THINK PROGRESS, August 18, 2011--Of all the candidates vying for the GOP presidential nomination, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) perhaps has the most colorful record of flubbing historical facts. Just this week, she wished Elvis Presley a happy birthday…on the day he died.
But today, on the right-wing Christian attorney Jay Sekulow’s radio show, the congresswoman evinced a far more disturbing lack of basic knowledge about world history. Specifically, Bachmann said the American people are worried about “the rise of the Soviet Union.”
Apparently no one’s told her that America’s one-time Cold War nemesis has not existed for 20 years:
BACHMANN: What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward. And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he’ll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we’re fighting three wars. People recognize that.
In December 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated into 15 separate countries. It’s hard to believe Bachmann that the American people live in continued terror of an “evil empire” that no longer exists.
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Thursday, August 18th 2011 at 6:01PM
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