Hillary Clinton as the real Wonder Woman?

Unsuccessful 2016 Presidential nominee First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was feted on her 70th birthday by the Women's Media Center.  Mrs. Clinton received the first ever Wonder Woman award because: "[S]he seems to have superhuman strength, resilience and courage". Mrs. Clinton was also toasted by the likes of feminist icons Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem on her natal anniversary.

[L] Jane Fonda [C] Gloria Steinem toasting [R] Hillary Clinton, October 26, 2017

As her campaigned waned and in the unhappy aftermath of the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton has more overtly embraced feminist hermanenutics to understand her defeat.  Mrs. Clinton has not shied away from associating herself with Wonder Woman, despite not seeing the recently released DC Comics film (2017).



While many may see it a stretch to liken Hillary Clinton to a superhero, it might still be apt to refer to her as Wonder Woman.  After all, consider her answers about Cattle Futures, evasions and lies about bungling Benghazi, Mrs. Clinton's e-mail anomalies, her confusion that 'c' is for classified not cookie, and Hillary dismissing Uranium One connections as "baloney" as well as the excuse making for What Happened (2017) after she lost a sure thing election, Mrs. Clinton well be the true Wonder Women.  Considering the source, true is an inadvised phrase-- OK, the REAL Wonder(ing) Woman.

Trey Gowdy on Self Assessments and Critical Thinking

Destroying Blackberry Alibis

As Congress investigated the Benghazi bungle, the House Select Committee subpoenaed then Obama Secretary of State and now Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for her communication devices.  

The FBI's pre-Labor Day data dump included news that the FBI never received Secretary Clinton's eight State Department Blackberries. 

The FBI also sought five other mobile devices as part of the inquiry, but Mrs. Clinton's lawyers could not provide any of these devices.  One source indicates that two of Hillary's devices were destroyed by breaking them in half or by hammer.  That is a lot of trouble for emails about wedding dresses and Yoga. 

This seemed like another instance of Clinton stonewalling and obstruction of justice.  But the salient detail about destruction of the communication devices presented an opportunity for Hillary critics to put the hammer down.

Fox News personality and strong Trump supporter Judge Jeanine Pirro, used her "Street Justice" segment to put to a lie that it was easy to break Blackberries so as not to turn them over to the FBI or the DOJ.

First Takes on The Trump Show (RNC Edition)

The first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland was the regular season premiere of The Trump Show.  This was the chance for the presumptive Republican nominee to shine as he re-introduces himself as the standard bearer of the GOP. While it was not a Trump Train wreck, per se, there were some snafus which portend poorly for the future.

A standard operating procedure for conventions is to start with a benediction from clergy.  This ought to be a pro-forma prayer which raises the profile of a religious figure while asking for divine blessings upon the proceedings and their chosen leader.

 The Trump Show picked Pastor Mark Burns, a black evangelical televangelist from South Carolina’s high country.  Burns was a last minute addition after the assassination of three Baton Rouge Police Officers. Burns claimed that he was going to talk about unity and love.  However, Pastor Burns 187 word benediction alienated many evangelicals and mainline Christians  for his idolization of Donald Trump in prayer while effectively demonizing Democrats and especially the “enemy” Hillary Clinton. It would be easy to dismiss this bumbled benediction, but it may have set the tone for the rest of the Trump Show regular season premiere otherwise known as the RNCinCLE.

Casual political observers may wonder if political conventions do any real work, because what they watch in prime time tends to be speechifying (both electrifying as well as stupifying) and people wearing funny hats and odd apparel. Prior to the age of television and jet airliners, conventions could be both decisive and raucous.  But since then, with few exceptions (like the RNC in 1976 or the DNC in 1968), now prime time coverage is effectively a soft sell earned media party commercial framed as public service programming.

Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson

As he was emerging victoriously from the primaries, Donald Trump insisted that the party add some pizzaz and show business to conventions so that the audience does not fall asleep.  So The Trump Show started prime time coverage spotlighting luminaries like Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson and Scott Baio (from the 1970s sitcom “Happy Days” and the mid 1980s sitcom “Charles in Charge.”  Later in the convention, the organizers will amp it up by featuring lingerie models extolling the virtues of “The Donald”.  Alas, this is not a tongue in cheek suggestion.

