HAS THE GOP COME UP WITH SOMEONE EVEN CRAZIER THAN MEAN JEAN SCHMIDT? MEET MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN)

There are probably a lot of moderate Minnesotans kicking themselves for electing one of the most radical and insane members of Congress in November. Michele Bachmann is probably too radical for Texas or Utah. She makes no sense at all in the moderate suburbs north of Minneapolis. Although the crazed religionist fanatic and right-wing kook only managed to garner a bare 50% of the vote a third-party candidate siphoned off enough votes, almost 27,000, to prevent a nice, normal moderate Democrat, Patty Wetterling from winning the 6th CD's open seat.

Ever since she was elected, Bachmann has been embarrassing her constituents with her bizarre and irrational behavior, even uncomfortably clinging on to Bush as he tried to squirm out of her grasp at the State of the Union speech. But today she really took the cake for congressional lunacy, descending into a place usually reserved for the likes of the Mean Jean Schmidts and Curt Weldons.

The Star Tribune is reporting that Bachmann claims she knows of a secret plan to divide up Iraq. Some rational people think dividing up Iraq isn't that bad an idea-- but not the way Bachmann is talking about. Obviously high on something-- she's a cult member of some nutty group that claims the Pope is the anti-Christ-- she claims she's already seen a map for partitioning Iraq "in which Iran will control half the country and set it up as a 'terrorist safe haven zone' and a staging area for attacks around the Middle east and on the United States." Can you imagine if you had a representative going on like this?

After she got back to her office and sobered up her staff explained that she sounded a little rough around the edges and asked her to back off a bit from the wild claims and bizarre fantasies. An astute friend of mine in Minneapolis explained that "Ms. Bachmann is absolutely batshit fricking loco" and that she'd probably be a one-termer.