Right Wing World: What Benghazi Really Boils Down To

Benghazi is the most important issue to FOX "News," Rush Limbaugh, and thus, all of Right Wing World.  Though the charges of a coverup, and the various threads of conspiracy theory are tangled and vague, Right Wing World is either convinced that something is there, or they're really, really hoping that something will be uncovered.

Watching Meet the Press and other political shows this Sunday showed the Republicans' concern over Benghazi to be what they really are. Firstly, it's about criticizing the White House for being overly political with their initial response to the attack in Benghazi. . .by being overly political. Even FOX "News" Sunday framed the issue as a controversy over talking points. Yes, Benghazi happened before the big 2012 election, and it stands to reason that the Obama administration would seek to finesse any crisis to best position itself. Any administration would. But it is also true that Darrell Issa is on this snipe hunt for purely political reasons . Namely, to hang a scandal (if he can turn this into one) around President Obama's neck, and maybe more importantly, to try to sink Hillary Clinton's chances of becoming President before she even declares.

But I think that the excellent NewsCorpse.com puts an even finer point on it, so I'll just quit yammering about it, and point you there!

[Excerpt]

GOP Calls For Impeachment Of President Hillary Clinton

Vowing to get an early start on efforts to remove Hillary Clinton from the White House, Republican leaders in congress have announced their intention to hold hearings on what they claim are the high crimes and misdemeanors that Hillary Clinton will commit once she assumes the presidency in January of 2017. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

Ermahgerd, BENGHAZI!!! Development

Image from NYTimes

I know that Republicans really, really, really want Benghazi to be President Obama's Watergate. And any time anyone makes light of that notion, or dismisses a "cover-up" or a conspiracy theory about Benghazi, they come back with a very serious "four people died." Yes, they did. And that's tragic, and virtually no one has downplayed that. But perspective is important. It is relevant to point out that diplomats have died under previous administrations. It is relevant to point out that on a matter of scale, Benghazi pales as an intelligence failure to something like September 11, 2001. It is relevant to point out that after that day in 2001, Americans put politics aside for a good long while, and came together; whereas after September 11, 2012, Republicans immediately went on a snipe hunt to hang it around Obama's neck.

But mostly, it is relevant to point out that the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi is not really what this is about. The biggest bone of contention for conservatives--for reasons I still don't comprehend--is what Susan Rice had to say on political talk shows five days after the attack. When Hillary Clinton later asked ". . .what difference does it make. . ." that's what she was talking about. Now, if Rice had continued after that day to try to sell a theory after it turned out not to be true, that would be one thing. But she didn't. And if politicians were not known to go on Meet the Press, and just say any damn thing, on shows that are heavily skewed to feature Republicans, that would be another thing. But a YouTube video of all the wrong things John McCain and Lindsey Graham have said on those shows would be child's play to compile. They're on every damned week! Who writes their talking points?

Again, I don't get it. I don't see the scandal here. I don't see the cover-up. And I really don't see a conspiracy theory. Even this new "revelation" seems like a big nothingburger.

[Excerpt]

Benghazi E-Mails Put White House on the Defensive

A long-simmering dispute over the White House’s account of the deadly assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, flared up on Friday, with a disclosure of e-mails that show the White House was more deeply involved in revising talking points about the attack than officials have previously acknowledged. . .

Read more at: New York Times

John McCain Doesn't Understand Own Conspiracy Theory

This blog post from Rachel Maddow's MaddowBlog asks the same question I've been asking about the Benghazi attack on September 11 of last year. That being, what is being covered up? If you listen any day, almost any time, on FOX "News," you'll hear that there is a Benghazi coverup. Oddly, right-wing world is very, very concerned about what Susan Rice had to say five days later on the Sunday political shows. Why they're focused like a laser on that day, that spokesperson, those facts is something of a mystery, but to them, that is the crux of everything. [Story continues below]

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To me, it's especially odd that it's Lindsey Graham and John McCain squawking about it the most--unironically--on those same Sunday shows. It would be an easy project to comb through the records of Meet the Press, Face the Nation and FOX "News" Sunday to find misstatements and outright falsehoods from both McCain and Graham on topics smaller and larger than Benghazi.  And yet there is John McCain, still going on about a conspiracy theory, a cover up. But the oddest part is that McCain cannot articulate what the cover up even was. When pressed, he sputters about the four dead Americans. Nobody is happy about four dead Americans, and to allege that you can't be both sad and disinterested in conspiracy theories about Benghazi is just stupid.

[Excerpt]

McCain lost in a fog of partisan rage

Looking back at the tragic and deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last fall, we know quite a bit about what happened. We also know, thanks to an independent investigation, that "Republican charges of a cover-up" were "pure fiction."

But as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) argued yesterday, he can't be bothered with facts -- he has a partisan vendetta to pursue. . .

Read more at: MaddowBlog

Pope Goes the Ratzinger

My usual policy on blogworthy postings is that they interest me. The story or item need not be necessarily funny, sexy, newsworthy, kinky, scary, or ironic. . .it just has to appeal to me in some way. The reign of Pope Benedict XIV--or that of any Pope--is, generally speaking, completely out of my realm of interest. I'm an atheist, and have been one (or at least agnostic) since I was 14. I find the trappings of religion, the time wasted, the pointless genuflection and spectacle to be mind-numbingly boring, and on par with excessive sports fandom.

