Republican Party Splitting Over U.S. Role in Libya

I don't think Obama's Libyan war violates the War Powers Act, but unlike my fellow neocons, I'm more reserved in my support for the NATO campaign against Gaddafi. Recall Victor Davis Hanson's essay at the start of the war, "A Middle East Policy in Shambles." Completely ad hoc, and spineless too, it's hard to get excited about this, especially since Afghanistan (and Pakistan) remains the central danger point in U.S. international affairs.

Anyway, I think my concerns are not unfamiliar among the wider conservative establishment. Michele Bachmann, in particular, seemed to impart the sense that America's a bit overextended at the moment. See, LAT, "GOP splitting over U.S. role in Libya and Afghanistan":

Republicans are facing a widening fissure over the U.S. role on the world stage as party leaders decide whether to confront President Obama this week over his policy toward Libya.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other congressional Republican leaders have said that U.S. involvement in NATO's bombing campaign, which hit the 90-day mark Sunday, violates the War Powers Act. The House could seek to cut off money for the war as it takes up the annual Pentagon spending bill this week.

Several of the party's potential presidential candidates have called for the U.S. to quit the fight in Libya and questioned the depth of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

Other Republicans have begun pushing back, criticizing what they see as a growing isolationist agenda within the party. The result is that Republicans, once relatively unified on foreign policy issues, now have a division that parallels the long-standing split in Democratic ranks.

The debate was on public display Sunday as two of the GOP's leading figures on defense and foreign policy, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, criticized Republican presidential hopefuls and congressional leaders who question the country's military intervention around the world.

"There has always been an isolationist strain in the Republican Party," McCain said on ABC's "This Week," "but now it seems to have moved more center stage.... That is not the Republican Party that has been willing to stand up for freedom for people all over the world."

Graham said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that any debate over cutting funding for the Libya war would encourage resistance by Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi. "Congress should sort of shut up," he said.

McCain and Graham also criticized former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who's leading in the polls for the party's presidential nomination, for referring to the fighting in Afghanistan as a "war for independence" that the U.S. should leave to others.

"I wish that candidate Romney and all the others would sit down" with U.S. commanders "and understand how this counter-insurgency is working and succeeding," McCain said.

Romney was one of several presidential hopefuls who, in last week's Republican candidate debate, focused criticism on U.S. military operations in Libya and Afghanistan. None took the sort of hawkish positions that McCain advocated during his presidential run in 2008.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), for example, questioned what U.S. interest is at stake in Libya. "We were not attacked," Bachmann said. "We were not threatened with attack. There was no vital national interest."

Michele Bachmann Response to SOTU

Via Nice Deb:

And Bachmann's eliciting a heavy response from the deathly progressives. At Politico, "Michele Bachmann's Turn" and all the commentary at Memeorandum.

Miley Cyrus on #SNL

I watched it.

She was pretty good.

And like I always say, she and her handlers are marketing geniuses. It's working out for her way past the obligatory 15 minutes.

At LAT, "Miley Cyrus can't stop on 'SNL'."

And at Twitchy, "SNL viewers agree: Miley Cyrus should keep the hot Michele Bachmann look."

The Boehner/Bachmann spoof is here, "SNL Miley Cyrus Parody - "We Did Stop (The Government)" ft. John Boehner and Michele Bachmann."

Michele Bachmann Makes Formal Presidential Announcement in Waterloo, Iowa

At New York Times, "Bachmann Is In, Officially" (via Mememorandum).

My Fox Chicago has video and text of the speech, "Michele Bachmann's Presidential Announcement Speech."

Bachmann Calls 'Occupy' Protesters 'Obama's Advance Team'

You gotta love Bachmann.

At MSNBC:

URBANDALE, Iowa – During remarks to supporters inside her campaign headquarters Saturday, Michele Bachmann linked President Barack Obama to a large protest that had been unfolding outside the building only minutes before.

"You may have seen all over Des Moines the Barack Obama re-election advance team is already out there in the various parking lots of all of the campaigns," Bachmann told about 70 volunteers.

"This tells you that he is nervous," she continued.  "He doesn't want me on the stage. I want you to know, I'm not nervous. I'm fearless."

The rhetoric signifies a heightened effort to paint Obama as out of touch, something the campaign acknowledges is an element of Bachmann's closing argument to voters three days before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

And more coverage at Robert Stacy McCain's, "‘Occupy’ Protesters at Bachmann HQ: Proof That Gardasil Causes Retardation?"

