Is Bachmann’s slot on Intelligence Committee part of GOP plan to stifle her?

[a kennedy]

Is Rep. Michele Bachmann’s new post on the House Intelligence Committee an effort by GOP leadership to stifle her inflammatory statements in the media? Slate’s Noreen Malone makes the case, contending that the strategy is not fair to Bachmann who was a workhorse in the 2010 House elections on behalf of the GOP, while the Washington Post posits that Bachmann isn’t likely to enjoy serving on a committee that is at times as secretive as it is boring.

Slate’s Malone argues argues that Bachmann’s spot on the House Intelligence Committee was an effort by GOP leadership to quiet her.

Instead, the steering committee slotted her for the House Intelligence Committee, a rather Machiavellian move: While on paper it’s a prestigious assignment, the committee’s workings are intrinsically hush-hush. As one observer told Politico, “If you’re looking for media and controversy, that’s not the committee to be on.” That’s particularly rough for Bachmann, powered as she is by media attention.

She accepted the intelligence appointment in a particularly Mama Grizzly-esque manner, connecting the distant dots of motherhood and national security on her Facebook page: “As a mother of five biological children and 23 foster children I pledge to do whatever I need to do to keep your family, my family, and the United States safe from harm.” This was the sound of Bachmann scrambling. While terrorists are one of her favorite talking points (she attributes her 2006 election to her commitments to “cutting taxes, building roads and protecting the nation against radical jihadists”), national security isn’t precisely the former tax attorney’s forte.

http://minnesotaindependent.com/75887/is-bachmanns-slot-on-intelligence-committee-part-of-gop-plan-to-stifle-her

[derby378]

1. Malone can spin it however she wants...

...but it doesn't change the fact that Batshit Bachmann is on the freakin' House Intelligence Committee.

If there was any reason for Obama to fight harder on health care, tax cuts, etc., this is certainly one of the big'uns.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Bachmann's slot on the intelligence is a disaster-waiting-to-happen IMHO

:nuke:

[tk2kewl]

3. i thought she was put on the intelligence committee because she is so smart

nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. I trust her copious intellect with our dearest secrets.

:shrug:

[Parche]

5. i think you have to be intelligent

to be on that committee

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Angry Dragon]

6. Perhaps it is only a question of time

that she opens her mouth on fox and lets some secrets out and then she can be tried for treason

[jberryhill]

7. I agree that it is handing her enough rope to hang herself

The notion that she will actually keep her trap shut, is giving her too much credit.

IMHO, she is going to leak and be rightly crucified for it.

[DrDan]

8. is there anyone in Washington dumber than this woman?

[AnnieBW]

15. Not in Washington

Sarah Palin is in Alaska, I think.

[DrDan]

16. I would bet she is 50 IQ points dumber than palin

[malaise]

9. Bachmann and intelligence?

I think they wanted an Oxymoron.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. they make up the intelligence as they go, and she will say anything

I see this as a way to have a mindless parrot out there saying she knows things we don't know and that we should all be afraid.

[Monk06]

11. They will use her to float every insane foreign policy trial balloon the Repug dominated committee

can come up with. If anything she says blows up it
will blow up in her face not the rest of the Repugs
on the committee, allowing them to walk back their
extremist views when things go sour.

Which they will, beginning with pulling out of the
START treaty.

[DCKit]

12. More rope to hang her. She won't be able to resist spilling the beans.

What's the penalty for treason?

[FLAprogressive]

13. Michelle Bachmann on the INTELLIGENCE committee?? Irony at its finest.

[AnnieBW]

14. I think that it's a reason to say "Bachmann" and "Intelligence"

in the same sentence. Seriously. Because why else would someone put this whacko bitch onto the Intelligence Committee? I can't wait until she flaps her jaws to the cameras and releases something secret.

[peekaloo]

17. I really miss George Carlin. nt.