Second terms are notoriously disastrous. Nixon never finished his as Watergate demolished him. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were almost demolished by the Iran-Contra and Monica Lewisnki affairs, though the one involving that woman was hardly on the level of a constitutional scandal as grave as letting a second-string renegade like Oliver North run the nation’s foreign policy from a White House basement. George W. Bush’s entire eight years were like a disastrous second term considering that he should never have had a first. And now, after an unusually clean first term, we have Barack Obama getting bombarded with scandals, one after the other.
I don’t mean the Benghazi follies, which have the scandal quality of lousy dinner theater in a Bunnell suburb (if Bunnell were to have a dinner theater other than its city commission meetings). The real story in Libya is that Obama intervened deftly and helped topple Muammar el Qaddafi, the man Reagan had called the Mad Dog of the Middle East back when Qaddafi was the bin Laden of the 1980s. That revolution was brief but bloody, though not a single American was killed until the attack on the embassy.
The four Americans killed in Benghazi were as much the victim of the resulting mess as they were the victim of shoddy embassy security, whose budget had been recklessly cut by the Republican House. The Obama administration handled the response to the killing poorly, substituting email chatter for clear accountability. But calling it a cover up is wishful thinking among Republicans looking for an easy pyre on which to immolate Obama’s presidency or prevent the once and future Hillary Clinton from reaching the White House.
The more serious scandals are the inexcusable and stupid behavior of the IRS chasing after conservative non-profits, even though there’s a nugget of truth to the claim that tea party type organizations have no business pretending to be politically uninvolved organizations deserving tax exempt status. But then, nor do churches. Obama is pretending to take decisive action by firing an IRS acting commissioner who was leaving the post in three weeks anyway, and having the Justice Department launch an investigation, but the damage is done. The president who needed an immaculate IRS, considering his reliance on tax policy, managed to undermine the credibility of one agency nobody loves to start with. He’s also done the impossible: he’s made the hard right’s conspiracy cretins look more credible than the IRS. Talk about dinner theater. That’s about to start with today’s congressional hearing on the internal revenue’s screw-up.
Then there’s the equally outrageous Obama Department of Justice, which secretly seized the phone records of reporters at the Associated Press to ferret out a leak about a failed al-Qaeda attack. Presidents—and anyone in power—often find it irresistible to scapegoat their failings by chasing after reporters. The surprise with Obama is that he’s indulged the fetish more aggressively than any of his predecessors. The hacking of AP’s phone records is more serious than any hacking that shamed the British press: that hacking involved mostly tabloid muck and the eternal parody known as the British royal family, and it was conducted by Rupert Murdoch’s mercenaries. No surprises there. But for the Obama Justice Department to go Fox on the Associated Press, essentially treating it as it would terrorist suspects—because our wiretap laws now routinely allow surveillance of any target spy agencies choose to call “terrorist suspects”—makes you wonder who Obama is getting counsel from.
The IRS and phone hacking scandals aren’t enough to demolish the presidency. They’re plenty to derail it until it reaches lame-duck station in a year and a half. Immigration reform? Forget it. This week’s good news on the plunging deficit? Nobody cares. The scandals reveals a tone-deaf administration that doesn’t know its right hand from its left, or has lost its nerve. Either way, it’s bad news for the nation, great news for Republicans ahead of the 2014 mid-term elections, and orgasmic news for talk radio’s muezzins of the apocalypse.
And that’s without going down the path of what I consider the real scandals of this administration: the continued operation of that concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, the routine and illegal assassination program by drones in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and possibly Mali, and a broader police assault than in the Bush years on civil liberties and privacy, supposedly in the name of security. Spying on reporters is likely the tip of that Nixonian iceberg.
