In a move that shocked absolutely no one, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), said another crazy thing this weekend. This time, the Minnesota Independent reports, she warned that the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an expansion of AmeriCorps program that has already passed Congress, would lead to “re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.” Any non-crazy people who want to get a sense of how non-controversial this bill is should note that it has been praised by David Broder and passed the Senate 79-19.
The far-right blogosphere is having none of that bipartisan nonsense. Steve Benen rounded up some of the reactions here (one blogger compared it to the “Hitler youth”). Of course, the simple fact that the legislation is not, in fact, a plan for a Hitler youth corps or re-education camps is lost on people who are crazy. And while it may be impolitic to point it out, Michele Bachmann, who not only believes in this insane conspiracy theory but also believes that the US is moving towards a unified global currency, thinks that people should be “armed and dangerous” opposing cap-and-trade legislation, and supports a McCarthyite investigation of “anti-American” liberals, is clearly crazy. She’s also a member of Congress, which means we unfortunately have to pay more attention to her than your average kook on the street corner (or your average crazy rightwing blogger or talk radio host, for that matter). Sorry.
