I don't think Bachmann can claim she was manipulated. The word "anti-American" is rather unambiguous. I know that some internal check in me would stop me from automatically labeling something that way. It's not a word I would use lightly. And if she can be manipulated that easily, it doesn't bode well for the citizens she represents. I think she simply just spoke what was in her heart.

Similarly, Palin's comments about the "real America" also fall into this category. Palin thinks of herself as coming from some sort of moral high ground because she's from a small town - that was no slip of the tongue on her part. I believe she sees America as a monolith of small-town culture and the rest of us are all just outliers.

I agree, I'm not buying that defense for a minute. It was an outrageous thing to say, and not a sort of slip of the tongue that anyone might make by accident. Good grief. How about just taking some, dare I say it, personal responsibility for yourself?

Yup, she said it with her own little mouth. And her own little brain. All those years of right-wing chants that "the opposition" isn't patriotic, and she somehow missed the nuance. If she isn't capable of handling the press, why should we give her a vote in Congress?