There’s a degree of tyranny built into the American presidency that presidents good and bad, from Thomas Jefferson to FDR, Nixon, Reagan and Obama have not hesitated to exercise. But it’s one thing when a president uses those powers to buy Louisiana or win a world war. It’s another when he does so to crush political opponents or power-grab for its own sake. Obama isn’t done yet. But five years in, he’s yet to figure out what kind of leader he wants to be. Transformational does not come to mind.
Pierre Tristam is FlaglerLive’s editor. Reach him by email here. A version of this commentary was heard on WNZF.
r&r says
He’s a disgrace to the office and country.. He’s been living a lie since he started to run for office. Birthplace, Schools attended, His past involvement with radicals and people who were trying to distroy the country. He’s no good and should be impeached.
Magnolia says
None of this is bogus. And it’s not Bush’s fault, either. Tired of the excuses, the lack of responsibility, the lack of respect for the American people.
I think we’re tired of it.
Karma says
Pierre
You quote” Think Progress” blaming Republican for the lack of funding on Benghazi, yet the Washington Post (very liberal) gave that narrative 3 Pinocchio for truthfulness. Barbara Boxer started this false narrative and it has blossomed from there. Testimony of DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE CHARLENE LAMB and funding for the compound.
Oct. 10, 2012 hearing:
QUESTION: It has been suggested that budget cuts were responsible for a lack of security in Benghazi. And I’d like to ask Ms. Lamb, you made this decision personally. Was there any budget consideration and lack of budget which led you not to increase the number of people in the security force there?
DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE CHARLENE LAMB: No, sir.
***
QUESTION: So there’s not a budget problem. It’s not you all don’t have the money to do this?
LAMB: Sir, it’s a volatile situation. We will move assets to cover that.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/barbara-boxers-claim-that-gop-budgets-hampered-benghazi-security/2013/05/15/d1e295cc-bdb0-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_blog.html
I have one other question on Benghazi. Of all the emails that been released, was there any mention of the video they claimed was the reason when it first happened?
Maryjoe says
“Spying on reporters is likely the tip of that Nixonian iceberg.” “It’s another when he does so to crush political opponents or power-grab for its own sake. Obama isn’t done yet. But five years in, he’s yet to figure out what kind of leader he wants to be. Transformational does not come to mind.” Totally completely agree.
A.S.F. says
The only thing worse than the missteps mentioned above are the rabid tea party bulldogs salivating in their eagerness to tear the throat out of the leader of our country, simply because their shortsighted agendas are not being served to their once (and I hope, never again) accustomed satisfaction. The fact that there are still rumblings about “birthplaces” and “school records” are a dead giveaway to their distorted world view. If Jesus Christ himself handed one of those tea party “patriots” a copy of Obama’s birth certificate or college transcript, it wouldn’t be proof enough. The worst thing about these latest stories is that they play into their gleeful hands and give them some semblance of traction. I hope our president and his administration will work harder to avoid that from comtinuing. Obama will never be able to do anything to please them. He should do everything in his power to stop playing into their hands.
rickg says
Not to defend a President who utilizes drones to the extreme…. but Benghazi???? really…. Where were all you patriots when they failed to wake Ronald Reagan when the strafed parts of Libya and where were you when those Marines were killed in Lebanon??? Where were you when George Bush lied us into a war in Iraq which cost 5000 Americans???? How many embassies were attacked with fatalities under that President??? The levels of false equivalency by the Rs is ludicrous and if we had a real press this would be spoken about with vigor. Thanks Pierre for doing your part… too bad the discussion isn’t on the National News.
Really says
Pierre wrote a fair and balanced article but many who oppose President Obama are, let’s face it, closet bigots who just can’t stand a black man in the White House. If looked at through a fair and impartial lens, President Obama is one of the smartest and most honorable presidents in recent history. He his not selfishly motivated. He has achieved a lot in spite of roadblocks put up by radical Republicans. The Benghazi incident, however sad, was not his fault, and much less deadly than 9/11. The AP subpoena was to protect lives. The IRS scandal, though disturbing, had nothing to do with the president. And the real shame is that the 501c4 organizations, who clearly engage in partisan politics, are exempt from taxes. What our country needs is campaign contribution reform. And the standard to grant tax exempt status should be further toughened. People who oppose, criticize and demonize the president are clearly motivated by racial hatred. Hate all you want because in a few decades it won’t amount to much.