Bachmann Bails on National Tea Party Convention

From Politico, "Lawmakers Back Out of Tea Party Event" (via):

In another sign that controversy is taking a toll on next week’s National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn., two of its top attractions — Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — have decided to opt out of their prior plans to speak at the event.

The high-profile blows to the convention come as several sponsors have backed out and organizers are struggling to sell tickets to Sarah Palin’s keynote address amid controversy about the convention’s unusual finances.

As first reported by POLITICO, the convention is being run by a for-profit Tennessee corporation called Tea Party Nation, registered to a little-known Tennessee lawyer whose efforts to position himself as a national tea party leader have put him at odds with some state tea party activists. The lawyer, Judson Phillips, intended to turn a profit from the convention, with the stated goal of seeding a so-called 527 group that would air ads praising conservative candidates or criticizing their opponents, though he now concedes he’s hoping just to break even and has tabled the 527 idea.

Maybe the guy will cancel it. Some folks are taking Sarah Palin to task for her participation, although I just don't like the idea of ticket sales for a tea party.

I'll be heading over to meet Michele Bachmann this afternoon, so perhaps I'll hear more on this. And if I'm lucky I'll get some good pictures as well. So check back tonight for that stuff ...

Michele Bachmann: 'President Obama is Destroying the Foundations of the United States Economy'

Via The Other McCain, "VIDEO: Bachmann Demands Resignation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner."

Also at Gateway Pundit, "Michele Bachmann: “I Call on President Obama to Demand Resignation of Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner” (Video)," and "Geithner Flashback: “There’s No Chance US Will Lose Top Credit Rating” (Video)."

Happy Birthday Michele Bachmann!

Congresswoman Bachmann was born April 6, 1956.

Readers can sign her birthday card here. Her election homepage is here.

And check Jonathan Chait (FWIW), "How Michele Bachmann Could Win," and Josh Marshall (same warning), "Is She Unstoppable?"

Michele Bachmann Slams HPV Vaccine Mandate at GOP Debate

She did fine in the debate: "Rick Perry's HPV mandate returns to haunt him."

It's the post-debate comments that weren't Bachmann's best moments. Ed Morrissey's got the main story, "Bachmann: Gardasil causes “mental retardation”." (Via Memeorandum.) And Los Angeles Times has a medical report, "GOP debates HPV vaccine, but medical community gives it OK."

I'll bet Bachmann recovers on this sooner than Perry. The mandate calls into question his bona fides as a small-government conservative. And the debate got heated today among right bloggers and on the Twittersphere.

AoSHQ has this: "Bachmann: I'm A-Goin' to Go Ahead and Push This Lunatic Vaccines=Autism Lie":

Michelle Bachmann is desperate. She's an ambitious, egotistical woman who started running for President just two short years after she first ran for Congress. In the past two months her support went from 13% and rising to 4% and falling.

So she needs something, doesn't she, and Rush Limbaugh warned her off her planned Social Security demagoguery.

So, instead, this bullshit.

And Dan Riehl's got this: "Perry Doesn't Look Ready to Lead America," and "So Much For NRO Being Conservative."

And Tabitha Hale on Twitter: "I think maybe I should abandon Twitter until primary season is over so I still have friends."

It's gonna get heavy like this on the right for a while. Folks are starting to really dig in behind their favorites.

Michele Bachmann: 'Now Is Not the Time to Take the Pressure Off'

Congresswoman Michele Bachman gave a must-see interview on last night's Sean Hannity. What's especially interesting to me, as one who's supported and defended Bachmann since she broke out as a target of the left last fall, is how increasingly penetrating her observations have become. At about 3:45 minutes, Bachmann notes that the town halls "are a wonderful thing ... we're actually seeing democracy in action, and it will be very difficult for Members of Congress to go back to Washington in September and clearly vote against their constituents' interests. None of them can say now that they didn't realize where the heartbeat of the American public is, and we'll truly see if the liberals in Congress are listenting to regular Americans." This is just gold!

Also, after blowing the lid off the alleged shelving of the public option, Bachmann says "the American people need to realize that they've been extremely effective with Congress ... now is not the time to give up, now is not the time to take the pressure off" because Democrats will move forward with some kind of public option.

Plus, conservative opposition to ObamaCare continues to influence public opinion. See Rasmussen, "Without Public Option, Enthusiasm for Health Care Reform, Especially Among Democrats, Collapses" (via Memeorandum).

