LatinaLista — Before the nation was shocked by the atrocity of the killings and shooting rampage at an Aurora, Colorado theater last night, some in the country were shocked and outraged over accusations made by former presidential candidate Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann against an aide of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Bachmann and four of her Republican co-horts dispatched a letter to the inspector general offices of the Departments of State, Justice, Defense, Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence alleging that the Muslim Brotherhood was infiltrating the federal government and working for “America’s demise.”
Bachmann initially singled out Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, with a convoluted story of how Abedin’s father had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The reaction from senior Republican leadership against Bachmann was swift and scolding. Even a former campaign worker and newspaper editorialists in her state called on her to apologize for such revolting accusations.
Yet, instead of admitting any wrongdoing, she dug herself deeper into the growing controversy by concocting another accusation that fellow congressman from Minnesota, Democrat Keith Ellison, who happens to be the first Muslim serving in Congress, also has ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
One Minnesota newspaper editorial board advised Bachmann to apologize now and salvage her credibility before she erodes it further. Yet, it’s clear this woman has no more credibility nor should she have the trust of her constituents in Minnesota.
Her flagrant disregard for the truth and propensity to manipulate disjointed facts to justify her own brand of fantasy reasoning not only illustrates a pattern of disturbing behavior but goes beyond, this time, the damage she did during the presidential debates when she alleged the HPV vaccine caused mental retardation. In that case, her false statement also drew immediate heated responses. That time it was from the medical community and others who worked with getting girls inoculated with the vaccine that prevents cervical cancer and who who were much more qualified to talk about any side effects than Bachmann.
What is noticeable from this latest reckless disregard for the truth is that Bachmann has no respect for telling the truth and has appointed herself the savior of an imaginary overtaking of the federal government. In her mind, the enemy is any person of Muslim extraction or affiliation.
Who will be next?
Latinos? Asians? Native Americans? African Americans?
While it was gratifying to see Sen. McCain, Rep. Boehner and other conservatives immediately denounce this erratic member of Congress, where are the Latino congressional leaders in denouncing her dangerous actions?
This is not just a “Muslim” issue between Muslim-Americans and Bachmann. This is an issue for every person of color who is different from Bachmann and the co-horts that agree with her.
Her actions should be condemned, and she should be impeached for violating the trust of her office, and Latino leadership in Congress should be publicly standing by their Muslim-American brothers and sisters. Because if influential lunatics like Bachmann can single out Muslim-Americans it won’t be long before they start inventing stories about Latinos and other ethnic groups.
