Bye bye, Michele Batshit

OK then; just cut and run when the going gets a little tough.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the tea-party firebrand facing investigations and a daunting reelection race — abruptly announced on Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term.

Her move marked a spectacular fall for a congresswoman with a bull’s eye on her back every congressional cycle: Less than two years ago, she won the Iowa straw poll and was briefly regarded as a serious contender for the GOP presidential nomination.

Her decision had nothing to do, of course, with the fact that she nearly lost last November in a district that voted for Mitt Romney by a margin of 56-41. Nor did it have anything to do with the federal inquiry into her campaign finance irregularities.

Nope, she just wants to spend more time with her husband Lee Liberace the voices inside her head telling her to file another bill repealing Obamacare.

Sadly, this probably doesn't represent a flip opportunity for Democrats but a door opening for some "reasonable Republican" (sic) to replace her. You just have to hope that the TeaBags don't already have a replacement lined up.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes their legislators get to go home soon as we bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff doesn't profess to know whether Rick Perry will run for governor again or not, but he does know that Greg Abbott would not be any improvement over him in the governor's mansion.

Williamson County does it again! WCNews at Eye on Williamson posts on the latest outrage from the WCGOP: Religious test for constable applicants in Williamson County .

A Dick decided to run for mayor of Houston. Like THAT's newsworthy. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs decided to blog about it anyway.

Darth Politico is back with some Memorial Day musings about how we treat our veterans and that not all those who die because of war are killed in combat.

Dos Centavos celebrates the death (for now) of the latest Republican attack on the poor-- drug testing for TANF beneficiaries. He does support some sort of test for Lege members.

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And here are some more posts of interest from Texas blogs.

Hair Balls listens to Steve Hotze's anti-Obamacare song so you don't have to.

Brewed And Never Battered thanks everyone who helped pass the craft beer bills this session, while Open The Taps explains what all that craft beer legislation will do for you.

Juanita already has a reason to look forward to 2016.

Sara Inés Calderón offers her perspective on Battleground Texas.

Austin Contrarian reassures his neighbors that Austin isn't as big as the 2010 census may have you believe.

Jason Stanford explains how the Legislature screwed you this time around.

Better Texas Blog laments that the Lege still doesn't account for growth in its budget.

BOR updates us on the redistricting effort in the city of Austin, and Texpatriate applauds the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay bill.

Honor the dead, heal the wounded, stop the wars

On a makeshift stage outside the NATO summit in Chicago, antiwar veterans fold an American flag that flew over NATO operations from Bosnia to Libya and which represents the flag that is “draped over the coffins of thousands of Americans killed in combat and thousands more who have committed suicide after they returned from service." They present the flag to Mary Kirkland, mother of Derrick Kirkland, who joined the military in 2007 and committed suicide in March 2010 after his second tour of duty in Iraq. "I am not ashamed that I have to tell people that my son committed suicide. I am ashamed of the military for failing to give him proper mental health treatment," Kirkland says. The military originally reported that her son was killed in action.