And then what? Career civil servant usually don't lawyer up and lay their careers on the line unless they have something important to say. Without knowing anything about the three whistleblowers who will testify at the Benghazi hearing Wednesday one could probably guess that they are gray or balding, have college age or married children, and own comfortable homes in Maryland or northern Virginia. The are probably at the pinnacle of their long careers and for reasons known only to themselves appear ready to lay it all on the line.
The Benghazi attack is the most unreported story in modern history. Yes, the media dutifully reported that the ambassador and three other Americans were killed, it covered the return of the bodies in flag draped coffins and the standard "make no mistake yadda, yadda, yadda" presidential remarks but the only known victims of the attack are all dead. What happened to the rest of the consulate staff? Are we to believe this was a 2 man operation with Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith answering phones, patrolling the perimeter, doing the laundry and mowing the grass? Yet, strangely 8 months after the fact the only known actors are all dead.
Putting aside Steven Hayes' excellent Weekly Standard article, which deals with the cover up there is already considerable reportage of incompetence and probable malfeasance during the attack. FoxNews, followed by CBS with a smattering of reports from other news outlets have painted a very disturbing picture of the Commander-in-Chief fumbling his 3 AM call in early afternoon. The Counterterrorism Security Group was never convened.
"The CSG is the one group that's supposed to know what resources every agency has. They know of multiple options and have the ability to coordinate counterterrorism assets across all the agencies," a high-ranking government official told CBS News. "They were not allowed to do their job. They were not called upon."
Never called upon! It's reported that Hillary wanted to send in the FBI but clearly no one lifted a finger to help, save to dispatch an unarmed drone to provide a live video link. Suppose it is revealed in testimony that the sole cause of the failure to respond was an unwillingness to issue the presidential command? That senior administrations aides and the president watched but did nothing?
How will Congress respond? It's all but a sure thing that someone would introduce a bill to impeach the president but would the Speaker let the bill go forward to a full House vote. John Boehner could give Barack Obama lessons on leading from behind. It's times like this I miss mean as a snake Newt Gingrich. Gingrich would push the impeachment and drop it in Harry Reid's lap while telling the Senate "either you guy throw him out or the men and women who take your place will".
It's very difficult to predict how anyone will react to whatever outcome the hearings produce. Gallup and Rasmussen will know real quickly the public mood but there has never in the entire history of the nation, been a president accused of cowardice or treason but if the President went to bed during the attack get used to hearing them frequently. If that is true, the name Obama will take on a meaning of its own such as Chamberlain or Quisling. On thing I am sure of. I will watch the hearings from gavel to gavel.
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How will this play out? Part of me believes this will get stonewalled and delayed and the administration will run out the clock.
But I believe there is a silent minority within the majority who slowly (too slowly to affect elections but late might be better than never) recognize that this guy is the biggest fraud in history. But they cannot publicly admit their repeated error. Nor can MSM employees admit that their employers have sold out their profession. And Dems cannot admit that the party of John Glenn and Scoop Jackson and William Proxmire has been hijacked by anti-American thugs.
Benghazi might provide a guilt-free means of removing the tumor. Who knew that this smart, articulate (oh and Biden says he is clean)and compassionate leader might wilt in the face of adversity. Who could have known?
Then again, Benghazi might be worse than we have suspected. Glenn Beck has accused the administration of running guns to Syrian rebels through Libya. That might sound far fetched but Rand Paul asked Hillary a direct question about gun running at Benghazi. He must have had a good reason to do so.
And it might surface that this administration that is so fearful of Islam ever having its feelings hurt, might just care more about terrorists than it cares about Americans. An intervention could have caused resentment in the Moslem world. What's four more dead Americans?
And Benghazi might just conclude on a more tawdry note. Could be that the president put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door for personal reasons. The White House is less than forthcoming about the president's activity on the night in question. But we know a cover-up when we see one. We don't know what he was doing but I doubt if the president was helping the girls with their homework.
Then again, to paraphrase Mr. Carney, "Benghazi was a long time ago." The stonewall defense might just work once more.
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