Michele Bachmann Runs From Her Own Conspiracy Theories

This video caught my eye in no small part because it's miracle enough that it caused me to momentarily question my atheism. It shows Michele Bachmann, faced with a chance to talk on camera, instead choosing to run away. I know there's a first for everything, but after seeing this, I wouldn't be surprised in my cats start barking at me.

What topic makes Bachmann so fearful that she flees at the sight of cameras now? Apparently, she's freaked out after Sen. John McCain took to the floor to condemn her attempts to create a McCarthyite witch hunt to find the secret Muslim Brotherhood infiltrators she believes are working in all levels of government. Bachmann's been behind a series of letters to the Inspectors General demanding investigations into various government officials for supposedly being covert agents of the Muslim Brotherhood. Of those who are all but accused? Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's top aide and, I'm sure you'll recall, wife to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose defenses of Israel lean into the going-too-far territory. One wonders what role Bachmann believes Weiner plays in her imaginary conspiracy.

Abedin's office responded to the allegations with:

They are nothing but vicious and disgusting lies that have no place in reasonable political discourse. And anyone who traffics in them should be ashamed of themselves.

And now Republicans like McCain are turning on Bachmann.

What I don't understand is how Bachmann convinced herself that this promoting this lunacy would work out for her. It's true that she already has a reputation for being completely out of touch with reality, but she's mostly been smart enough to contain the crazy to topics where her fellow politicians and the media treat it like a joke: Oh, there's Bachmann ranting about lightbulbs again. Look at her pretend that there was no abortion before Roe v Wade! But trying to whip up a witch hunt where people's loyalty is questioned and their jobs attacked because of nothing more than their private religious beliefs is another ballgame altogether. She's always been crazy, but I didn't take her for stupid. But now I'll have to reassess even that assumption.

Just remember: This woman spent some time as the frontrunner to win the presidential nomination from one of the two major political parties of the most powerful nation on the planet. In other words, living proof that we as a species are fucked.