America in the Age of Obama
Update:
Redacted information from the legislative intelligence session during which the members were shown video footage of the Benghazi consulate assault led to “heated exchanges” between the lawmakers and intelligence officials.
“The film is a composite from a number of sources. It is real-time, it does begin from when the incident, before the incident started, and it goes through the incident and the exodus,” Feinstein told reporters.
It appears that the lawmakers could not understand how the intelligence officials concluded that “the Mohammed video” caused the attack. “Top intelligence officials struggled to explain to lawmakers Thursday why their initial talking points after the Libya attack minimized the role of militant groups, putting pressure on former CIA Director David Petraeus to set the record straight in another round of closed-door hearings Friday.”
When pressed to identify who came up with the infamous “Mohammed video” talking points, neither Clapper nor Morell could recall the person responsible.
Lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees heard testimony Thursday in private meetings with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Acting CIA Director Mike Morell. But Fox News was told there were heated exchanges on the House side, particularly over the talking points that administration officials relied on in the days after the Sept. 11 strike.
Fox News was told that neither Clapper nor Morell knew for sure who finalized that information. And they could not explain why they minimized the role of a regional Al Qaeda branch as well as the militant Ansar al-Sharia despite evidence of their involvement.
Their inability to recollect the provenance of talking points will doubtless mean the question will be put to David Petraeus when he comes before the committee. “These lingering questions are sure to confront Petraeus when he visits Capitol Hill Friday morning to testify on Libya.”
Meanwhile, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be attending meetings in Australia, including a wine-tasting tour of the Penfolds vineyards in South Australia. A local paper asks, “Where Will Hillary Party In Australia”
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is scheduled to be in Burma to discuss matters of vital strategic importance in that region.
Further Update:
Additional reactions from lawmakers are now filtering out into the public. CNN reports that ‘real time’ video showed Ambassador being dragged from the consulate. ” A source familiar with the House committee hearing said the video included shots of Stevens being dragged out of the building.” One congressman has now used the “L” word in connection with Benghazi.
“What is clear is that this administration, including the president himself, has intentionally misinformed — read that, lied — to the American people in the aftermath of this tragedy,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, a GOP member of the House Foreign Affairs committee that on Thursday convened a panel of experts not directly connected with the Benghazi attack. “The arrogance and dishonesty reflected in all of this is a little bit breathtaking.”
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We know now that LTC Paula Broadwell’s comments (on Oct 27) concerning the prisoners at Benghazi came from a FOX News report by Jennifer Griffin on Oct 26. The prisoner comment was omitted from the online version of the report.
“DP’s options are rapidly shrinking.”
Seems to me that, based on the above scenario, Obama’s options are shrinking even more rapidly than DP’s.
We could be soon facing a full-blown constitutional crisis that not even Harry “Chuckles” Reid and Nancy “I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille” Pelosi will be able to blow off.
And the gaslighting of America enters year five.
Let’s see, Obama has been lying and getting away with it for most of his life, why would he stop now? The main stream press has pretty much been lying since the late 19th century though in my opinion it is more noticeable now. He’ll only suffer for lying if his lies threaten his backers and/or controllers. I’m betting on lung cancer myself.
“Even if the testimony is restricted strictly to Benghazi and not its aftermath the crucial question remains: did the President abandon the men on the ground to their fates?”
There’s not much sign that many care.
5. Numberr
“Even if the testimony is restricted strictly to Benghazi and not its aftermath the crucial question remains: did the President abandon the men on the ground to their fates?”
There’s not much sign that many care.
YGTBSM – I know tons of people that are race horse pissed off.
If there is a march on Washington over this issue, I will take leave during tax season, even if it costs me my job. It won’t – my boss is a vet.
We need a call to action: Todd Beamer’s “Let’s roll” really, really seems appropriate just now.
Since Petraeus will be testifying behind closed doors, how will we (the great unwashed) know which of the differing leaks from the customary anonymous sources to believe?
There are some obvious filters, e.g. the truth will be different from whatever is reported in the NYT. But those filters may still leave too many differing accounts to resolve the matter.
