Michele Bachmann: stupid people shouldn't read

I don't really buy the story behind Representative Dumbass'  supposed political "conversion" due to reading - wait for it - a Gore Vidal novel, but I do buy Ed Brayton's explanation of her "thinking" on the subject:

For the right winger, the founding fathers were virtual saints, perfect and holy and unquestionable. They went to Philadelphia in 1787 riding on the wings of angels and never told a lie even when they were cutting down a mythical cherry tree. And anyone who dares to question anything about them, even the fact that many of them owned slaves, is a dirty rotten commie pinko and probably a secret Muslim too.

This is symptomatic of a larger problem among conservatives. They really do see the world in pure black and white, to the point of being downright cartoonish. And by cartoonish, I really do mean childish. It's the way we all see the world as children, very little ambiguity. But that needs to be outgrown. As we learn about the world, rational people learn that life is full of nuance and subtlety and that things are rarely as clear as we once thought they were.

More evidence of the kind of intellectual giant we'll be dealing with for the next two years is repeated here. I especially like this one:

"A woman (referring to Terry Schiavo) was healthy. There was brain damage, there was no question. But from a health point of view, she was not terminally ill."  

Uhhhh...yeah.

Anybody got a quonset hut for rent up in Canada? Far up in Canada?

Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Haywood. Mike Haywood, Ben Roethlisberger

Damned if I know why the commute from the University of Miami-Ohio to seemingly anywhere in the Pittsburgh area causes dangerous weirdos to come out in droves. 

First it was Ben Roethlisberger, a Miami-Ohio alum who apparently engaged in the same sort of crap he  pulled later on as a Pittsburgh Steeler; now it's ex-Miami head coach Mike Haywood, who may go down in history as one of the few head coaches to lose a job before he lost a single game:

Pitt moved swiftly to oust Haywood following an arrest that sullied a university that is proud of its Big Ten-like academics. It also raised questions why Haywood -- who had only two seasons as a mid-major head coach, including a one-win season -- was chosen Dec. 16 following a brief search.

Haywood was arrested about 3 p.m. Friday after a custody issue developed with a woman with whom Haywood has a child, police said. The unidentified woman told police that Haywood grabbed her by the arm and neck and pushed her as she tried to leave the home that Haywood owns in South Bend, Ind., where he once was a Notre Dame assistant.

Assistant St. Joseph County Police Chief Bill Redman said the woman had marks on her neck, arms and back.

I get the sinking feeling that the worst of Haywood's troubles will be the firing; Roethlisberger didn't get charged, either. My love/hate affair with sports veers much closer to "hate" at moments like this.