A "Daily Show" segment took a surprise turn into Bachmannia last night.
Long-term substitute host John Oliver was narrating a segment about a rare show of congressional bipartisanship as libertarian Republicans and civil-liberties-oriented Democrats worked together in support of an action that would have limited the recently exposed National Security Agency collection of "metadata" on almost all cell phone calls made by Americans. (The change would have limited the NSA data collection to Americans who were under suspicion of doing something improper, national security-wise.)
So many House members of both parties were supporting the idea that it was gathering serious momentum until an even bigger bipartisan coalition — including both President Obama and Speaker John Boehner, was hastily stitched together to defeat it.
The surprise turn in the segment (video below) occurs at about the three-minute mark when the list of strange bedfellows in favor of the data collection is revealed to include Minnesota's own soon-to-be-former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. She is heard on the House floor accusing the other side of getting its facts wrong, saying:
"A false narrative has emerged... We need to deal in facts. Let's deal in reality, not in false narratives."
There are those who believe that Rep. Bachmann is an odd spokesman for the importance of getting one's facts rights. And apparently, substitute host Oliver is of that group. Speaking to Obama, Oliver cautions:
"You know Mr. President, when Michele Bachmann is on your side, you may want to look at the side that you are on."
And then, possibly crossing the line into disrespect, Oliver says of Bachmann:
"She is the canary in the crazy mine. I myself wear a bracelet every day that says 'What wouldn't Michele Bachmann do?'"
The segment includes a brief pastiche of some previous Bachmann statements that some of the fussier members of the fact-checking community found to be wanting.