Is there anyone more qualified to discuss religious fundamentalists, it is Michelle Bachmann – that is because she is one. While this may seem extreme and really quite crazy to most, this is just the topic of the day on the far right. Here is a
CBS News – WASHINGTON – Former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and four other conservative members of Congress are charging that people with ties to Muslim extremists have infiltrated the federal government.
Sen. John McCain denounced the allegationsWednesday, calling them “sinister” and saying they “need to stop.”
Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has been singled out.
The State Department has responded to the allegations with very harsh language, calling Bachmann’s charges “vicious and disgusting lies.”
Even Bachmann’s own former presidential campaign chief, Ed Rollins, said she was being extreme and dishonest.
It’s rare for a senator to publicly rebuke members of his own party. But that’s just what Arizona’s McCain did, saying on the Senate floor, “These attacks have no logic, no basis and no merit, and they need to stop,” after the five House Republicans questioned whether Abedin has ties to terrorism.
“When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it,” McCain continued.
Bachmann, from Minnesota, and the four other representatives sent letters to top intelligence and security officials last week warning that the Muslim Brotherhood, a global religious Islamic movement whose members have been linked to terrorist groups in the past, may have infiltrated the top levels of U.S. government.
FascismWatch
Which rules of Fascism does her allegations fulfill? #3, #7 and #8. Not bad, a three-fer.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