Prophet says
Let me guess…a graduate of the University of Liberal BRAINWASHING ???? What actually do you believe is going to happen in a few decades…..Black or Spanish minority take over ? Or perhaps you think all the “old” white generation will be dead and all the BRAINWASHED youth will live in peace and harmony with their Black, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, brothers and sisters ?…..Heads up SNOWFLAKE…It ain’t going to happen. Rather the opposite will transpire and WARS against the races will take place until the Blacks are wiped out and the Spanish take over California. The Muslims will be sent back to the mid-east and BARRED from entering North and South America !!!!
NortonSmitty says
Really, undoubtably a large percentage of the mouth-breathers that are the base of the Republican party hate him due to his race, but to say that this is the sole reason to be extremely angry with this administration is flat out wrong. And after voting for him twice, I am furious with his record. I cried at his victory in ’08, thankful for a savior to rescue my country from the eight years of mind-numbing evil that was Bush/Cheney. After breaking every campaign promise, refusing to prosecute one person from Washington or Wall Street for so many crimes on a scale so staggeringly epic in scope and quantity that Stalin, Shylock and Atilla look down (or up) in awe, for you to call him honorable or selfless shows that you need to vist Lenscrafters yourself.
I thought we were getting a 21st Century Franklin Roosevelt. Instead we got Dick Cheney in blackface!
He is obviously a Trojan Horse given two terms to do things the Public and the Press would never let a Republican get away with. Cutting Social Security and Medicare, endless war, gutting all ten articles of the Bill of rights. Not only the obvious ones like the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th, but even the 3rd, which we thought was just irrelevant all these years about quartering soldiers in your home. During the Boston Marathon boming, the FBI evicted people from their homes to use them as command posts in the area of the manhunt! I’m thinking it was just so the administration could claim a clean sweep of all ten!
His final mission is to continue to divide the voters, discredit anything but the stauts quo, dismantle what’s left of the New Deal and pave the way for the ticket of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio in 2016 to solidify our integration into the New World Order of International rule by Bankers, Oil Companies, Defense contractors and ogligarchs. If you don’t see this coming, you’re not paying attention.
johnny taxpayer says
If you dont see this coming you’re not paying attention says the guy who voted for him twice????
NortonSmitty says
I saw it coming from the last administration. So you think this person you have been brainwas… I mean convinced is the Usurper Socialist Anti-Christ Idiot is suddemly capable of turning our Federal Government 180 degrees on a dime by leaving the same people in place at Treasury, The Fed, Defense and the CIA. And continuing the policies of Bush/Cheney for Iraq withdrawl, escalating prosecution of the press and whistleblowers and rolling back our Civil Liberties and gutting the New Deal like only a Democrat could get away with? This is what you’re wasting your righteous anger on? You really think this Trojan Horse is running this country today?
Congrats, the finest Psycological Operations operatives in the world are proving you are a normal American. If you want to be an actual Patriot, get your head out of the Partisan Political bullshit you’re swallowing and start paying attention to the facts.
I voted for the incumbent because I thought it might slow the process down a year or two. I’m not so sure I was right..
DLF says
So we are picking on this so called leader because he is of color, maybe it’s because he has all those dumb white guys making all the decisions. Or , could it be he does not have the skills to be a world leader . The world is a little larger than the Chicago neighborhood he was in charge of before we elected him to lead us,what a laugh that is.
r&r says
I’ll bet Jimmy Carter is enjoying this since he’s been labeled as the worst prez ever to have held the office. He’ll move to #2..
NortonSmitty says
You’re right except for the timing. He hasn’t stopped grinning since about 2003.
