TPM Editor’s Blog

Alright Then

Dr. Pat Bertroche

A couple days ago I told you about Iowa congressional hopeful Dr. Pat Bertroche who advocated forcibly implanting illegal immigrants with microchips so authorities could more easily track their movements.

It seems people were taking him too literally. Bertroche now says that he took the step of advocating an obviously crazy idea as a way to dramatize how the immigration debate has gotten completely off track and other ideas are no less crazy than the one he advocated while not actually advocating it.

Or something like that.

“This idea isn’t any more politically dumb than any other one,” Bertroche tells TPM. “I was trying to call attention to how radical the conversation has become.”

Josh Marshall

Josh Marshall is editor and publisher of TalkingPointsMemo.com.

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