Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh throws the mother of all political curveballs.  Or did he?

With the speed of Ferdinand Magellan on crack strapped to an Apollo rocket engine, news that actor/liberal activist icon Tim Robbins had contributed thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to conservative Republicans candidates – including Minnesota’s own Michele Bachmann – circumnavigated the blogosphere.  To Robbins’ ideological allies, the news proved more shocking than learning that Susan Sarandon is actually Robbins now former lover, and not mother:

Loyal Dems would undoubtedly be gobsmacked to learn that, if Federal Election Commission records are to be believed, Robbins has not only donated regularly to Democratic candidates over the past 18 years, he also has written checks to conservative Republicans. In the 2006 election cycle, according to public records, the actor gave $5,000 to 10 Republican candidates for the House and Senate—including, most shocking of all, Minnesota’s resident wingnut, Rep. Michele Bachmann. Why such largesse to the enemy? Former GOP congressman J.D. Hayworth of Arizona, who lost in 2006 despite Robbins’ $500 donation, was baffled and surprised when I reached him over the weekend. “Maybe because I covered the Durham Bulls as a sports broadcaster in the late 1970s and early ’80s?

The concept that the former Bob Roberts actor would have willingly contributed to any candidate with an ‘R’ next to their name is admittedly disarming – especially in light of Robbins and Sarandon’s past support for such candidates as Ralph Nader (leading Robbins to pen an op-ed defending his vote in the Nation).  But the FEC doesn’t distinguish between individuals and simply names submitted by a campaign committee from a check.  While a search for Tim Robbins in California produces results as seen below…

ROBBINS, TIM
LOS ANGELES, CA 90064
SELF EMPLOYED/ACTOR

…it also gives other, less entertainment-related results for multiple Tim Robbins living in the Los Angeles/Beverly Hills area.  Considering Robbins lists himself supposedly as anything from self-employed to a producer, or director, or actor and there are at least 7 different Tim Robbins in the industry, the possibility that multiple Robbins have been lumped together is not only feasible but likely.

And perhaps the most likely reality is that Robbins, well, simply goofed.  Almost all of Robbins’ supposed Republican donations took place in 2006, suggesting anything but a longstanding pattern of support to conservative candidates or causes.  

Unless Robbins suddenly starts showing up at Bachmann rallies and publicly endorsing her, I’m chalking this up to error – either on Robbins’ part or on overly zealous writers for The Daily Beast.