The Benghazi Coverup

Friday Shakedown

The GOP is continuing it's ridiculous attacks on the President over the "non-conspiracy" Benghazi.  Bob Cesca posted a list of 13 more "Benghazis" that occurred during the Bush administration that Fox News did not seem to care about.  Go check it out.  It's pretty good.

Missouri has joined the league of states toying with nullification.  The bill that was just sent to Governor Jay Nixon (D) would render all federal gun laws null and void in Missouri.  Should the Governor sign the bill, which I think is unlikely, Missouri would become the second state to actually pass such a law.  Kansas was the first and Attorney General Eric Holder has already sent them a letter threatening to take Kansas to court over the issue.  

The bill would also relax other gun laws in the state by lowering the age to obtain a concealed carry license from 21 to 19.  It would also allow firearms to be carried by certain school personnel.

Another day, another child getting shot by another child.  In Camden, New Jersey, an 11-year-old boy shot a 12-year-old in the face.  The incident is being called an accident.  The child is being treated at an area hospital and is expected to survive.  There was supposedly an 19-year-old relative nearby when the accident happened but it is currently unclear how the children obtained the gun.

When does it stop?

Doof Quote Of The Day

NH State Rep. Stella Tremblay (R)

TREMBLAY: And the more I looked at this, in my heart, something told me there’s something wrong here. You just have to look at that backpack and you can see. If there’s an explosion, the backpack is blown to smithereens. There’s nothing left. What was it doing just laying there? Then, my first gut reaction seeing the horror of that person that had their legs blown off… you know, with the bone sticking out? And he was not in shock. I looked and I thought there’s something… I don’t know what’s wrong, but it seems surreal to me. I talked to my sister, who’s not into politics at all, and she said, “Yea, I saw the same thing.” He was not in shock. He was not in pain. If I had had those type of injuries, I’d be screaming in agony.

Via ThinkProgress:

Citing Alex Jones and his conspiracy theory site Infowars, Tremblay notes that while she once believed 9/11 was a real attack by terrorists, 9/11 “truthers” have opened her eyes. This attack too, she argues, was a “Black Ops” attack staged — apparently unconvincingly — by the federal government.

Wonderful.  I wish everyone could see the harm that Infowars and crazies like Alex Jones cause.  They have no evidence for their crazy theories, only questions and they press on with the conspiracy theory no matter what.  You can never prove them wrong in their eyes because they'll just ask more questions or dismiss actual evidence.  Now, these crazy theories are being floated by Republican politicians.  Like this one where Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) floated a theory about the U.S. shipping guns to Turkey.  Secretary Clinton's response is priceless.

This is not the only example, not by a long shot. Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Jason Chaffetz (UT) held a joint hearing "to examine the procurement of ammunition by the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General." They, and others, believe the U.S. government is buying up ammunition to either keep regular Americans from being able to buy it, or they are preparing for war against their own people.  This is the silliness that goes on on the Right these days.

The conspiracy theorists are not serious people but unfortunately we have to take them seriously because they influence those that vote in Congress.  

Michelle Bachmann's Greatest Hits

Last fall, Rep. Michele Bachmann held onto her seat in Congress despite Democratic challenger Jim Graves' efforts. Now, Graves wants a rematch in 2014.  "A lot of people come up to me and say we're kind of embarrassed by our representation in Washington," he has said. "People are tired of her antagonistic, propagating gridlock."

It is true that she is one of the most polarizing members of the House of Representatives.  I thought I would throw together some of the most ridiculous things she has said/done in the past few years.

Michele Bachmann on Homosexuals:

Bachmann doesn't understand Obamacare:

I wish Jim Graves luck in 2014.  We need to get her out of Congress.

McCain Explodes on Meet The Press

Republicans have blown the attack on the consulate in Benghazi completely out of proportion since it happened.  I have no doubt that they expected it to have an impact on the election.  Since Obama won reelection easily despite this nonsense, I expected the rhetoric on Benghazi to die down.  It has not.

Today on Meet the Press David Gregory asked John McCain about the so-called cover-up.

MCCAIN: We have had a massive coverup on the part of the administration.

GREGORY: I’m asking you, a coverup of what?

MCCAIN: I’m asking YOU, do you care whether four Americans died? The reasons for that? And shouldn’t people be held accountable for the fact that four americans died — including a very dear man?

GREGORY: You said there is a coverup. A coverup of what?

MCCAIN: Of the information concerning the deaths of four brave Americans.

They desperately want there to be a cover-up or some sort of scandal in this administration.  They need it so they can say, "see, we were right about him!"  But they're not right, there is no conspiracy or cover-up here.

When will this nonsense end so actual governing can happen?

Rand Paul’s Fantasy

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today and it was not without a few fireworks. 

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said several things that demonstrate his inability to perform his duty as a Senator with dignity.  He told Secretary Clinton that he would have fired her had he been President.  He also called Benghazi the worst tragedy since 9/11. 

Ok, two things.

First, the idea of a Rand Paul presidency is laughable at best.

Secondly, the worst tragedy since 9/11?  Are you kidding?  He didn’t say terrorist attack.  He said tragedy.  We are coming off the worst school shooting in a while.  Twenty elementary school kids are dead because of the shooting at Sandy Hook.  I’d say that is a much bigger tragedy than Benghazi. 

If he did mean terrorist attack, that’s not even accurate either.

September17, 2008 – Al Qaeda attacked the U.S. embassy in Yemen killing 17 people, including one American.  They used rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and two car bombs.

July9, 2008 – Armed men attacked the U.S. consulate in Istanbul killing three Turkish police.  After a five-minute gun battle, the attackers were killed.

June14, 2002 – A car packed with explosives detonated near the guard post of the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 10 and injuring 51.

All of these attacks happened under President George W. Bush who was supposedly really good at fighting terrorism.  I didn’t hear controversy over these.  I didn’t hear any senators telling Condoleezza Rice that she would have been fired if they were president.  These are not the only attacks during the previous administration but they were pretty bad. 

Senator Paul, Senator McCain, and the rest of the Republicans are acting like this is a huge deal and it simply is not.  I feel that they want there to be controversy simply for them to point at the Obama administration.  I understand that four American’s died and that is unfortunate.  It’s never good when that happens but this happened in a tough area of the world.  The United States is not well liked everywhere and this, unfortunately, is the cost of doing business in that part of the world.