Demagoguery Inc.

Demagoguery is finding real comfort in this week's campaign follies, as the brinkmanship displayed by Sen. McCain's campaign seeming loses any connection with reality. On today's show we pulled no punches in discussing the hysterical reaction among many of the Senator's emissaries. Now, in all fairness, Sen. McCain can't control these people -- Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) can't be stopped, obviously, or someone would have pulled her down from the ramparts a while ago -- but he COULD and SHOULD signal his disgust with the rhetoric employed by his increasingly disturbing legions of doom, complete with cries of "Terrorist," anti-Muslim stereotyping and the like. But alas, he remains silent.


Now Rep. Bachmann channels her inner McCarthy, and follows what has become a tired old script:

Step One: Say something regrettably stupid. In this case, say it to millions live on "Hardball."

MR. MATTHEWS: You put three words together — liberal, leftist and anti-American. How do they all fit together, those three terms — liberal, leftist and anti- American?

REP. BACHMANN: Well, that’s a good descriptor for Jeremiah Wright. It’s a perfect descriptor for Bill Ayers. And those are friends and people that Obama has pointed to as his mentors. In his book, Barack Obama had pointed to Jeremiah Wright as one of his mentors, and also Father Pfleger as one of his mentors. Two of the three mentors are Father Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright. Now, these are very strange, anti-American mentors.

But wait! There is more:

MR. MATTHEWS: So you believe that Barack Obama may have anti- American views.

REP. BACHMANN: Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.

Step Two: Deny it.

Despite the way the blogs and the Democratic Party are spinning it, I never called all liberals anti-American, I never questioned Barack Obama’s patriotism, and I never asked for some House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt into my colleagues in Congress.

Step Three: Quietly admit to it after being shown Youtube video...but blame the press!

Bachmann is blaming Chris Matthews for her gaffe, telling a Rotary Club event in her district yesterday that she had never seen Hardball and should have avoided the trap Matthews laid for her:

"When I was on Hardball with Chris Matthews last week, I do believe firmly that a trap was laid, but I stepped into it," Bachmann said. "And I made a misstatement, and I made a comment that I would take back."

Ah, a trap! Claptrap, perhaps.