The race-baiting and hyper paranoid conspiracy theories continue...
By louisehartmann
From the “three amigos” in the Republican Party. Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte continued their attacks against our UN Ambassador Susan Rice on Tuesday after the three met with her in a closed-door meeting. Republicans are accusing Rice of purposefully misleading the American people in the days after the Benghazi attack when she gave several interviews based on CIA intelligence that’s now been proven to be untrue. Senator McCain and others contend that Rice was involved in a White House conspiracy to cover up the fact that the Benghazi attacks may have been an act of terrorism.
In reality though, the “fog of war” is most likely responsible for the CIA getting intelligence wrong in the days after the attack. But just like they’ve done with the President, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Van Jones – all African Americans – Republicans are smearing the reputation of Susan Rice to scuttle her potential nomination as Secretary of State. Curiously, McCain and Graham were nowhere to be found with Colin Powell and Condi Rice lied to Congress and the UN about weapons of mass destruction in the lead up to war in Iraq.
This is all manufactured hyperventilation. Republicans want John Kerry to be Secretary of State instead of Susan Rice, so that Kerry will have to leave his Massachusetts Senate seat, and Republican oligarchs like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers can buy it back for Scott Brown. This is nothing more than machine politics by Republicans who have no problem exploiting a tragedy overseas that killed a U.S. ambassador.
Comments
#2
The GOP Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte are beating that dead horse for all they can get! If it was Jesus instead of UN Ambassador Susan Rice it would be the same because we all know he was democrat! Who else would feed the poor and heal the sick?
#3
Secretary of State ?
Like it or not , Gender figures in. Not such a good idea perhaps to try to placate a hostile bigoted bull by waving red flags in it's face.
#4
Why doesn't the CIA give their own interviews and stop making patsies of the Cabinet? What is the purpose of an Intelligence Agency which repeatedly generates seriously faulty intelligence or none at all?
#5
The current sturm und strang by Republican Senators McCain, Lindsey and Ayotte regarding Susan Rice's post 9/11/12 Sunday TV appearances is a puzzlement. In an Oct. 9th opinion piece in the Washington Post, Dana Milbank noted cuts in funding for embassy security proposed by the House Republicans. The cuts included 300 diplomatic security positions back in 2009, cuts of $128 million in embassy security in fiscal 2011 and $331 million in fiscal 2012. Could the phrase 'put your money where your mouth is' apply here?
#6
The 3 Amigos are trying to get to the bottom of the hole by digging themselves into a deeper hole.
#7
El Guapo...El Sloppo! Oink! Oink! The 3 Amigos are from the party that did 911....a real treasonous affair. Democrats should be even more aggressive in demanding that 911 be investigated with real unbiased experts, unlike the flunky useful idiots they used for the white washing 911 commission and haul Bush's A$$ (etal) in front of the investigative committee and make him/them confess to all he/they knew and was/were culpable for. THEY spent more of our tax dollars trying to impeach Clinton for his sex affair than they spent on a real unbiased investigation of the 911 treasonous affair. Because the 911 Commission was not unbiased..and some of the participants even admitted as much...admitting that their hands were tied. They ignored much of the evidence...the so-called evidence they used was handpicked and much was falsified by NIST and others. Many of the important eye-witnesses testimonies were not even heard or used.
You know, if the Democrats would spend more time yelling back at the Republicans and steadfastly holding their position on preserving social programs...not budging an inch...and insisting that the rich pay their fair share of a progressive tax system then most Americans would not be so worried about their very survival.... especially, those who are retired, unemployed, and have no way, other than begging in the streets, to survive.
Why do you suppose, aside from the claim that the Republicans want Kerry to leave the Massachusetts Senate seat, that they are making such noise right before big decisions are to be made about the so-called "Fiscal Cliff"? To divert our attention away from the fact that they intend to cut social programs? Hardly anything is being discussed, compared to cutting social programs and taxing the rich, about the wasteful Pentagon spending. Yes, I hear what some Democrats, including the President has said about social programs...but they sure don't sound too adamant and unbending. They sound rather meek.
No one truly believes that the US will pull out of the Middle East by 2014. They may pull out some military but they will still be wasting huge amounts of money on war criminal corporations like Haliburton and Xe (used to be Blackwater) who will be clinging to the US tax payer teats (and won't let go) for at least another 20 years. These are the things that THEY don't really want us to talk about...they'll use any "wag-the-dog" excuse to keep our attention focused away from the real vital issues.
