Conspiracy theories have been a constant in Rep. Michele Bachmann's political career since she first ran for the Stillwater school board in the late 1990s. She made her initial foray into politics by claiming that the Profile of Learning amounted to social engineering. Her anti-gay-marriage ideas were rooted in notions of sinister forces bent on destroying traditional marriage. Her bizarre rants within the past year against "anti-American" members of Congress, a global currency and government-mandated youth "reeducation camps" all exhibit the same disturbing tendency. She sees threats that few other elected officials perceive, let alone describe on national television.

Another example came this week as Bachmann sounded a shrill alarm against an American institution: the U.S. Census. In yet another TV talk show appearance, the telegenic Republican decried the population survey as "government intrusion," then warned darkly that census information was used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II. The implication, of course, was that it could be used to round up Americans again. Bachmann's backpedaling "I'm not saying that is what the administration is planning to do'' did nothing to squelch those fears, especially considering that she was appearing on the Fox TV show of Glenn Beck, who has spent the months since the presidential election painting apocalyptic visions of the future.

This is hard-core conspiracy theory, the likes of which are rarely seen outside the most extreme parts of the blogosphere. Even Beck seemed taken aback by the government round-up rhetoric.