Bachmann Derangement Syndrome No. 1

Why do conservative women drive many reporters crazy? PDS-Palin Derangement Syndrome-has been around for nearly three years now, with The New York Times and other liberal outposts so eager to defame Sarah Palin that last week they sent reporters to Alaska and called for volunteers to scrutinize her thousands of emails. Now, we need a new line in the psychiatric manual, Bachmann Derangement Syndrome, to define some press reaction to the GOP's newest presidential candidate.

Exhibit No. 1: this morning's Associated Press story by Brian Bakst. He wrote of Michele Bachmann's "brazen style." (Dictionary.com definition of brazen: Bold and without shame, or made of brass.) He wrote of her "unpredictable edge," as if she concealed an ax behind her back and suddenly started attacking Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, the unwary men who stood beside her in last night's GOP presidential candidate debate. Bakst waxed on: "Known for piercing and sometimes inaccurate commentary, she regularly aggravates political foes. . . ." Let he who is without inaccuracy cast the first stone.

Vice President Joe Biden, of course, is notorious for his flubs, but reporters often depict him as a kindly uncle: Bless his heart, Old Joe can't help himself. I don't like to throw around slurs like sexist, but something of that kind may be contributing to PDS and BDS. Maybe some male journalists assume, against the facts, that all women should be for abortion or other liberal causes, and that conservative women who aren't should stay home, barefoot and pregnant.