Remember Oliver North? If the Committee doesn’t know in advance what the testimony will be, the witness has them by the short hairs.
I think this is not about Benghazi…. but a Stalin-istic intimidation of the USA military leadership.
Sure, Stalin executed he’s Generals…Obama not -yet
If the Lefties (in the US) aim is to disarm the USA, assign it’s power to the UN… Obama have to start somewhere…Petraeus was the first…
i seem to remember a time before this, when the potus betrayed the cia in such a fashion as this. now how did that end? hmm, i think that stone fellow made a movie about it, now what was it called? BHO was it? no, that’s not it. maybe it will come to me later…
#2 MarkJ
Interesting, in that looking at the same data, I see the other side of the coin. “We could be soon facing a sudden and unavoidable clarification of the reality of the unconstitutional regime we live under, that the subjects can no longer rationalize away.”.
Truth and this government [and the Journo-List 2.0 media] are absolute strangers. That means we have to deal with that hall of mirrors. There are no “investigative reporters” who are willing to actually, say, investigate and report on the regime.
So, while I hope that Petraeus will tear several new bodily orifi in “Teh Won”; we cannot be sure if he does. The testimony is behind closed doors and classified, and the propaganda machine can say he testified to anything. And we have no proof either way. If they say that he backed Obama to the hilt, we really don’t know that, other than as a probability field of undefined value. And I would expect that however he testifies, that his life may get classically Hobbesian.
Subotai Bahadur
The following is fiction. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
It seems there are people in positions of some power who believe the President poses a threat to the country. Perhaps they are wrong. But assume, for the moment, that they are correct.
If a President did, in fact, pose a real threat to the country, then his actions would presumably include a large number of actions which would not be widely known and would, if viewed in the correct light, destroy the political power of the President who committed those actions. It is also likely that there would be plenty of people who know about those actions but don’t talk about them much because, hey, who’d believe it?
Assuming that were the case, wouldn’t a clever strategist go about publicizing those actions by getting the media hooked on a story; one which is too juicy not to report and which seems to vindicate the President who is a media darling? Once hooked, at the point where the story arc is half-complete, where the story has the attention of all the media, where no-one could simply avert their attention–that would be the moment for the reveal.
Ah, my mother told me I should be a writer.
#11 Subotai:
There are no “investigative reporters” who are willing to actually, say, investigate and report on the regime.
And why is that, I wonder?
The testimony is behind closed doors and classified
Much hinges on Senator Feinstein’s current stance. I’m not entirely sure she’s an enthusiastic supporter of the Administration.
We have 300+ Generals that we do not need-they should be retired or fired-they are not combat generals they are paper pushing civil servants.
Our military is too top heavy with political paper pushers who we do not need-in fact they get in the way.
General Marshal in WW2 fired 600 Generals ASAP-we need the same focus on mission.
I’m put in mind of a British TV series that ran for one season. If I recall right it was a BBC production. It was called Jekyll. There was a viewers demand for a second season but they didn’t do one. I always thought it was because there was a subversive element to it. When the “monster” manifested especially when he was dealing with Yobs all restraint were gone, he didn’t hesitate, he had no regard or fear of the law and he would mess the yob up. Given the British law that against self defense by the subjects I could see the series making the poofters of the BBC very uneasy. Now given that many in the US feel that the law is no longer on their side against the criminal indeed it appears to be in bed with the criminal a large portion of the citizenry may decide to let the restraints drop.
#13 Neil
I grant your point, but offer as rebuttal that from her history of actions, statements, and revealed ideology for 20 years; we can be pretty sure that she is not a supporter of this country and the Constitution. It is possible, but I would not be inclined to wager on it.
Subotai Bahadur
i seem to remember a time before this, when the potus betrayed the cia in such a fashion as this. now how did that end? hmm, i think that stone fellow made a movie about it, now what was it called? BHO was it? no, that’s not it. maybe it will come to me later…
The other theory was that it was the Soviet Union that was behind the events of 1963. BTW, next year marks the 50th anniversary of the event. The interesting question is whether the provenance of Barack Obama’s political career somehow has to do with the cast of characters in this present drama.
