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| "Benghazi!" "Oooh, say it again!" "Benghazi!" "Oooh, say it again!""Benghazi!""Oooh..." |
You ever tune in to watch your favorite weekly TV show only to find that it's a re-run? Or worse yet, you're coasting along with your significant other only to somehow wind up repeating the same argument that you've had for years? Magnify that moment of realization by about a thousand and that just might put you in the ballpark of where the American people (myself included) are at when we hear that the Republicans want to rehash Benghazi-gate:
Per USA Today:
WASHINGTON – House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced the full roster of the GOP lawmakers who will serve on a new committee to investigate the 2012 terrorist attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, but it remains unclear whether Democrats will participate or boycott the investigation.
Aides for Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., are in talks over how the panel will operate. The negotiations have so far failed to appease Democrats who want shared authority to issue subpoenas, interview witnesses and determine what can be released to the public.
Republicans had previously rebuffed Democratic demands for equal representation on the 12-member panel, which has a 7-5 ratio in the GOP's favor.
...
"This investigation is about getting answers for the families of the victims and for the American people," Boehner said, "These members have each demonstrated a commitment to this goal, and I have confidence that they will lead a serious, fact-based inquiry."
Dude, please. This is not about getting answers for families. We all know what this is about:
Per WaPo:
Today's Daily Digit is brought to you by the fine folks up on Capitol Hill, who have mentioned the word "Benghazi" 72 times during floor speeches in the past eight days, according to data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation.
Ninety-eight percent of the mentions since January have come from Republicans.
Meanwhile, the word formerly known as the hottest buzzword of 2014 has gone incognito. Earlier in the year, Republicans stubbornly insisted that if they said Obamacare three (million) times, their 50+ senate seats would appear. However, "Obamacare" has been mentioned a paltry 19 times in floor speeches in those eight days.
Republicans seem to have found a new word to hang their 2014 hopes on.
In other words, politics as usual. If Republicans were truly trying to seek justice for the victims of the 4 Americans who were killed in Benghazi 2 years ago, they woud be concentrating their energy on the radicals who actually did the killing -- not on other Americans. But they don't want to go after the killers. They'd rather go after the Obama Administration. Why? Because this is a an election year, don't you know. And nothing seemed to move the Republican base more during the 2012 campaign than Benghazi.
This is, however, a short sighted strategy. To the extent that any midterm seats are decided exclusively by the right-wing base (aka the Tea Party), then by all means "Benghazi" away until your heart is content. But to the extent that winning any midterm seats will require more than just the right-wing base (aka Democrats, Independents and moderate-Republicans) then this conversation comes off as an annoying re-run that actually hurts -- not helps -- the Republican chances of winning more seats in the House and Senate.
So by all means, Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi.