Why Brains Matter

How often do we hear it said that we shouldn't worry about the possibly less than stellar intellects of some of our conservative heroes? That what matters most is populist fire and conservative conviction?

Byron York tells a fascinating story this morning of a Democratic outmaneuver of Republicans at the House Financial Services Committee.

The (very interesting) details can be read here, but the gist is this: Committee Republicans tried to bar ACORN and groups like it from participating in a new financial regulatory agency. Democrats wanted to foil them, but in a way that did not create a pro-ACORN voting record that opponents could exploit in campaign commercials. Just another day on Capitol Hill.

Only - the Republican amendment was framed in a stumbling and miscalculated way. Committee chairman Barney Frank - no fool, whatever else you think of him - spotted the Republican error, seized upon it, and inserted the pro-ACORN opportunity into an even more important part of the bill. Now Republicans will have to try the reopen and revise the bill on the floor, a difficult project for a minority party.

Punchline: Who do you think was the author of the inept and backfiring anti-ACORN amendment? Answer: Michele Bachmann, the famous representative of the 6th district of Minnesota.

How often do we hear it said that we shouldn't worry about the possibly less than stellar intellects of some of our conservative heroes? That what matters most is populist fire and conservative conviction? The trouble is that Congress is a complex and treacherous place, full of snares and traps. Less than stellar intellects have a bad way of falling into those traps. Bachmann just did so - and the recently defunded ACORN is the beneficiary. Grimly ironic all round.