If Benghazi is not explained satisfactorily, it will be the new JFK conspiracy problem.
THE CAROUSEL
The Midway smelled of smoke and beer
And hot dogs, crackerjack and booze
The carousel ride hid no fear
As couples boarded two by twos
Calliopes sang out the tune
As slowly spun the wooden horse
As couples circled ‘neath the moon
The carousel slowly changed course
And gliding slowly through the dark
The Midway fading in the light
The riders frightened by the bark
Of feral beasts deep in the night
Around them mirrors gleamed and glowed
Projecting images surreal
The carousel grew dim and slowed
The only sound a frightened squeal
For mirrors showed a world aflame
With monsters whipping all on board
They seemed within the mirror’s frame
And seemed to be of one accord
The mirrors showed Obama, Rice
And Jarrett and the White House crew
Proclaim that if we all were nice
They wouldn’t turn the Feds on you
To search your emails for a phrase
That implicates you in their eyes
And if you think it’s just a phase
You have, my friend, a big surprise
For carousels are for the fools
Who thought so well of change and hope
And sold their freedom for deep pools
Of poisoned ice and hanging rope
Wretchard – I note the hyperlink for Charles Krauthammer leads to Breitbart instead. Did you mean something like this:
http://townhall.com/video/krauthammer-administration-held-affair-over-petraeus-head
Like it or not and unlikely as they seem I see three people who hold the fate of the Republic in their hands. They are John Boehner, John McCain and Mitt Romney. No one would touch a bet that they will deplore and procrastinate or temper their tempers. If however they rise up on their hind legs and declare that the Constitution is imperiled and that they believe that the election was stolen, if they use the language of the Militia Act as Lincoln did in 1861, then I predict the regime will collapse.
The American Armed Forces are currently rudderless and looking to see who issues what orders. The Russians are by historical record sane and prudent even in their enmity. It would not surprise me if senior Russian Generals restrained Putin at least verbally and placed their forces in a Stand Down or less threatening posture. The Chinese are less known players. Will their military be tempted to press forward if they see the US paralyzed by a constitutional crisis?
Petraeus’ only move is to go All In. He has nothing to lose. He should assume he is gong to lose some of his rank and pension and he may wind up in the stockade in a very unlikely scenario. In all seriousness, his pension is not so great that it is not possible to replace it with lucrative consulting contracts, speaking fees, lecturing fees, news channel fees. Revenue from myriad streams would be available from a grateful public if he spoke the truth.
petraeus dis nearly done, all that really remains to be seen is if he is only effectively neutralized or destroyed. If he hopes for a second act he has only one option. If he is half the option he believes he is he has to know this and know he is on the other side of the COIN coin.
Fixed the Krauthammer link thanks. I wouldn’t get too excited about the prospects of Petraeus’ testimony. Historically Washington has avoided confrontation, opting instead for a negotiated outcome. I think the Republicans as much as the Democrats are scared of trains whose destination they don’t know in advance.
That’s what’s so fascinating about this scandal so far. So far it has resisted a “fix”. Rather that diminishing, it’s growing, and bringing an unlikely cast of characters into the mix. I think Feinstein is trying to bring it under consensus control and is prepared to buy off the GOP to achieve it.
But what if Feinstein herself doesn’t know the half of it? The problem for the president is that I think the more the pillars of the establishment discover, the less safe they feel. They are beginning to feel vulnerable, almost like the scenes from The Thing where they suddenly realize they’ve underestimated what has come upon them.
21. yankeefifth – interesting: [Petraeus] “…has to know he is on the other side of the COIN coin.” That is the most hopeful sentence I’ve read since the Petraeus resignation was announced and everybody joined in the firefight. This whole thing rings false on so many levels and the attrition in the military ranks is alarming. Wretchard commented about a possible behind the scenes effort to influence Petraeus’ testimony – I don’t think there is any doubt about it – not a might or a maybe. From pundits to good friends of Petraeus, from Congress to the White House itself, everyone’s got an ax to grind and they are lined up, sharpening the blades.