E. C. H. says
Is it my imagination, or have we been witnessing a sharp upward trend of federal, state, and local governments disregarding civil rights during the last two administrations?
E. C. H. says
Will our politicians in D.C. actually grasp this moment in history and take advantage of the gift they have been given?
Isn’t it time to strip the IRS of its power and simplify the total mess that has been made of the tax code?
rthomp11 says
I am SO glad that I’m not the only one that feels that this liar-in-chief and his administration is a completely joke that should not have and would not have been re-elected if all the voter fraud had not been committed. But of course that was covered up and we will never really know the true extent of it. Just like we will never really know the true extent of Benghazi, because it has been and it will be, again, covered up and people will be killed, again, to have it hushed up. The next hearing scheduled is not until next month. NEXT MONTH!!! 4 Americans died and our government, let it happen and by postponing the hearing for an entire month are hoping the American people will forget it! WHY??? Because there is the IRS and AP phone scandal to draw their attention!
Yes Pierre, you can blame them all on the Republican House because the “budget had been recklessly cut” but what it really comes down to is ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!
Both Democrats and Republicans are trying to win the votes of the people even before they are legal citizens and have the right to vote in this country. They give them our tax dollars in education, welfare, food stamps, healthcare…..etc… they are bankrupting America.
Maybe that’s why the budget was cut for Benghazi? Maybe that’s why the tax exempt was not given to those organizations? They needed the money to pay for the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT programs! Doesn’t explain why the AP phones were bugged. Just at a loss on that issue.
Maybe people just need to take off their rose colored glasses and see Obama for what he really is and how he is killing our country.
Nancy N. says
Someone mentioned earlier the closeted bigots but you’re so out of the closet you’re making up and spouting convoluted conspiracy theories to justify your view that every single bad thing happens because of the people you hate. And thinking that you sound reasonable. WOW. I really, really wish that you could hear how this rant makes you sound to people who aren’t bigoted. You’d be embarrassed.
Liana G says
@rthomp11
You are correct, it is the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, like you say, that are costing the American taxpayers all these millions of dollars. BUT, it doesn’t have to be so. If the American people would DEMAND that their gov’t stop spending their hard earned tax dollars on the destabilization and plundering of weak and defenseless countries, robbing them not only of their countries natural resources and the fruits of their hard labor, but these very actions of the American gov’t are also directly tied the very displacement of these citizens – forcing them to flee their homes.
Why does your gov’t do it? So that it can live off of and profit off of RESOURCES GAINED ILLEGALLY. AND, to create a market to sell it weapons which supports its military industrial complex that is the biggest drain on this country’s resources. Now, if you feel this is justified because “might makes right”, “American exceptionalism” , and “manifest destiny” then a brief look at history would tell you that this is a foolish mindset that will, like all the past super powers, lead to the sure downfall of this current super power.
But don’t let facts get in the way of the rhetoric you’ve been spoon fed. Until the American people are willing to confront the true nature of their gov’t’s doings, the immigrant problem will not go away. And unlike the pilgrims/1st group of illegal immigrants who fled to America. This is not about “freedom to practice their religion in peace”, this is about theft of personal resources from people who are just as equally entitled to the basic human right to survive. Something both caring compassionate conservatives and bleeding hearts liberals should be able to identify with…
Charles Gardner says
Republican Congress to blame for Benghazi? Hadn’t heard that one before.
Karma says
Pierre
You quote” Think Progress” blaming Republican for the lack of funding on Benghazi, yet the Washington Post (very liberal) gave that narrative 3 Pinocchio for truthfulness. Barbara Boxer started this false narrative and it has blossomed from there. Testimony of DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE CHARLENE LAMB and funding for the compound.
Oct. 10, 2012 hearing:
QUESTION: It has been suggested that budget cuts were responsible for a lack of security in Benghazi. And I’d like to ask Ms. Lamb, you made this decision personally. Was there any budget consideration and lack of budget which led you not to increase the number of people in the security force there?
DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE CHARLENE LAMB: No, sir.
***
QUESTION: So there’s not a budget problem. It’s not you all don’t have the money to do this?
LAMB: Sir, it’s a volatile situation. We will move assets to cover that.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/barbara-boxers-claim-that-gop-budgets-hampered-benghazi-security/2013/05/15/d1e295cc-bdb0-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_blog.html
I have one other question on Benghazi. Of all the emails that been released, was there any mention of the video they claimed was the reason when it first happened?
Karma says
FL
Funny what happens when the truth does not mach the narrative. Sound familiar.
Jack says
I agree with “Really”. Another good one from Pierre! This whole Benghazi stuff is a lot of crap. I agree with PIerre that the Republicans who cut the budget for embassy security are the ones to blame.
fla native says
I still can’t believe that con artist got elected twice. He’s slicker than an eel.
Really says
Watergate, Iran-Contra, Monica Lewinsky, Waterboarding, torture, two expensive and useless wars which have absolutely achieved nothing, bankrupted our nation, lost so many US lives, countless other lives, wrecked the two countries we were supposed to “spread democracy to”, and some suggest impeach the president??? Shame on you! The economy left in shambles by Bush and his cabal is improving, house prices are going up, the stock market is booming, the job market is improving, the budget deficit has dropped. President Obama has not engagd in anything dishonorable. Our greatest enemy, Bin Laden, was killed under his watch. Wait and see what he will do to the Benghazi perps. Your idol, Reagan, who was supposed to be hawkish towards our enemies, entered into a secret arms deal with Iran, perhaps our greatest enemy today, a relatively short time after the hostage crisis. So what is it? Perhaps the same mentality that allowed an infamous mustachioed German to butcher millions, an infamous Russian to butcher millions, a short Frenchman to commit genocide, AND enabled many “perfectly righteous” people to kidnap millions of innocents people from half a world away and force them to be beasts of burden. Wake up, you jealous people, stop being hateful because you don’t like the color of his skin, and because he got re-elected. And most of you who oppose him would be better off supporting him. Your prejudice blinds you. The people you support represent the 1% who don’t give a damn about you, and will eventually impoverish you. Then your children will have no option other than to commit crimes to survive and dream of being rap stars or professional athletes. The 1% doesn’t identify with you just because of the color of your skin. All they recognize is green. Wake up and stop hating. Or better still, go ahead hate. Try to impeach him. I guarantee you there will be a political backlash and the Republicans will lose the House as well.
NortonSmitty says
Thank you so much for your restraint. Most locals would have said what you held back from and called him a shiftless, big-nosed nappy-headed trickster just a-shufflin’ through his second term.
Ron Hubbard says
I find Pierre’s articles to be pure fiction based on his socialist political standing and his Marxist ideology.
NortonSmitty says
Wow Ron, where you beem all these years. That Scientology thing of yours seems to be doing pretty well. And your comment hints you’re getting back into writing Science Fiction. Good Luck to you!
fla native says
Barrack Obama will leave the White House in handcuffs. Write it down.
Joe says
SEPT. 11, 2012
The night of the attack, as described by the State Department’s review board and other accounts:
Seven Americans are at State’s temporary residential compound in Benghazi that night: U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, visiting from the embassy in Tripoli; computer specialist Sean Smith and five diplomatic security officers. They are a minority among U.S. personnel in Benghazi; most work for the CIA, which operates a secret “annex” about a mile away.
Egyptian demonstrators had scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo hours earlier to protest an American amateur filmmaker’s video mocking the Prophet Muhammad. But there were no demonstrations that day in Benghazi. The attack begins suddenly around 9:40 p.m. – gunfire, explosions, sounds of chanting and then dozens of armed men swarming through the compound’s main entrance. Libyans hired to guard the compound flee.
