I see that the Right is still trying to make an issue out of Benghazi. They’re still struggling to make out just what was done that was so awful, however. Jonathan Bernstein writes,
No, there’s no particular reason that it makes any sense…there’s still no core story that this cover-up was (supposedly) covering up for. But there do appear to be plenty of Usual Suspect conservative movement lawyers and flacks involved. …
…this is another case of how the minimal standards of the GOP-aligned press make Republican politicians lazy. Just chant “Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi†and you’re sure to generate plenty of positive publicity, so what’s the incentive for actually mastering the substantive issues involved?
And second: there’s a real dogs-not-barking aspect to this; the continued focus on what has appeared for months to be a dry well suggests that there are no real Barack Obama (or Hillary Clinton) scandals to investigate.
See also “They’ve Lost Fox And Friends: GOP Claims Of Benghazi ‘Cover Up’ Collapses”
Eventually, it will become a catchphrase they can throw out with no danger of it being challenged just by dint of it having been said so many times. Think about it: how many single-source-of-information winger dupes will look into it? Will they find any contradictory information in their echo chamber? It is like an internet meme: uncritical people hear the word and know it is supposed to mean something, so they accept it is a valid item.
At least to me, the reason they keep flogging Benghazi is simple.
Because of the looming threat of Hillary Clinton, who, if she decides to run for President, according to current polls, will kick any of their potential candidates butt’s nine ways to Sunday, and back – even in white Appalachia – they’re pre-emptively trying to minimize her, by turning “Benghazi” into either “Whitewater,” or “Monica,” and hoping that it can stick for the next 3+ years.
They want the public to focus on the fact that she was the SoS at the time, and not that the previous Republican House cut the security budgets for our embassies – because, if people remembered that it was Congress that cut the budget for security at our embassies, it would be embarassing for Republicans in the Congress.
Republicans politicize every single damn thing.
And by continuing to keep the tragedy that happened in Benghazi in the forefront, they hope it will be a huge stain on her record – and never mind the deaths at embassies under Reagan, Bush I, and W, this, THIS, was some really serious sh*t, because… FreeDUMB, LiberTEA!!!
I do hope that Hillary decides to avoid politics for a while. I’m almost as tired of it all as she is.
However…..just imagine!
And second: there’s a real dogs-not-barking aspect to this; the continued focus on what has appeared for months to be a dry well suggests that there are no real Barack Obama (or Hillary Clinton) scandals to investigate.
Well actually, there is at least one scandal I can think of and it just happened last week. But it’s not the sort of thing that the Republicans would want to investigate, especially since it’s exactly what they would do (and did do when Bush was president): appointing another fox to guard the hen house…
Today, Obama has named Penny Pritzker Secretary of Commerce. As the President says, It’s a milestone: the first female fraudster to hold that post. No longer will criminal bankers have to lobby the administration – because now they’ll have one of their own in the Cabinet.
http://www.gregpalast.com/billionaire-bankster-breaks-into-obamas-cabinet/
Since there really is nothing worthwhile to say about Benghazi, thought I’d mention that the great Ray Harryhausen just died. He was 92. Jason and the Argonauts seriously freaked me out when I was about six years old.
Au revoir, Ray. Hope no scary monsters wherever you are.
It is the eternal recurrence. Sixty years ago their predecessors were all shouting ‘Who promoted Peress?’
oops. Let’s try that again….
It is the eternal recurrence. Sixty years ago their predecessors were all shouting ‘Who promoted Peress?’
Gregory Hicks was the deputy chief of mission at U.S. Embassy in Libya and in Tripoli during the attacks. Hicks’ testimony is expected to contradict what top officials were publicly saying in the initial days following the incidents: that it was a spontaneous attack sparked by protests rather than act of calculated terrorism. Hicks told investigators that “I think everybody in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning,”
Thinking other’s thoughts and advanced mind reading is what lead us to be hoodwinked into the Iraq debacle. Why does this Hicks guy have to support his assertion by what other people thought.. His thoughts can’t stand on their own?
Swami, part of the issue is that there is some deliberate confusion going on.
The CIA did once, and may still, believe that the attack was *triggered* by the protests – as in, “There was a violent protest at a US embassy! If we move in, they’ll assume it’s a protest, so that gives us the element of surprise when we attack!”
Initial reports *did* sound like there was a protest that turned into an attack. Initial reports are known to be based upon preliminary information – and the information was quickly corrected.
Most of this is just people blowing smoke, and then insisting that where there’s smoke, there must be fire.
What’s nasty about this is, just like with Whitewater, people might assume there’s something going on because people are always talking about it. I’ll guarantee you there are people out there who, when asked why they hate Obama, they’ll say “his handling of Benghazi”. And if asked what happened at Benghazi, they won’t be able to say more than “it was a terrorist attack!”
Don’t despair people!.. We’re getting close to a full blown scandal.. This baby is ready to start walking on its own.. already the White House has been caught making a dozen revisions to their talking points to cover their tracks. It’s a classic case of not being able to remember all your lies once you’ve started down the path of lying.
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/exclusive-benghazi-talking-points-underwent-12-revisions-scrubbed-111305929.html