Will Democrats Walk Away From Benghazi!!! Charade? (Updated)

Following the remarks by Speaker- in- waiting Rep. Kevin "I'm Not A Pod Person!" McCarthy (R-Dimwit) admitting what anyone with a pulse already knew, that the Benghazi!!! House committee was a political witch- hunt to bring down Hillary Clinton, Democrats are signaling they may no longer take part in Rep. Trey "Deuce" Gowdy's (R-Conehead) costly, long- running charade.  Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) indicated as much on MSNBC:

“[T]he committee is a joke and I think Democrats ought to call it what it is and say we`re not going to participate in this anymore.

“And that’s my initial reaction – I`ll listen to my leadership on this and perhaps they will again have greater wisdom – but it just has been an embarrassment.”

It’s no idle threat. In light of Kevin McCarthy, the likely next Speaker of the House, admitting what Democrats have long feared, there’s a very real possibility that Dems on the panel may decide to simply walk away from a process that’s been corrupted. If the committee is now nothing more than a taxpayer-funded election tool, some Democrats no longer see the point in participating in a farce.

Indeed, Smith isn’t the only one with these concerns. Yesterday, other Democratic committee members, including Reps. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), called on the Benghazi panel to disband, though they have not yet indicated whether they’re prepared to resign in protest.  (our emphasis)

Democrats should find a way to avoid being at the committee's hearings political theater, except for the ranking member (Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who can more than hold his own against the entire Republican dimbulb contingent all barking in unison), the exception being when Hillary Clinton is scheduled to testify on October 22.  At that point, Democrats should have all guns blazing at the thugs and nihilists trying to make political points (at taxpayer expense) over the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans who were killed in the line of duty.

UPDATE:  Apparently, Dems aren't boycotting -- yet.  Here's Rep. Cummings' statement:

“As Rep. McCarthy’s statement made crystal clear this week, Republicans created the Benghazi Select Committee from the very beginning to wage a taxpayer-funded political campaign against Hillary Clinton’s bid for president.  Obviously, this is an unethical abuse of millions of taxpayer dollars and a crass assault on the memories of the four Americans who died, and I believe it should be halted immediately.  However, I am not naïve in thinking Republicans will cease their political attacks on Secretary Clinton, which is why I will be in that room defending the truth.”

(Photo:  Benghazi!!! House committee coneheaded inquisitor Rep. Trey "Deuce" Gowdy - photo not retouched.)

Republican Leader Admits Benghazi!!! Hearings A Political Attack To Weaken Hillary Clinton

Speaker- in- waiting Rep. Kevin "I'm Not A Pod Person!" McCarthy (R-CA) is already showing signs that he may be a source of unintended honesty.  Here's dimbulb McCarthy yesterday blurting out the real reason for the endless Benghazi!!! "investigations:"

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable right? But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping," McCarthy said. "Why? Cause she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought and made that happen.”

The response from Hillary Clinton's press secretary:

Speaker-in-waiting confesses what the true goal of taxpayer-funded Benghazi Commitee is. https://t.co/62NgqyGpBE

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) September 30, 2015

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the ranking member of the Benghazi!!! committee, had this to say:

“This stunning concession from Rep. McCarthy reveals the truth that Republicans never dared admit in public:  the core Republican goal in establishing the Benghazi Committee was always to damage Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and never to conduct an even-handed search for the facts.  It is shameful that Republicans have used this tragedy and the deaths of our fellow Americans for political gain.  Republicans have blatantly abused their authority in Congress by spending more than $4.5 million in taxpayer funds to pay for a political campaign against Hillary Clinton.”

Only fools (and the Clinton- hating Beltway media) would view the "investigation" as a straight- forward seeking of the truth.  Now that McCarthy has publicly acknowledged what every sentient person knows already, it's going to be even harder to treat this as anything but the charade it is.  But count on the media to continue to look for ways to abet the Republican nihilists.

Why We Love Elizabeth Warren - Part Infinity

Here's an excerpt from Sen. Elizabeth Warren's blog on the Republicans' Benghazi! kangaroo court:

As a Senator, I take oversight seriously because it is powerfully important. But Trey Gowdy gives oversight a bad name. The House GOP is on a waste-of-time-and-resources witch hunt and fundraising sideshow, shamefully grasping for any straw to make President Obama, former Secretary Clinton, or Secretary Kerry look bad. This stunt does a disservice to those who serve our country abroad, and it distracts us from issues we should be taking up on behalf of the American people. 

With millions of people still out of work and millions more working full time yet still living below the poverty line, with students drowning in debt, with roads and bridges crumbling, is this really what the House Republicans are choosing to spend their time on? Even for guys who have so few solutions to offer that they have voted 54 times to repeal Obamacare, this is a new low.   

