Let's start on an irrelevant note: Sometimes the web breaks headlines funny. And so your intrepid Daily Glean writer began his morning staring dumbfounded at a tale from Wisconsin, republished in the Pioneer Press, that, because of the idiosyncrasies of it being pulled into his RSS reader, looked as though it read "Wisconsin sheriff's sergeant who left post to retrieve deer faces." Deer faces? What the hell is going on Wisconsin?

You can imagine the writer's relief when he noticed that he had overlooked one word, left floating as an orphan on the next line: "suspension." Whew. But it's the sort of thing that causes a news encapsulater to worry about what else he might be misreading. For instance, in this story by Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent, it seems that Rep. Michele Bachmann has once again used carnaptious and explicitly militant language in her political rhetoric, quoting Bunker Hill Col. William Prescott: "Bachmann: 'Now is the time to see the whites of their eyes.' "

It wouldn't be out of character for Bachmann, who has called for blood oaths and said she wants people "armed and dangerous," which must be the very quintessence of carnaptiousness (read that carefully!); Heck, she even managed to misquote Prescott, who said "white of their eyes," rather than "whites," and that calls to mind her accidentally comparing the Tea Party movement to the disastrous Light Brigade. And her demand is in opposition to the current health care reform bill, which she has consistently opposed. So our reading of the story seems accurate, but is there a word we have overlooked?

One wants to be careful when dealing with politics, because we are in a time of close, if not careful, reading. Take the Tea Party, for instance, which has gotten a foothold in Minnesota, according to Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio. He profiles a local activist, and, while there might be a large variety of people in the party, this activist fits a profile that seems increasingly common: Not politically active until very recently, vaguely suspicious, seems to get a lot of her news from television (her points of reference include Keith Olbermann, Janeane Garofalo, Rosie O'Donnell, CNN, and MSNBC), and a bit hostile to the Republican Party (at one point saying, "This is not a GOP dog and pony show").

If the Tea Party has demonstrated anything, it's that they like to look carefully as documents. Zdechlik's article reminds us of the "Is Obama American?" controversy, in which thousand of people turned into Mystery Team-style Internet sleuths in an attempt to discredit the president's Hawaiian birth certificate. DFL head Brain Melendez also points out that the Tea Party has become home for a group referred to as the "10th-ers." The Los Angeles Times explained the group back in 2009: "These are people who believe that President Franklin Roosevelt used panic during the Depression to stage an executive/judicial coup to overthrow 'the true Constitution.' "

What Constitution is that? Well, it's based on what the Times calls "a kind of fundamentalist reading of the 10th Amendment," in which anything not explicitly granted to the federal government is reserved for the states. By this reading, health care reform would be unconstitutional — as would a lot of the things the federal government does as a matter of course. While it's not clear that Bachmann, who is a favorite of Tea Baggers, shares this viewpoint, there was a strange exchange the congresswoman had with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner a year ago, when she demanded to know where in the Constitution there is authorization for the actions taken by Treasury. A bewildered Geithner alluded to to the "Necessary and Proper" clause in the Constitution, and this is interesting, because it's actually been a bone of contention ever since it was introduced, when the Anti-Federalists argued that it would give the federal government unlimited powers. Nonetheless, that provision is actually in the Constitution, and is not countermanded by the 10th Amendment. So, again, it is possible to be a close reader without being a careful reader.

But let's not fixate on Bachmann and the Tea Party overmuch — my God, not when there are deer faces scattered throughout Wisconsin! And no wonder — apparently, it's the result of liberals "carpet bombing" America, according to 1st Congressional District candidate Jim Hagedorn. The exact quote, so you can see we're not misreading or misrepresenting it: "The national liberals are all but carpet bombing the greatness of America – taking dead aim on the United States Constitution, our dynamic Free Enterprise system, and the enduring concepts of personal responsibility, individual opportunity, personal freedom, and traditional cultural values." The complete story is at Minnesota Independent, thanks, again, to Andy Birkey.

Here's something that will certain demand both a careful and a close reading: Denny Hecker's former father-in-law, who committed suicide last week, apparently had records that further incriminate the embattled former car sales mogul. It's a pretty tantalizing story, as recounted by Martin Moylan of MPR: William Prohofsky, the former father-in-law, was queried about a safe deposit box that allegedly contained assets Hecker was hiding. Prohofsky denied it. Later in the week, he shot himself in his car. In his wallet: a key to a safety deposit box.

If you remember back in 2007, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty was positioning himself as a leader in cap-and-trade and reducing greenhouse gases, you might be sure that you are misreading this headline on MPR: Pawlenty among governors objecting to greenhouse gas regulations. You're not misreading it.

Pawlenty is on the receiving end of an especially sharp accusation at the moment, according to FOX9: DFL Sen. Don Betzold, who is looking to cut Pawlenty's budget (apparently he's a believer that turnabout is fair play) has accused Pawlenty of siphoning funds to pay for staff. An example: $30,000 in revenue from the Support Our Troops license plate which went to pay for Pawlenty staffers. In fairness, the staffers were to "support a veterans outreach position in the governor's office," which you might miss if you read too quickly.

Let's end on an irrelevant note: According to the terrific Stuff About Minneapolis blog, the "Helga hat" popular among Vikings fans is a sort of claddagh ring, in that it can be worn to show people your relationship status. One imagines something similar could be done with a Homer Hankie.