Walt-
Carousels spinning
Unsure–am I on board now?
Who’s the greater fool?
#23, Wretchard:
Benghazi threatens Obama. It also threatens Hillary, and by extension most of the rest of the Democrat party. The top brass at the military are being picked off. Somebody sucked in the CIA, and then the FBI found themselves under attack as well.
Is this a tit-for-tat mob war, or is an undisclosed somebody cleaning house?
Keep to things in mind as regards DP as the Benghazi Affair unfolds. He is a master strategist and no one who has served in the military regardless of rank can abide leaving our people behind and the cowardice that act implies.
I have lived through twelve presidents terms of office; of which only two had not served in the military. One was a perjurer and philanderer but only one can be considered a coward! Sad times for the USA!
If Petraeus says something damaging, so what? He’s already been elected and a Democrat Senate won’t dare vote to impeach him. The mainstream media will torpedo any coverage of this just like they did before the election. If the voters are feel they’ve been suckered, that’s their problem not Obama’s. So I ask, if Petraeus is being pressured, why? There is no fallout from such testimony that would affect Obama or anybody close to him.
The administration will destroy DP no matter what he testifies to now because it is in their interest to destroy his credibility and because a sex scandal is useful as a diversion from all the collapsing Obama policies. Ultimately Benghazi has no legs because while what the White House did was despicable it was not illegal. Obama will easily out maneuvered the Republicans on this just as he did during the election.
Republicans lack the killer instinct that comes naturally to Dem politician along with the discipline to stay on message and on talking point. Petraeus is just another green on blue casualty. He made the mistake of trusting the president and the mistake of behaving badly. We will see if he falls on his sword as well to try and avoid prison.
We need to keep American Fundamental interests first.
Petraeus said that the current regime in Israel is a liability to Fundamental American Interests
The DIA, NSA, DSS say the same thing
They may be right-
The question remains
And needs to be answered
For reasons that the public does not understand the incident in Benghazi has started a full-blown power struggle that is raging beneath the surface of official Washington.
The real question is whether any of the tin gods who inhabit Washington D.C. will want to start a war amongst themselves when the weapon of choice and judgment is the morality (sexual or not, but especially sexual) of the debaters rather than the content of what they might have to say. To understand the political class you must understand MAB, mutually assured blackmail. Everyone is allowed to be corrupt, but everyone else takes notes of the instances of your corruption. You burn me and I’ll burn you.
But then the plot thickens more, for every politician with few exceptions is a social net-worker. That’s how they get to be where they are. They cannot take positions that would inconvenience other important people in the network lest they be expelled from it. At some point you can’t do anything within the tent that won’t tread on the toes of someone else in the network and therefore you pretty much can’t do anything of any real importance. Can you spell “paralysis?”
That’s where we are. I know its ugly to say, but perhaps the best thing that could happen for the US is to have terrorists set off a nuke in Washington D.C. when the Congress and SCOTUS are in session that would blow them all to Hell.
Joe Hill…
You’re wrong…
If there is ONE thing Washington lives for it’s a cover-up as scandal.
Benghazigate has it in no-trump.
Re. # 2. MarkJ
<>
I wish I had your optimism.
Heck, this will all end with weasel words and whimpers. No bangs. Obama could reveal himself to be Francis Dollarhyde or Keyser Soze and he’d still come out smelling like a rose.
Don’t discount the possibility that DP may be found in Ft. Marcy Park with carpet fibers on his uniform and a drop gun hanging from his thumb. It has happened before….
Petraeus has lost his honor as an officer, committing the crime of adultery.
Stupid yes. Treason, no. Pride goeth before the fall, and he is paying that price for damaging his family for the rest of his life.
He lost his honor as a warrior, by lying about what happened to the SEALS left behind, and no matter how far removed from his ethos he has become, as a politician you must be, to reach flag level, that goes deep to who he was, once, as a soldier.
He has a chance to save his soul, before his God, and his family, and perhaps, before his brothers in arms, but only if the truth can be told, in public.
This is not a sex scandal, it’s a text scandal.
It’s nothing.