I'd even venture to say that the Patraeus Sex Scandal was part of the "wag-the-dog" "smoke-and-mirrors" campaign to desensitize and deemphasize the humongous and horrendous wholesale heist of funds from social security and medicare and medicaid that are about to happen.
What else will happen just before the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" decisions to divert people's attention away from being vigilant in protecting their hard-earned social programs? Maybe Obama can do a Morsi and declare himself dictator. He's already got most of the powers of a dictator.. he can even decide what Americans he wants tortured and assassinated.
#8
This is such a non-issue; it just proves how little has changed -- on this side of the election.
We're NOT dealing with a bunch of stupid know-nothing Tea-Baggers; we're dealing with an incredibly well-managed and well-funded propaganda- attack-arm of the power-elite very busy with their intent to take over the US and the World.
We MUST recognize the true scope and magnitude of this WAR against people everywhere -- NEVER underestimating their agenda and competency. They lead both the (almost) clueless populace and naive-Left around by the nose , reacting from "crisis" to "crisis" never getting ahead of the skirmish -- (almost) never gaining our own traction.
This is NOT going to go away, until WE make it happen. We need to focus out limited resources on the levorage-points of (only) the most critical real problems.
--Hal
#9
Money makes an eloquent and convincing argument. What a smooth talker.
#10
"fog of war"...how convenient...It was a convenient phrase for Robert McNamara in describing the war atrocities that the US committed in Vietnam as well. And despite all of the analysis and expose' documentaries of the Vietnam War as well as all the other wars....it didn't keep Americans from sending more of our sons and daughters back overseas to murder and be murdered in the name of some contrived fantasy. The fantasy that still keeps Americans falling for the folly of war every time.
So now, the Democrats are using the phrase "fog of war" as an apologetic for some political faux pas that the Republicans just will not let go of. More like "hog of war". The hogs are at the trough and will continue to feed on the tax dollars from those who can least afford to pay them...and the Republicans and Democrats will nit-pick each other in trying to defeat the other..but the real sleazy hogs are the kind that feed of the blood of the millions of people they are responsible for murdering....and they use the smoke and mirrors two party system to continue their greed. And they will not stop at a war overseas...they have waged war on Americans for some 30 years...an economic war...but eventually..it will turn into something a lot more visceral and vicious...and very soon.
#11
They are heretics....
#12
I agree, Thom. They are salivating at getting another white REPUBLICAN male in the Senate, even a moderate one! Susan Rice's major flaw is that she had the audacity to suggest another reason besides "War on Terror" for what happened in Benghazi. The GOP doesn't want the "War on Terror" to dry up. Still so much money to be made from it!
#13
John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte are traitors to America. I think they would be much happier in Russia or China, where politicians can make up charges against another politician and use those false charges as a basis for killing him. Honestly, I think McCain, Graham, and Ayotte really should consider giving up their American citizenship. I mean, they don't like our constitution, they don't like our laws, they want to destroy America and turn it into a third world smoking cinder, they smile only when you mention the words "fascism," or "bribes." Come on, McCain, Graham, and Ayotte, what are you waiting for, there's two entire huge countries that are already run the way you wish America was run. Good golly, go to the post office, give up your American citizenship, and get your asses over there!
#14
The US has overthrown 14 governments since 1893..Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Honduras, South Vietnam, Iran, Guatemala, Chile, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq. And some of these even had "democratic" governments. The US has provided funds, supplies, arms, and training to the militaries of ruthless dictators. The US goals were short term goals and often resulted in long term disasters.
All of these conflicts have been very costly to the US taxpayers but very profitable to the military industrial complex. As Naomi Klein said in her book Shock Doctrine...They gain their power and wealth through taking advantage of change.. disasters and wars and in the absence of those they will create them. They are not interested in stability or peace. They can't make money or win power that way.
The hearings of the 70s into the horrible and brutal things that the CIA has done (overthrowing governments, torture, murder, drugs, medical experiments on unsuspecting US citizens, spying on US citizens) gave it a black eye and diminishing reputation.
