CNN iReport

Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann enthusiastically offered familiar talking points during her October 17, 2008 interview on MSNBC’s Hardball. There is no doubt that Chris Matthews grilled her about her views of Barack Obama’s patriotism, but the hole she dug herself into speaks volumes.

She basically said that "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America or Anti-America. I think the American people would love to see an expose like that."

Certainly, politicians are getting grilled continuously, which means we can expect some gaffs. But, was this a gaff or her true beliefs?

Recent research using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) shows that people are shown to be more prejudice when required to respond to stereotypical words and images under time constraints (e.g., black man - gun = criminal). Requiring people to respond with a limited amount of time is assumed to avoid the tendency to give “politically correct” responses. When individuals are emotionally charged by something a person of another race or culture does, their (IAT) prejudice responses are even higher.

Congresswoman Bachman has a lot in common with Don Imus and Jeremiah Wright—Their media exposure brings out their true prejudice beliefs.

So, you can make excuses about the vulnerabilities of being in the lime light, but that does not mean you are not expressing what you really mean. I envied smooth talking Bill Clinton for his ability to think on his feet during his presidency. Either age is catching up with him or his true colors were shown when campaigning for his wife during her run against Obama. Playing the race card was un-becoming of a president.  I believe that his Arkansas roots were showing the core of how he sees things.

None of us will pass the IAT with flying colors. We all have a lot to learn about prejudice and discrimination. Let’s stop using talking points and heavy campaigning as excuses to not look more closely at what we really believe about the “other.”