So Did They Kick Bachmann Off The Intelligence Committee Yet?

Tuesday Bachmann won her primary against two quixotic Republicans embarrassed about the freakshow she has turned their party into. Her real opposition, populist Democrat Jim Graves, also officially became the Minnesota DFL candidate. Graves must be doing something right; corporate whore Steve Israel has refused to put him on the Red-to-Blue list. So what happened with all the hubbub about throwing her censuring her or at least removing her from the Intelligence Committee?

Well, nothing. Boehner's is so weak and ineffectual that he's afraid to do anything. Even with Congress' most deranged publicity hound doubling tripling down on her ugly and divisive McCarthyism, mainstream Republicans have piped down, proving their were no teeth in their self-serving condemnations. Calls to censure Bachmann have, predictably, fallen on deaf ears, as have the flood of calls to kick her off the committee, even after both Boehner (who doesn't need anyone's agreement to just go ahead and do it) and Intelligence Committee leadership have condemned her dangerous demagoguery.

On the contrary, Republican politicians and their financiers have happily continued to support Bachmann’s reelection bid, knowing full well that when she bothers showing up she's a rubber-stamp for the House leadership despite her false claims of independence. In fact, my old elementary school buddy, former Senator Norm Coleman, who publicly condemned her baseless allegations, is still listed on her campaign website as officially endorsing her.

Besides relying on Bachmann’s Republican rubber stamp in Congress, truth be told, Republicans delight at the racist, hate- and fear-mongering rhetoric Bachmann uses to energize the GOP base and welcome millions of dollars into her campaign and the campaigns of Republicans across the country. Republicans across the country are already strategizing about how to utilize the wave of anti-Muslim hate Bachmann has been stirring up, although you sure don't see any of them manning up and taking responsibility for the mayhem at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek or for the shootings at Texas A&M this week, despite the fact that the murderer's Facebook page singled out Bachmann (and Glenn Beck) as his heroes.


With the DCCC not stepping up to the plate at all for Graves, he's left fighting all the money Bachmann raises from her hate-mongering and from the Koch brothers, Big Oil and the other special interests she serves so diligently.

So what’s the worst part about this? The fact that Republicans do not have the courage to stand up against McCarthyism and fear-mongering? The fact that Americans and special interests will fund the candidate of hate rather than her moderate opponent? The fact that "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel of the DCCC would rather waste money on trying to defeat freshmen teabaggers in solid red districts with his kennelful of Blue Dogs and New Dems, that work with Graves to oust one of the most despised and destructive Members of Congress?

Maybe it’s the fact that none of this was ever about national security in the first place. I have recently learned that when Bachmann was given the legitimate opportunity to deal with security issues related to the Muslim Brotherhood in the course of her actual job as Congresswoman at an April 13 subcommittee meeting on the subject, she just skipped the meeting, instead attending at least three separate interviews to bolster her laughable "presidential" campaign.

Some say that before Republicans completely brush this issue under the rug and leave Michele to spend her millions in blood money trying to buy another election, we should renew the call to have official action taken against Bachmann, call on Bachmann to say definitively whether or not she attended that April 13 meeting, and call on Sen. Coleman to retract his endorsement of the congresswoman he condemned. But I don't believe in any of that gameplaying. This is up to the voters of MN-06 and the only way to get rid of Michele Bachmann is to help Jim Graves put a stop to this hateful behavior once and for all by replacing her in Congress. You can help do that here on our ActBlue page.