Boehner, Cantor Reply To Obscure Blogger: We're "Proud" To Serve With Bachmann

In a little-noticed blog post, Republican leadership in the House said they were "proud" to serve with lightening-rod colleague Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), despite reports that her antics are causing great angst within the caucus.

On Tuesday, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his second in command, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), posted a letter on the GOP Leader Blog responding to accusations from an obscure Minnesota blogger that they had thrown Bachmann under the bus.

"We wanted to respond to your letter to us last week and to assure you that regardless of what inside-the-beltway media writes or what unnamed 'sources' it quotes, we are proud to serve with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann," read the Boehner/Cantor post.

The Boehner/Cantor blog post, which was inexplicably taken down from the site just minutes after it was posted, was passed along to the Huffington Post by the progressive group Media Matters Action Network. That Republican leadership felt compelled to address anonymous reports that they were distancing themselves from Bachmann -- even if just for a few minutes -- is a testament to the power that the GOP's most-colorful members continue to exercise over the tone and direction of the party.

Politico reported last week that Boehner, Cantor and others were concerned by the rhetoric and histrionics coming from the fringes of the GOP, and Bachmann in particular.

The story sparked immediate recriminations from supporters of the Minnesota Republican, who has, among other things, called for an investigation of un-Americanism in Congress and insisted that President Obama wanted to start "re-education" camps for America's youth.

One fan in particular -- Andy Aplikowski, a conservative Minnesota blogger -- suggested that GOP leaders were "spineless wimps" who had issued "stupid and moronic attacks on one of the best members of your caucus."

"A word of advice, issue an apology and retraction right now, or else. Or else you will see people like me bust their butt so hard that she raises millions, wins by a landslide, and takes your job and sends you to the back bench," Aplikowski wrote on his relatively obscure blog, ResidualForces.

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The blog entry apparently resonated deep within the circles of GOP power. Addressing their reply personally to Aplikowski, both Boehner and Cantor dismissed the Politico piece and insisted that Bachmann remains a strong fixture within the party.

"She has been a consistent and strong voice for the American taxpayer in Washington from the day she took office," the letter read. "And, despite the taunts and insults that the media elites and liberals hurl at her, she never wavers in her commitment to fiscal responsibility."

"When the other side can't come up with arguments to defend their policies, they turn to personal attacks against their detractors," the note concludes. "Congresswoman Bachmann stands shoulder to shoulder with her constituents and that really seems to irk some on the left. We fully expect that despite the best attempts of the media and the liberals, Michelle [sic] will continue to be a strong voice for freedom, smaller government, and better solutions."

Asked for a response and clarification, Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said that "the letter was written in response to a Politico story that quoted an anonymous aide giving inaccurate information regarding the Leader's relationship with Rep. Bachmann." As for why the note was taken down from the leadership's website, Steel said, "it was briefly posted on our website due to a staff miscommunication. It was always intended to be posted on [Aplikowski's] website in Minnesota."

HERE IS A SCREEN GRAB OF THE LETTER:

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Comments

[QuietLightTraveler]

Yea, they were proud of Palin too, lol. Are these people not in a state of delusion or what ?

[lafayette2009]

I have yet to hear either Boehner or Cantor say anything of consequence or value that would benefit the American people so why expect them to start now.

Bachmann is certifiable.

[JTPurcell]

It is admirable how the GOP supports government positions for the mentally ill

[mancoff]

I think it is great that Cantor and Boehner defended Bachmann and vow to stand by her and that they put it in writing. Now we can positively put those two in the same class as Bachmann when election times comes. They will not be able to run away from their association and defense of her, they have definitly sided with the radical right wing "loonie" fringe and forewarned is forearmed. So all of you teabaggers, birthers, deathers and people who love to hate, you can definitly count on Boehner and Cantor as they think like you do. Looks like Evan Bayah does also, so add him in there. The rest of the American people in this country who want sane discussions on issues, who are opposed to lying, and fear mongering in the absence of facts and truths, can just knock these three from the list of viable leaders. Thank you Mr Cantor and Mr Boehner from all the Independents, all the Democrats and all the resonable, honorable Republicans. We appreciate knowing like to exactly what we're dealing with. Your words are forever etched in our memory and boy are you going to regret it. You are trying to build a Republican Party around the beliefs of the party idiots, tooooooo funny.

