News Roundup for 7/19/11

Still squirellier than a walnut grove

-Headline of the Day-
"Did team Pawlenty drop the Bachmann is unstable and on meds story?"

By now, you've probably figured out that Michele Bachmann is a lunatic. Well, it also turns out that she suffers "stress-triggered migraines" that sound an awful lot like bouts of even deeper goofiness. Like maybe these aren't migraines at all, but episodes where she's overcome by her own goofiness.

Needless to say, this may have some effect on the Iowa straw poll next month. Sure, Shelly's popular with all the other nuts right now, but what happens when she out-crazies them? Maybe not good things.

All of which has people who aren't fans of Bachmann at all wondering, "What is the deal here?" And the more they look into what is the deal, the more the deal looks like rival crazy Tim Pawlenty. According to Kombiz at AMERICAblog, "The story had two sources who were obviously high level staff members or connected to high level staff members who worked for Michele Bachmann. A third person verified that Michele Bachmann does indeed get migraines. I had a suspicion that the Pawlenty campaign was behind the hit, since they have one of Bachmann's former Chief of Staff, Ron Carey, supporting the campaign. The campaign has used Carey to attack Bachmann in the past. And the fact that Pawlenty's path requires that he beat Bachmann in the Ames straw poll next month."

Worse, "a Republican who is also suspicious that Pawlenty dropped the bogus story emailed me a link to another two high level staffers who would know about Bachmann's health problems and who are also supporting the Pawlenty campaign."

So, final score: Shelly's probably still a nut and Pawlenty's probably a dick. Once the smoke clears, neither is going to seem like much of a revelation. (AMERICAblog)


-Seems to be working, though-
Pawlenty's dickery seems to have Team Bachmann pretty rattled. As you can imagine, the press thinks this is the best thing ever and they've been trying to get a microphone in Shelly's face. ABC's lead investigative reporter Brian Ross attempted to do just that -- and nearly got his ass kicked by Bachmann goons.

Ross tried to get a comment in person from Bachmann at a rally. He followed her to a parking ramp, where things got ugly. "When Ross made a beeline for the white SUV waiting to carry Bachmann away, two Bachmann men pounced on him, grabbing and pushing him multiple times with what looked to me like unusual force," the report tells us. "In fact, I have never seen a reporter treated so roughly at a campaign event, especially not a presidential one. Ross was finally able to break away and lob his question at Bachmann one more time, but she ignored him again."

"We were videotaping Brian asking questions," says ABC News senior VP Jeffrey That'll probably work out great for the Bachmann '12 team.

Asked if he'd ever been handled so roughly while attempting to ask a question, Ross answered, "A few times. Mostly by mafia people." (Plum Line)


-Bonus HotD-
"Allen West: Obama Supporters Are 'A Threat To The Gene Pool.'"

Yeah, whatever Adolph. Have fun with your Tea Party master race. (ThinkProgress)