You see, one could go with the assumption that Michelle Bachmann is batshit insane.  I mean, that's my theory.

But the New York Times is better than me, I guess.  They dug hard to found out exactly why Bachmann says the stupid things she says.

Part of it, it seems, is her staff.  They tell her stupid things, like when she spoke in Manchester, NH, and made reference to the battle of Lexington and Concord, which she thought had something to do with the state capital of New Hampshire.

But then we find this:

People close to the campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mrs. Bachmann is often influenced by the last person she speaks with on an issue rather than maintaining discipline in communicating a message.

And that explains it.  It explains how she would go on national television claiming that an HPV vaccine causes mental retardation, based on the fact that some woman she just met told her that.

It explains the time when she accused President Obama of planning a trip to India that would cost taxpayers “$200 million a day” and included more than 870 “five-star hotel rooms.” It was, of course, totally false.  But what made her think it was true?  Her source was apparently an unconfirmed report in an Indian newspaper citing an anonymous official.  She read it; she ran with it.

There's a word for someone who believes everything she hears and reads: a rube.  It certainly doesn't show "leadership" qualities.