Bachmann: Bill Clinton Is Trying To ‘Celebrate’ The Oklahoma City Bombing And ‘Take [Me] Out’

By Amanda Terkel

On Friday, former President Bill Clinton gave a speech commemorating the 15th anniversary of the tragic Oklahoma City bombing, drawing disturbing parallels between that incident and the current atmosphere of right-wing, anti-government hatred. He warned public officials and members of the media to be responsible with their rhetoric, since it could fall on the ears of someone as disturbed as Timothy McVeigh:

But what we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or we should reduce our passion for the positions that we hold, but the words we use really do matter because there are — there’s this vast echo chamber, and they go across space, and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike. And I am not trying to muzzle anybody, but one of the things that the conservatives have always brought to the table in America is that no law can replace personal responsibility. And the more power you have, and the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have.

Yesterday in a speech to the Chicago Tea Party Patriots, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) claimed that Clinton was trying to “take [her] out.” She said that during his speech at CAP — which was a “celebration” of the Oklahoma City bombing — he went after her for her “gangster government” rhetoric:

BACHMANN: They said that Bill Clinton gave a speech yesterday — the former president — at the Center for American Progress, John Podesta’s group. He gave a speech, and he called me out in his speech, and he was talking about the anniversary — Now, only Democrats would do this. The anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing by Tim McVeigh. I mean, we don’t celebrate these things. This is not what we celebrate. So he was at this celebration, supposedly.

So he brought me up, and he was talking about how all of the extremist rhetoric in the early 90s led to Tim McVeigh. See, it had nothing to do with Tim McVeigh; it was the conservatives. That’s what the problem was. So he was making the analogy that Michele Bachmann had made a statement the day before during the Tea Party rally that what Barack Obama is doing is gangster government. And he said because I am using a term like “gangster government,” I’m responsible for creating the kind of climate of hate that could lead to another Tim McVeigh and another Oklahoma City-style bombing. How do you like them apples? So I decided, “Well, this is going to be fun.” I am nothing. I am on the bottom of the food chain. I’m in the minority party, I’m in my second term as a congresswoman, and the former president of the United States decides I’m important enough to take out.

She reiterated that “this is a gangster government, there is no two ways about it.” Watch it:

First of all, Clinton never mentioned Bachmann or “gangster government” in his CAP speech. He did, however, mention the rhetoric in an interview with the New York Times, saying that such blanket demonization of government workers is unacceptable after the Oklahoma City bombing, in which McVeigh was driven by a blind anti-government hatred that targeted innocent public servants. McVeigh said that he was fine killing those victims because they “represent that government.”

Moreover, it’s offensive for Bachmann to claim that the CAP event at which Clinton spoke was a “celebration” of the Oklahoma City tragedy. After all, the man who introduced Clinton at the event was Michael Reyes, a government employee whose father perished in the bombing. In his speech, Clinton repeatedly recounted the profound effect the event had on him, noting, “Three hundred buildings were damaged, 30 children lost both parents, 170 children lost one and 19 children themselves were killed. In the immediate response, there was an amazing set of acts of humanity and heroism.”

Finally, it’s completely inaccurate to say that Clinton wasn’t putting any blame on McVeigh himself. His point was that McVeigh was very troubled and “profoundly alienated,” and therefore “highly vulnerable to the suggestions and implications of the most militant rhetoric at the time.” That type of anti-government rhetoric is indeed increasingly prevalent, and as Clinton said, “the more responsibility you have, you have to think about the echo chamber in which your words resonate.”

McCain ad: Opponent believes in vampires, fears alien invasion

By Raw Story

A new tongue-in-cheek ad from John McCain's Senate campaign has the Arizona lawmaker's leading Republican primary opponent, J.D. Hayworth, declaring that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, believing that vampires are real and preparing for an alien invasion.

"I'm J.D. Hayworth and I'm running for US Senate to take on the pressing challenges facing Arizona, America and indeed the entire human race," the ad -- paid for by McCain's campaign -- begins.

"First, I've committed to exposing the secret Kenyan birthplace of the president of the United States," the fake "Hayworth" declares as footage from Disney's The Lion King rolls on the video. "Second, I've stood up against the grave threat of man-horse marriage. Third, I believe that Dracula is real."

The ad concludes with "Hayworth" declaring that he is preparing to tackle "our most critical national security threat" as footage of the alien-invasion movie Mars Attacks rolls on screen.

Much of the ad mocks the less-than-flattering media attention Hayworth, a former GOP House member and conservative talk show host in Phoenix, has received in recent weeks

Last month he drew criticism when he told an Orlando radio station that Massachusetts' law allowing gay marriage "would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse."