There is some party business that is still conducted in the afternoons of conventions.  For the 2016 Republican Convention, there was an effort by delegates in the minority for floor consideration for future party rules. In the 2016 cycle, Donald Trump managed to win pluralities in many early primaries with a crowded field of 16 real candidates (sorry ex Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore was a Walter Smitty candidate this year).  Several significant contests were open primaries, in which a voter need not have been a registered Republican.  This may have allowed for a significant crossover vote by Democrats to choose to GOP nominee.  Some states also bound their delegates to the winner of the “beauty contest”.  Conservatives were also concerned about ceding grassroots power to the Chairman of the RNC, who could arbitrarily change the rules at the whim of the Republican Establishment.

Efforts to unbind the delegates failed in the Rules Committee last week, so conservative grassroots delegates fought to have a floor vote. It seems that the Trump campaign thought this was an earnest effort to dethrone him so they characterized this as the last vestiges of the Dump Trump movement and wanted to kill the effort at all costs.  When the motion looked like it might succeed, the Chair abandoned the dais for 10 minutes and then the convention unexpectedly adjourned for four hours.  During this time, delegations were said to be strong armed.  The Iowa Delegation was one of the petitioners, and they were threatened that they would lose their first in the Nation’s Iowa Caucus.  The Alaska Delegation was given false and conflicting information on how to submit the signatures for their petition.  A delegate from Utah was verbally accosted by some de facto Trump thug delegates who inveighed that she should die.

These hardball partisan political tactics are the hallmark of Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort.  Manafort has a history of winning at all costs, as was demonstrated by the aggressive means of persuasion at the RNC in Kansas City in 1976 in which incumbent President Ford was seriously challenged at the convention by former California Governor Ronald Reagan).  Trump also had to distance himself from long time confidant Roger Stone after he “suggested” that Trump partisans get the delegates names of the Pennsylvania delegation and lobby them in their hotel rooms.

In the end, the party establishment ruled that the champions of the Rules Committee Minority Report were ruled to not have sufficient support. Although the insurgents submitted signatures from nine state delegations (two  more than necessary), the chair reported that three states had withdrawn their petitions so there would be no roll call vote but gave no more specifics.  Microphones on the floor for delegates to petition the chair or call for points of order were switched off. The Chair pretended to conduct a voice vote to table the measure, but despite thunderous opposition, it was killed by the Establishment on the dais.

The media, which had not been given access during the convention kerfluffle, was fed a line that this was the end of the Dump Trump movement, even though that was not the realistic goal of vote on the minority report. The Trump Show was not to be pre-empted by unscheduled convention business.

From an impartial politico perspective, the impetus to quash this roll call vote was imprudent.  The insurgents knew that they didn’t have enough votes to prevail.  Presumably, many of these delegates were Tea Party inspired and they just wanted to play it out to honor the rule of law. By crushing dissent, it calls into question the confidence of the Trump campaign.  In a broader perspective, slapping down dissent does little to build party unity or loyalty. It also shows an imperious, autocratic approach which is incompatible in a democratically elected Republic with rule of law.

A third gaffe was stepping on message.  The theme of the evening was “Making America Safe Again”, playing off the Trump mantra “Make America Great Again”. To wit, The Trump Show arranged to have Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith who was slain during the 09/11/2012 Bengazi bungle. Mrs. Smith gave emotional speech in which she blamed presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for her son’s death. Pat Smith also acknowledged a sign from the crowd which read “Hillary for Prison”.

Benghazi Mother Pat Smith at the 2016 Republican National Convention

 These points were right on message with the emphasis for improving National Security and demonizing Hillary Clinton (in more than just the benediction).  But many viewers of the Trump Show on the Fox News Channel missed out on these momentous moments, as this was the time Donald Trump chose to call into Bill O’Reilly and insist that he was not a racist. For a guy who’s widely acclaimed as a media genius, Trump either was not served well by his media hog instincts or his staff was remiss in conveying the conflict.

