The GOP and the credibillity to govern

Caution: The author is a lefty who does not mince words in his opinions of certain people held in high regard by neo-cons and the like.

If common sense were currency Michele Bachmann would be broke, and holding a tin can by the roadside just now. Alas, because we live in an age where hyperbole is gold, Bachmann is rich.

She was on CNN the other day, a rare departure from the in-house fawning of Fox “News,” expressing outrage that President Obama’s trip to India was going to cost $200 million a day and involve nearly three dozen warships.

Anderson Cooper did what no Fox host would ever do: he asked the preternaturally nutty congresswoman from Minnesota where she got her figures, suggesting that “this idea that it’s $200 million or whatever is simply made up.”

In fact, it was made up. The White House said it was preposterous, and a Pentagon spokesman called the warship claim “absolutely absurd” and “comical.”

What happened next was encouraging to everyone in the reality-based community. The emerging Republican leadership snubbed Bachmann in her attempt to join the major players who will guide G.O.P. policy in the House.

Read the rest here.

Fair enough. I am no fan of neo-cons and some of them have a track record of making outrageous statements that play fast and loose with facts (or simply make them up). Bachmann, Beck and Limbaugh are demagogues. And yes, the GOP's leadership is now going to have to reconcile its campaign rhetoric with political reality.

But what about the wackos on the far left? People like Maxine Waters and others who paint everything in black and white? What about the nut job of a Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) who has made statements about how George Bush and Israel were behind 9-11 and various overtly antisemitic comments? I am not going to begrudge calling out someone who is simply lying. But I would like it if those on the left were a bit less selective in their focus.