Bachmann Excoriated By Left – And Right – Over Irene “Jokes”

Michele Bachmann a Tea Party Republican presidential candidate, is being excoriated for her insensitive and wildly offensive comments about Hurricane Irene and the recent earthquake on the East Coast. Pundits from the Left and right have pointed out to the Congresswoman from Minnesota that 35 people died during the weekend’s hurricane, four to five million are without power, and floods of biblical proportions plague the east coast, just days after an earthquake left those same east coasters emotionally wobbly.

READ: Bachmann: I Was Joking When I Said Irene Is God’s Way Of Saying Cut Spending

On the Right, the Christian Science Monitor classified Bachmann as “not so thin-skinned,” and, to be fair, “an experienced politician,” but added today that Bachmann’s quip “may be an example of how her personal touch on the trail is not the best. Her rhetoric can be scorching but she does not always connect that well with the people in the audience. Remember earlier this month, when she appeared at the same Iowa GOP dinner as then about-to-declare Gov. Rick Perry? He received much better reviews than she did, even though the dinner was in Bachmann’s home town.”

And on Left, Martin Bashir on MSNBC (video below) said exactly what I did, adding, “we wonder, if the next time Iowa faces a tornado or a flood, will Bachmann be so quick to joke about God’s will in such a flippant manner?”

For those who have yet to hear about it, Bachmann on Sunday said,

“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people, because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.”

Bachmann made essentially the same comment twice over the weekend while campaigning in Florida.

“Washington, D.C. you’d think by now they’d get the message,” Bachmann also said at a town hall in Florida Saturday. “An earthquake, a hurricane, are you listening? The American people have done everything they possibly can, now it’s time for an act of God and we’re getting it.”

Bachmann and her campaign later claimed the comments were jokes.

But only one pundit got the real issue right. Aside from the fact that Bachmann’s jokes weren’t funny to anyone with a grin of humanity for the families of the 35 killed by Hurricane Irene, her logic is way off.

Jonathan Capehart at The Washington Post today writes,

“There are far too many people out there who think they have a DM relationship with @TheAlmighty and then subject the rest of us to what they say His judgment is. After an earthquake rattled the east coast last week, a New York rabbi blamed it on the state’s same-sex marriage law. And over the weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) shared her direct messages from God at a campaign stop in Florida.”

Capehart adds,

“So, see if you can follow this logic without your head exploding. The American people are angry over government spending and the inattention of politicians to their concerns about it. Hearing their anger, God unleashes earthquakes and hurricanes to get “the attention of the politicians.” Never mind that the billions of dollars in damages will cause local, state and federal governments to spend money they don’t have for repairs. Thus adding to the ‘morbid obesity diet’ Bachmann claims God is trying to get the politicians to rein in.”

Pity, she’ll never understand.