Huma Abedin is an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She also happens to be Muslim, which according to Minnesota maniac Michele Bachmann also makes her a terrorist. www.humanevents.com

As you may have heard, failed GOP presidential candidate/Minnesota Congresswoman /fagala-phobic madwoman Michele Bachmann has launched a McCarthy-esque witch hunt into several Muslim employees of the federal government whom she decided could potentially be working as spies for Islamist terrorist groups.

One of the targets of Bachmann’s bat-shittery is Huma Abedin — a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and wife of shamed former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner — who happens to be Muslim.

Last week, just to get it on the record that Bachmann’s a lunatic and that Abedin’s not a terrorist, Arizona Senator John McCain gave a lengthy speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate in support of Abedin’s patriotism, and criticizing Bachmann’s being a fear-mongering nutjob.

Now, because McCain doesn’t think that being Muslim necessarily means Abedin is a terrorist, a group of Tea Party sand-billies in McCain’s home state is trying to get him booted from office.

Before we go any further on how crazy/par-for-the-course for Arizona this is (we lived there for seven years — trust us, we know), a little more on the gentlewoman from Minnesota…

In June, Bachmann sought the help of inspectors general in the State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice Departments, asking them to investigate “policies and activities that appear to be the result of influence operations conducted by individuals and organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Bachmann later noted on a radio show that “It appears that there has been deep penetration in the halls of our United States government by the Muslim Brotherhood.”

When asked by fellow Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison to provide “a full accounting of the sources you used to make the serious allegations against the individuals and organizations in your letters,” Bachmann provided precisely jack shit.

From Salon:

As evidence, she pointed to Abedin’s late father, Professor Syed Z. Abedin, and a 2002 Brigham Young University Law Review article about his work. Bachmann points to a passage saying Abedin founded an organization that received the “quiet but active support” of the the former director of the Muslim World League, an international NGO that was tied to the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe in the 1970s through 1990s. So, to connect Abedin to the Muslim Brotherhood, you have to go through her dead father, to the organization he founded, to a man who allegedly supported it, to the organization that man used to lead, to Europe in the 1970s and 1990s, and finally to the Brotherhood.

So, because Bachmann claims Abedin’s a terrorist for no apparent reason, and McCain spoke out about it (in a speech you can read in its entirety below), the far-right-wingers in Sand Land want him booted from office.

As first reported by the Arizona Capitol Times, Wes Harris, the founder and chairman of the Original North Phoenix Tea Party, says McCain is an “embarrassment” and should be recalled. He goes on to say that it’s impossible for a Muslim to be loyal to the U.S. because their faith in Islam comes before everything else (Note: Harris did not respond to our request for comment. A spokesman for the Tea Party did get back to us, though, and we told him we wanted to speak with Harris. We’re yet to hear back).

“Have you ever read the Quran? I suggest you do so, because anyone that is a Muslim is a threat to this country, and that’s a fact,” Harris says in an email to the Times. “There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim. If they are Muslim they have to follow the Quran. That’s their religion and that’s their doctrine.”

Because of their allegiance to Islam, Harris says Muslims should not be allowed to serve at the State Department.

“Is [Abedin] a Muslim? Is she an active Muslim?” Harris asks. “I rest my case. That’s all she needs to be.”

This is Wes Harris...and his airplane. www.teapartypatriots.org

Harris concludes his (ahem) eloquent email with “Go to hell, Senator, it’s time for you to take your final dirt nap” (and if you were wondering why the Tea Party often is seen as a group of knuckle-dragging hillbillies, there it is).

For context, the hatred of McCain amongst Arizona’s far-right is nothing new. He is loathed by Conservatives in the state because he’s sided with Democrats in the past and is perceived to be soft on Arizona’s issue-Du-jour: immigration. There’s also a current recall craze in the Grand Canyon State after voters ousted former State Senate President Russell Pearce, the man behind Arizona’s controversial immigration bill, in a recall election last year, outraging his Conservative supporters like Harris.

In any event, a few things are clear: Huma Abedin’s not a terrorist, John McCain’s not getting recalled, and Arizona Republicans continue to make themselves the laughing stock of the entire country.

See McCain’s entire speech in support of Abedin below: