by Steve Timmer

Jul 16, 2012, 1:00 PM

At long last, Michele, have you no shame?

Michele Bachmann ascends to a whole new level of paranoid fantasy

If you thought that Bachmann’s delusion about the Islamofascists’ design on the partition of Iraq was crazy (it was), she has a new one that is even grander and crazier. Tearing a page right out of Joe McCarthy’s playbook, Bachmann says:

It appears that there has been deep penetration in the halls of our United States government by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood has been found to be an unindicted co-conspirator on terrorism cases and yet it appears that there are individuals who are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood who have positions, very sensitive positions, in our Department of Justice, our Department of Homeland Security, potentially even in the National Intelligence Agency. I am calling upon the Justice Department and these various departments to investigate through the Inspector General to see who these people are and what access they have to our information.

Lest you think this is based on Bachmann’s own investigation, or that of her staff, well, heaven forfend! From the same ThinkProgress article at the link:

Bachmann’s bizarre conspiracy theorizing about a “penetration” of the U.S. government matches closely with the conspiracy theories espoused by Center for Security Policy (CSP) President Frank Gaffney who in recent months has found himself ostracizedbymainstreamRepublicans [that’s four links, all worthwhile] for his accusations about a Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the George W. Bush and Obama administrations as well as the American Conservative Union.

City Pages pointed out Bachmann’s obvious ideological fellow traveler: Wisconsin’s Senator Joe McCarthy.

Salon reports that Keith Ellison demands that Bachmann back up her scurrilous, poisonous allegations, or just shut up [my words, not his]:

Bachmann’s fellow Minnesota congressman, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, wrote a letter to Bachmann and her co-signers yesterday demanding they provide evidence to support their accusations, or drop their claims and clear Abedin and others’ names.  “I request that you provide my office a full accounting of the sources you used to make the serious allegations against the individuals and organizations in your letters,” Ellison wrote.

But don’t count on Bachmann to mend her slanderous ways, because they work for her. She raised $1.7 millon in the last quarter. And guess what she did with some of it? Paid off some debt from her presidential campaign.

Bachmann’s congressional campaign transferred $80K to presidential account as she whittled debt just below $1M

— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) July 16, 2012

Update: The Strib has an article this AM (Tuesday) about cash pouring in from other states to Bachmann from the Tea-stained loonies who undoubtedly eat this stuff up.

Further update: MinnPost reports that 80% of Bachmann’s the itemized haul came from out of state. And Michele has also upped the ante, now claiming on Glenn Beck’s radio show that Keith Ellison is tight with the Muslim Brotherhood.