WATCH FOR RIFTS IN THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM…. A few months ago, extreme right-wing Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) chatted with radical TV preacher Pat Robertson on “The 700 Club.” I suggested at the time that the combined crazy quotient was enough to nearly cause a rift in the space-time continuum.
We’ll apparently face a similar space-time threat any minute now in Minnesota. Time‘s Michael Scherer had this report today.
To hear the chatter, this is big, like The Beatles partying with The Rolling Stones, or Prince sharing a stage with Michael Jackson, or Elvis doing a surfer movie with Frank Sinatra. The two alpha women of conservative politics, Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, will share the same stage in Minnesota Wednesday for a rally, with a private fundraiser to follow. Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland are setting odds on whether Chris Matthews will implode into a black hole.
The magic of this duo is that it crosses the ideological boundaries that govern our political discussion, exciting both the left and right in equal measure, and therefore perking the attention of the political center, which generally prefers to click links for Tiger Woods paramours and Sandra Bullock divorce rumors.
I guess I should feel bad, then, for forgetting that the event was today.
The truth is, Palin and Bachmann represent the worst American politics has to offer. I can appreciate the fact that the media is excited to have them share a stage, and there will no doubt be a strong turnout of far-right activists — a reported 10,000 tickets were distributed — but that doesn’t change the fact that these two right-wing politicians are a scary duo of reactionary ignorance, dishonesty, and unhinged conspiracy theories. They’ll be joined by Sean Hannity, which only helps prove the point.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), anxious to prove himself sufficiently crazy to the Republican base, will join the hyper-conservatives at the event — a step the one-time moderate never would have even considered a few years ago.
That today’s event will receive considerable attention should be cause for embarrassment among sensible Republicans, not celebration.
The DNC, meanwhile, released a short video today, reminding the public that the stars of today’s show really are crazy.
Post Script: The event is apparently intended to help Bachmann’s re-election campaign, but it’s worth noting that the gathering will take place in Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D) district.