Then there is matter of scheduling speakers. The highlight of the first night of The Trump Show (the RNC edition) was supposed to be the candidate’s wife, ex supermodel Melania Trump, She took the stage after The Donald entered the dais with great flair to introduce her a little after 10 PM EDT.  Melania spoke for around 20 minutes, which was remarkable for a non-professional speaker for which English is a fourth language.

Melania Trump at 2016 Republican National Convention

 But after the sexy spouse left the stage, the media more or less cut away for the night for commentary, though Fox News carried some of Lt. General Michael Flynn’s comments about National Security.  Several speakers later, Republican rising star Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) spoke to a mostly empty Quicken Loans arena. It is sad to consider that both Flynn and Ernst were touted to be Trump running mates, yet both got the short end of the deal with order on the platform. If Trump or his cohort cared about building the GOP brand, the speaker’s schedule could have easily been adjusted to effectively finish prime time with Melania while bolstering the party’s position with respected representatives on center stage with a spotlight.  But the Trump Show seems to be all about Trump and the Trump Family (and Trump Wine).

Although Melania gave a good supportive spouse speech, what people will remember is the plagiarism.  Melania spoke of how she was raised, she declared:

"My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect.”

This paragraph echoes almost word for word how Michelle Obama described her family’s values during the 2008 Democrat National Convention. Miraculously, this similarity was immediately trumpeted on Twitter by writer Jarrett Hill minutes after Melania uttered the “mimeographed” maxims. This became the talk of the town.  This was only fueled by Trump campaign staff denials with aggressive counter-punching.  Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort asserted:

Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort

“There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech.  These were common words and values that she cares about her family and things like that,. I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night, she knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy...“I mean, this is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work.”

So Manafort denied the obvious and somehow claimed that the kerfluffle was Hillary Clinton’s fault? Right.  The Trump Campaign turned a tempest in a teapot into a torrent of off-message newspegs.  It all would have gone away had Manafort or aides admitted the obvious.  For a civilian speaker like Melania, there would have been little lasting effect. Instead, the incident reminds everyone of the thin skin of the Trump Campaign, which cannot countenance any criticism while in charge or admit error.  Frankly, it exposes the thin skin of the Trump organization.  Former George W. Bush White House Adviser Dan Senor quipped that :“The whole organization is an advance team and a Twitter feed...and that’s it.”

Milwaukee Cty. Sheriff David Clarke 

Rudy Giuliani at RNCinCLE

There were some positive aspects of The Trump Show (The Convention Edition). Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke (D-Milwaukee) made a strong impact to thunderous applause when he exclaimed that “Blue Lives Matter!”.  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani gave an impassioned address in which he shouted into the microphone Hillary Clinton’s foibles from Foggy Bottom.  Some commentators appreciated the authenticity of Lone Survivor Marcus Luttrell. And while Benghazi mother Pat Smith lacked professional polish, her genuine grief which she attributed to the hands of Hillary Clinton was impactful.

The Donald’s WWE entrance was cool, but it seemed a bit overblown just to introduce his wife for a supposedly softball speech.

Donald Trump's entrance on first night of 2016 GOP Convention

From afar, it seemed like opening night of The Trump Show sated those convicted for Trump, but did little to build unity of the party or advance allies who can help implement the platform. It seemed like overhyped sizzle with little steak. Most of the Make America Safe Again evening seemed just about slagging the former Secretary of State rather than asserting an actual agenda. But that may be the theme of The Trump Show through November- Trump is better than the alternative (or so we hope).

Charles Krauthammer on the Zeitgeist

The Stakes of Hillary Clinton's Benghazi Testimony

Trey Gowdy on Congressional Investigations

Scrutinizing Hillary Clinton's E-Mails and Sidney Blumenthal

In the aftermath of GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's misstatement that the Benghazi hearings is a Hillary Clinton political witch hunt, House Benghazi Committee Chairman Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC 4th) sent a fiery letter to Benghazi Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD 7th) sharing some findings about the former Secretary of State's e-mails.

Chairman Gowdy accused Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal of exposing a secret source in Libya as he lobbied the then Secretary of State for business concessions in Libya. 