Our wars are now fought, after the initial battles, using a large "civilian" force of mercinaries like Xe(Blackwater) and Haliburton. The CIA and other covert organizations have relied on "civilian" entitities to do their dirtywork. It's called plausible deniability. The CIA even coined that word during the Kennedy years to protect higher up administration (especially the President) from taking blame. But maybe, in the present CIA case, it should be called culpable deniability.
Tax dollars are used secretly from "black budget" funds* to pay these entities who seemingly have no apparent connection to the CIA, and other agencies. Some of these entities have very elusive sounding names...like International Center for Non-violent Conflict, Freedom House, Arlington Institute. And their primary aim is to overthrow other governments by some of the same tactics that the CIA employed...they recruit networks of spies and agitators to cause problems and instability for the ruling regime. And their goal is to overthrow from within instead of having to invade. Now what do you see happening all around the world today? So how far fetched would it really be to suppose or suspect that what happened at Benghazi was easily achieved by these groups that work for the CIA...especially after a mocking film of Mohammed was produced and made public riling up the mobs making them very susceptible to manipulation....not necessarily by some group called Al Qaida but by the groups paid by the CIA.
*read this paper on CIA Black Budget Funds and how the CIA has an extensive network of 'deep black projects' that are hidden from all but a few. That the CIA was involved in funding irregularities in HUD which caused the demise of Hamilton Securities, a mortgage finance company.
#15
Republicans have no shame. They are not at all interested in governing the nation. They only wish to play politics to gain power. They will not win this battle, the President of the United States will put them in their place. The Republicans are so weak, they have nothing else to do with their time except to play politics, especially in the United States Senate. All they want to do is say No to the President. This fight is demonstrating to the American people who shallow Senator John McCain is and how ill he has become. You are seeing a man's brain and integrity disintegrate before your eyes.
#16
Yes, but Democrat Duval Patrick is governor and he would surely name another Democrat.
#17
Of what earthly value is the CIA? If the CIA was defunded the fiscal cliff would be a fiscal hill.
#18
I have been a strong supporter of Obama from the beginning. However, I feel that there a lot of questions out there about what was going on there and why the consulate was attacked. The whole talking points problem, the firing of a general, and the resignation of Petraeus--it isn't looking good to me, and I think a lot more needs to come out before this all can be put to rest. It may be that there were secret operations going on, so it's hard to say what the public can be told. I hate to admit that I actually really liked the article that Fred Thompson wrote for Real Politics on this issue--it is complex and I agree that it is a very serious matter. I want our president to tell us more.
#19
If the Democrats compromise the social programs...even if they extend Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67 we will likely see a repeat of what happened during Obama's first term when he had some advantage but reneged on his pre-election bravado. Disappointed Democrat supporters stayed home. But if Obama holds his ground (after all did not the Republicans hold their ground..steadfastly refusing to compromise on anything) then Democrats will gain even more strength as people see Obama (and the Democrats) as true representatives of their best interests...and not just wimpy sell-outs to the wealthy ruling elite.
66% of the voters do not want their social programs to be compromised. How many of those voters will be willing to go to the polls in 2014 and vote for those Congressmen/women who compromised on their social programs? The Democrat shills would have to resort, yet again, to the scare tactic slogans of "don't let the Republicans gain advantage". If you don't want the Republicans to gain advantage....don't compromise away our social programs.
Of course, now, the Republicans are trying to compromise Obamacare...not that I am a big supporter of that farce to begin with. After all, Obamacare was originally a Republican plan and the healthScare and Drug industries got nearly everything they wanted anyway. Maybe Obama and the Democrats could junk Obamacare and make Single Payer Healthcare the law of the land. Now that would be fantastic!
#20
The CIA wasn't, by law, allowed to spy on Americans after the hearing in 1975 but they circumvented the law by using other countries to spy on Americans and the CIA and NSA would spy on other partner countries and then exchange data. UKUSA (UK-USA) was first established which morphed into ECHELON (encompassing 5 partner countries). The original intent was to spy on the Soviet Union but it grew into this spy trade information on each other's citizen's communications (phones--land and mobile, internet, radio, and any other form of communications).
But since 911...Homeland Security now has the mandate to spy on us outright and in our faces.
With all we now know about what the CIA has done over it's history....what are they now up to? I really don't want to know first hand...rather read about it.
