Bachmann Claims 'Flying Imams' Were Attending Victory Party Of Muslim Congressman
Michele Bachmann just can't turn down an opportunity to attack a Democratic politician -- even if the "opportunity" is a lie. During an interview with right-wing talk radio host Lee Rodgers, Bachmann declared that the "Flying Imams" -- six Muslim men who were removed from an airplane at the Minneapolis airport in 2006 -- had been in Minnesota for the victory party of Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress.
Bachmann's line about the imams can be found at the 4:30 mark in this YouTube, which also contains a wider-ranging discussion of such issues as President Obama apologizing for America, and the fierce threat of the loss of American sovereignty:
"The imams were actually attending Congressman Keith Ellison's victory celebration, when he won as a member of Congress," said Bachmann.
For the record, the imams were in fact attending a conference that was held on November 17-19, 2006. Keith Ellison's victory party was presumably held on November 7, 2006, the night of the 2006 mid-term elections that brought both himself and Bachmann to Congress.
(Via Minnesota Independent and Dump Bachmann.)
Josh
Matt
Eric
Cirque du Soleil?
April 16, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
More like Bachmann overdrive!
April 16, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
BPO = Bachmann Psycho Overdrive!
Say, Eric, when is TPMdc going to be introducing a regular Friday feature: This Week in BPO?
April 16, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Ellison had a victory party election night. I remember having to choose between his party, and the state party's party.
That was a good night. Even last year didn't quite match. I think it was because I couldn't recall more than a win here and there before.
Anyway, Bachmann clearly has figured out that with the election so far off, there's nothing anyone can do to her no matter what she says.
April 16, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
she's referring to the six religious leaders who were wrongfully removed from their flight and detained because of bigotry and ignorance?
how dare ellison associate with such people?!!
April 16, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I heard that Michelle Bachmann was with Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora in December 2001. Could she verify that, please?
April 16, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hope someone is compiling all this.
There should be enough video alone to retire this moron.
April 16, 2009 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Serious question: Is she mentally ill?
April 16, 2009 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Serious answer: She's a delusional Republican. (Yes, I know it's a redundant statement!)
April 16, 2009 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, opinions here differ. Some claim she's merely an evil Machiavellian hag saying whatever she has to say to please the rubes in her district. Others, citing Occam's Razor, adhere to the theory that she's simply staggeringly stupid. Still otheres note that she seems to meet the requirements for diagnosis of an array of psychoses and/or personality disorders, narcissistic personality disorder being a common claim.
And then there are those of us who observe none of those things are mutually exclusive.
April 16, 2009 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
"an evil Machiavellian hag saying whatever she has to say to please the rubes in her district. Others, citing Occam's Razor, adhere to the theory that she's simply staggeringly stupid."
Or both...
Since when was being Machiavellian somehow exclusive of being staggeringly stupid?
Smart Machavellians are rarely found in any sort of spotlight. But the really stupid ones spend their time there.
April 17, 2009 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Stair into her eyes for a while and then turn off all the lights and see how long you last before you start to panic. She seriously creeps me out.
April 16, 2009 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
stare even
April 16, 2009 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think one could argue that the entire "pitchfork brigade" (Rush, Beck, Buchanan, et al) are suffering from a mild form of narcissistic personality disorder:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
The consistent use of false facts to bear "false witness" is the giveaway.
May 27, 2009 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm going to learn to play the Theremin and I'm naming my band the "Flying Imams." (Auditions welcome)
The music will likely be inaudible to Michelle Bachmann as it will blend in with the creepy sci-fi soundtrack already playing in her head.
April 16, 2009 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Weren't "The Flying Imams" a famous circus trapeze act?
April 17, 2009 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think they stole Jerry's Friar's Club blazer. Agraba!
May 28, 2009 6:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
The scariest part about that statement is that she is well aware that the constituency she is speaking to actually thinks "imams" is a bad word, much like "Muslim", "Koran", or (gasp) "Islam".
April 16, 2009 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes.
I know Rep. Ellison has to have a cordial working relationship with her as a House colleague, but really -- I would love him to call her on this statement in public with her standing right beside him so that she has to justify her racist implications. "Michele -- please clarify for us all here. Are you saying that there was something wrong with the election of a Muslim congressman?" You are absolutely correct that this is just more of the same series of dog whistles that the GOP is left with these days.
Would be great if there were no third party candidate in 2010 to act as a spoiler. That way independents repulsed at this thinly veiled racism would vote Dem instead of the "a pox on both their houses" Independent party.
April 16, 2009 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Josh's "Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-DSM-IV)" quip is comedy gold.
April 16, 2009 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha! I missed that on first glance--thanks for pointing it out. I'm going to refer to her that way from now on.
