The word “Benghazi” hasn’t appeared on the front page here since the election. Steve made a mention on November 3rd in citing some unhinged sports radio hosts. I only mentioned it in October in the context of Obama slapping the taste out of Romney’s mouth during the debates. We’ve treated it as a non-story because it is a non-story. It is tragic that we lost four American lives, including an esteemed diplomat. We need to make sure that we do a better job of protecting our embassies, consulates and diplomatic staff. The investigation into what happened in Benghazi can help us make better decisions in the future. However, I have refused to dignify the Republicans’ shameless politicization of this tragedy by taking any time to rebut their fantasies and false allegations. And that won’t change.
John McCain had a near-infinite reservoir of good will to burn after he sat in a North Vietnamese prison for years. He is now officially out of fuel. From here on out, he will receive no respect and no mercy and no further recognition of his sacrifice. There is no good will left. He is trash.
I’ve been visiting your site for years but I’m done lurking :-). Your site is usually the first of the lefty blog community that I check each morning. Always nice to get a somewhat calm and reasoned perspective prior to freaking out. At any rate, I’ve been wondering why you were silent on this issue so now I know. I must say that after two elections this story is what’s finally brought me out the woodwork. I posted the following on dkos several days ago…
“I’m really outraged by this! Maybe it’s because I’ve worked so hard in my career as an AA woman and the fact that a Rhodes scholar can be smeared so easily is unsettling for me. I’ll admit that I was a bit disappointed yesterday with the responses to several diaries surrounding this subject. I guess I expected a more animated defense considering the current information available. It is currently on record that the CIA intel was flawed and that Dr. Rice was relaying the information available. I know there are some who may have valid concerns as to her qualifications for the job but I haven’t read anything too specific thus far. I also realize we need a complete investigation but again, thus far she doesn’t appear to be culpable. I was incensed when learning of the Sperm Luck Club’s leader – aka Luke Russert’s offensive question of Nancy Pelosi. I just wish that a true coalition of women will stand together when any of our members are attacked.”
Welcome. Speak up more often.
Thanks much! Glad to join the living
I was outraged that there was no outrage among Democrats/liberals when Bill Clinton threw Sister Souljah, Lani Guinier, and Joycelyn Elders under the bus.
I didn’t follow politics closely at this time and I admit I didn’t even know what Sista Soulja moment meant until recently. I think this is why I’ve been so inspired by the Obama campaign. I really feel that this is the time to put our past differences aside and build new coalitions as Obama so eloquently stated in The Audacity of Hope. We now see what’s possible when we come together to defeat our real enemies – plutocrats like Romney and the Koch brothers. I truly hope that the divide and conquer days are behind us. I think my generation is less concerned about the grievance issues of the past and while that in no way implies we are “post-racial”, the sane members of our society are beginning to realize we have more in common than not. I’ve seen AA members of my family “evolve” on gay rights and work closer with Hispanic communities. This has been so encouraging as I’m Agnostic and have to temper my comments with my religious relatives on a variety of issues. I guess all we can do is continue to work together so we recognize the humanity in one another. I plan to highlight these types of issues so more of us (including myself) begin to see our blind spots.
This thread starts to get at something I’ve been thinking about since Pres. Obama’s press conference: one aspect (among many) of his vigorous defense of Ambassador Rice is his awareness of the structural racism and sexism encoded in McCain’s (and the right’s) attacks on her.
With his takedown of McCain, Pres. Obama is letting (at least some of) his supporters know: 1) that he knows what’s going on, and 2) he’s not going to stand by and let it happen.
Obama also gets the added political benefit of personalizing the “Benghazi scandal” on McCain, an increasingly marginal figure in conservative and senatorial circles.
The bile from the Republicans just gets deeper.
But I liked Benen’s appraisal of McCain’s idiocy:
And a Congressman tore into the House Foreign Affairs GOP committee members yesterday:
Video at this diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/16/1162268/-Ackerman-D-NY-and-Others-Unload-on-GOP-at-Benghazi
-Hearing
I actually consume very little right-wing media. I see a lot of headlines, which helps me have a general idea about the outrage of the moment, but I rarely open up those articles are read them.
In the aftermath of the election I have indulged a little in right-wing media, but mainly to see how they are explaining the loss to themselves and their readers. Tactics don’t interest me, but strategy does.
I had my say about Benghazi back when the right first tried to make it an issue.
My thoughts exactly. He really has used up all of his goodwill points since he lost the election four years ago, hasn’t he? He just can’t get over it. And now that Romney also got whooped, proving it wasn’t just a fluke, he’s gotten even worse.
Dick Polman is also fed up: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/national-interest/item/47105-john-mccain-wants-you-to-get-off-his
-lawn-again
Receive no respect and no mercy?
In America there are no consequences for elite republicans attacking democrats. Even if it is baseless. He will be back on the Sunday shows doing his thing before long.
.
Elite opinion isn’t the only factor in American politics.
Nice to see that others are finally beginning to see the real McCain. Entitled, not too bright, and serial screw-up with daddy issues.
Seems to describe most of the Republican party.