But it is newsworthy and noteworthy in a historical perspective. And I think it is getting increasingly anachronistic, and notably so. This Pope was no where near as popular as the last one, and looked like a cross between a Batman villain (60s TV version) and Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. He was once a Nazi Youth (whether he had a choice or not), and figures in the Catholic Church pedophilia coverup scandal. The further we are removed from the overly religious trappings of 20th, 19th, 18th and earlier centuries, the more ridiculous the pomp an circumstance of the Vatican and the Papacy seems.

The recent HBO documentary, Mea Maxima Culpa--a deconstruction of the complicity of the Catholic Church with pedophilia coverups--just may have something to do with Ratzinger's almost unprecedented resignation. And that, friends, interests me.

[Excerpt]

Pope Benedict Sex Abuse Cover-Up? Papal Resignation Prompts Speculation

With Pope Benedict XVI's shocking announcement that he will resign from his office Feb. 28, making him the first pontiff to do so in almost six centuries, speculations and rumors are swirling as to why the pope has chosen to step down. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

White House Erased E-mail Backups

Photo from RawStory.com

Does anybody remember that the current President promised to restore integrity to the White House? Remember something about "rule of law?" Why do they keep getting away with this crap?

[Excerpt]

White House reused e-mail tapes

The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages — including those pertaining to the CIA leak case — have been taped over and are gone forever. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

CIA Agent Should Get Medal for Destroying Tapes?

Image from source, Think Progress

Conservatives continue to perplex me. The same people who were so concerned with "the rule of law" when it concerned Bill Clinton's irrelevant indiscretions, will now make excuses--even applaud--blatant violations of the law.

George Tenant got a medal, even though he was blamed for "bad intelligence." Which coming from George Bush is painfully ironic. And creepy FOX "News" host John Gibson thought that whoever outed Valerie Plame deserved a medal too. Now this. And Mom wonders why I'm not a conservative Republican. . .

[Excerpt]

Right-Wing Pundit: Give The CIA Official Who Destroyed The Torture Tapes ‘A Medal’

Prominent conservative commentator Linda Chavez writes that Jose Rodriguez, the CIA official who reportedly undertook the destruction of the torture tapes, “deserves a medal.”

Read more at: Think Progress

CIA Torture Tapes Kept from 9/11 Commission

Photo of Philip Zelikow served as executive director of the 9/11 Commission. (Dennis Cook - AP) from source, Washington Post.com

And more news continues to drip out on the CIA torture tapes scandal. Something tells me, if you went over to FreeRepublic.com and searched around for commentary on this, they'd be all for the destruction of the tapes and the torture too. If there's one thing I'd most like to see after next year's elections, it would be for this sort of lock-steppiness to vanish into history.

[Excerpt]

CIA Tapes Were Kept From 9/11 Panel, Report Says

Former members and staffers of the 9/11 Commission have concluded that the CIA withheld videotapes of harsh interrogation sessions even after specific and "very detailed" requests about the two prisoners whose tapes were later destroyed, according to a review of classified material by the panel. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

White House Lawyers Knew About CIA Tapes

Photos from source, New York Times

Of course they knew. We knew they knew. They just don't think we know what they know. . .or. . . Oh, excuse me, I'm apparently channeling Donald Rumsfeld. Anyway, this scandal is going pretty much like the rest. White House denies. Some news drips out. They deny some more. More drips out. White House clams up. And then complains that the press corps is still asking questions. Lets hope the press corps and Congress don't drop the ball this time.

[Excerpt]

Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A.Tapes

At least four top White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Judge Orders Hearing on CIA Torture Tapes

Photo of CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden from source, Huffington Post

I posted a little about this earlier, but here is a more in-depth story on the developments in the CIA Torture Tapes story.

[Excerpt]

Judge Orders Hearing on CIA Videos

The Bush administration must answer questions about the destruction of CIA interrogation videos of two al-Qaida suspects, a federal judge said Tuesday, rejecting the government's efforts to keep the courts out of the investigation.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy ordered Justice Department lawyers to appear before him Friday at 11 a.m. to discuss whether destroying the tapes, which showed two al-Qaida suspects being questioned, violated a court order. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Bush May Be Forced to Explain Torture Tapes

Photo from RawStory

Well, yeah. Why does this administration continue to assert that no one is allowed to challenge them, even when it is clear that they may have broken the law? And why do they usually get away with it?

Color me: Sick. Of. It.

[Excerpt]

Bush May Be Forced to Explain Destroyed CIA Torture Tapes

An ACLU lawsuit might force the Bush administration to reveal what actually happened.

By my count, there appear to be no less than ten preliminary investigations underway, following the revelation that the CIA destroyed at least two sets of videotapes (containing hundreds of hours of footage) of "advanced interrogation" techniques being employed in terrorism investigations. In fact, every branch of government is now involved. . .