A security officer hustles Stevens and Smith into a fortified “safe room.” It fills with blinding smoke when the attackers set the building on fire with diesel fuel, and the two men become separated from the security officer.
A CIA team from the annex arrives about 25 minutes into the attack and helps search for the two diplomats inside the smoke-filled room, while gunfire continues outside. Only Smith’s body is found. Eventually the U.S. personnel escape in armored vehicles, plowing through gunfire and grenade blasts to the CIA annex across town. Rocket-propelled grenades and mortar fire target the annex intermittently for an hour after midnight.
A team of six security officials summoned from Tripoli arrives around 5 a.m. Soon after, another assault on the annex begins. A mortar blast kills CIA security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. About an hour later, a Libyan military unit arrives to help evacuate the U.S. personnel.
After the Americans fled the diplomatic compound, Benghazi civilians found Ambassador Stevens in the wreckage and drove him to a hospital, but he couldn’t be saved. Like Smith, he died of smoke inhalation.
Stevens is the first U.S. ambassador killed by
militants since 1979.
In interviews over the next two weeks, Obama blamed the attack on extremists but steered clear of using any form of the word “terror.” Other administration officials did the same and continued to conflate the Benghazi attack with the protests elsewhere.
It took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.
So Pierre, 8 months later, and we still dont know who gave the orders to “stand down”, WHY ?
NortonSmitty says
WHY? Because you aren’t looking hard enough. If you do, you’ll find out those orders were given by Generals Petraeus, head of the CIA and Ham, head of AFRICOM. They both were relieved of command. For “Sexual Misconduct” and who knows what for Ham. Another General was relieved today. That makes about a Dozen Flag officers who were forced to resign since Benghazi. Oh, and Hillary. After the Flu and Fall incident.
Why? To help Romney and the Israeli’s.
Don’t ask the question if you don’t want to know who really runs this country. HINT”: It ain’t us. This bullshit is just part of the final shakeout to determine which faction will rule us and the rest of the world. It won’t matter to us peons either way, but the end game is near.
Bunnell Resident says
NortonSmitty,
Carter Ham was fired because he continued organizing a military response/ rescue after being told by the white house to stand down. His second in command had to order him to stand down in accordance with instructions from the white house or be arrested. Look it up!
DLF says
I think it ts great that the liberal press and the ill informed can come up with all the BS to excuse a neighborhood organizer . We can blame Bush, play the race card, but the fact is the buck stops with this so called leader. This guy will go down as the worst President in the history of the USA ! The big problem is we have not been told what some of the other screw ups are,mainly because of the one sided press we have. Lets face the FACTS this guy has no leader skills,cannot make a good decision in a timely manner and is ready o blame everyone else for his failures. Maybe is the problems of Bush, he was a white guy.
NortonSmitty says
Okay, I guess it would be best to tackle these so-called “Scandals” one at a time. Lets start with the first, Benghazi. First, the facts. Benghazi was on the books as a Consulate, but in reality it was a CIA station to coordinate first, the overthrow of Gaddafi, and after that, as a staging area for shipping our troops and their weapons to Syria. Our battle tested mercenary Muslim troops that have been used by the CIA and Mossad for deniable operations for decades. Originating in the ’80s against the Soviets in Afghanistan, then against the Serbs who were aligned with Moscow in Kosovo and similarly in Chechnya, they had become the CIA’s go-to guys for any Muslim country that needed our special guidance. Anything from destabilizing uncooperative governments to shoring up our Dictatorial friends, they were our very own mercenary terrorist shock troops. Funded and manned by the Saudi’s Wahabbi radicals, trained by the Israelis and used by the CIA, Britain’s MI6 and Mossad, and deniable by all. We have come to know them as AL-Queda. If you care to look, it’s well documented that they have always been founded, funded and commanded by our own Government and our closest allies. I don’t understand how they could make all the mischief attributed to them.