These sorts of specific anomalies will be at the heart of First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's (D-AR NY) daylong testimony on October 22nd   Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY 25th) filed a privilege motion to disband the Benghazi  Select Committee, which failed on a near party line vote of 240-188.  It is likely that Democrats and Mrs. Clinton will use such streams of thought to minimize the findings of Gowdy's year and a half of investigations about the four deaths at the U.S. diplomatic outpost on September 11, 2012.

Jeb Bush: Hillary Can't Do the Heisman

Typically, the Heisman refers to an award given to the outstanding college football player in the United States since 1935.  The Heisman Memorial Award trophy is distinct as it is a  lost wax process bronze casting design by well known sculptor Frank Eliscu that depicts a skilled and powerful football player, sidestepping and straight-arming his way to a touchdown.

Sculptor Frank Eliscu and the Heisman Trophy

Recently, when former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, the undeclared Republican Presidential hopeful invoked the Heisman when surveying the 2016 political playing field. Jeb Bush was asked about all of  chaos in the Middle East which the Obama Administration's foreign policy precipitated (namely Libya, ISIS and an inchoate Arab nuclear arms race).  Governor Bush responded that:

 "I think she can’t do the Heisman on the first four years of the Obama foreign policy. She’ll try. I mean, she’s going to, look, this is very Clintonian, I think, to figure out a way to get out of a mess."

Bush invoked the image of the Heisman stiff arming opposition before striding into the end zone for a score. Certainly, the big bench of talented GOP Presidential candidates will seek to stop Hillary from side stepping opposition blocking her way to the South Lawn of the White House despite screens from the Lamestream Media.

It should be remembered, however,  that the Heisman Award is an honor given by sportwriters (journalists) through a beauty contest vote.  There is concern about the Heisman curse that designated winners often do not perform well the big game or during their careers  in pro football despite the honor and the hype of the Heisman. Certainly, parallels can be made to Hillary's proto Presidential campaign and presumed coronation at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"[S]aying all those e-mails she erased were just like her and Bill Chatting is like Richard Nixon saying those erased moments on tape were he and Pat talking."

h/t: Gary Varvel 

Hillary Clinton: "My relations with the press has been at times, shall we say, complicated..."

Hillary Clinton was playing for laughs with her  quip about new relations with the press when keynoting the Robin Toner Journalism award from Syracuse University.



However, it will be interesting to see how her ironic rhetoric meets reality.

Last summer, for a Clinton Global Intiative function, New York Times reporter Amy Chozick complained how reporters had handlers and were separated from the event which they were trying to cover. So that's how the Clinton's treat presstitutes, even friendly faces. 

When Hillary chose to address the State Department email controversy, the former Secretary of State made a brief press appearance in a controlled situation at the United Nations.  Even during the 15 minute close encounter with the UN credentialed press, Mrs. Clinton was reading off prepared answers and was shooed away by staff when questions got tough.  But that makes sense if the presser was just about damage control. Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris distilled the UN event in three words "Go to hell."

Even for the Toner Prize Celebration, Mrs. Clinton originally indicated  that she would not be taking any questions. So perhaps Hillary's self effacing script was meant to make nice with journalists and generate news pegs without saying anything substantial. If so, that is a wise use of smart power on the hustings, but say little about leadership.  It may also have been meant to counter the widespread perception the Hillary Clinton is a joyless politician.

So, assuming the Mrs. Clinton's charm offensive is not a total joke, her vow to be more transparent can quickly be tested by turning over the "Clintonemail" domain server to inquiring Congressional committees  such as Rep. Trey Gowdy's (R-SC 4th) House Select Committee on Benghazi or designated third parties.  Since Dick Morris asserts that neither Hillary nor Bill Clinton knows how to type, this search should also include emails from key aides like Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills who also had email accounts at Clintonemail while working at the State Department. 

How is that for an even more complicated relation with the press?

h/t: Daryl Cagle

Trey Gowdy on Hillary Clinton's E-Mails

    Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC 4th), the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, responded to the Hillary E-Mail controversy on CBS's Face The Nation.



 Some cynics wonder why Chairman Gowdy is now in the forefront about Hillary's sui generis e-mails while heading the State Department, as the Select Committee had knowledge of this practice going back to last summer.  Gowdy is a former federal prosecutor so he is patiently building a case and did not want Ms. Clinton to testify before he had all of the information vetted.

While a litigator in an Article III court wants all relevant information, such a broad request could be framed as a witch hunt or a fishing expedition in the political realm.  So now that there is sufficient public pressure, the former Secretary of State may feel compelled (for continued electoral viability) to "step up" and completely surrender the cyber records and not just feign compliance.

 Chairman Gowdy, who first came to office as part of the 2010 Tea Party wave elections, may distinguish himself between the bluster and the brashness of the District of Calamity by building a compelling case to discern what happened in the Benghazi bungle of September 11, 2012.

But if Gowdy fails to impressively interrogate the former chief of Foggy Bottom, conservative cynics may echo Hillary's last Congressional testimony--"What difference, at this point, does it make?"  Combined with Speaker Boehner's capitulation on DHS funding with a rider excluding Executive Amnesty (which lost 167 Republican votes on final passage), conservatives might wonder if having friends like that in high office whether they need enemies.

Former Secretary of State Clinton claimed that we should strive to figure out why the Benghazi bungle happened.  Could it be due to insecure communications from hdr22@clintonemail.com (or mau-suit@clintonemail.com)?  Or a pattern in the Obama Administration to use backdoor, off official communications, to convey inconvenient truths? It does not seem that it was just Hillary Clinton and Eric Holder, as we should not forget the pseudonym Richard Windsor (a.k.a. EPA chief Lisa Jackson ).  So much for the Obama Administration being the most transparent regime ever, as they took their anti-secrecy award in 2011 in a closed door presentation. 

Obama's Late Lament on Torture

During a long winded Friday afternoon press conference, President Barack Obama blithely blustered that "we tortured folks" when pursuing the War on Terror.  




The President's imprudent utterance undermines a Senate Intelligence Committee Report which goes out of its way not to declare harsh CIA tactics as torture.   Obama's opinion from the Oval Office could have serious legal, political, diplomatic and criminal implications.  But at least President Obama did not just Blame Bush, he threw the CIA under the bus too.  

Funny how this President is willing to imperil intelligence offers at the tip of the spear who get actionable intelligence to keep us safe, but will execute his forays against militants via drone to get a several news cycle lead headline.

This talk of torture in the War on Terror supposedly confused actor James Woods on Twitter:

Eleanor Holmes Norton on History

During a House Oversight Committee hearing chaired by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA 49th) on the Obama Administration's response to the Benghazi bungle, Democrats deigned to deflect. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Calamity's (sic) non-voting Congressional Delegate, reverted to progressive's favorite bete noir and blamed Bush.  

Delegate Norton noted that US involvement in places like Libya were exacerbated because of Bush.  To underscore Norton's negative notions, she hyperbolized that the Iraq War was the worst war of the 20th Century.  Granted, she wanted to blame Bush but the Iraq War began in March 2003, which was squarely in the 21st Century.

Perhaps Ms. Norton was aiming to crown President George W. Bush's father President George H.W. Bush, who conducted the Persian Gulf War in 1991.  Of course, that would mean that Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm was more catastrophic than World War II.

Aside from being numerically challenged, Ms. Norton's statement would have been a challenge to diagram.  But to be charitable, Delegate Norton may have made a rhetorical faux pas.  

But Hot Air contemplates what actually has been the worst war of the 21st Century. By casualties alone, it was Darfur (which may have cost 300,000 their lives).  In the Iraq War, the Cost of War project estimates that there were 189,000 casualties (including 134,000 civilians) between 2003 and 2013.

Rocky Rhodes (sic) from Benghazi Bungle

Kudos to Jonathan Karl of ABC News for aggressively questioning White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about discrepancies in their Benghazi bungling cover up.  

Of course, the connection between NSC Deputy Assistant Secretary Ben Rhodes, who composed the alternative explanation email and his brother David Rhodes, who President of CBS News, is around a year old.  However, Ben Rhodes' incriminating email was just confirmed  after a FOIA request from Judicial Watch. 

Kickstarting World War III?

