Rep. Bachmann (R-MN) had a bright idea the other day; suggest on national television that members of Congress should be investigated by the media to see if they are “anti-American”. I mean, putting the small towns above everyone else and determining that certain parts of the country were more “Pro-America” than others worked wonders for Governor Palin, so a little McCarthyism can’t hurt, right?

Very, very wrong, as it turns out

The response was immediate. The video with her remarks spread like brushfire. Nancy Pelosi denounced the remarks, which was to be expected. Less expected and altogether more devastating was Collin Powell referring to the statements in his criticism of the GOP on Meet The Press.

His Democratic opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, has reported a huge surge of donations after the comments were made. He has received around $640,000. That’s more than he had reported for the whole third quarter. The DNC has also said it plans to help her in him run against the incumbent.

The headaches don’t end there for Rep. Bachmann. Her opponent in the Republican primary, Aubrey Immelman says he plans to resurrect his campaign vía write-in votes as a result of the comments. In his words :

But now, Rep. Bachmann has dishonored her office and brought shame to the Sixth District and the State of Minnesota by calling for a media investigation reminiscent of McCarthy-era witch hunts to “find out [which members of Congress] are pro-America or anti-America.”

Though I found Rep. Bachmann’s words to be disturbing and a weird sort of throw-back to a mix of the 50s and the early Iraq War run-up, another time when “Or you’re with us, or you’re with the terrorists” gave way to many of these sorts of comments, I am pleasantly surprised by the reaction. It looks like Rep. Bachmann is more an anomaly than a rule, and hopefully this will serve as an example to others who like to be loose and easy with such ominous words.

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