They had proven to be handy at destabilized the governments of Tunisia, Egypt and others in the much ballyhooed Arab Spring miraculous populist uprisings. And now it was Libya’s turn. We infiltrated our Arab mercenary troops into Benghazi, where Ghadaffi’s power was always weakest and used them to lead, if not execute, the uprising that overthrew Gaddafi. We armed them with everything from bullets to tanks, gave them intelligence, air support, command and control. All run out of our “consulate” in Benghazi. Funded by the State Department. Manned by over 50 CIA and six State Dep’t. personnel. Gaddafi be Gone,
It was just amazing how one after another, every one of the Arab countries who happen to be constantly critical towards our sacred ally Israel were suddenly and spontaneously leaderless, weakened and probably in disarray for decades. The Israeli’s are truly blessed with divine fortune, as we must also be to have an ally that lucky. Why, their only enemies left untoppled are Syria and Iran!
Guess what? Surprise! Who could have guessed, Syria is suddenly in turmoil! And we just happen to have folks we can send into the fray to help those patriotic Syrian Freedom Fighters, and they’re in the neighborhood!. So time to plan the logistics, to transport massive amounts of men and equipment from Libya to Syria on the QT. Who could do this and from where? The CIA and Benghazi of course! Again, run out of our old home base, the “Consulate”. Those are all stone cold facts.
Now, after contacting some of my old buddies who are still active in the Game and speak in circles when they have to, what follows is a blend of facts connected with dots, rumours and my best speculation. I believe this is what likely happened, at least at this moment.
About this time if you recall, we were having our traditional every-fourth-year patriotic comedy we call a Presidential Election. This factors into the story from here big way. Our choices represented the opposite ends of the political spectrum ran from a Socialist who allowed the Wall Street bankers to steal our country into near bankruptcy without a hint of prosecution or a cult member who was one of the thieves. Democracy at it’s finest.
But somehow our Socialist President had angered the Israeli leader of our country Netanyahu by not jumping to war immediately against the Iranians as he was ordered. Our inexperienced fool wanted to wait until the Libyans and Syrians were neutralized. This angered Benjy so much that he invited his Republican opponent to Israel where the Prime Minister got his buddies to give Mitt over 100 Million dollars for his Presidential campaign! And even this is so illegal it’s mentioned in the Constitution, you know, raising money for elections on foreign soil, Mitt was promised that the Press in the US was so enamored with Israel that they wouldn’t dare mention that little detail. And he was right, they didn’t! I mean, it isn’t like Mitt had to promise something that wouldn’t be in his own country’s best interest or anything. That’s just cynical.
But believe it or not, even with all this financial help, the Mittster was so bad at campaigning he was still losing! Partly because Obama had convinced everyone he might be a Socialist, but he was a Stud by killing Bin Laden after a dozen years of incompetence. So with at least a $100 Million investment to protect, more help was a no brainer. Whatever it would take, refusing an order from Netanyahu made it personal. Which brings us to the key to this whole affair. Believe it or not, it’s that damn movie.
OK, OK! I know, calm down. Every day Fox and every other media outlet has sreamed from the beginning and ridiculed anybody foolish enough to insult our intelligence by saying this stupid, ameature production was in any way connected to this obvious terrorist attack against our defenseless American Heroes! That is just such a blatant and desperate attempt to cover up… what? Incompetence? Evil intent? Some Dark and Unknown Plot by this Kenyan traitor and that Bitch that killed Vince Foster? The strident , constant and over the top drumbeat of ridicule and vitriol against anyone who even questions the remote possibility the stupid YouTube video had any possible relation to this terrorist attack is what convinced me it is the key to this whole question. Let me ask you to think of one thing:
When the Video hit YouTube,(Months after the “Premier” of the movie in LA?) it somehow went viral at the same exact moment across the entire Muslim world. From Tripoli to Timbuktu, Somalia to Sudan, every American Embassy and Consulate was under siege by outraged, firebombing pissed-off Muslims. Every Ambassador, CIA Station Chief and Marine in charge of holding the perimeter is screaming for back-up. In my time, it was called a Broken Banner call if I recall. Highest priority, send us everything you got NOW, we can’t hold for long. Dozens of these desperate calls hit the wires at the same time at United States African Command (US AFRICOM), located in Stuttgart, Germany. On whatever info they had to work with, they were doing their best to perform a sort of Triage to send their limited assets to the Embassy’s in the most peril. There had to be massive confusion and snap judgements no matter the preparation or competence under these unique circumstances.
