[jogiba]

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s former campaign manager has joined the bipartisan chorus criticizing the Minnesota Republican for questioning the loyalty of State Department aide Huma Abedin and alleging she has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

“I have been a practitioner of tough politics for many decades,” Ed Rollins wrote in an op-ed for FOX News. “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,” he continued.

Rollins, like Sen. John McCain in a floor speech earlier today, called out Bachmann for writing a letter urging the State Department to investigate whether Abedin — a Muslim American and wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner — and other officials were trying to influence U.S. foreign policy to aid Islamist causes.

Rollins demanded Bachmann apologize for the letter, which was signed by four other GOP lawmakers, and compared Bachmann’s claims to Joe McCarthy’s hunt for communists in the 1950’s.

“Having worked for Congressman Bachman’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,” he wrote.

Ed Rollins rips 'extreme' Michele Bachmann - Tomer Ovadia - POLITICO.com

You Tube

You Tube

[deadwolfbones]

Derp derp

Samar Ali Targeted By Anti-Muslim Smears In Tennessee | TPMMuckraker

[kswier]

If you say something loud enough, often enough, and consistently enough, people will start to believe it.

My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that the Muslim Brotherhood is a fairly moderate organisation. To me, they seems fairly close to the Christian right in the US, and just do not have an established constitution (thus, they are free to make laws that violate separation of church and state).

Again, could be wrong about this, as I have not read much about it.

[seacapt]

I'll once again preface this with - IMHO Bachman is an embaressment.
Now was it really Bachman who turned this into a personal / religious thing or wasit the press?Was Bachman simply using Abedin as an example of the double standard that exists for security clearance standards?
The guy who washes the windows on the helicopters used to transport the Pres &VP , Whitehouse kitchen staff and the dude who takes the garbage out at the Washington Monument all have to go through extensive background checks with a specific list of disqualifiers.
Shouldn't someone this close to the Pres , VP or SOS be held to at least those standards?

[jogiba]

I'll once again preface this with - IMHO Bachman is an embaressment.
Now was it really Bachman who turned this into a personal / religious thing or wasit the press?Was Bachman simply using Abedin as an example of the double standard that exists for security clearance standards?
The guy who washes the windows on the helicopters used to transport the Pres &VP , Whitehouse kitchen staff and the dude who takes the garbage out at the Washington Monument all have to go through extensive background checks with a specific list of disqualifiers.
Shouldn't someone this close to the Pres , VP or SOS be held to at least those standards?

You should get your info from other than the Globe or Faux News.

[seacapt]

You should get your info from other than the Globe or Faux News.

Actually you should check the security requirements for congressmen/women and their personal staff.

[GeneV]

Actually you should check the security requirements for congressmen/women and their personal staff.

And do you know of a reason why she would not pass?

[seacapt]

Once again my point is not about Abedin in particular but rather that someone in her position is exempt from the background checks required for the guy who cleans the urinals .

[GeneV]

Once again my point is not about Abedin in particular but rather that someone in her position is exempt from the background checks required for the guy who cleans the urinals .

So is the President, cabinet, and every elected official. I'm not getting what the point is here.

[jogiba]

Ms. Bachmann’s accusations are tissue-thin garbage of the someone-said-something variety — or, as Mr. McCain put it, “nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable woman, a dedicated American and a loyal public servant.”

Among the co-signers of Ms. Bachmann’s letter are Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, notorious for describing abortion as having done more harm to blacks than slavery; Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, who described then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as “uppity”; and Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, known for evidence-free rants about plots involving U.S. passport-bearing “terror babies,” born here and trained overseas to carry out attacks on America.

Spurred or shamed by Mr. McCain’s courageous remarks, some Republican leaders, but not all, have gathered themselves to repudiate Ms. Bachmann and her co-signers. On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) praised Ms. Abedin’s “sterling character,” noting that the accusations against her are “dangerous.”

Ms. Bachmann’s accusations are in the squalid tradition of McCarthyism and other shameful chapters of our history in which politicians have slandered their rivals as un-American, allied with enemy forces or guilty by association with shadowy forces. Her tactics are no less ugly than those of her predecessors. Thanks to Mr. McCain, they may be less effective.

Michele Bachmann’s baseless attack on Huma Abedin - The Washington Post

[Wheatfield]

Once again my point is not about Abedin in particular but rather that someone in her position is exempt from the background checks required for the guy who cleans the urinals .

Do you have any real bona fide citations that this person somehow managed to sidestep the background checks or are you just parroting right wing fantasies?

[redrockcoulee]

I think when you accuse a person's family as being involved with terrorism and bringing terrorists to the US and that this same person is questionable due to family connections it is not an example of trying to show that some people have to have more clearance than do others. If that was the case the letter should have been generic but reading Bachmann's letter she was expressing concerns about the individual in particular.

I have no idea of what clearances aides need but according to McCain she was through clearance or perhaps I am mistaken. My previous job as a photographer required me to get secret clearance and it is not that big of a deal except it does take months at least in Canada. But any time you use a person's name in a public document you are singling out that individual whether it be for a positive or negative reason.

For McCain, Rollins and Boehner to condem the statement to me means that she did indeed cross the line as why else would Republicans do so. It was tnot the media that made it a big deal unless they are not supposed to report or comment on what a sitting member of Congress says or writes. Sorry but if you are an elected representative and make any statement or request or put forth a bill all as part of your official duties and under your elected letterhead it must be open to the press to report and comment. That is what an open and free press is supposed to do. If they overblow it or not is more a reflection of how one feels about a particular story. And to top it off Bachmann was putting an organization that receives support from another organization that does have some sort of dialogue at least with a third organiaztion is pretty slim to cast doubt on an employee of the first organization family. Soon any Sec of State will have to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood anyways as will State Department employees.

[Jack]

Three Reasons Why Rep. Bachmann Might Be Right About Huma Abedin
url=http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/07/20/What-if-Sen-McCain-is-Wrong-and-Rep-Bachmann-is-Right]Three Reasons Why Rep. Bachmann Might Be Right About Huma Abedin[/url]

1. Abedin's mother is not only a member of the Muslim Sisterhood, but also sits on the Guidance Board of the organization. This makes her not only a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's female auxiliary, but also a prestigious member.

2. Another member of the Muslim Sisterhood's Guidance Bureau is Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's wife, which means Abedin's mother and the wife of an renowned Muslim Brotherhood member are in regular and frequent contact.

3. Lastly, Abedin's brother, Hassan Abedin, has allegedly collaborated with Omar Naseef and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, two of the most influential terror supporters in the world.

[jogiba]

Do all people in Georgia get their news from Right wing bloggers ? Why don't you contact House Speaker John Boehner , Bachmann’s former campaign manager Ed Rollins, Marco Rubio and John McCain to tell them they are dead wrong about Bachmann.

House Speaker John Boehner :
"From everything that I do know of [Abedin], she has a sterling character and I think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous,"
Huma Abedin Attacks By Michele Bachmann Condemned By John Boehner, Marco Rubio

[newarts]

Ms Clinton is no dope. Plus the State Department has a long history in dealing with possible spies, turncoats, double agents, etc.

Ms Abedin may be an agent for one side or another but that's been known since the beginning by all the players involved. Her family links to the bad guys are probably of high value to Ms Clinton & her professional staff. y

Ms Bachman's rants are likely interfering with the cogs of diplomacy and are an insult to the integrity of our government's outreach as a whole. Shame on the media for not publishing Ms B's rants with a more critical analysis; ie. is there any evidence at all to support Ms B's fears?

Dave in Iowa