Picture 1At first glance, it’s not entirely clear what the point of the Bachmann-Palin 2012 website is: selling cheesy bumperstickers (emblazoned with the flag Bush/Cheney ‘08 used), promoting an unlikely far-right dream team, or mocking such a pairing. But then you read a bit further to find less-than-flattering quotes by both Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, which clarify things a bit. One from Palin:

“We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. … We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.”

And from Bachmann:

“We’re in a state of crisis where our nation is literally ripping apart at the seams right now, and lawlessness is occurring from one ocean to the other. And we’re seeing the fulfillment of the Book of Judges here in our own time, where every man doing that which is right in his own eyes — in other words, anarchy.”

The domain name is registered to Jeff Beatty of Madison, Wisc., who tells me — as does the email address at the bottom of the site (irony@palin-bachmann-2012.com) — that it’s all a joke.

But some who buy his bumperstickers don’t quite get it. He says he was selling the stickers at a Madison art fair and, of the $12 worth he sold, “About 1/3 … told me I was crazy or got angry; another 1/3 laughed and the last third gave me thumbs up. One person who bought one was clearly unhappy when I disparaged Michele to someone near him.”

Beatty — who sums up his own politics by referencing the ironic bumpersticker on his car: “Proud to have voted for the black socialist Nazi, but let’s elect a real Democrat next time” — has a plan for the meager profits he’ll make:

“I’ll save up my $1 apiece to fund my move to Canada if they actually make the ticket.”