primaries, now all part of her reel tape as she attempts to get what she always really wanted: a Fox News contract.
You have 1 year, 8 months, and 7 days left in Congress, Rep. Bachmann (calculating based on 30-day months). Try not to embarrass America during that time. I don’t care if you embarrass yourself.
As for the people of Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, please try a little harder in 2014. The whole country is watching.