On Barack Hussein's Patriotism

As Barack Hussein prepares for his inauguration (the President-Elect will use his full name), Bernard Chapin suggests we should be "Questioning Obama's Patriotism":

The case of Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was a cautionary tale. Mrs. Bachmann, while speaking to Chris Matthews on his television show Gutterball, stated, “I’m very concerned that he [Obama] may have anti-American views. That’s what the American people are concerned about. That’s why they want to know what his answers are.” Matthews, ever the partisan Democrat and by far the most devout of Barack Obama’s biased media protectors, referred to this banal statement as “an extraordinary claim.”

Well is it? Of course not. Given Obama’s career, his words, the tone of his autobiography, and his associations with ardent America-haters like Father Michael Pfleger, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, and William Ayers, Bachmann’s words were intuitive and anything but extraordinary. That Obama deems America — in its current configuration — a spurious venture appears to be about as controversial as believing that water is wet.

In the president-elect’s vision, we only will become a great nation if we alter ourselves into becoming another nation, one that precisely matches Obama’s desires and expectations. Regardless, Bachmann faced a reelection donnybrook and was forced to apologize. Recant aside, her expressed opinion was one a sizable plurality of her peers share.

Granted, the pusillanimous nature of the average Republican politician (excluding Bachmann) appalls, but there is no cause for the rest of us to retreat on this issue. In the hopes of clarification, let me state with absolute certainty that the reason we should question the political left’s patriotism is that they are not patriotic.

On a plethora of policies, from immigration to missile defense, the Democratic stance suggests that they do not have a dog in the fight when it comes to America’s national security. Were they not so embarrassed by our history, along with the unfashionable folks who inhabit our non-urban enclaves, they might well think differently.

On a plethora of policies, from immigration to missile defense, the Democratic stance suggests that they do not have a dog in the fight when it comes to America’s national security. Were they not so embarrassed by our history, along with the unfashionable folks who inhabit our non-urban enclaves, they might well think differently.

Moreover, the president-elect’s recent selection of Leon Panetta to become future director of the Central Intelligence Agency underscores this eventuality. It exposes the Achilles heel of the post-sixties Democratic Party. Mr. Panetta has practically no experience of working with the intelligence community in any capacity and neither does our impending director of national intelligence Dennis Blair. Obama argued that Panetta would be “committed to breaking with some of the past practices.”

Which qualifies him for what? Further, what practices need be terminated? Hopefully, the traditional practice of entrusting those who know how to do their jobs with defending the frontiers is not what he had in mind. In all probability, Panetta’s status as a loyal Democrat and one devoted to the Change.gov religion is what necessitated his nomination, but placing him near the apex of our national security apparatus is about as rational as the Detroit Lions hiring me to play cornerback. If Mr. Ford can overlook my not being able to cover receivers and withstand punishment, then he definitely will profit from my never rooting for the other team or leaking information to the Packers.

The ridiculousness of Obama’s choice was even apparent to Senator Dianne Feinstein, who observed, “I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA director. My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.” One would presuppose that the United States would benefit from having a CIA director who was familiar with both the military and the war on terror, but such an assumption fails to take into account the weltanschauung of our president-elect.

To Obama, the CIA job is merely a patronage position. Panetta is a Washington, DC, version of a “soldier for Stroger.” His is a superfluous appointment. As with all leftists, Obama regards America’s principal enemies as being the politicians in the opposition party. The critics of the progressive movement on these shores — as opposed to Islamo-fascists or the dictators of rogue states — are the real threat. After all, what’s a dirty bomb or a hundred thousand Katyusha rockets in comparison to those who correctly deride Obama’s plans for a twenty-first-century economy as “socialism” — which we all know is really a code word for “black.”

Yes, the critics of "progressives"?

That sounds familiar ...

Romney, Bachmann Lead Republican Field in Iowa

At Des Moines Register, "Iowa Poll: Romney, Bachmann lead Republican pack":

Two-time candidate Mitt Romney and tea party upstart Michele Bachmann are neck and neck leading the pack, and retired pizza chief Herman Cain is in third place in a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll of likely participants in the state’s Republican presidential caucuses.

The results are bad news for the earnest Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor who is in single digits despite a full-throttle campaign.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and business executive, claims 23 percent, and Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman and evangelical conservative, garners 22 percent. Neither has done heavy lifting in Iowa.

