Nancy Pelosi has decided to have the Democrats participate on the Select Committee to Investigate the Benghazi Attacks. Unsurprisingly, Elijah Cummings of Maryland will serve as the ranking member of the committee. The others will be Adam Smith of Washington, Adam Schiff of California, Linda Sanchez of California, and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
Alan Grayson didn’t make the cut.
Of the group, Rep. Cummings is the most combative and sharp-tongued. As the ranking member on Darrell Issa’s Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, Cummings has already been dealing with the Benghazi witch hunt for some time. The others all have some degree of responsibility for oversight of either the armed forces or the State Department, so that pretty much explains their appointments.
I was hoping that Pelosi would boycott the hearings, although I was never certain that that would be the smartest move.
What do you think?
I think she’s validated the committee. Maybe there is something to these hearings.
Idiotic.
Adding, from TPM:
“I believe we need someone in that room to simply defend the truth,” Cummings said Wednesday, standing beside Pelosi and the Democrats on the panel.
A senior House GOP aide retorted, “You don’t defend the truth, you defend a story. You find the truth, and that’s exactly why this committee was created.”
Like it or not, the corporate whore media is going to pretend that the Republican Party has a grain of a point whether the Democratic Party boycotts it or not.
Hate to tell you this, the Democratic Party does not get to decide what is and isn’t in the bounds of reasoned political discourse. The corporate whore media does. Doesn’t matter how unreasonable or craven or self-serving the actions of conservatives are; if the corporate whore media decides that it’s worth talking about, then that’s what they’ll show. And as long as the corporate whore media continues to bootlick conservatives and actions that help conservatives, you may as well not just let them run whatever script and play they want.
And as long as the corporate whore media continues to bootlick conservatives and actions that help conservatives, you may as well not just let them run whatever script and play they want.
So what’s the best way to counter that? If you’re one of the ones that think Grayson is a clown then appoint only him to the committee. It will show everyone what you think of it. I don’t agree with the decision but I do hope the Democrats have the guts to walk out on these hearings the first time the loons act stupid and never come back.
I like Grayson but it makes sense to keep him out of this clown show – let the Repubs be the only bomb-throwers in the room.
Taking a knife to a gunfight, taking a debate team to a bomb-throwing convention.
It’s sending professionals to a clown show for the purpose of highlighting that it is, indeed, nothing more than a clown show.
Sending professionals to a clown show gives the clowns a veneer of professionalism.
You think the media is going to cover the intelligent pushback?
Maybe you’re right. We shall see.
That’s a great idea; let’s just deliberately play right into the corporate whore media’s false equivalence narrative… for what? To have a couple of zingers and give firebaggers stiffies?
Again, see the link I posted above.
Duckworth hasn’t been in Congress long, but she’s already proven see can come out guns a-blazing.
BooMan,
I know you were against it, but – DAMN!!! – I wanted Grayson on it – either alone, or as part of the group – because he often exposes the Republicans for the sociopathic and bigoted Christianista loons that they are.
Plus, he gives GREAT sound-bites!
We Democrats need a little theatrics of our own – to match the Republican “Theatre of the Absurd” meets Kabuki!
Having said that, it looks like a pretty solid response to the loon-squad.
PermaGovers only.
No surprise.
Stalemate.
Just as it always is.
Just as it always is.
AG
Ignoring Congressional witch-hunts is a loss for sanity and a potential easy win for the hunters. Eleanor Roosevelt had their number long ago. Show up and without losing a dignified presence, do whatever it takes to make the hunters look stupid, foolish, and nuts. Not blown away by Pelosi’s choices for the committee, but maybe they will eat their Wheaties and surprise us.
Did you see this? http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/dont-make-trouble.html
Point taken — but the GOP guns only fire blanks and therefore, not being there let’s the public think their armed with real ammo.
Strategy is the key. I have been hearing a lot of talk about allowing this committee to continue. The thought behind this is that the GOP can then push through a vote for Impeachment of President Obama.
Why would the Democratic Party members want this to happen? One point that is being pushed is that this would improve President Obama’s ratings. Could this be why the Democratic Party Members are getting involved, who knows for sure. All we do know is that President Clinton’s numbers improved after his Impeachment. The higher Obama’s numbers the greater turn out in November.
We will have to wait and see.
Elijah Cummings is an excellent choice. Tammy Duckworth too.
Yes for Cummings, no for Duckworth. She’s a Rahm Emanuel protege so she will defend Hilary. That’s good. But she’s also in the Durbin camp. I can’t see her pushing back hard like Cummings.
Umm, what?
http://www.today.com/video/today/52327076
Duckworth might be the single best person Pelosi could have named.
