Michele Bachmann Goes on Fox News To Say She is Not Going Away –

And That the Administration Wants to Silence Her and Conservatives

Michele Bachmann appears with Mitt Romney at a campaign stop in Portsmouth, Va., on May 3, 2012.

Really Mitt - how did you think this was going to help you get elected? 

It is kind of with mixed feelings that one read that Michele Bachmann went on Fox News (where else?) and announced that she might be back in the public arena at some time in the future after she retires from Congress.  The most likely interpretation here is that this is just the dying embers of a doomed political career, one that is evolving from public office to public speaking (for tens of thousands of dollars per speech of course). 

“I’m not taking anything off the table, but … that’s not my No. 1 item that I’m looking at right now, either. I’m in the game for the long haul,” Bachmann said.

That really sounds like a lame cliché ridden attempt to remain relevant, but it is possible Ms. Bachmann will run again. The reaction here is that the entertainment value of such a candidacy is so great that we would want her to run, but that the destruction to public discourse is so great that the nation would really be better off if she did not.

But one aspect of Ms. Bachmann’s interview on Fox that is intriguing was this.

Staying true to her firebrand style, the Tea Party Caucus leader had strong words for “the radical left” and Obama administration.

“They want to silence the African-Americans who are conservative, Latinos who are conservative, conservative women — they certainly want to silence our voice,” Bachmann said.

Ms. Bachmann told a lot of falsehoods during her time in public office.  These were not lies, because she really did believe what she was saying.  And the fact that she did believe these things is somewhat worse than telling things she knew to be untrue.  It presents her as a fool rather than as just another unethical politician.  She would have been greatly served if someone, eanyone had silenced her at various times.

Well anyway, back to the point.  Everyone believes in free speech here and there is of course no evidence that the Administration wants to silence anybody, or that they are in any way capable or competent enough to do so even if they wanted to.  But you know Ms. Bachmann, a little bit of self-silence would go a long ways towards reducing the criticism of your positions and statements, so think about that if you will. 

Just a thought.