American Politics Today

Michele Bachmann's 19 greatest fibs, flubs, and head-scratchers   RELATED CONTENT View Photo The Tea Party favorite   may be leaving   Congress , but she won't be forgotten Rep.   Michele Bachmann   (R-Minn.)   announced Tuesday   that she would not seek re-election in 2014, depriving Congress of one of its more colorful figures in recent memory. Bachmann, who is still the subject of an   ethics investigation   relating to her failed presidential campaign, said she felt she'd done all she could in the House, but added that she may return to politics in another capacity. While there is some debate over her   political legacy , there is no doubt that she will leave behind a long record of verbal miscues and downright puzzling sound-bites. SEE MORE: How al Qaeda is like   Office Space Here, some of her more memorable quotes: On   global warming "Life on planet Earth can't even exist without   carbon dioxide . So necessary is it to h

how the comedians will miss Michelle Bachmann! I remember in Waterloo, Iowa during the campaign, where Bachmann was born: "I feel like John Wayne and I are kindred spirits," said Bachmann to her crowd, letting them know she had been born there along with "John Wayne" (and the only John Wayne born in Waterloo, Iowa happened to be John Wayne GACY, the serial killer). Or how about Bachmann's ill-fated outreach to Jewish voters, when she appeared on Faux "news" to denounce President Obama for having "shoot-spa" (Chutzpah), which means "audacity." In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning, America" Bachmann claimed that "Our founding fathers gave us the Constitution and worked tirelessly to end slavery," seeming ignorant of the fact that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson each owned slaves and that slavery did not end until after the Civil War that began in 1862. When a frustrated George Step

Reuters http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032553/ns/politics/#.UaYRaNKkrlw First Thoughts: Bachmann's surprise Bachmann’s surprising announcement: She’s not running for re-election… And her surprising explanation: that her decision isn’t impacted by doubts about being re-election (when she won in 2012 by just 4,000 votes) or an ethics investigation (when she already began airing TV ads earlier this month)… The political consequences of an improving economy… Fundraising day for the Obamas -- the president heads to Chicago, while the first lady travels to New York and Boston… Ted Cruz also visits New York, where he speaks at a GOP dinner (and his presence there has sparked some controversy)… And Joe Miller is in, while Cory Gardner is out.

ALL EVIL DESPITE HER EVIL FAKE SMILE Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann, who last year ran for the Republican presidential nomination, announced on Wednesday that she will stand down from her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a video posted on her website and on YouTube, the stressed that her decision to stand down from her Minnesota seat was not due to any concern she would be defeated at the next election in 2014 or the inquiries into activities of her former presidential campaign staff. Frank Bruni took a much-deserved swipe at Michele Bachmann in the New York Times op ed pages this morning. From “ The Divine Miss M ”: What I find most fascinating about Michele Bachmann — and there are many, many more where she came from — is that she presents herself as a godly woman, humbly devoted to her Christian faith. I’d like to meet that god, and I’d like to understand that Christianity. Does it call for smearing people on the basis of flimsy conspiracy theories

Holder scolds Issa for 'shameful' demeanor By Carrie Dann, Political Reporter, NBC News There’s never been much love lost between Attorney General Eric Holder and Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California – who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Upset by a line of questioning, US Attorney General Eric Holder tells Rep. Darrell Issa that his conduct as a member of Congress is "unacceptable and shameful." The tension between the two men was on full display Wednesday, when Holder flatly labeled Issa’s conduct during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee “shameful.” The charge came after an aggressive exchange about Labor Secretary nominee Tom Perez, whom Republicans say acted inappropriately during his time at the Justice Department. “I am not going to stop talking now," Holder countered as Issa objected to the attorney general’s attempts to interject. "It is inappropriate and too consistent with the way in which y