Ten Reasons Why Republicans — or Any Real American — Should Repudiate Michele Bachmann

1. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): Allegations by Rep. Michele Bachmann and four other House members, that Clinton aide Huma Abedin is “part of a nefarious conspiracy to harm the United States by unduly influencing U.S. foreign policy at the Department of State in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist causes…. are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant…. [and] have no logic, no basis, and no merit.”

2. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH): “I think accusations like this [Muslim Brotherhood ‘penetration’ into the U.S. government] being thrown around are pretty dangerous.”

3. Ed Rollins, former campaign manager of Bachmann for President and national campaign director for the Reagan-Bush ‘84 campaign: “I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades. There is little that amazes me and even less that shocks me. I have to say that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s outrageous and false charges against a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin, reaches that threshold. Her unsubstantiated charge against Abedin, a widely respected top aide to Secretary Hillary Clinton, accusing her of some sort of far-fetched connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, is extreme and dishonest. Having worked for Congressman Bachmann’s campaign for president, 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. The Republican Party … is going to become irrelevant if we become the party of intolerance and hate. The party founded by Abraham Lincoln was a party that fought slavery and intolerance at every level. … Shame on you, Michele! … As a devoted Christian, you need to ask forgiveness for this grievous lack of judgment and reckless behavior.”

4. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL): “I don’t share the feelings that are in that letter…. And in fact, I’m very very careful and cautious about ever making accusations like that about anyone.”

5. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA): “Rep. Bachmann’s accusations about Sec. Clinton aide Huma Abedin are out-of-line. This kind of rhetoric has no place in our public discourse.”

6. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI): “I think the Constitution in saying that there shall never be a religious test for any office of trust and profit under the United States meant that people should not be judged on the basis of their religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs.”

7. Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN): “Well, I’ll just say I don’t agree with [Bachmann’s] comments, and I don’t think they were right to go after an administration official without any background that would prove otherwise.”

8. Rep. John Kline (R-MN): “I think that [Bachmann] stepped a bit over the line when she went after individuals by name … we need to be focusing on jobs and the economy.”

9. Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN): “I have deep concerns when individuals are singled out like that. There’s a better way to deal with those issues.”

10. The State Department: [Bachmann’s accusations are] “vile and disgusting lies.”

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Photo credits: U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Wikipedia