Occasionally Tweety comes up with a good one. Here he is with a panel discussing Michele Bachmann's "ignorance", and he doesn't let her off the hook even for a minute, going all the way back to 2008.
Here's the thing: When Tweety says the right wing has adopted an "anti-intellectual cant, as if not knowing anything is somehow knowing everything," he's partly right. C&L member mmtwain quite accurately pointed out on my post yesterday, Bachmann isn't really ignorant. She's just playing it for TV.
[S]he knows where Lexington and Concord are. I think it's part of the deeply cynical strategy to appeal to the "regular folks." The logic of "I'm just like you." Oh, and look at those pointy headed intellectuals calling me out because I got the state wrong.
I agree with the "garbage in, garbage out" comment, too. There is a way to challenge this stupidity, or this
"glamorization of stupidity" as Aaron Sorkin calls it. She needs to be asked, "If a plumber couldn't get the most basic pipe terms correct or if a carpenter couldn't join two pieces of wood, you wouldn't hire those people. So, if a politician can't get the most basic facts of American history correct, then they shouldn't be in the job. Why isn't this being shoved out there the way stupid Fox memes are?
That's exactly right. Her audiences will forgive her little gaffe at the mic easily. Those mean liberals picking on her? They're unforgivable. Bachmann's True Believers will rise up to defend her. Nixon in a skirt, spreading faux populism everywhere she gaffes.
BillO's Pinheads and Patriots segment last night asked which she was. Wanna bet over 3/4ths of the audience call her a patriot?