April 16, 2009 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
ahahaha! oh shit i missed that, too. i am actually laughing out loud.
April 16, 2009 7:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really believe that Bachmann just says this crap to get coverage on cable news, specifically on MSNBC so she can go on Hannity and talk about being persecuted by the left as if she mattered. The best thing TPM and MSNBC etc. could do is ignore Bachmann, she's just a pathetic publicity hound.
April 16, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
You got it. Not so long ago she was a back-bencher that no one ever heard of. Now she's a household word. But because of shock desensitization, she has to come up with increasingly wild statements to stay in the news. Any bets on how long before aliens from outer space are involved?
April 16, 2009 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
If that's the case, then there's a timer running. Sooner or later she'll cross some line that the media and her constituents actually get freaked out about.
My question: Is if there's a pool running somewhere?
April 16, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
You got that right, Debra. We need to ignore these people.
April 16, 2009 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
no. the correct course of action wrt lunatics is NOT to ignore them. they are a danger to themselves and others. especially when they are elected officials. ignoring this kind of individual would amount to enabling. it is best to make sure their lunatic ravings are exposed to a wide audience. raising bachman's profile doesn't do her any favors. just gives her more rope.
April 16, 2009 7:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's not that smart.
April 17, 2009 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm confused. We should protect health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions for religious reasons, but Muslim taxi drivers who don't want to transport dogs and alcohol for religious reasons are clearly extremists?
April 16, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've got it! Maybe the beleaguered pharmacists could form a union! Surely Michele would support that!
April 16, 2009 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
You were struck by that, too, huh?
Actually, I have no problem allowing doctors to decline to perform abortions if they have objections. It's allowing them to refuse to refer patients to other physicians or allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescribed medication and refuse to transfer the prescription elsewhere that I find going too far. But if Bachmann thinks that all of that is OK, then she has no logical grounds on which to object to Muslims exercising their own freedom of conscience.
April 17, 2009 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm curious why Airport Prayer = Bad while School Prayer = Good. She's a really bizarre person to be critical of other folks for flaunting their faith in the public sphere.
April 16, 2009 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Only adherents to the one true faith are allowed to publically flaunt their faith. When infidel dogs do it, its offensive and dangerous.
Only a Godless liberal would have a problem understanding something so obvious and simple.
April 16, 2009 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
true fact.
April 16, 2009 7:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent point!
April 17, 2009 12:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Michelle has got to go in 2010. This kind of mania is unacceptable in the congress.
April 16, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The real issue here is the religious bigotry. So what if six imams were attending Ellison's victory party?
April 16, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
well, they tried to fly on a plane!! do the math!
April 16, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans are slowly blurring the line between being ignorant to being dangerously ignorant.
April 16, 2009 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Slowly?
April 16, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
The last time I saw eyes like hers was on Charles Manson. The only thing missing is for her to carve a swastika between her eyes.
April 16, 2009 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are Flying Imams like Sally Fields' Flying Nun? That was hilarious in its day, I suppose.
April 16, 2009 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
My first thought was a trapeze act.
April 16, 2009 10:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, I've been holding off on saying this regarding all these Michele Bachmann's post, because I know it's not mature, but I've had a really bad day and I need to vent.
Crazy bitch. That's all I have to say about that.
April 16, 2009 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's a crazy bitch even when we don't have bad days.
April 16, 2009 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm surprised she didn't think they were flying into town on carpets.
April 16, 2009 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it a suprise she is a racist?
April 16, 2009 8:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we should have a poll. Who is the fucking craziest new voice of the new GOP?
Bachmann
Limbaugh
Coleman
Megyn Kelly
Steele
Beck
Geithner
Huckaby
Meghan McCain
Barack Obama
Chuck Norris
Stevens
Levi Johnston
Other
April 16, 2009 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, its easy to narrow it down to Bachmann and Norris, but impossible for me to choose between them.
April 16, 2009 9:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chuck Norris has been hit in the head a lot, so I'm willing to cut him some slack. The rest have more intrinsic craziness.
April 17, 2009 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
She says she was crazy about her foster kids. That would just come naturally for her. I have never heard so many lies come out of one horse's mouth. Does she get this stuff from Sean hannity or her own insanity
April 17, 2009 3:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Flying Imams?
Given Michelle Bachmann's tendency toward teh crazy, I had visions of...well...her having visions of flying islamic holy men. Perhaps a superhero team of sorts.
The Flying Imams - 6 Muslim Holy Men from another galaxy, out to make the world a safer, more tolerant place. Their arch-enemy, Michelle "The Lying Crackpot" Bachmann attempts to legislate them into returning to their homeworld of Islamfacscia.
Someone should run with it. Make a webcartoon. :-)
April 17, 2009 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink