January 23, 2013
By: Linda Case Gibbons
But you’d be plumb out of luck.
If you thought, at long last, Secretary Clinton would tell us how and where and at whose hands Ambassador Chris Stevens died, why our guys over in Benghazi fought for over seven hours without the cavalry coming to their aid, or why the secretary and the administration blamed a movie for the attack although they knew differently, you’d be out of luck.
If you thought you would be told, after four months, what Secretary Clinton and President Obama were doing during the eleven hours of the assault on our consulate, and what aid Clinton specifically requested, you still could have enjoyed your popcorn, but you wouldn’t be any wiser about the Obama-Hillary Debacle called Benghazi.
What you would have found out was it was all about Hillary.
How Hillary felt, how Hillary mourned, how compassionate Hillary was, how difficult the job is, how hard she worked, how many miles she traveled during these four years, how many countries she visited and how many, many embassies had problems to be tended to.
But if you wanted to learn any details, you were out of luck.
"For me,” Clinton told the committee, "this is not just a matter of policy…it’s personal. I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews. I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters.”
But that’s not why the Congressional Committee had been convened.
Business is business and the hearings were about the business of Benghazi and the CEO in charge: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
But when the hearings ended, there was no one to take the blame.
Although Secretary Clinton said she "takes responsibility,” and "the buck stops” with her, she ignores the fact that she already missed the opportunity to fulfill her desire to "leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger and more secure.”
Throughout her testimony she was accomplished at lawyer-double-speak and a skillful use of government acronyms, familiarly tossed at the assembled Congressmen, but the overall general message was, "It wasn’t my fault.”
It was Congress’ fault because of a lack of funding for the State Department to do the job in Benghazi. It was complex, it was complicated. But despite being the third person in line for the presidency, Secretary Clinton was unable and unwilling to answer any questions that shed any light on her handling of Benghazi.
Clinton’s prepared remarks were designed for one thing and one thing only: to turn attention away from the particulars of Benghazi and the administrative cover-up that had occurred and focus on clean-up and the future -- to what review boards had said, what future steps she thought should be taken, anything but details about Benghazi.
Her remarks turned away from Benghazi to focus on threats aimed at U.S. embassies at large across the world every day, in Cairo, Tunis, Khartoum, to hostages taken in Tehran, to the bombing in Beirut, and finally to the most recent events in Algeria and Mali, wherein she paused to send her condolences to the families of the hostages. But in the end, her remarks served to reduce Benghazi to "just another attack.”
She patiently explained about the large protests "outside many other posts where thousands of our diplomats serve,” emphasizing that there have been 19 Accountability Review Boards investigating attacks on American diplomats in the past and their facilities with attendant tragedies, proving in essence, that Benghazi was "just another attack.”
Central to her testimony about events and their handling was the overwhelming volume of cables which flow into the State Department addressed to the secretary, a million a year, proving in essence that these attacks, like Benghazi, happen a lot and there is no way to handle the voluminous work.
But she never answered why a staff who was hired to do a prestigious job at the State Department were unable to sort through the cables and recognize that the Benghazi cables were a high priority.
She never answered why she and her staff were not up for the job in which handling "Benghazis” was exactly what the job was about.
She cried, she yelled, she pounded the table and bullied, but she never answered any questions that clarified anything.
When asked real questions by Republicans such as Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Sen. John McCain (R-Az) and by Sen. Rand Paul, the other side of the aisle was outraged that the secretary was not having a "nice” last appearance before Congress before she vacates her post.
And afterwards the mainstream media applauded the secretary’s strength and courage in withstanding the hearings which were deemed an unwarranted attack on Clinton. Tough Republican questions about Benghazi were described as "sour grapes.”
The hearings made it clear. Secretary Clinton chose to maintain a low profile these past months, hoping Americans would forget Benghazi and now she’s looking toward the door. In her mind, Benghazi is over.
And when Democratic Congressmen took the floor, you may have thought – and you wouldn’t be wrong – that you were at an "Elect Hillary in 2016” campaign meeting.
She and her party members wanted to look forward and for good reason. Who would want to concentrate on what they have done wrong?
They praised her exemplary service again and again in an endless love fest. They congratulated her on her 2016 assumed presidential run.
No one mentioned her wrong-minded support for the Arab Spring, the Russian "Reset Button” incident where her staff couldn’t find the right Russian word, her demands to Israel to cease building settlements in Gaza "forever,” or her two long-distance trips to Mayanmar when far more pressing issues were awaiting her at home.
She warmly greeted newly elected New York Rep. Grace Meng who then proceeded to gush her thanks to Clinton for her exemplary service to the country and to women. Ditto for Rep. Joseph Kennedy, III. It was old home week.
Only problem was this was not a campaign rally. This was a long-awaited date with the American people to tell them what happened in Benghazi.
She and her party members were annoyed when asked for facts.
What difference does it make why the uprising occurred, Clinton asked, "Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening,” Clinton said.
Did she realize that was not what these hearings were for? Did she realize she misrepresented, Obama misrepresented and Ambassador Rice misrepresented what happened in Benghazi on September 11 and that was why the hearings were convened? It makes a difference about the details regarding Benghazi because Americans want answers.
"Now, taking responsibility meant moving quickly in those first uncertain hours and days to respond to the immediate crisis,” Clinton said, but did she realize she had already missed that opportunity?
It’s a dangerous world when a question cannot be asked from the person in charge when tragedies occur. But in the end no facts were disclosed about Benghazi, no one was to blame and no one was sorry. But that’s okay. We’ve seen it before.
They’re not sorry for what they did. They’re sorry they got caught.
Lance Armstrong was angrily "repentant” to Oprah, but rationalized his doping was "just leveling the field.”
Dave Letterman was arrogantly "repentant” to Oprah, but then admitted he never meant the apology he made to Gov. Sarah Palin and then took a back-handed swipe at Jay Leno. First he praised Leno as the "funniest guy I’ve ever known,” but had to add, that Leno is "the most insecure person I have ever known,” highlighting Letterman’s age-old resentment that Leno got the Tonight Show and Letterman did not.
The good news is that there is justice. A library in Sydney, Australia posted a sign "that all Lance Armstrong books will soon be moved to the fiction section,” and that after hearing Secretary of State Clinton’s testimony on Benghazi, Obama’s Inaugural Speech doesn’t sound so bad after all.
Hold the line, America.