The rest of the Republican field is at least 12 points behind them.

Bachmann's lit a fire on the prairie. She's the one to watch.

Chris Matthews Goes Ballistic on Michele Bachmann

Dan Riehl's got the analysis, "Michele Bachman Gives Chris Matthews a History Lesson."

And man, these MSNBC freaks aren't wasting any time:

RELATED: "State of the Union 2011: Michele Bachmann delivers tea-party response to Obama."

Neoconservatives Still Dominate GOP

From Robert Merry and Robert Golan-Vilella, at National Interest, "The Neocon GOP: By Design or Default?" (via GSGF). And this doesn't sound fully accurate, considering Romney's statements in his foreign policy speech the other day:

The presumed frontrunner, Mitt Romney, seems particularly lacking in any coherent philosophical framework. He attacks Obama for the speed of his Afghanistan drawdown, for example, without offering a timetable of his own. (He says he would go with the recommendations of his generals.) He supported America’s role in the NATO intervention in Libya but criticized the way it was handled. His website calls for U.S. leadership in creating a “global military alliance of democracies dedicated to ensuring security and protecting freedom.” This scheme, expropriated from Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and the writings of polemicist Robert Kagan (also a Romney adviser), would be a recipe for an expanded American role in the world in the name of humanitarian principles—pure Wilsonism.

But Romney is relentless in his hostility toward China. He says that on his first day in office he would unilaterally slap trade sanctions against that Asian nation in retaliation for its currency policies (likely result: a devastating trade war), and he says Obama “caved” to Beijing by not selling the most sophisticated U.S. fighter jets to Taiwan. In his more general foreign-policy pronouncements, extolling “American greatness” and calling for a new “American Century,” Romney sounds rather like George W. Bush.

And frankly, I like Michele Bachmann's foreign policy:

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is an interesting case. She advocated aggressive action against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, saying, “We must defeat them in their backyard.” And she wants no cuts in the defense budget. But she seems cautious on questions of where and when America should intervene in the world. She says she would confine such interventions to instances when the country’s vital interests were at stake. Hence, she opposed the Libyan intervention as having no relation to the country’s well-being. And she is wary of democracy promotion in general. Indeed, she criticized Obama not for abandoning Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak too soon but for abandoning him at all. “We saw President Mubarak fall while President Obama sat on his hands,” she said. She later suggested the Arab Spring (which she, interestingly, sees as a disaster rather than a trend to be applauded and encouraged) emerged in part because Obama had demonstrated weakness in not being sufficiently supportive of Israel in the ongoing maneuvering between that country and the Palestinians.

I should have update on developments with GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD. I'm waiting to hear back from Courtney.

Michele Bachmann's Statement on Dede Scozzafava in NY-23: GOP House Leaders Endorse Doug Hoffman!

From Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, "It's All Up to Hoffman Now":

"First I want to thank Dede Scozzafava for her hard-fought campaign in this special election. And, I'd especially like to thank her for dropping out of this race for the good of the Party. I'm certain that it was not an easy decision for her to make, but it was the right one.

"I'd also like to urge anyone who can help Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in that race, to mobilize all their energy and resources to ensure Hoffman's victory next Tuesday.

"The polls all show that Hoffman's message of fiscal responsibility and conservatism are resonating strongly with the voters in that district. I am very hopeful that they will send him across the finish line in first place Tuesday night."

Plus, "Joint Statement from House Republican Leadership Regarding NY-23 Special Election":

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) today released the following joint statement from House Republican Leader John Boehner, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, and NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions regarding the the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District:

“As the House stands on the cusp of the forthcoming vote on a trillion-dollar healthcare reform measure, it is vital that we unify behind a candidate that will support reining in massive government spending and work with Republicans in Congress to restore fiscal sanity and propose thoughtful measures to get our nation’s economy on the right track.

“With Assemblywoman Scozzafava suspending her campaign, we urge voters to support Doug Hoffman’s candidacy in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.

“He is the only active candidate in the race who supports lower taxes, fiscal responsibility and opposes Nancy Pelosi’s agenda of government-run healthcare, more government and less jobs.

“We look forward to welcoming Doug Hoffman into the House Republican Conference as we work together for the good of our nation.”

NRCC Hat Tip: Dump Dede.

**********

UPDATE: Getting lots of linkage today! Thanks to Ace of Spades, Atlas Shrugs, and Astute Bloggers - the Triple AAA threat!. Plus, Fausta as well. Gateway Pundit too, who is sending me a tertiary Instalanche! Oh, and don't forget Dana Loesch!