When was the last time you heard a citizen claiming diplomatic immunity?
This is some thing only a muslim would do.
Let’s run that market up just one more time.
Cheers!
29. Tcobb
I remember fervently hoping for a Tunguska-type event over DC on 1/20/09. Would have forestalled a lot of problems.
Maybe I was just a little ahead of my time.
Blast:”Like it or not and unlikely as they seem I see three people who hold the fate of the Republic in their hands. They are John Boehner, John McCain and Mitt Romney. No one would touch a bet that they will deplore and procrastinate or temper their tempers. If however they rise up on their hind legs and declare that the Constitution is imperiled and that they believe that the election was stolen, if they use the language of the Militia Act as Lincoln did in 1861, then I predict the regime will collapse.”
If only.
Joe Hill ” The Republicans lack the killer instinct”. Not only that – they lack the sense that the country is in peril.
Their minds are so clouded with their own ambitions and their lust for power, fortune and fame, that they seemingly cannot grasp that we are at a hinge point in history where if allow Buraq and minions their way, we may lose all that this country holds dear. As long as their careers are not clearly imperiled the rest of the Country can go to hell as far as the Institutional Repubs are concerned. The Pubs just don’t get it.
If they had the courage and guts, with the debt ceiling, the fiscal cliff and Benghazi all coming down at the same time, they could blast the Obama Administration to smithereens – but it will never happen because the Pubs are cowards and essentially in this time of peril – traitors to boot.
If you are so honored to be elected to serve this country and cannot stand up and fight to save our great and precious country from the dismantling and dissolution of our Constitutional Republic by this traitor in the White House without a knock down, drag out, fight to the death – you are a spineless traitor and deserve no less than to be quickly tried for treason and hung from the nearest tree forthwith.
Subotai and MarkJ
Interesting, in that looking at the same data, I see the other side of the coin. “We could be soon facing a sudden and unavoidable clarification of the reality of the unconstitutional regime we live under, that the subjects can no longer rationalize away.”.
Those aren’t mutually exclusive statements. A constitutional crisis could emerge from an unavoidable conclusion that our government is no longer functioning according to the Constitution. I mean, sure, we may realize that’s the case, but so long as the bulk of the country can pretend it’s not true, things can keep on going.
But…
…if the charade becomes too obvious, if we just can’t ignore the situation any longer, well, then it’s a crisis, isn’t it? We have to have some rules, some guidelines. Right now, enough people pretend those rules are the US Constitution. If that mirage dissapears, we’ll have to sit down and figure out some real rules.
I’m pretty sure most of the denizens of D.C. will try like Hell to stop that from happening.
Blast @ 20 – In the Land of Idiots, the Imbecile shall be King.
The question is are the Three Stooges, Boehner, McCain & Romney, tougher and braver than the Three Valkyries? We know the Three Valkyries are the toughest of the lot on Team Obama. They proved that when they took out Gaddafi.
The Queen of the Valkyries, Hillary, is already toast, so the remaining idiots ought to be a cakewalk to roll up. All it will take is a bit of a push.
Preference Cascade Anyone??
Actually, Darrell Issa has been doing a LOT of good work.
“I see three people who hold the fate of the Republic in their hands. They are John Boehner, John McCain and Mitt Romney.”
Romney? No. He lost and is done like burnt toast. There is another; really two. GWH and GW Bush. Those two former Presidents could bring the “fight” out into the open in such a way that even the press could not ignore. With Hillary about to be run over by the Obamao bus, perhaps even William Jefferson Clinton could step into the fray. Plans within plans. The spice must flow.
And in the spirit of JMH @38…
Let’s hold hands — and may no one look down.
For we’ve just stepped off the Acme cliff.
———–
Magnum deficit spending — that is, when 40% of your Federal government outlays are printed into existence — is a political NARCOTIC.
It’s an ‘Opiate of the Elites.’
Because such vast hyperinflation operates as a direct TAX on WEALTH nominated in US Dollars — it has stopped the growth of employment growth — which occurs overwhelmingly within the capital hungry, high-growth, innovating sector of the economy.
It’s a self-reinforcing vicious circle — the 10th Level of Economic Hell.
History evidences that the ONLY resolution is government collapse.
America has done it before: the Articles of Confederation triggered unending trade wars — particularly New York vs Pennsylvania — which to end, the Founding Fathers re-established our nation Constitutionally. That’s why so many of the US Constitutions provisions focus on interstate trade, the silver standard and the Federalized Mint. (As against the previous colonial/ state mints.)
And, of course, the Confederacy lost its campaign financially, even before it lost it on the battlefield. Rarely mentioned: even Southerners not directly blooded by the conflict lost all of their financial being when the Confederate Dollar flat-lined.
In the Wan, we have a spendthrift pol of the Chicago school. He’s going to print, print,… it will be an endless cascade of fiat. No wonder we’re no longer selling our US Treasury debt to the Red Chinese.
As a consequence the Remimbi /Yuan is climbing up the scale against the dollar.
(It took massive purchases of US government debt to hold the exchange rate in line. From now on the Wogs of War will be set loose. Financial war, that is.
I long, long ago posted that this is the First Financial World War — and that, by its end, ALL of the current powers ought to be swept away — as assuredly as the royal houses of Europe were one century ago.
The atomic option is causing all of the players to fight with economic resources and bully tactics.
Should America spin loose, spin dizzy, the economic universe will/ must unravel.
Start racking up silver specie. It is you one, best, practical hope.
While we don’t face the prospect of the Walking Dead — interesting to note where fictive Hollywood’s head is at — we do face the prospect of re-living the Southern Reconstruction — at least financially.
blert @ 41 – You have forgotten that all spending bills must begin in the House and Paul Ryan holds the pursestrings.
So pass a continuing resolution with a “means tested” payroll cap. We will keep government in operation, we just will not pay anyone more than the three year median annual American household income of $51,520 http://tinyurl.com/c7b7e9h
Make even all those generals eat short rations along with their troops!
Can you imagine the unseemly caterwauling of the bureaucrats that they are being forced to live on what the median taxpayer lives on?
OH, THE HUMANITY!!!
How about this as a refinement? Rounding off, we pay up to $52,000 per annum ($1,000 per week) in cash and the balance of their pay in Savings Bonds. Let’s bring back the whole FDR war bonds program.
Join the fight on government bloat! Take your salary in Savings Bonds!
@27 Joe HIll – blert @30 is right. You have it exactly wrong. They will never impeach for a violation of the law. However, if this turns out to be as completely unsavory as we think, Obama will be completely, politically toxic. Impeachments are purely political, not legal, even though the specific definition is legal. When the Dems in the Senate are personally endangered politically by failure to impeach, Obama will go under their bus.
Having Petraeus give witness behind closed doors is all well and good – but if I were him I’d hold a presser at the first opportunity and tell everything I know. Not only will it give us the unvarnished truth it may save his ass. Anyone remember Vince Foster? People in opposition to higher powers do get snuffed.
How bad is it that the idea of a president Biden seems like an improvement over what we have now? The man’s a babbling fool with the cheese eating grin one finds on a confident, happy, low grade moron, but at least he’s not laser focused on America’s destruction. I think we could survive a president Biden… God help me, but I really said that. So here’s hoping for Nixon II: Electric Boogalloo.
Everyone states that “4 Americans died” in Benghazzi but few refer to the orchestrated attacks on 22 US Embassies & Consulates or the deliberate Us Policy change instigated in order to hand over North Africa to The Muslim Brotherhood and affiliated Terrorist Organisations which lit the match that lit the whole inferno.
Are these matters really of so little importance to the American people?
If Petraeus really does testify to this effect, he will inescapably be alleging under oath that the president was a liar.
was a liar…is still a liar; is a scoundrel and a blackmailer; is unfit to be president and whose re-election he (Petraeus) assisted by failing to stand up like a man and tell the nation the truth.
Let the impeachment proceedings begin. Obama will never be convicted but since we have a corrupt media this is the only way to get the facts out.
“Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.”
–Marcus Tullius Cicero
Well now, that might be a problem here?
