On budgets, hurricanes and God

Nothing like taking a hurricane and trying to turn it to your advantage. Of course Michele Bachmann wasn't content to just use the storm as a metaphor. Nope. Ms. Bachmann, who wants to be our next president, claimed that God had visited Hurricane Irene upon the eastern seaboard as retribution for a profligate Congress.

"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." -- Michele Bachmann

Really, Ms. Bachmann? God would send a storm that has claimed some 41 lives and left millions without electricity because she was upset about Congress' fiscal policy? Silly me, I thought the era of the vengeful god was long past. I guess I was wrong.

To be fair, Ms. Bachmann now claims her comments to be a joke. Let's see, anytime someone is quoted saying something stupid on Twitter, Facebook, the radio or on television it's always a misunderstanding, or it was taken out of context or it was meant to be a joke.

Sorry, Ms. Bachmann, I don't think any of the folks affected by Hurricane Irene are laughing. And even if it was a joke, it certainly wasn't very funny.

Besides, if God were so pissed at Congress that she felt some natural disaster was in order -- why not just have a tornado strike the Capitol while Congress is in session? The folks in the path of Hurricane Irene certainly had nothing to do with the fact that Ms. Bachmann and her colleagues can't control a budget. That's right, you're included in this, too, Michele.

Assuming there is a god, just how much time would she really spend contemplating contemporary American politics? Furthermore, why would she even care?

The scary thing is that there are people out there who are more than willing to pull the lever for Ms. Bachmann. It's even scarier to realize that these same folks may be on your next jury panel.