Strange days are these.  Russian Federation President (and former KGB Officer) Vladimir Putin chimerically sounds like a reasonable diplomat regarding the Syrian crisis. The United States government is contemplating intervention in the Levant to support al Qaeda elements who is at war with America in Benghazi, Boston and Ground Zero on 9/11.  President Obama's White House address to the American people on Syria manages to simultaneously co-opt the Bush doctrine while criticizing his predecessor.

Would it be that far fetched to believe a Kickstart Campaign to start World War III?  Second City satirizes our Nobel Peace Prize winning President.

Hometown comics really know how to push this POTUS's buttons. All save the reset button,  Unfortunately, the gimmick Reset button which former Obama Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented to her Russian counterpart in 2009 was mistranslated and read "Overload". Symbolic or synchronicity for the second term?

Obama's Bloody Red Line in Syria

Last August, President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance for a regular White House press briefing to warn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to cross a "Red Line" and use chemical weapons in their civil war.




Nearly a week has passed since there was a chemical attack in Syria that left at least 1000 dead.  While the US has moved warships into the region and the President warned that reports of a Syrian chemical attack was "a big event of grave concern",  nothing affirmative has been done.

In fact, a White House spokesman had the temerity to joke about Red Lines in Egypt.  Alas, it is not the first time that Assad government forces have used chemical weapons.  There was an attack in December 2012, which the White House did not confirm until June, 2013 that chemical weapons were being used. 

Our choice in Syria seem to be lose/lose/lose.  If the US does nothing and Assad wins, we enhance Russia's domain as they have heavily backed Bashar al-Assad.  In addition, American inaction diminishes whatever remains of Obama's foreign policy credibility concerning crossing "Red Lines".

 Supporting the rebels not only engages US in an international conflict, it also means backing rebels who are Al Qaeda, who are in reality our enemy in the War on Terrorism, which we have conveniently cancelled but jihadist Islamist still consider US the Great Satan. Even though Senators John McCain ( R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have embraced our newest best buddies in the Syrian Rebels as videotaped surfaced of their leadership being literal cannibals on the battlefield.

If the US were able to conduct a surgical strike to take out or secure chemical weapons storage sites, it brings up the inconvenient truth about from where these chemical weapons stockpiles came.  During the 2008 Presidential campaign, candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) reveled in criticizing President George W. Bush for getting engaged in a dumb war with Iraq which did not threaten us or involve terrorists which attacked us.  As Democrats harped on the "Bush lied (about WMD) and people died" mantra, candidate Obama opined that Iraq was not giving chemical weapons to terrorists.  Oh, just storing it in the Bakkah Valley and allowing state terrorists to gas their own people.

Between Benghazi, Wikileaks and the NSA spying, the penchant for perfidy for the Obama foreign policy has eroded credibility at Foggy Bottom thereby leaving it open to sensational charges. RT reports the Russian Foreign Ministry line that the "alleged chemical attack near Damascus might have been a planned provocation in advance.  The theory is that the rebels might have used the weapons themselves and made it look like Assad forces committed the atrocity so that western forces would be prompted to help the rebels. Aaron Klein noted that there were reports of the lasted alleged Syrian chemical attack the day before it happened. The same sort of stunt was alleged to have been planned for last year .

LBJ Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara explaining Gulf of
Tonkin  incidents, August 4, 1964

It is tempting to dismiss the report because of the news source RT.  But a false flag operation is not unprecedented.  Former LBJ Defense Secretary Robert McNamera admitted later in life  that the "attacks" which prompted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution never happened, but which escalated the US military involvement in Vietnam.  And the way that this Obama Administration conducted itself with the Benghazi bungle lends more credence to a conspiratorial tact.




American engagement in the Middle East is usually messy but it need not have been lose/lose/lose.  Had the Obama Administration shown leadership a couple of years ago in Syria, the rebels might not have been as badly infected with Al Qaeda influence. But Obama was proud of the Duty to Protect and leading from behind in Libya  and another foreign engagement might have looked bad going into his re-election campaign. It was great to talk tough during the campaign against Chemical Weapons, but it was risky business to do something provocative before the election or right after.  Thus, Obama's words were but wind and Assad assessed that Obama was a paper tiger.

