Don't Bother, They're Here

(Click on image to enlarge to see some of the fine details, then kindly return.)

David Horsey has produced a lot of superb cartoons and posts to accompany them, but this one might be one of his best.

While Michele Bachmann's craziness may have been knocked off the front page by the horrific tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, I'm sure she will return much sooner than later. She's running for re-election, and, as we saw earlier this year, when an election is involved, she's all for grabbing the Queen of the Tea Party Mantle and the headlines.

This has been a week in which someone at the Republican National Committee must have said, "Send in the clowns!" Michele Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh and lesser jesters in the GOP circus were just a few fake noses and a seltzer bottle short of performances worthy of Ringling Bros.

Bachmann was the premier buffoon. The Minnesota congresswoman alleged that a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Huma Abedin, may be a spy for the Muslim Brotherhood. ...

On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain rose to Abedin's defense on the floor of the Senate, not naming Bachmann, but clearly aiming fire in her direction. "When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it," McCain said.

Bachmann’s former campaign manager, Ed Rollins, was just as scathing. "Having worked for Congressman Bachmann's campaign for president," he said, "I am fully aware that she sometimes has difficulty with her facts, but this is downright vicious and reaches the late Senator Joe McCarthy level." [Emphasis added]

And it's not just McCain and Rollins who objected to the unwarranted vilification. Even House Speaker John Boehner noted that such attacks were "dangerous." That didn't stop, or even slow Ms. Bachmann. She widened her attack to include another member of Congress from her own state:

Shrugging off criticism from GOP leaders in Congress, Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann broadened her allegations Thursday of Islamic infiltration in the U.S. government, accusing Democrat Keith Ellison of associations with the Muslim Brotherhood.

"He has a long record of being associated with [the Council on American–Islamic Relations] and with the Muslim Brotherhood," Bachmann told right-wing radio and TV show host Glenn Beck.

Ellison, whose Minnesota congressional district borders Bachmann’s, told the Huffington Post that Bachmann’s accusations are totally false. "I am not now, nor have I ever been, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood," he said, echoing the McCarthy-era government loyalty oath.

The exchange came a day after Bachmann was denounced on the Senate floor by Ariz. Sen. John McCain. Earlier Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner termed Bachmann’s allegations “dangerous.” ...

In a wide ranging interview, she called it “my duty” to speak up, and accused the FBI of a “purge” of training materials on radical Islam.

As for Ellison, who has publicly questioned the basis of her allegations, Bachmann said “he wanted to shut it (her call for an investigation) down.”

Bachmann repeated her accusations that Abedin’s family members, including her long-deceased father, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. But even as she questioned how Abedin could have received a government security clearance, she denied accusing the Clinton aide of being an agent for the Islamic group.

“All we’re doing is asking a question,” she said. [Emphasis added]

Yeah, right. And in your newly drawn district you need to be sure your constituents are aware of your bona fides. Hopefully, for the rest of the state and the country, your constituents have gotten an up close and personal look at your beliefs and tactics.

In the mean time, Mitt Romney is now faced with another dilemma: what does he do about a base that believes non-Christians have no role in this country. Given the view of many fundamentalists that his own religion doesn't qualify him for sanctification, how does he pacify them? David Horsey wondered the same thing:

The quandary Romney faces and has faced throughout the campaign is that the conspiracy clowns include not just a few members of Congress and a bunch of conservative pundits and celebrities. Their ranks extend to all the folks who believe the same crazy stuff as Bachmann -- a broad segment of voters that just happens to be the base of the party Romney is trying to lead.

Does he dare shut them out at the convention? Or does he let them speak, thereby losing a huge chunk of the popular vote, including those in states that are up for grabs and close. I'm sure he'll be thinking about that as he goes to fund raisers in London with those banksters accused of being involved in the LIBOR scandal.

Popcorn futures are up.