Speaking of Bachmann, it is not really news that she is a hawk and sometimes takes advice from McCain. What I have found so striking about Bachmann’s position on Libya is that it is not something I would have expected from her, and this is why I referred to her in my column as “reliably hawkish.” When I have discussed the foreign policy views of many Tea Party-affiliated politicians, I have usually made a point of mentioning Bachmann’s support for an Israeli attack on Iran, which is another deeply misguided expression of hostility towards the Iranian government. That’s what makes her dissent on Libya more than a little surprising. Many of her other foreign policy positions are so dangerous and wrongheaded that it is that much more noticeable when she gets something right.

P.S. The funny thing here is that the idea that Bachmann is an “isolationist” would never have gained any currency if McCain and Graham had not been working overtime to define opposition to the Libyan war as an expression of “isolationism.” Interventionists are needlessly dismissing and mocking people who are frequently on their side through the very stupid rhetoric they use to enforce their ideology. As Justin Logan observed last week, the same people who exaggerate and over-hype foreign threats have a habit of exaggerating the power and significance of “isolationism” as well.