Read more at: AlterNet

House Says They'll Continue CIA Tapes Investigation

Photo of Rep. Hoekstra from source, LA Times

Well, all right. My inherant cynicism says that this will not be the undoing this administration so richly deserves, but I will allow my hopes to be at least slightly raised.

[Excerpt]

House vows to pursue CIA inquiry

Rep. Hoekstra says Intelligence Committee will investigate destruction of interrogation tapes over the objections of the Justice Department.

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee vowed Sunday to press ahead with the congressional investigation of the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, despite the strenuous objections of the Justice Department.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan said Congress would call witnesses and demand documents in order to probe the CIA's decision to destroy videotapes of the interrogations of two suspected Al Qaeda operatives. . .

Read more at: LA Times

Congress's Probe of CIA Tapes Resisted

Photo from source, Huffington Post

And here we go again. The Bush administration (or one of the agencies it oversees) does something really egregious, probably illegal. Constituents demand action. Congress attempts (with varying degrees of enthusiasm) to get the administration to comply with their requests for information. They're then denied access to what they want for some BS reason. Eventually, it all sort of peters out, and there is no accountability, ever.

Sound about right? Disgusting.

[Excerpt]

Congress's Probe of CIA Tapes Resisted

The Justice Department moved yesterday to delay congressional inquiries into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, saying the administration could not provide witnesses or documents sought by lawmakers without jeopardizing its own investigation of the CIA's actions.

Congressional leaders from both parties alleged that Justice is trying to block their investigation and vowed to press ahead with hearings. . .

Read more at: Washington Post via Huffington Post

CIA Tape Destruction a Pattern of Cover-Up

Photo from source, Raw Story

The CIA torture tape scandal continues to generate press. Good. It should.

[Excerpt]

Former intel chair: CIA tape affair part of 'an ongoing pattern' of Bush administration cover-up

The former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says he was kept in the dark about severe interrogations of suspected al-Qaeda terrorists taped by the CIA, and calls the episode just another example of the Bush administration's "covering up" of unwanted revelations. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

CIA Defied Court Order, Destroyed Tapes

This story continues to percolate, though I admit I haven't heard people talking about it much outside of political blogs, Air America Radio and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. When you entrench yourself in this stuff (as I must if I want to maintain the blog), it becomes difficult to see what stories are gaining traction.

My question though, is if this story goes nowhere (as so many before it have), is the game over? Is accountability officially out the window for this (and future) Executive Branchers?

[Excerpt]

CIA destroyed tapes despite court order

Federal courts had prohibited the Bush administration from discarding evidence of detainee torture and abuse months before the CIA destroyed videotapes that revealed some of its harshest interrogation tactics.

Normally, that would force the government to defend itself against obstruction allegations. But the CIA may have an out: its clandestine network of overseas prisons. . .

Read more at: Yahoo News

White House Clams Up on CIA Tapes

Here we go again. . .we can not comment on an ongoing investigation. Of course, once the investigation is over, they probably still won't talk about it, right?

[Excerpt]

White House Stays Quiet on CIA Tapes

White House lawyers have advised President Bush's spokeswoman not to answer specific questions about why the CIA destroyed tapes of terror suspects under interrogation, as Congress seeks answers about the matter.

The Justice Department and the CIA's internal watchdog are conducting a joint inquiry into the spy agency's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists, to determine whether a full investigation is warranted. With that review ongoing, the White House counsel's office has instructed Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, not to get into details with reporters. . .

Read more at: AP

Jonathan Turley Calls CIA Tape Destruction "Criminal"

Photo from source, JonathanTurley.org

Often times when writing this blog, I feel a little too under informed to adequately comment on a news story. Not Dana Perino uninformed, mind you, just a little less than up to the task. So sometimes, it's just better to post the excerpt and the link, and let you read somebody who really knows what he's talking about. Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley is just that guy. Read on. . .

[Excerpt]

CIA Interrogation Tapes: “Bad” is Hardly the Word — Call it Criminal

I had wrapped up testifying before the House Judiciary Committee last week when a Republican Member caught me in the hall to say that yet another torture story was about to break. “It’s bad,” he grumbled. Bad is hardly the word to describe the disclosure that the Bush administration had ordered the destruction of tapes of the interrogation of al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah — it’s criminal. . .

Read more at: JonathanTurley.org

CIA Destroyed Records of Torture?

Photo from source, New York Times

This is the one story today that we probably have only heard the beginning of. Yet another government agency destroying records--probably illegally.

[Excerpt]

C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations

The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.

The videotapes showed agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terror suspects — including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in C.I.A. custody — to severe interrogation techniques. They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Criminal Probe: Oil Spill in San Fran

Looks like a bunch of people were asleep at the wheel with this one. Of course, it was nobody's fault thus far... Asses are being covered as we speak. Oil... ain't it grand.

I heard Dick Cheney & George W. were spotted near the shore line with straws in hand... The both looked rather euphoric & they were wearing milk mustaches, made of oil.

Criminal Probe into San Fran Bay Oil Spill

Scrambling to Save Wildlife



Photo Credit to AP