My prediction is that Petraeus will stick to the party line. He’s now between the rock and the ultimate hard place, unfortunately one of his making. It’s going to make him look a fool but he has too much to lose. I am also in no doubt that Petraeus was (and still is) being blackmailed. I am also in no doubt that gun running was (and still is) occurring in Benghazi by shadow elements of the CIA. There is also more to Broadwell’s claim that local militia were being held prior to the attacks on 9/11.
The other thing I’m highly suspicious of is that dang video. How convenient for it to surface when it did, especially right before the UN General Assembly and Obamas little message about not insulting the prophet muhammad. Now that we know these evil power-drunk corrupt forces will stop at nothing to reinforce their position, you gotta wonder.
There are no values, no integrity, nor ethics operating with this administration. Another 4 years ….
@26. Bob Smith
If Petraeus says something damaging, so what? He’s already been elected and a Democrat Senate won’t dare vote to impeach him.
Nor could they. The House impeaches, not the Senate. The Senate tries the impeachment. The House is majority Republican.
Petraeus betrayed his country before he betrayed his wife, by Diana West
COIN doctrine approaches war from an ivory tower, a place where such theories thrive untested and without hurting anyone. On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, however, the results have been catastrophic. Tens of thousands of young Americans answered their country’s call and were told to accept more “risk” and less “protection.” Many lost lives, limbs and pieces of their brains as a result of serving under a military command structure and government in thrall to a leftist ideology that argues, in defiance of human history, that cultures, beliefs and peoples are all the same, or want to be.
Attributing such losses to Petraeus’ see-no-Islam COIN is no exaggeration. In his 2010 COIN guidance, Petraeus told troops: “Walk. Stop by, don’t drive by. Patrol on foot whenever possible and engage the population.” As the Los Angeles Times reported last year, “The counterinsurgency tactic that is sending U.S. soldiers out on foot patrols among the Afghan people, rather than riding in armored vehicles, has contributed to a dramatic increase in arm and leg amputations, genital injuries and the loss of multiple limbs following blast injuries.”
Indeed, the military has had to devise a new category of injury — “dismounted complex blast injury” — while military medicine has had to pioneer, for example, new modes of “aggressive pain management at the POI (point of injury)” and “phallic reconstruction surgery.”
But not even such COIN sacrifices have won the “trust” of the Islamic world. On the contrary, we have seen spiraling rates of murder by our Muslim “partners” — camouflaged by the phrase “green on blue” killings. COIN commanders, ever mindful of winning (appeasing) “hearts and minds,” blame not the Islamic imperatives of jihad but rather summer heat, Ramadan fasting and the “cultural insensitivity” of the murder victims themselves. Such is the shameful paralysis induced by COIN, whose manual teaches: “Arguably, the decisive battle is for the people’s minds. … While security is essential to setting the stage for overall progress, lasting victory comes from a vibrant economy, political participation and restored hope.”
Notice the assumption that something called “overall progress” will just naturally follow “security.” Another theory. It didn’t happen in Iraq. It hasn’t happened in Afghanistan. Since nothing succeeds like failure, the doctrine’s leading general was rewarded with the directorship of the CIA.
There is more at work here than a foundationally flawed strategy. In its drive to win Islamic hearts and minds, COIN doctrine has become an engine of Islamization inside the U.S. military. To win a Muslim population’s “trust,” U.S. troops are taught deference to Islam — to revere the Quran; not to spit toward Mecca (thousands of miles away); and to condone such un- or anti-Western practices as religious supremacism, misogyny, polygamy, pederasty and cruelty to dogs. Our military has even permitted Islamic law to trump the First Amendment to further COIN goals, as when ISAF commander Petraeus publicly condemned an American citizen for exercising his lawful right to freedom of speech to burn a Quran.
This explains why the reports that CIA director David Petraeus went before the House Intelligence Committee in September and blamed a YouTube Muhammad video for the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, sounded so familiar. Whatever his motivation, it was all too easy for Petraeus to make free speech the scapegoat for Islamic violence. But so it goes in COIN-world, where jihad and Shariah (Islamic law) are off the table and the First Amendment is always to blame.