#21
I just watched an interview of Julian Assange on the CNN Erin Burnett OutFront show. Erin Burnett was really trying to put Julian Assange in a very uncomfortable position when she kept hounding Assange with a question that could put him at odds with Assange's Ecudor Embassy host. I say GOOD FOR ASSANGE for not letting that #*$(@ get her way. I usually don't watch Erin Burnett because she sounds pretty right wing to me. She is always fawning over right wing guests and seems to attack liberals.
Assange has a new book out called..."Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet"
#22
I think Richardson from New Mexico would be a good pick; it would throw the (R)s off their game because I agree - they want to see Kerry out of the Senate and into a different job so they can control Kerry's present spot. If President Obama nominates Richardson, it's someone with a good track record and experience, and leaves Kerry where he is until the midterms, at least. The best other selection would be to nominate Colin Powell... but I doubt he really is anxious to get back in the rat-races.
#23
I heard that Deval Patrick would likely name himself to that Senate seat.
#24
Gee, I didn't know senate seats were available for sale! I thought that was illegal. In fact, I vaguely recall hearing about someone's political career being ruined by pulling such a stunt (can't remember who it was, unfortunately). What gives the Koch brothers and their ilk such an option?
Their petty, moronic attacks on black senators, activists, etc. continue to show us who they are. Republicans in the senate are so worthless, it amazes me that some of our fellow citizens keep voting for them. Every senate seat filled by a Republican is a just a black hole. (No pun intended.)
- Doro Reeves -
#25
I don't mind the republicans asking questions about the Benghazi attack, it's the hypocrisy of the right and in particularly of McCain and Graham that should be exposed, like this:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-28-2012/legends-of-the-fault
#26
When I saw "McCain and Graham were nowhere to be found with Colin Powell and Condi Rice lied to Congress and the UN", I immediately thought of this episode of the Daily Show, where in fact it was revealed that these guys did weigh in on weakly defending Condi and Colin on this very similar issue.
It is usually pretty astounding to me how The Daily Show team are relentlessly able find and recover these gems that so sweetly come back to haunt these politicians. (It must be some kind of search algorithm)
#27
An elderly European friend sent me the craziest, farthest out there, from-the-back-side-of-the-moon Replublican Conspiracy theory, in an email. I was surprised to see that it was actually posted on a website:
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/why-petraeus-was-sacrificed-as-muc...
Total and complete fiction, but a real barn-burner (C-130 gunships! October Surprise!) from the muslim manchurian candidate folder.
In the meantime, the reality of American presence in Africa, in places like the Congo, where millions have been killed, and hundreds of thousands or millions more raped or brutalized (but the coltan, tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold keep finding their way west, despite -- or because of? -- the civil disruption) is completely ignored.
Maybe that's why it shouldn't be such a shock to see the lunacy of some of these RW conspiracy theories. The actual reality "on the ground" (as they used to say in the 90's, when they still had cameras and news reporters in some of these far-away places) might actually be just about as bad.
If anyone has time (a strong stomach, and the fearlessness to maintain a little bit of compassion or empathy wouldn't hurt either), these links are worth a look:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/11/outraged-in-congo...
http://www.theeagleonline.com/opinion/story/letter-to-the-editor-raising...
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/30/genocide-in-silence/
" ...impress this upon your leaders there, in the West there. What they have done to us! After slavery, there was colonization. After colonization there was neo-colonialism instead of independence. We never had independence here—not yet. And now again, you impose Kabila on us with this democracy of complacency. So it’s neo-slavery. We continue to suffer. Go inform your leaders there: if they continue to place at the head of this country these idiots, these imbeciles, these political homosexuals, we’re going to create Al Qaeda à l’Africaine here. That’s what we’ll become.”But Salvador Muhindo’s theme was impotence, and as he thought about what he just said, he backed away from it. In the next breath he said, “We are no longer going to coöperate with you..."
#28
Thanks for the link to thedailyshow. The Republicans are such hypocrites! And this show sure shows it. As Bill Maher would say....the Republicans, and their constituents, all live in a bubble. The republicans need to just grow up. But, maybe that's the problem....they've gone way past senile already. Maybe they should start thinking it's time to be turned into Soylent Green.
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It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry, cheer or jeer, over the GOP senators' crisis manufacturing circus. Very reminiscent of Whitewater, Vince Foster, the White House travel office, etc...
The progressive media need to put one or more of these fraud-u-lators on the defensive.