There was a time, before Sarah Palin sashayed onto the national political scene, that John McCain was considered a relatively reasonable member of the GOP. On Wednesday, McCain revived some of that bipartisan temperance when he took to the Senate floor to defend Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, against allegations from congressional conspiracy theorist Michele Bachmann that Abedin had convoluted ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which, if true, would pose "serious national securit concerns."


Though NPR reports that McCain didn't explicitly mention her by name, it seemed pretty clear that his rebuke was directed at Bachmann, as well as the other House GOP lawmakers who requested on June 13 for an investigation of Abedin. After vouching for Abedin's character as "an honorable citizen, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant," McCain insisted that other Republicans stop being total assholes about making unfounded accusations:

I have every confidence in Huma's loyalty to our country, and everyone else should as well. All Americans owe Huma a debt of gratitude for her many years of superior public service. I hope these ugly and unfortunate attacks on her can be immediately brought to an end and put behind us before any further damage is done to a woman, an American, of genuine patriotism and love of country.


And, in case McCain's words failed to shame Bachmann in her McCarthy-esque quest to seem like an important politician, Bachmann's former campaign manager Ed Rollins offered his own considerably sharper rebuke in an article on FoxNews.com:

As a member of Congress, with a seat on the House Intelligence Committee, Mrs. Bachmann you know better. Shame on you, Michele! You should stand on the floor of the House and apologize to Huma Abedin and to Secretary Clinton and to the millions of hard working,loyal, Muslim Americans for your wild and unsubstantiated charges. As a devoted Christian, you need to ask forgiveness for this grievous lack of judgment and reckless behavior.

Doesn't it seem like forever ago since Michele Bachmann was relevant enough to be profiled in the New Yorker and photographed for the cover of Newsweek trying to use her heat vision on the American electorate?


McCain Defends Clinton Aide, Tells Bachmann And Others To Back Off [NPR]