She is VERY active in veteran’s affairs and I would applaud her appointment to a committee investigating the VA. Benghazi, not so much. In fact, I think every e-mail that I have from her is about veterans. I’d like it more if she would e-mail me about Social Security, Minimum Wage, and the Trans-Pacific “Partnership” like Bernie Sanders does and *I’m not even his constituent. Durbin doesn’t address those issues either and I AM his constituent.
Frankly, I don’t understand that people believe that nobody should have been named, it seems self evident to me. The prevailing attitude about the Committee is that it is political…. well then it demands a political response.
There are a few reasons for that response;
Pelosi picked serious people, people who are on the appropriate committees for them to be there. People who have been on some of the other committees looking at this issue, so they know what to expect, and can respond if the republicans keep going over old news. And having Tammy Duckworth in particular is an inspired choice.
IMO Pelosi just owned the republicans. And they probably don’t know it……yet.
There is a part of me that believes that Obama trolls the republicans. He seems to have a talent for verbally setting them up. I honestly believe that Reid and Pelosi have been watching this, and have taken on some of those skills.
.
Charles Pierce shows Digby how it’s done;
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/democrats-benghazi-appointments-052114
.
Agree:
Correct:
Wrong:
Democrats should be there to serve the truth and not to have anyone’s back. If the truth doesn’t serve Clinton well, so be it. (Not that I think there’s any there there wrt to the GOP line of attack on this matter. The GOP no more wants a full disclosure and the truth than the Obama administration does.)
I have also been undecided on the wisdom of participating but was leaning toward seating members on the committee if only to have official protests in the record. Now, after reading this over at dKos…
…I think it is the best political play to have made. There have already been a few points made against the GOP for exploiting a tragedy for political gain and this increases the chances of finding something tangible. Bring lots of popcorn!
Too bad, Grayson would have called them out on their bullshit with no possibility of ignoring it. The others? Even when they do, I fear it’s going to be mired in Washington-speak and come off mild as milk.
You want attractive folks that can’t stick a knife in with a smile. Like Elizabeth Warren. Grayson veres towards looking like a buffoon even when what he’s saying is accurate — and pictures trump words for the viewing public.
You think the viewing public still cares about Benghazi? This is to fire up partisans.
Only that part of the viewing public that couldn’t locate Benghazi on a map in their lives depended on it. Some of those highly concerned about Benghazi can’t even identify the correct hemisphere much less the correct country.
That makes Grayson even better! You put Warren on there, and she’ll say amazingly awesome things that I’ll read about exclusively on the leftblogs, and the media will solemnly report as ‘he said, she said.’ Shape of earth? Criminal negligence? Views differ.
You put Grayson on there, and they’ll report, ‘he frothed, she fumed.’
Which does Benghazi!!!!! deserve?
I love E Cummings. He is a stickler for procedure which could drive the GOP nuts. Our side should be calm & collected as this impression matters.
….and the band played on ….. and on ….. and on……. and on ….. (that pretty much sums up the entire GOP. They’re a doomed “species”!
Cummings has dealt with that criminal Issa…he knows how to deal with them.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/why-alan-grayson-was-left-benghazi
the repubs will likely escape another butt-reaming the dem base would love to see. It’s just more enthusiasm sacrificed on the alter of civility only one side worships at anyway, and often to their collective detriment.
For example, rather than the “we have to pass the bill before we know what’s in it” line from Pelosi that rightwingnuts everywhere make hay outta daily, she shoulda called them the liars that they are, no?
That woulda been an acurate assessment of what they were doing that prompted that remark, wasn’t it?
Civilty is gonna be the death of this republic…lol
I like the line-up. I like the armed forces expertise because it takes head-on one of the so-called strengths of the GOP – though we all know they’ve botched everything for the last 23 years – I’ll give Pappy Bush his due for desert storm in ’91.
I really like Cummings on point. I would have liked Grayson but lets face it:
Cummings – 18 years
Smith – 17 years – prosecutor
Schiff – 13 years – prosecutor
Sanchez – 11 years
Duckworth – Decorated Iraq War Veteran and more cajones than the entire GOP delegation combined …http://www.stripes.com/news/the-pedals-were-gone-and-so-were-my-legs-1.34578
That’s not a bad starting 5.
Vs.
Brooks – 2 years
Jordan – 7 years and wrestling champion
Pompeo – 3 years and Koch puppet
Roby – 3 years
Roksam – 7 years
Westmoreland – 9 years plus HS graduate
Gowdy – 3 years
I think Pelosi did well.
Is that Roskam (sk) or Roksam (ks)? Roskam is my sister’s Congressman. He is a former aide to Henry Hyde and has been described by the Daily Herald as “to the right of Henry Hyde”. He ate Duckworth’s lunch when running for the open seat.