This is great news for John McCain!!!
He’ll soon to have more time to protect his 7 lawns.
He might have retained a little something if he showed the least bit of humility or apology in his very brief presser following the hearing yesterday. Instead he effectively said “never mind” and stormed off.
The CIA might have very wisely withheld some intelligence in the unclassified version? Duh. If that hadn’t occurred to him then HE is unfit to serve.
Absolutely. We should all know better by now than to put our full faith in anything in the way of “information” that is issued hard on the heels of any event that has or could have geopolitical ramifications. And we should definitely be able to expect a more reasoned and rational approach to these issues from a member of the Senate, which, after all, is supposed to be the more deliberative of our legislative bodies. I lost respect for McCain long ago, and felt that he would have served this country much better had he retired from politics after the “Keating 5” incident. Or at least had the decency to crawl back to the House, which is much better suited to his temperament.
McCain was always a one-trick pony who waved his POW status to shut up critics of any of his policies and who imagined himself a foreign policy genius. It just takes understanding his support of the failed Vietnam War to see how deluded he was.
He was supposed to be a GOP maverick. So interested in military justice and human rights. But stood aside from investigating Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Another self-righteous, moralistic fool like Lindsay Graham.
He lost every last shred of respect when he failed to criticize the swift-boating of John Kerry, who actually did have a self-sacrificing decision to make. Whereas McCain was just a product of bad luck.
He should, but won’t, resign in disgrace over this blatantly partisan display of stupidity.
In McCain’s case, it wasn’t just bad luck; it was also incompetence. How many planes do you have to crash before you’re told you can’t fly another one? The expense alone should have removed him from any cockpit.
sadly, we have a Legacy military as well as Legacy College problem
Add to this the fact, the US Navy handed four stars to both his father and grandfather, for their service.
In his case the US Navy only only handed him the bird, even after he spent six years in a POW camp, for his service, the first star was never offered.
That one must haunt him some ways.
Yep. Marie2 nailed it the the comment above.
There were many POWs from our wars who came home with more compassion and respect for the universe of Humanity than McCain. Men like my father who saw through his act and worked more humbly and honestly to make the world a better place. Privileged and unimaginative, McCain’s only fuel is his vainglorious, insatiable hunger for attention. “Me ME ME”.
McCain’s periodic feints towards justice, or even common sense, are quickly over-ridden by naked ego and blatant kissing up to the power brokers.
Part of it is the fact that the Republican party now stands for nothing that anyone would want to ally themselves with. It’s not possible to be principled without leaving the party. But doing that would mean giving up power in it; the only kind most of them have.
The Sunday talk shows will have to have McCain on to explain Benghazi again for the benefit of their viewers. Rinse and repeat
We need to make sure that we do a better job of protecting our embassies, consulates and diplomatic staff.
Yes, we do. At the same time, we have to recognize that the type of diplomatic work Ambassador Stevens was doing is inherently dangerous, like military service itself, and too much emphasis on protection would render the diplomatic corps unable to its job.
We need to recognize this work for what it really is, and give the people who do it the same respect for their willingness to do dangerous work on behalf of their country that we give to the military or firefighters.
Valerie Plame”s hubby, former Ambassador Joe Wilson comes to mind. Had quite a moment with Sadam when he was in Iraq prior to the first gulf war, as I remember.
“ too much emphasis on protection would render the diplomatic corps unable to its job.“
Yeah, like having the “diplomatic corps” living completely isolated in a high-walled citadel the size of the Vatican with its own water, electrical, sewage, and missile defense system. It would be kind of hard for them to do their job…….IF they were really a diplomatic corps. Thank heavens the days are gone when members of the diplomatic corps in countries like Iraq used to live with their families in Iraqi neighborhoods where they actually had Iraqi neighbors, walked on the same streets as Iraqis, shopped in Iraqi stores with Iraqis, and even gave birth in Iraqi maternity hospitals attended by Iraqi doctors and nurses. Wow – it’s a wonder any of them survived at all. Good thing they’ve got the security thing worked out finally.
“inherently dangerous, like military service…“
Military service would be many times less dangerous than it is now if the United States used its military for defense.
“We need to make sure that we do a better job of protecting our embassies, consulates and diplomatic staff.
Yes, and the best way to do that is not to build fortified citadels encircled by armed military guards and with their own missile defense systems. The best way to do that is to stop acting like the world bully, and start acting like a civilized country. You’d be surprised how much easier most things would become.
stop acting like the world bully, and start acting like a civilized country
That is exactly what we did in Libya, which is where this attack took place.
Yeah, I didn’t expect you to get it – much too subtle for your sledge hammer mind.
I got it just fine. Believe it or not, your adolescent, daddy-issues-based ideas are not actually difficult to comprehend.
I didn’t misunderstand your argument; I found a problem with it.
You might want to work on figuring out the difference between those two thing.
Or you can just retreat behind your walls of insults and anti-dissent missile batteries, like you always do.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
That would be a lot more plausible if hadn’t just covered your monitor with spittle.
Just to offset the “0” rating, not that I agree with comment.