House Republicans are doing whatever they can to distract the American people from what's really going on in Washington – a rigged system that works great for those who have armies of lobbyists and lawyers but that leaves everyone else behind. A system in which Republicans protect tax breaks for billionaires while they block increases in the minimum wage for millions of people who work full time and live in poverty. A system in which Republicans give away billions of dollars in subsidies to Big Oil while making billions in profits off of our kids' student loans. 

It's wrong, and it's shameful.

We two Marylanders would gladly commit voter fraud to vote for this person.

Sunday Cartoon Trifecta - "Scandal!" Edition

(Steve Breen, Arizona Republic, via gocomics.com)

(Jim Morin, Miami Herald, via gocomics.com)

(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Kaplan Daily, via gocomics.com)

Dissing Issa

What President Obama has rightfully called a "sideshow" -- the Benghazi! BENGHAZI!! witch hunt -- seems to be slowly circling the drain.  As evidence of its nothingburger status, the two respected co-chairmen of the Benghazi accountability review committee, Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, have asked Rethug circus barker Rep. Darrell "No Suh" Issa for a public hearing at which they can testify on the Benghazi matter.  No Suh just wants them to testify in a closed hearing, not surprisingly, since he's using the hearings as a political stunt to bring the current President and the (hopefully) next President, Hillary Clinton, down.  A copy of the Pickering/Mullen letter to the circus barker was obtained by CNN, and it's clear that they're wise to his attempt to hide their testimony and play political games.

When you don't want your "show" to be seen in public, maybe it's time to close it.

1,273 Days Until The 2016 Elections...

...and Rethugs and their right-wing front groups are already in a feeding frenzy over, what else, Benghazi! BENGHAZI!!, and more specifically their presumed 2016 Presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.  The Rethuglican National Committee, following Karl "Turdblossom" Rove's ugly ad targeting Secretary Clinton, has a new smear job out that should reveal exactly what Benghazi! BENGHAZI!! is all about. It's certainly not about diplomatic security, because the Rethuglicans voted against increased funding to make our embassies and consulates more secure against attack.  It's not about implementing the 29 recommendations of the Pickering/Mullen report that will make our facilities more secure in the future.

It's about the 2016 elections, pure and simple.  Maybe the Beltway media will wise up at some point, but that would be almost too much to ask for.

Sunday BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! Funnies

(click to enlarge)

We smell some real 2016 Hillary-fear, too.

(top, Rob Rogers, bottom, Stuart Carlson, both via GoComics.com)

We Interrupt This Blog For -- BENGHAZI !!

It's been said enough, but worth saying again, this time by CNN's David Rothkopf:

"Rep. Darrell Issa must be ruing his bad luck. The hearing he carefully orchestrated to pick at the scab of Benghazi was stepped on by the verdict in the Jodi Arias murder trial and by the story of three women held captive and brutalized for a decade in Cleveland. He was out-sensationalized and out-tawdried this week despite his own best efforts and those of his committee colleagues and staff members. [...] Nothing spoken of in the hearing suggested a cover-up by a Cabinet secretary, who instantly took personal responsibility for the attacks and swiftly appointed an independent commission led by two of the most distinguished, nonpartisan career civil servants in recent American history to investigate them. To say otherwise is more than a reach. It's an effort by the Republican Party to damage the person most likely to be the next Democratic presidential candidate."   (our emphasis)

An effort that is going to fail because, to borrow Gertrude Stein's formulation, "There is no there there."

BENGHAZI!! BENGHAZI!! Cartoons of the Day

(click to enlarge)

If you don't think it's about Hillary 2016, we have a great bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

(top,  Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; bottom, Tom Toles, Washington Post,  via GoComics.com)

It's BENGHAZI!! BENGHAZI!! BENGHAZI!! Time

The worst catastrophe since 9-11, Oklahoma City bombing, Pearl Harbor  whenever, i.e. BENGHAZI!, is back in the "news," thanks to Rethuglicans who want to investigate failed policies undermine likely Dem nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.  Hearings are underway today in the House, led by Rep. Darrell "No Suh" Issa, who will yell "I'm a Christian" when the right wing teahadists come after him as an A-rab jihadist.

Sadly for Rethug credibility (snicker hee hee), Rethug Sen. and devotee of the Aqua Buddha "Ayn" Rand Paul gave up the game when he declared about former Secretary Clinton that:

“I think her dereliction of duty and her lack of leadership should preclude her from holding any office.”

Hmmm.  Since she's not currently holding any office...ahh, 2016.  It's all about 2016 and her possible candidacy for the President.  Got it.

BONUS:  Here's the incomparable Stephen Colbert on the manufactured "scandal."