In Case You Missed It: Yes, Benghazi Was Because of the Video

Partly, at least, the attack on Benghazi was--according to one of the main guys behind the attack--about the video, Innocence of Muslims. It was also at the root of unrest in many other areas of the Muslim world, so why it is surprising that it might have something to do with Benghazi, I literally have no idea.

Maybe a conservative reading this, maybe one I'm friends with (hello, Dan!) might be able to explain to me why there is an obsessive focus in Right Wing World over whether or not the video had anything to do with it? Maybe, while you're at it, you can explain the laser-like focus on the Sunday show appearances of Ambassador Susan Rice--who is now vindicated, by the way, send your cards of apology--five days after the attack? I've never understood the key points of contention on the right. Like, at all. When Hillary Clinton said, "What difference, at this point, does it make?" that is what she was referring to, and I was in total agreement with her frustration.



Conservatives, please send your cards of apology.
A fruit basket, or edible bouquet might be nice as well.

It's time to put the Benghazi attack in the perspective it deserves: an attack on Americans, and get past this nonsense, especially now that the right has lost one of their key talking points (even if I don't understand why it was a talking point).

[Excerpt]

Benghazi Suspect Said He Was Moved To Take Revenge For American-Made Video

Benghazi attack suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala, who was captured by U.S. forces on Sunday, told people the move against the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was intended as revenge for an American-made online video that was seen as an attack to Islam, according to the New York Times. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Right Wing World: Beirut Barracks vs. Benghazi

Everyone is aware that four Americans died in Benghazi, and nobody thinks their deaths are irrelevant. I say this to state the obvious, but also to avoid the claim that I'm disregarding their deaths. I'm not. But very few if any of the people raging about #Benghazi! are really trying to avenge those deaths. They're trying to claim political scalps. Denials of this fact are as transparent as the FOX "News" slogan, Fair & Balanced.

Proof comes from the lack of outrage at other presidential administrations who suffered similar--often worse--attacks at US installations overseas. As has been often stated, over sixty Americans died in such attacks during the previous administration. They made the news, but did not inspire outrage from Right Wing World, at least not toward the administrations in power at the time. What is different this time? And why the obsessive focus on Ambassador Susan Rice? Yes, her statements on the Sunday morning talk shows turned out to be partially incorrect (though she framed the information as tentative anyway). What that day has to do with today, I have no idea. Why her appearance is so much more interesting than, say, Dick Cheney going on the same shows, and citing a story he himself had sourced, saying that 9/11 was tied to Saddam Hussein. A flat-out lie, one with far worse ramifications, leading to an event far, far more deadly than Benghazi.

Image from source, The Daily Beast

So, excuse me if I call bullshit on Republican Benghazi outrage. I don't believe you. You wanted to stop President Obama's reelection with this, and you failed. Then--when you couldn't believe it failed--you kept banging the drum, hoping against hope that something, anything would stick. Not much did. So now, you're frothing at the mouth to either a) try to impeach Obama or b) thwart the election of Hillary Clinton. This has very little to do with the death of four Americans.

The excerpted article below is one of the best I've read on the subject of Benghazi. It points out that the sort of tragedy that happened in Benghazi used to be cause for rallying 'round the flag, and supporting the president, not attacking him. For drawing the country together, not using it as a political bludgeon. Think back, if you will, to the national reaction to 9/11, and then imagine if the exact same scenario happened under Obama. And then imagine how Republicans would respond. Not pretty, is it?

[Excerpt]

Beirut Barracks vs. Benghazi

One of the most maddening things about this Benghazi nonsense is the way Republicans have gotten a lot of Americans to go along with the idea that 10 investigations of something is normal; that as long as there’s one unanswered question, one area where the administration’s position is ambiguous or where its cooperation has been anything other than the immediate handing over of any conceivably related document, we still need to get to the bottom of matters. . .

Read more: Daily Beast

What's Great About Susan Rice as National Security Advisor

Image from source, NBC News

I have to say, President Obama's appointment of Susan Rice as National Security Advisor was exactly the kind of move I've wanted him to pull for a long time. It achieved three things: it put a qualified person in the position, it was a way to put right the wrong that has been done to Ms. Rice, and it was a bold, in-your-face move to Republicans.

Rice has been in the right's crosshairs since five days after the Benghazi attacks. She went on the Sunday political talk shows, and gave the CIA's account of what they thought happened (with acknowledgment that it was an evolving situation). Her talking points turned out not to be entirely correct, which is hardly an unusual happening for those shows. And yet, Right Wing World was shrieking with outrage--and continues to--as though Rice had anything to do with decisions made during the attacks, or continues to live (like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day, I suppose) on that day, still giving the same story. She's not, by the way.

So, when Rice's name was floated to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the heat was so strong from Right Wing World, Rice withdrew her name from contention. I always thought that was a shame. So it is very welcome to hear of her appointment, and brings a huge smile to my face for altogether more immature aspects of my psyche! Ha-ha!

[Excerpt]

Obama appoints Susan Rice as national security adviser

Hailing her longtime role as a “trusted adviser,” President Barack Obama formally named U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as his next national security adviser on Wednesday. Obama tapped Rice, a target of Republican criticism in recent months, to succeed Tom Donilon; the president also nominated Samantha Power, a longtime foreign policy adviser, to take over Rice’s role at the United Nations. . .

Read more at: NBC News

Benghazi-gate Begins to Fizzle

Did you happen to notice that the Benghazi story has mostly been a FOX "News"/Right Wing World thing, until the last few days? That's because ABC News "found" an email that seemed to show multiple rewrites of talking points for Susan Rice to use on the Sunday talk shows, five days after the Benghazi attack. I still don't get the OCD focus on that Sunday, but that's neither here nor there. The ABC email turned this simmering conservative outrage story into a mainstream story. Oddly, a story that was obsessing over the minutiae of talking points. Not preventing future attacks, or fixing problems, but forensically piecing together why the lady said what she said to David Gregory.

Well, guess what? The email didn't say what they said it said. Like, at all. So this big "scandal" was over bupkis. We're back exactly where we were on Benghazi. The question is, will it completely fizzle out in favor of the new IRS/Tea Party and the Justice Department/AP potential scandals? We shall see.

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