Hayworth, who is trailing McCain in the polls but is considered the favored candidate among Tea Party Republicans, appeared on MSNBC in January and demanded that the president should "come forward" with his birth certificate, a move that had him labeled as being firmly in the "birther" camp.

But it was a joke by a former Arizona attorney general that got Hayworth labeled, fairly or otherwise, as a believer in vampires.

"Someone needs to drive a wooden stake through [Hayworth's] heart," joked Grant Woods in a recent Newsweek interview.

"This cavalier death threat that he issued is over the top," Hayworth responded, adding that making a "death threat" in a national magazine is "beyond the pale."

"No, J.D., unless you are in fact a vampire, interpreting an innocent reference to pop-culture as a death threat is what's 'beyond the pale,'" quipped blogger James King at the Phoenix New Times.

In the latest poll, McCain is solidly leading Hayworth by a margin of 15 percentage points. But news analysts suggest the longtime senator, known for being a moderate, is taking the threat from Tea Party challengers seriously, which may explain his recent reversals on some issues.

Most recently, McCain declared he had "never considered" himself a "maverick" -- this despite the fact the word was practically the senator's catch-phrase when he ran for president in 2008.

"Considering just how quickly McCain himself has dropped pretenses of political moderation (denying, for example, that he every called himself a maverick), it takes a certain amount of chutzpah for him to accuse his opponent of lacking seriousness," writes Sam Stein at the Huffington Post.

"But Hayworth has made the case easy -- certainly with his dabbling in birther conspiracies. And in the process, he's demonstrating just how hard it is to walk the line between Tea Party activism and sensible conservatism."

The following video was uploaded to YouTube by John McCain's campaign, April 12, 2010.

Conservative lawmaker calls fellow GOP rep. ‘captain crazy’

Michelle Marston, an aide to Republican lawmaker Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), wanted to leave quietly.

But her decision to "jump ship" while her boss engaged in perhaps her boldest media moment yet has some on Capitol Hill scratching their heads.

Including a conservative lawmaker in Bachmann's own party.

“When your captain’s crazy, it’s time to find a new ship,” an anonymous conservative Republican House member told Politico Wednesday.

Marston had tried to warn the reporter off, to no avail.

I’m just not talking about it, and frankly I don’t think there’s a story here,” Marston wrote in an email. “Now, the thousands of people calling our office to tell us [they’re] coming to Capitol Hill tomorrow — that’s a story.”

Today, conservative activists are planning to storm the Capitol to tell members of Congress that they don't want "government" to take away their healthcare, part of a scare tactic engineered by Bachmann's aides. Activists were told to bring videocameras and point them in congressmembers faces as part of an effort to derail House Democrats' healthcare overhaul.

The Minnesota Republican has garnered national attention for her sometimes outrageous quips -- including one in which she said conservatives should slit their wrists to defeat Democrats' healthcare plans.

Marston appears to have soured on Bachmann over time.

In a statement last year, she said of her boss: “She looks like the type of person who you would invite in to have a cup of coffee at your table. There are a lot of people who are good, smart, well-meaning, well-intentioned members of Congress, but they speak to the people like they are members of Congress. Rep. Bachmann talks to people like they are people.”

But this fall, when she said President Barack Obama held "anti-American views," her tune changed.

“You either love Michele Bachmann or you don’t love Michele Bachmann at all,” Marston told a reporter.

When your captain's crazy, it's time to find a new ship.

Beck Includes Senate-Confirmed Staffer (Twice) In His Photo Of ‘Czars’ ‘Not Confirmed By Congress’

By Matt Corley

On his Fox News show today, Glenn Beck featured one of his patented spooky-music video packages, this time fearmongering about the Obama administration’s “czars.” “He has 37 czars to oversee and advise him directly,” said Beck. “Never before have there been so many executive posts that were not confirmed by Congress and who answered only to the president.” Watch it:

As is common with conservatives making the “czar” attack, Beck simply has his facts wrong. Many of the positions he refers to as czars are actually long-standing positions. Additionally, in Beck’s photo gallery of czars, he includes Elizabeth Warren, who in her position as chair of a Congressional oversight panel, works for Congress — not the White House. Beck also includes Cass Sunstein, who “cruised” through his confirmation hearing for his nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, but his final confirmation is being held up by Senate Republicans.

Additionally, in his photo gallery of “czars,” Beck included two pictures of director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren, who was also confirmed by the Senate. Look:

Last month, Beck referred to OMB Director Peter Orszag, who is Senate-confirmed, as a “czar.” He later acknowledged his mistake after he was called out on it.