The GOP's job yesterday was straightforward: avoid the appearance of the McCarthyite witch hunt most folks believe it is.
The first hour they kind of tried, I thought though the cheap theatrics of Congresswoman Brooks-stacking up reams of emails in piles on the desk-kind of hinted that they don't have much.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/10/congresswoman-brooks-takes-obsession.html
Then you had Congresswoman Martha Roby claiming to have an email that shows Hillary didn't even know we were still in Benghazi. Ms. Roby was later upset that Hillary laughed at her Columbo sounding questions-Were you alone? All night?
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/gop_congresswoman_questioning_clinton_asks_if_she_was_home_alone_all_night_video
But I thought that earlier question was also hilarious. This was antoehr problem with the GOP questions-they didn't really hang together.
And soon after this, the GOP gave up any semblance of being nonpartisan. Trey Gowdy grilled her over Sidney Blumenthal. It isn't clear what the accusation was. The GOPers seemed to think it is fantastical that she received emails from Blumenthal but not Chris Stevens.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/liveblog/live-updates-hillary-clinton-testifies-before-benghazi-committee/#273b521f-77ed-4834-9b59-5090c86d5010
It was once they delved into their Blumenthal obsession it ended any pretense that this was anything but naked partisanship. He has nothing to do with Benghazi and everything to do with trying to damage HRC politically.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/benghazi-hearing-blumenthal-obsession
The first hour they kind of tried, I thought though the cheap theatrics of Congresswoman Brooks-stacking up reams of emails in piles on the desk-kind of hinted that they don't have much.
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/10/congresswoman-brooks-takes-obsession.html
Then you had Congresswoman Martha Roby claiming to have an email that shows Hillary didn't even know we were still in Benghazi. Ms. Roby was later upset that Hillary laughed at her Columbo sounding questions-Were you alone? All night?
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/gop_congresswoman_questioning_clinton_asks_if_she_was_home_alone_all_night_video
But I thought that earlier question was also hilarious. This was antoehr problem with the GOP questions-they didn't really hang together.
And soon after this, the GOP gave up any semblance of being nonpartisan. Trey Gowdy grilled her over Sidney Blumenthal. It isn't clear what the accusation was. The GOPers seemed to think it is fantastical that she received emails from Blumenthal but not Chris Stevens.
Which points to another problem they had. These GOP Committee members have no idea what the State Department even does and how it works. Which is not surprising as the GOP as a party has contempt for the State Department anyway. Remember Rumsfeld's contempt for it during the W years.
In their mind diplomacy is a waste of time. It's all about muscle flexing out of the Defense Dept.
They apparently never heard of the simple concept called chain of command. Then they wouldn't find it shocking that Hillary never spoke with Mr. Stevens in an email.
"Republicans on the Benghazi Committee have repeatedly questioned why Sidney Blumenthal, a personal friend of former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, had her private e-mail address while Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens did not. While one can certainly question Clinton’s judgment in paying attention to Blumenthal’s musings, there is a simple reason that an ambassador would not have the secretary of state’s private e-mail address."
It’s called the chain of command.
"With nearly 200 ambassadors in the field, it would invite chaos if each could directly write the secretary of state. Instead, ambassadors and other diplomats send reporting cables, which in turn are examined and processed by various levels of the State Department. If it’s an urgent matter, presumably it would come to the secretary’s attention. But many issues — by necessity in a 70,000-person organization — would be handled far below the secretary’s level."
As former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted:
"As ambassador in Russia, I enjoyed multiple ways to communicate with Secretary Clinton. Email was never one of them."
It’s called the chain of command.
"With nearly 200 ambassadors in the field, it would invite chaos if each could directly write the secretary of state. Instead, ambassadors and other diplomats send reporting cables, which in turn are examined and processed by various levels of the State Department. If it’s an urgent matter, presumably it would come to the secretary’s attention. But many issues — by necessity in a 70,000-person organization — would be handled far below the secretary’s level."
As former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted:
"As ambassador in Russia, I enjoyed multiple ways to communicate with Secretary Clinton. Email was never one of them."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics-live/liveblog/live-updates-hillary-clinton-testifies-before-benghazi-committee/#273b521f-77ed-4834-9b59-5090c86d5010
It was once they delved into their Blumenthal obsession it ended any pretense that this was anything but naked partisanship. He has nothing to do with Benghazi and everything to do with trying to damage HRC politically.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/benghazi-hearing-blumenthal-obsession
Mike, check out 1st link in I gave you in your last post: the bubble link. I'll copy here the 1st paragraph:
ReplyDelete"You'll be forgiven for not knowing who Sidney Blumenthal is. If you don't, and you tuned in midway through Hillary Clinton's testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, you might have concluded that Blumenthal is either a high-ranking al Qaeda leader, a Soviet spy, or some combination of Bernie Madoff and Ted Bundy. In any case, you might have concluded that he's a world-historical figure whose actions must be understood if America is to move forward into the future."
Yes, thanks. It's a good link.
ReplyDelete