Michele Bachmann: Misguided Knight of Freedom?

English: Official photo of Congresswoman (R-MN) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is a modern-day Don Quixote, riding her horse and tilting at the ideological windmills across the countryside, warning the people about evils real or imagined.  All the while, what she's really doing is to call attention to herself now that she's no longer running for President.

The Republican Tea Party darling's latest attempt at derring-do is about the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic organizations, who she says are infiltrating the U.S. government and is in the process of overthrowing it.  The Brotherhood was recently successful in getting one of their own elected president of Egypt.

Bachmann has accused Huma Abedin, a State Department employee who serves as an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,of having ties with the Brotherhood while having a security clearance.  That charge has yet to be proven, but it did result in Abedin getting police protection because of death threats.

When fellow Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison, a Democrat who happens to be the only Muslim to hold that office, tried to complain to Bachmann about her allegation, she accused him of being in cahoots with the Brotherhood as well.  It wouldn't surprise anyone if Bachmann claims to have access to Ellison's Muslim name, if he indeed has one.

Both political parties have come out against Bachmann's headline-grabbing finger pointing.  The few Republicans who have been brave enough to criticize her include Arizona Senator John McCain and Speaker of the House John Boehner.  The rest have backed off because they'd rather talk about the economy in this election year, rather than have to explain Bachmann's antics to voters.

As an experienced Congresswoman and failed presidential candidate, Bachmann seems to have all the credibility she thinks she needs.  As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, with access to classified documents, she can make all the accusations she wants without having to prove a thing in public.   Another congressional perk:  She can't be sued for libel.

Is this all on the up-and-up, or is it just another election-year ploy for Bachmann to scare her constituents in the Sixth District into giving her another term?  It's not as if she needs the help.  She's the heavy favorite against somebody named Jim Graves, who's running as a Democrat in a conservative district.

As long as voters keep sending Michele Bachmann to Washington, she'll continue to figuratively sound the alarm on causes she considers just, no matter many people she hurts and how many of her colleagues ignore her at their own peril.  Because who knows?  She might actually be right someday.