President Obama may be dismissing ongoing congressional investigations into the 9/11 Benghazi terror attacks as a political “sideshow,” but veteran journalist Bob Woodward hints that today’s scandal is very reminiscent of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal.
“You’re talking about government not working, but who’s in charge of the executive branch,” Woodward said Friday. “You go to the Constitution, and the president has sole responsibility for the executive branch. This rests on him.”
Comparing the release of emails from the administration to Nixon’s edited transcripts, he concluded: “I would not dismiss Benghazi. It’s a very serious issue.”
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Filed under News | Comment (0)Yesterday I warned that GOP leaders on Capitol Hill could really drop the ball on the Benghazi investigation by making it a political issue. The best course of action for everyone involved here is to pursue the truth. Period. But before today’s congressional hearing even begins, the media is gearing up to write the whole thing off as a political stunt.
How?
With some carefully crafted language. Take a look at a sampling of this morning’s news coverage… (all emphases mine)
CNN: This isn’t really a news story…
The Obama administration’s handling of the aftermath of the Benghazi terror attack has long sparked outrage from Republicans on Capitol Hill and fueled conspiracy theories on talk shows and across the blogosphere.
And those sparks are likely touch off fireworks Wednesday, when three current State Department employees are expected to contradict their leadership in testimony before Republican Rep. Darrell Issa’s oversight committee.
The New York Times: Darn those pesky Republicans…
If there’s a story – or even a word – that’s more fraught with divisive American politics than “Benghazi,” I’m unaware of it.
The attacks last fall on an American diplomatic mission and C.I.A. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four American government employees, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, have become a flash point for critics of the Obama administration who see what happened as proof of the president’s incompetence, or worse. They see the aftermath as a cover-up.
NPR: The State Department would never lie to us…
Filed under News | Comment (0)The issue has become a cause celebre among conservative media outlets. On his radio show Monday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Hicks will testify that four special operations soldiers in Tripoli were not allowed to board a Libyan military cargo plane that was leaving for Benghazi.
“We now know that special forces were poised and ready and had repeatedly asked for permission to go in and try to intervene, and they were told to stand down,” Huckabee said. “I know that Mr. Hicks will testify that his jaw dropped when later Hillary Clinton said she did not know of any requests for assistance and that there were no requests for assistance.”
[Notice that they don't report the news about the special operations team as from Hicks -- they report it as something Mike Huckabee said.]
Official White House photo caption: “President Barack Obama waits for a heavy rain to pass before crossing West Executive Avenue from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to the West Wing of the White House, March 12, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)”
A familiar pose for sure… Continue reading »
Filed under News | Comment (0)The Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest annual gathering of conservatives, begins Thursday and Politico has a story on how the event has come to reflect the discord in the Republican Party between the establishment and the “tea party” wing.
Though Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered the tea party response to President Obama‘s State of the Union speech and recently delayed John Brennan‘s confirmation as CIA director with a 13-hour talking filibuster, he comes off strikingly moderate in his interview with Politico… Continue reading »
Filed under News | Comment (0)Official White House photo: “President Barack Obama works on his inaugural address with Jon Favreau, Director of Speechwriting, not pictured, in the Oval Office, Jan. 16, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)”
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Filed under News | Comment (0)The New York Daily News, which endorsed President Obama in his first term but not in the race for his second, was left pretty unmoved by his inauguration speech yesterday.
The tabloid’s editorial this morning said “lackluster job numbers undercut” the assertion in Obama’s speech that “an economic recovery has begun.” It also said criticized his statement that “a decade of war is now ending,” noting the ramped up targeted drones program his administration is known for.
But there was approval for the more social issues Obama touched on, particularly on gay marriage. “That statement … was a stunning sign not only of Obama’s evolution, but of the nation’s,” the editorial said, followed by one final dig: “May our growth continue, not only in hearts and minds, but in monthly employment reports.”
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Filed under News | Comment (0)You can bet your life the White House threatened Wal-Mart after they said they wouldn’t participate in Biden’s gun control meetings. Via The Hill: Wal-Mart will send a representative to a meeting on gun violence hosted by Vice President Biden on Thursday. Wal-Mart, the biggest seller of guns in the country, had previously said that [...]
Weasel Zippers
The horrifying tragedy this morning in Newtown, Connecticut has stunned our nation and the world. The idea of frightened children running for their lives to escape such unimaginable terror is something I can barely imagine, let alone grasp as the reality unfolding today.
“I saw policemen — lots of policemen in the hallway with guns,” one nine-year-old witness recalled. “The police took us out of the school. We were told to hold each others’ hands and to close our eyes. We opened our eyes when we were outside.”
Let’s come together to send our love and prayers to the victims and families impacted by this senseless act of violence. By the peaceful grace of God, may their chilling grief be eased and their hearts opened to the warming love of their neighbors.
Let’s hold each others’ hands, close our eyes and let God guide us through.
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Filed under News | Comment (0)Obama should just throw those who disagree with him in jail, Harry Belafonte told MSNBC host Al Sharpton during a discussion on expanding “quote” entitlements. After all, those who disagree with Obama are “violating the American desire,” or something:
I suppose President Obama would only be toeing the party line at this point, since Michigan Democrats have warned that “there will be blood” after today’s Right-to-Work legislation becomes law…
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Filed under News | Comment (0)Ralph Peters, Fox News’ resident foreign policy analyst, has become something of a star since the attack on a U.S. embassy in Libya. He’s harsh on the Obama administration; harsh on Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.); and now harsh on Paula Broadwell, the woman who Gen. David Petraeus had an extramarital affair with.
In the New York Post today Peters writes about the news media’s coverage of the Petraeus sex scandal (emphasis mine):
On Friday, Gen. Petraeus’ testimony exploded the White House lie about what it knew and when. The media’s focus? Petraeus’s camera-shy entrance to the building.
Meanwhile, “prestigious” media groupies who’ve tied their reputations to the general are campaigning to rehabilitate him by insisting that our “overreaction” just shows what rubes we are. But their “tolerance” only reveals how utterly they fail to understand military and intelligence-world culture: The outrage among veterans and our troops isn’t because Petraeus fell for a stalker dolled up like a chain-hotel hooker, but because of his lack of integrity and his hypocrisy.
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