Try to Love Again...

GSGF sent me the American Power widget I just added at the sidebar. And for fun I included the "Moonage Daydream" clip as well (more on that tonight). So, I'll just post a little more music now before I head out to the Michele Bachmann rally. Sheryl Crow's liberal as all get out, but I like her, and she's beautiful in this video. (Pat Houseworth loves his '60s-era bands, even though they were all antiwar, so it's a common problem among conservatives). Actually, "The First Cut is the Deepest" is a Cat Stevens song, and I'm mostly familiar with Rod Stewart's cover. But Crow popularized it for me in the 2000s. I remember her live performance at the American Music Awards (I think), and the song stuck ... So, enjoy, and check back later to see if I was able to score a photo with Michele Bachmann!

Republicans Push to Widen the Field of Candidates for 2012

Following up my previous essay on GOP efforts to break away from Donald Trump's shadow, the New York Times has a piece along the same lines, "Republicans Are Pursuing a Wider Field for 2012 Race."

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Republican leaders, activists and donors, anxious that the party’s initial presidential field could squander a chance to capture grass-roots energy and build a strong case against President Obama at the outset of the 2012 race, are stepping up appeals for additional candidates to jump in, starting with Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana.

“I’m getting letters from all over the damn country, and some of them are pretty moving,” Mr. Daniels said in an interview last week at the Capitol in Indianapolis, where his friends believe he is inching closer to exploring a candidacy. He added, “It can’t help but affect you.”

The first contests of the primary are about eight months away, and most of the candidates have yet to fully open their campaigns. But some party leaders worry that Republicans are making a bad first impression by appearing tentative about their prospects against Mr. Obama and allowing Donald J. Trump to grab headlines in the news vacuum of the race’s early stages.

“The race needs more responsible adults who can actually do the job,” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

RTWT at the link above.

Things definitely feel different this pre-primary season. A good comparison would be 2004, when folks might recall that Howard Dean had campaigned for over a year for the Democratic nomination. Dean was in fact widely expected to take either Iowa or New Hampshire on the strength of his antiwar message. We know what happened of course. The people spoke in Iowa and Dean when down in a screaming fit of fury immortalized in political lore as the "Dean Scream." Howard Dean was the antithesis of tentative, and look what it got him. So for Republicans in 2012, while it seems late in terms of the "invisible primary" of money, media, and polling, in fact there's still plenty of time for other candidates to throw their hats in the ring, and the field shaping up isn't as bad as the media makes out. Mitt Romney's going to be formidable, despite talk that RomneyCare is a killer (and I've even suggested RomneyCare's an albatross). All Romney has to do is denounce his own healthcare record in Massachusetts as a colossal mistake, make reference to polling there looking for a change, and then turn around and say never again! It might be tough in the primaries against fellow Republicans, but with a GOP Congress looking to repeal ObamaCare, Romney can ride his mea culpa on top of a wave of conservative opposition to big government. He's telegenic and an experienced campaigner, and the press will take him seriously, unlike Donald Trump.

Beyond that, I don't know much about Tim Pawlenty, although he looks pretty self-assured at the clip from New Hampshire above. We'll know more after a round of GOP pre-primary debates. Robert Stacy McCain reports on Herman Cain, by the way, who topped an AFP poll coming out of yesterday's event: "Herman Cain Wins 2012 Presidential Forum in Manchester, New Hampshire" (with video). I like what I've seen of Herman Cain, and at this point it's hard to figure out which would be a better ticket, Herman Cain and Allen West or Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, although I think this is still super long-shot territory.

But notice that discussion of Governor Mitch Daniels, who was Budget Director in the George W. Bush White House. Hmm ... Should he take the adoration seriously and enter the race, he'll likely end up an also-ran who leaves the grassroots wanting. The Times gives cursory discussion to Sarah Palin. Perhaps her moment to enter the race has passed (doesn't bother me, since I've long suggested she run in 2016). There's also mention of Chris Christie, Rick Perry, and Paul Ryan, and who knows, maybe one of them will surprise us (I like Christie)?

In any case, like I said, let's get on with the debates and see how things shake out. And keep an eye on the money. Michele Bachmann's been raising funds like the devil, and fundraising's one of the factors facilitating media coverage, so things can snowball for a candidate that way.