[detemad]

See this is exactly why I have flip-flopped and may even send Michele a contribution. Conservative arguments are the exact same as the ones used in the 1830's to keep slavery. Cotton was king even in the north as textiles added value. Now it is a blip. We need to keep moving the country forward. I guess the Republicans see health care as a growth indrusty averaging 17% a year. When Michele goes off about the 2000 page bill she should also flash the 7 page Republican that guess what offers tax reductions to the consumer and the insurance companies.

These are their leaders and they follow lock and step with the right wing echo chamber (Hannity, Levin, Malkin). We need to do everything to keep them in office.

[Pupadup4oBama]

So all that concerns them is "fiscal responsibility". If that's the case, where were they when the American taxpayer was being bilked into spending trillions of dollars on an illegal war?

I love how they always say they are so "proud" of their women.

[equianimi]

They're proud of them... then they cheat on them... then hold a value voters summit.

[EdBradly7]

She has the same eyes as Quitter Biitter Bible Spice Palin

[Pupadup4oBama]

I bet if those two were in high school...t­hey'd be the best of frenemies.
With fiends like that, who needs enemas.

[Dhammi]

Cantor and Bachmann - what a pair. He cannot even focus for a speech - he has to text, text text unaware he is being filmed. She cannot keep her mouth closed long enough to think before she speaks. These people are laughable yet tragic and those of us who vote in their favor allow them to hold office. Yikes!

[eastcost56]

She belongs in the same group of cave dwellers as the woman who today announced on cspan radio that our planet's social and economic ills were the result of US space explorations by democratic administrations. Apparently in her history book, no space testing and/explorations occurred under Eisenhower, Nixon or either of the Bushs. According to this 'lost' soul, the moon and space in general, is God's domain and as we tickered with God's 'neighborhood' we've brought every known and I suppose, unknown, calamity upon ourselves. I am so sickened by these intellectual neandarthals and even more so by the people who VOTE them into office. Bachmann and everyone else like her should be time-warped back to the Dark Ages although that would malign the Dark Ages!

[meede]

Glug, Glug, Glug

The distinct sound of the GOP -- Down the Drain!!!
Yippee!!

[Bardmess]

I wish. Don't overestimate the American electorate.

[Pupadup4oBama]

HA HA! :) love the visuals.

[dax49]

just like the mark foley situation, boehner and cantor care not a whit that this woman is dangerous, they just blindly back any-one with an R after their names

[princeza]

My take on the letter.

Vibrant in alternatives? Uh, yeah, not so much.
Real solutions? Like... help me out here guys...
"We're the Party of real hope and change"? You hope that power changes in 2010, but then again, I hope for universal health care, $20 million a year just to learn German, and an island in Maine for my parents. Neither is likely to happen.

Yeah, you two have fun with Bachmann while the rest of us deal with the really real world.

[Pupadup4oBama]

"vibrant in their alternatives"
Such colorful language.

[princeza]

*shrugs* Their words, not mine. Though I think they could've phrased it a little better.

[princeza]

I wish HP wouldn't post photos of Michele Bachmann looking all crazy. She scares me more than Pennywise.

[peibossman]

bachman to me appears to be a lot spaced-out and dumb...doe­s anyone else notice this?...

[Pupadup4oBama]

Yes! Hubby and I were watching a netflix of Bullsheet (the show with Penn and Teller) they had a woman who came up with a mat that supposedly helps insomniacs. She had that same open-eyed crazy look. It's the look of someone who is selling you a bunch of BS, knows it...but yet somehow feels justified in what they say.

[Betsie]

Look into her eyes...

She cannot hide her mental illness.

This woman is as crazy as anybody locked up in a mental hospital..­... only difference is that she stands on the floors of Congress representing her district.

How sad for those who voted her into office.

[Dbos]

This whole thing can not be made up. This is funny and so sad at the same time. America has to be smarter than to put up with this bs.