Surprise: Michele Bachmann Spouts Off More Crazy Lies

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 9:10 AM on April 29, 2009.

We should at least consider the possibility that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is a secret liberal activist, pretending to be a lunatic in order to make conservative Republicans appear ridiculous.

Rep. Michele Bachmann came up with another doozy during her interview Monday with Pajamas TV. [...]

Here's the quote: "I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

An "interesting coincidence." What's interesting about it? I haven't the foggiest idea, but Bachmann apparently sees some significance in the fact that the last flu epidemic occurred under a Democratic president.

Except, of course, it didn't. Not only is Bachmann drawing some kind of bizarre connection that only she understands, she also doesn't realize who was president in 1976. (It was Gerald Ford, a Republican.)

Bachmann's latest example of madness got me thinking, however. The five biggest modern flu crises that scientists know the most about occurred in 1889, 1918, 1957, 1968, and 1976. Three of the five occurred under Republican presidents -- Harrison in 1889, Eisenhower in 1957, and Ford in 1976. The other two -- Wilson in 1918 and LBJ in 1968 -- were Democrats.

You know what this means, don't you? Isn't the significance obvious?

Well, no, probably not.

Tagged as: obama, carter, michele bachmann, crazy, swine flu

Steve Benen is "blogger in chief" of the popular Washington Monthly online blog, Political Animal. His background includes publishing The Carpetbagger Report, and writing for a variety of publications, including Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect, the Huffington Post, and The Guardian. He has also appeared on NPR's "Talk of the Nation," MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show," Air America Radio's "Sam Seder Show," and XM Radio's "POTUS '08."