RELATED: Check the 2012 GOP primary calender at Frontloading HQ.

Michele Bachmann at David Horowitz West Coast Retreat in Palos Verdes, April 2, 2011

Well, if at first you don't succeed!! Here's Congresswoman Michele Bachmann after her keynote address last night to the awards dinner at David Horowitz's West Coast Retreat:

It's been a whirlwind weekend, and I have lots to report --- and loads of great photos to post. But I'm about to grab a quick shower and head back up to Palos Verdes for Day 3 of the conference. Check back later this afternoon for an update!

Cries of Fascism: Left-Wing Hypocrites Fan Flames of Hatred

Dave Neiwert has made a career out of fanning the flames of partisan demonization. He has, for example, offered a theory of "pseudo fascism" which he uses as an all-purpose bludgeon to slander conservatives as the reincarnation of the Nazis.

While scholarship has long noted fascist tendencies in the far right-wing of American politics, the comprehensive catch-all nature of Neiwart's project makes him look like an unhinged crank.

As Classical Values once remarked, about Neiwart's "pseudo-fascist" thesis:

I think it is a heavy-handed appeal to the emotions, because for most people the word epitomizes all that is evil. Focusing on some characteristics of fascism (nationalism and one-party rule), and comparing these features to a supposedly monolithic "conservative movement" ignores such primary features as murderous suppression of all dissent and government regimentation of industry -- which American conservatives simply don't support. This trivializes genuine fascism, and further, by making all who want this country to win the war (or their party to win the election), would implicitly tar many millions of Americans with the "pseudo-fascist" smear.

Keep this in mind while watching Katrina vanden Heuvel respond to GOP Representative Michele Bachmann's attack on Barack Obama's anti-American associations:

Note the emphasis here on "struggle," which is in essence, "class struggle" in Marxist-Leninist ideololgy. Ms. Vanden Heuvel is the editor of the far-left wing journal the Nation, but she herself is the epitome of the "liberal elite" and her own personal history mocks the notion of struggle, revealing it as no more than a hypocritical "progressive" power grab.

According to her profile on Discover the Networks:

A defining moment for Katrina vanden Heuvel came in May 2002 during one of her frequent appearances on MSNBC's Hardball. After vanden Heuvel spoke about how she lived in Harlem and understood the poor, host Chris Matthews let his audience know that in fact she lived in a multimillion-dollar townhouse in a posh section of Morningside Heights.

Did you notice the pure rage in Ms. Vanden Heuvel diatribe? There's a totally unveiled hatred of conservatives in this clip - it's an unmistakable anger at anything or anyone who might dare question the truly radical associations of Barack Obama, aka "The One."

In my post last night, "Is Barack Obama Anti-American?," I noted how today's radical left indeed hates American tradition and values, and hopes to turn this country into a social democratic regime. I suggested that anti-Americans aren't necessarily bomb-throwers; they're simply leftist ideologues who want a change of regime in the U.S., to turn the American state into something more like Canada or Denmark.

When people like Michele Bachmann are able to enunciate so perfectly the nature of that anti-Americanism, and Barack Obama's complete comfort in surrounding himself in it, the left has no other alternative than to resort to unhinged cries of McCarthyism and fascism.

It's all hypocritical and inflammatory - and is a preview of things to come under a possible Democratic administration in January.

A Happy Thanksgiving From Michele Bachmann!

I've been a supporter of Michele Bachmann since she first gained national notoriety (following an appearance on MSNBC's Hardball). And I received this greeting from her today:

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

As Marcus and I sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table with our five children we have a lot to be thankful for. As a family tradition we go around the table and name a blessing that we are thankful for. I have given a lot of thought to what I am going to say this year as I have too many blessings to count.

First, my husband Marcus and my five children, Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline and Sophia for your support and love over this past year!

Secondly, you and the volunteers and staff who worked around the clock to get me re-elected in the sixth district.

Thirdly, the number of supporters around the country that have supported me and donated to my campaign to promote the message of Constitutional Conservatives.

Finally, The biggest blessing of this year and every year is our freedom that so many men and women have fought and died for to protect. My family and I daily give thanks and pray for the men and women in our armed forces who are home and abroad ensuring our safety and selflessly protecting our God given rights to live as a free people.

Thank you for your support and rest assured that this Thanksgiving this country is stronger because of you. I continue to work to make this nation strong on the principles and blessings that so many of us are thankful for today.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and God Bless America!