Was God sending a message with DC earthquake and Hurricane Irene?

I thought only Pat Robertson, and last week Rabbi Levin, thought that earthquakes and hurricanes were God’s reaction to sinful behavior. But at a rally in Florida on Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann had this to say, via the St. Pete Times:

“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.”

Somehow, I don’t think the overblown DC earthquake or Hurricane Irene are messages from God to get the finances of our political house in order. Does Bachmann really?

The morning after, her campaign said the Congresswoman was just making a joke:

“Obviously she was saying it in jest,” campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart told TPM in a statement.

That’s believable. In the above video, Bachmann is holding back a laugh while making a related comment. Not really a joke, though, so much as hyperbolic rhetoric.