Last updated on March 23rd, 2013 at 12:18 am
All hail the media! Today, CNN’s Dana Bash chased down Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann to demand a response regarding Bachmann’s CPAC speech, which was bursting with inaccurate and crazy Obama conspiracies about his lavish lifestyle, including overpaid dog walkers and chefs. CNN figured out that most of the things Bachmann said were actually NOT TRUE (shocking), and so Bash decided that it was worth pressing Bachmann for a response.
But in this whirl of sudden accountability for the crazy statements made by actual elected representatives, Bachmann defended her desperate Obama conspiracies by hiding under Benghazi conspiracy accusations, which of course the media still buys. Still, Bachmann’s desperate pivot caused Bash to reflect, “It takes a lot to make me speechless. I was speechless.”
Watch here:
Bash said of Bachmann, “She was moving so fast, I have to tell you it tested my endurance.” Yes, the slippery lies of the crazy-infested conspiracy-riddled right will do that. They can’t afford to be caught. And this is why when Bachmann was caught, she rebutted with a dodge-and-deflect pivot into Benghazi (Benghazi is the new sanctuary for the right; it works as a rebuttal to anything).
Transcript from Huffington Post:
“You talked about the excesses that he’s engaged in, the fact that he has a dog walker, which is not true,” Bash said.
“The big point of my speech was about Benghazi,” Bachmann said. “This was an absolute disaster.” She eventually stopped for a second and snapped at Bash for bringing up the dog walker.
“But Congresswoman, you’re the one who brought it up!” Bash cried. Bachmann took this chance to flee.
“What’s amazing about the quote is she tried to turn it against you as if, how dare you bring up a dog walker, something so petty when because of the horror of what happened in Benghazi,” Cooper said.
“It takes a lot to make me speechless. I was speechless,” Bash said.
I know how you feel, Dana.
However, while we have you facing the absolute absurdity of the dog walker lie and the Benghazi dodge, allow me to point out that the Republican Benghazi conspiracy is just as inaccurate, just as faulty, and just as absurd as the dog walker claim.
Bachmann based her CPAC lies on some shady Republican lobbyist’s book, which was not sourced. But even according to these fantasies of transgressions, Obama is still more prudent than Bush according to the Washington Post (the only people brave enough to wade into this elephant turd). So, yes, the CPAC lies were just ridiculous and breathtaking. But hold on. The pivot is even worse, and not just for its pugnacious mendacity, but for its hubris.
The Benghazi conspiracy is even more absurd. Coming from the party who obstructed Libya and defunded security, these charges appear to be an attempt to deflect blame. Then you have the tragedy of the four who died (one of whom was a co-worker of one of our writers), and the weeks of confusion as intelligence sorted out what happened.
Contrast that with a party that lied to the entire nation, including the press, about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and used this lie to start a war that killed more than 4,000 of our own troops. We have yet to see a Republican admit that the WMD sales job was a lie, let alone bother explaining how they got intelligence so “wrong” for so long, but they have the unmitigated gall to expect day one perfection from intelligence under a different administration. It’s been over ten years and they still can’t quite sort out how they muddled Iraq or where that lost money went, but they’re outraged over Benghazi?
It’s called projection and deflection.
So, we salute CNN for their attempt to hold a Republican accountable for the crazy, sad things they say in order to keep the base foaming at the mouth (and thereby ensuring that we remain in a civil war with our family and friends who believe the circus propaganda as we fight for reality to win), and we understand the incredulity.
This is, however, hardly new on Republicans’ part. For years, Republicans have gotten away with figurative murder by taking sanctuary under hyper-charged deflections of “patriotism”, “terrorism”, “the troops”, and “security”.
In point of fact, it’s much worse than Bachmann pivoting from her CPAC lies to Benghazi. The pivot is what Republicans do best. If you pay attention, they are always on pivot alert, repeating talking points instead of really engaging in debate. If you continue to follow the crazy string to its natural conclusion, the incredulity will blow your mind.
Ask yourselves, media, when have Republicans been held publicly responsible and accountable for the WMD lies? When has any mainstream pundit dared to ask how they can demand we forget about WMD and Iraq while claiming that Benghazi is the Ultimate Failure?
“It takes a lot to make me speechless. I was speechless.” The bad news is, this is not an anomaly, Dana. This is the normal course of business for this Republican Party.
Forgot your homework? Failed to accomplish your mission? Forgot to pick up milk? Just wave the Republican Benghazi flag. It’s a get out of jail free card, good for the next two years until they manufacture the next outrage. In the meantime, Bachmann continues her Palinesque fear of the media after barely winning her last election. She’s just here to stir the crazy. She’s not here to govern and certainly not here to be accountable for the hatred and fear she incites.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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