At this exact moment, as we are told constantly, a well planned pre-arranged and meticulously supported terror attack was launched against the Benghazi compound. Precisely at this moment of supreme confusion, stretched resources and rare moment of vulnerability, this planned attack was initiated? But it had absolutely nothing to do with that stupid movie? It wasn’t possibly connected, even as a diversion? And you have been sold that so hard for months that you thought it was Gospel Truth and didn’t dare look into it. Well, hopefully until now.
Think about that for a while. I’ll finish it tomorrow. We’ll get into things they are ignoring on TV. Like what the facts of the attack tell us, the role of the February 17 Martyrs’ Brigade and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, the Chain Of Command resposible for sending help, the sacking of General Ham, head of AFRICOM, the resignation of CIA Chief General Patreaus, the mysterious arrest of a senior Admiral and other fallout. And of course an in depth look at that damn movie . And documented footnotes. Lots and lots of footnotes
Jim R says
The outrages that should be causing an uproar are, as Pierre points out, Guantanamo, the illegal use of Drones, and the growing police state, but you will never see these things brought up in the MSM.
Spying on American citizens Email and labeling protesters as domestic terrorists has been going on since GWB was president and gotten even worse under Obama.
Fixing what’s wrong with this country is beyond the will or ability of our politicians, they serve themselves not the people.
Outsider says
Benghazi is a scandal in that it showed his foreign policy, or lack thereof, blow up in his face. You twlk of all the mistakes we made in the past, such as Oliver North’s Iran Contra operation, and yet Obama does the same thing, only this time he arms Al Qaeda and in return they kill our ambassador. He repeats the mistakes of Bush in Iraq when he failed to secure the national treasures and they were looted, only Qadaffi’s national treasures were guns, RPG’s, nerve gas, and 20,000 shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, coming to an airport near you. All these mistakes committed by previous presidents have been replicated by this one…..you are right; there is no transformation here.
confidential says
Good job POTUS, we are still all with you!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/obama-approval-rating_n_3302580.html
mellie says
There are–judging from the comments here–an inordinate number of Floridians who depend far too much on propaganda organs.
mellie says
People need to stop assuming and believing that there’s some kind of “liberal media bias” in the US–the only media bias in play–the only bias on the air since the late 1990s–is the one that flaunts propaganda and calls it news. And that includes from the likes of the Washington Compost.
confidential says
Hi Mellie and what about the FOX flaunting the polls in favor of Romney prior to last election day?
confidential says
Perfectly summarized by Billy here:
http://videos.huffingtonpost.com/bill-clinton-to-republicans-thanks-but-no-thanks-517534646
What a Republican Charade all these bogus excuses to attack the President. How come they didn’t raise hell against Bush then with all his abuses including the fraudulent NO BID Halliburton war contract for the conveniently orchestrated Iraq war? What about the lied WMD war…that have bankrupted our country?
What about the BS excuse homeland security taking away our right to privacy while spying not only on reporters but worst spying on us all thru our on line or phone communications. Give me a break Tea Bagers!! (Witch) McConnell, Issa, McCain, Bohener and Co. you guys don’t get it yet..? Obama won!! You will find out again in 2014, keep it up.
POTUS ignore them and keep up the good work …the stock market above 15,000 is the proof!