So it seems whether or not the Obama Administration acts in Syria, it will be a bloody decision.

h/t: Michael Ramirez

Late Night POTUS Rimshots

What sort of leader goes on a late night talk show to make his first comments on a supposed terror threat which closed down a score of US diplomatic missions in the Middle East and deny domestic spying programs?

The same one who went on televised gab-feast know as ABC's "The View" to further the lie that an obscure American YouTube video sparked a terror attack in Benghazi, Libya on September 11th 2012 which killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens.  Afterwards, this Chief Executive spoke at the the United Nations and insisted that: "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."

While live blogging on President Obama's nearly hour long press conference which seemed to have been called to quell murmurs in the media that the President was not taking things seriously by going to Jay Leno for making big news, Hugh Hewitt tweeted:  "Obama is a collection of cliches surrounded by an Oval Office."  It is arguable that based upon his persistent partisan pugnaciousness and predilection towards folly that Mr. Obama is better characterized as a pack of punchlines.

It's a Mad world.  Alas these jokes are not confined to Late Night rim shots or adolescent inspired humor magazines but are entrenched in the center of power in the District of Calamity (sic) for the next 3 1/2 years (at least). 

h/t: Kevin Siers

It's Raining--Obama Calls in the Marines

Today President Obama held a joint news conference with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.  It began to drizzle during this Rose Garden presser and POTUS did not hesitate to call in the Marines to hold up umbrellas.

Strangely, one of Mr. Obama's answers touched on the dangers on the outpost in Benghazi, Libya,  where the State Department repeatedly denied additional security and refused to send in the Marines (or special forces) when terrorists killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. 

But of course Mr. Obama alluded to others to blame for all mistakes.  President Obama urged called on Congress to fully fund Embassy Security.  But for the 9/11/2012 Benghazi attack, it was the White House's call to not send in forces to rescue Americans in distress.  It's better to have Marines look good holding an umbrella as well as the bag for foreign failures.

Post Scriptus--  It seems that ordering Marines to carry umbrellas while in uniform is a violation of  Marine Corps regulations.  But what do rules matter in the Obama Administration?

Impeach-Mint: A New Flavor for a Hot Summer in the District of Calamity

The summer of 1973 was a hot time in the District of Calamity when it seemed like every day news broke about scandals connected to the White House, which eventually lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

 In the span of one week, three emerging scandals have embroiled the Obama Administration. The long festering Benghazi Bungle became critical, with the straight-forward testimony of three career diplomat whistle blowers before Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa's  (R-CA 49th)  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  The fact that Libyian Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks was a Hillary Clinton for President supporter and twice voted for President Obama  added fuel to the fire, as the Congressional probe could not be deftly dismissed as a partisan witch hunt.

Libyan Chief  of Mission Gregory Hicks testifying before Congress

On Friday at an American Bar Association meeting,  the head of the IRS Exempt Organization Division Lois Lerner apologized for targeting conservative groups for special tax-exempt scrutiny.  At first this was attributed to a couple of low level IRS agents in Cincinnati and was part of a Friday DC data dump.  But it became clear that such intimidation occurred all over the country for several years.  Then it came out that right wing groups teaching about the Constitution received the "special" treatment.  This was odd since the educational element was sine qua non for a 501(c)(4) organization.   The drip-drip continued when it was exposed that conservative Jewish groups were interrogated about their feelings about the State of Israel.

If that was not bad enough, the Associated Press reported that , Eric Holder's Department of Justice surreptitiously surveilled a score of journalist's phone records for two months supposedly to plug a leak about a planned terrorist attack.  The Obama Administration scrutinized reporters' home, cell and office phones for two months, without informing the Associated Press.   As the Associated Press was cooperative once it learned of the DOJ investigation which calls into question whether such a broad and secret warrant was necessar. .

With the daily drip of scandal, it seems like it will be a hot summer in the city.  It might be time for Ben and Jerry to craft a culinary creation to make this summer of scandal more palatable with Impeach-Mint.

It is dubious if this fanciful flavor would ever get off the drawing board, as progressives would waffle at profiting from the indiscretions of an ideology whom they idealized as a light worker of hope and change.

h/t:  Mad Magazine