Michelle Bachmann and John Wayne (2)

Michelle... um... Malkin... No... Obama... No... Bachmann! That's the one. (I'm kidding. But it was amusing to hear Our Leader Mark Levin say M.Obama a couple of times by mistake, even when he was talking to Bachmann! Quite understandable, as he'd been talking about MO.)

So, Monday, I read early-on that Michelle Bachmann announced her candidacy in her home town of Waterloo, Iowa, saying she's going to fight like the other home-town hero, John Wayne. "Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too."

Okay, first of all, John Wayne was a sweet boy named Maurice [correction:] Marion who grew up to be an actor who played tough guy roles. So, if you want to be tough, you sort-of want to be like the characters he played, more than like him, but that's okay; he's the symbol. (Here's a classic: John Wayne on Laugh-In doing a bit of poetry à la Henry Gibson.) Second, Waterloo just wasn't the actor's town. His parents met there, but they moved away to Winterset, Iowa, about three hours away, before Marion (his given name) was born. All this was in the original articles. That's a pretty silly mistake. Why did she say it? Iowa is his home state, at least. But, a tiny, tiny mistake.

But! This gave the Democrats a hook for another aren't-Conservatives-stupid meme (Palinizing as they say at Legal Insurrection), as they began spreading it around that Bachmann had "confused" the handsome, famous actor with the ugly, infamous John Wayne Gacy, the "Killer Clown."

Well, of course she didn't confuse them! Not even Gaffes Biden could be that dumb. Possibly not even Obama, who apparently can't remember his own kids' names, much less the identities of living and dead recipients of the Medal of Honor. (Special h/t to Sarah [correction:] Ann Barnhart for her article on the psychopath in the oval office.)

I first saw this meme repeated by Joy McCann at ConservativeCommune.com under the headline "Bachmann Mixes Up Her John Waynes." McCann linked to the Washington Times (headline: "The wrong John Wayne"). I repeated it on HillBuzz.

The Times article noted that Gacy "had his first taste of the criminal life in Waterloo, where he lived for a short time." How short a time is not noted (January, 1967, through March, 1968, according to Wikipedia).

That's the only association.

The Times has an "update" at the bottom of the article — no change in the headline, of course — citing a release from the Bachmann campaign, noting that the actor's parents lived in Waterloo, were married there, and that the actor is from Iowa, and reiterating the patriotic spirit the actor represents.

Why anyone would think that Bachmann might be thinking of Gacy's living there at all is not even suggested. (Not that "thinking" has much to do with the "say anything" crowd.)

As I look again at the Times article, I see that the "problem" was reported to Times reporter Stephen Dinan by "one [unnamed] eagle-eyed reader" and that a clip of it is already on YouTube under the name BachmannLovesGacy.

I smell brimstone.

I am guilty of participating in repeating Democratic mud-slinging propaganda, for which I apologize. I have corrected myself to those to whom I spread the news personally.

I watched the video of Bachmann deriding our "gangster government." I listened to the Monday program of Our Leader Mark Levin, hearing Levin getting the news about this from a caller — who already had a better take than I had. Levin, naturally, dismissed it out of hand. I heard all of his interview with Bachmann at the end of his show. They discussed the Wallace interview, and she reiterated her credentials, but this later matter was not mentioned. (Levin had only just heard about it from one caller, of course, no time to research.)

Altogether, this is more of Bachmann than I have actually had so far. Levin ran the audio of the Wallace interview, about which I'd only heard the "flake" gotcha, so now I've heard Bachmann's great response. Because I listened to Levin, I learned much more about her than I had known before.

I don't know why she would confuse the birthplace of John Wayne (THE ACTOR!). (More significantly, I don't know why she's permitted her campaign guy to chew at Palin.) But I vehemently repudiate the whole "she confused her John Waynes" meme. It's not that I ever thought she did, but I was "concerned" that this gaffe was going to stick to her. And they're trying to make it stick. But it's just another left-wing propaganda ploy, another wad of madly-hurled monkey poo.

I haven't fully taken the measure of the site Conservative Commune, but despite the separate article pointing out the killer's Democrat background, the "Bachmann confuses her John Waynes" headline is prominent. It matters, just as Mark Levin pointed out the tactic of Wallace repeating the "flake" charge twice in his lame apology, and how it's the repetition of the meme, in any context, that starts it being cemented in the neurons. Well, remember, OBAMA IS NOT A MUSLIM OR A SOCIALIST!

I regret being suckered in by this for even a day. (And that I was too busy to get back to it on Tuesday.) I regret my own "toast" reference. Thanks to Amy for answering on the Monday thread that it's less of a deal than I made it. I thank the folks at HillBuzz for steadily reinforcing the concern trolls watch, and other propaganda awareness. I have been eyeing non-candidate Palin all along and have been listening to the "concern" about Bachmann being a RINO or a RINO dupe. I now have new-found respect for her, and I'm going to be keeping an eye on the other best possible Madame President.

After writing the above, I went looking at news.google.com for any straightforward article about Bachmann's announcing her candidacy. On page after page I found nothing -- NOTHING -- but repetition of this same meme. Headlines (links eschewed) like:

John Wayne who? Michele Bachmann getting last laugh in polls (Los Angeles Times) (well, that's okay, but the lede talks about her "gaffe-rich entry" into the GOP presidential sweepstakes.")

All in a name: John Wayne vs. John Wayne Gacy and other mix-ups (Washington Post, also not bad -- mentions how easy it is for folks to mix up names like, oh, say, Ted "Chappaquiddick Killer" Kennedy confusing Obama & Osama.)

Will Michele Bachmann’s Gaffes End Her Presidential Chances? (US Snooze & World Retort)

Bachmann Campaign Starts With a Bang (Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone actually held back until the 2nd sentence to mention it.)

Michele Bachmann, you're no Stepford Wife: Only a gaffe-proof candidate can win (S.E. Cupp, NY Daily News -- "latest unforgivable gaffe" in the fourth paragraph)

'She's not ready for the White House': Former aide attacks Michele Bachmann for her 'wildly out of control' office (UK Daily Mail's Fiona Roberts can't even get Gacy's name right when in the 5th 'graph she says Bachmann "inadvertently compared herself to serial killer John Wayne instead of the actor.")

And that's some of the nicer stuff.

I went looking on YouTube for the video about her "gangster government" speech, and until I refined the search saw only page after page about her gaffes and worse. (Everyone should be aware of the problem of "filter bubbles.")

Levin pointed out what Wallace was not asking — what I haven't found any of those in this latest manufactured flap saying — that Bachmann is a serious candidate, a contender, with serious backing, and, why look at that: she's a Republican woman! Where's the excitement about that, like there was for the "historic" half-wit psychopath-in-chief under whom we currently suffer? We may have in Bachmann the first female U.S. President. Historic. Monumental. Where's the buzz?

Sigh. Called John Wayne "Maurice" instead of "Marion." Called Ann Barnhardt "Sarah" and screwed up the link. Forgot to close a strong tag. Left out a space. I'm obviously unfit to be President, also! (Heading for bed, in shame.)