If there is a lesson here, it is simple: A leader who will betray the First Amendment will betray anything.
Petraeus betrayed his country before he betrayed his wife, by Diana West
This explains why the reports that CIA director David Petraeus went before the House Intelligence Committee in September and blamed a YouTube Muhammad video for the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, sounded so familiar. Whatever his motivation, it was all too easy for Petraeus to make free speech the scapegoat for Islamic violence. But so it goes in COIN-world, where jihad and Shariah (Islamic law) are off the table and the First Amendment is always to blame.
If there is a lesson here, it is simple: A leader who will betray the First Amendment will betray anything.
The cost of not abiding by principle – it’s something I learned as a young commissioned Navy Officer, and it applies to Obama’s future and supposed opposition. Simply put, if you compromise law, rules, or policy in the smallest area, you delegitimize your ability to stand on principle in any area. Moral principle is an “all or nothing” proposition. If you sign off a partially falsified inspection report, an inventory, or an audit that was “close”, but not entirely “spot on”, you won’t be able to do a thing when sailors are later walking off with $1000′s of government property, or when military discipline goes in the crapper. It can be that “little thing” you ignore, but it destroys your ability to stand for the “big things”.
That’s were this nation is with Obama. The leaders in Congress, the GOP, conservative media, and of course all the liberal MSM ignored the minor fact that Obama wasn’t qualified to be President by birth, that his documentation trail was nearly non-existent. Then Obama posted an easily-verifiable, fraudulent birth certificate on a US Government web site (that was a federal crime, folks, btw). I think that move was both bold and intentional, because by doing so, he compromised his opposition. They could either impeach him or forever ignore the issue, and he knew the “facts” were complex and cloudy enough that he wouldn’t be impeached.
Those “national leaders” refused to speak out and expose the crime. In fact, they derided anyone else who did. Few would risk being called a “birther”, out of self-preservation or political expedience. By ignoring Obama’s qualification problem, they forever forfeited their ability to oppose Obama on principle. Sure, Boehner talked tough on the federal budget and economy immediately after the election, but everyone knows from his history that he will cave quickly. Darrell Issa made lots of “smoke” about “fast and furious” and Benghazi before the election, but he didn’t close on either issue and probably never intended to, because closing would take the GOP to impeachment. It’s the only lever Congress has against a sitting U.S. President, if he’s ruthless enough to hire a 100 “Czar’s” to run government and suborn all constitutional executive branch offices (e.g. Federal prosecutions against the Executive branch only occur when a President is honorable enough or sufficiently threatened by the Courts or Congress to allow them).
So, Obama received an indefinite “get out of jail ticket” – forever. He has Carte Blanche dictatorial power, as far as he chooses to use it, because there is no set of conditions which would lead to an Obama impeachment or federal prosecution. After the Clinton fiasco in 1997, the GOP congress will never muster the votes for impeachment, even if a video shows up with Obama bonking Rice in the Oval office while watching live “snuff porn” of Stevens and the SEALS dying in Benghazi, even as Putin watches on bemused from behind the Presidents desk, with a new STARTIII unilateral US disarmament treaty in hand.
Moreover, even if the GOP impeached Obama for good cause, with ample public documentation, the vote in the Senate will run 57-43 with every last Democrat voting in lock-step rejecting the impeachment, including such “honorable” and “wise” Senators such as Diane Finestein. The ONLY reason that the Nixon impeachment was plausible was because enough GOP Senators visited Nixon and told him that they were voting with the Democrats to impeach him, forcing his resignation. That act will never, and I repeat NEVER happen to a Democrat President while they have the votes in Congress to stop it, be it Clinton or Obama or any future President, regardless of the nature of “high crimes or misdemeanors” committed.
Game, set match. All of the rest of this is show and politics. After the failed Clinton Impeachment in 1997, the Obama election fraud in 2008, and the stolen election of 2012, the GOP is a permanent rump party, powerless to tie their shoes let alone keep their oaths to uphold the US Constitution.
Again, game, set, match. Sorry folks. It’s over. Obama’s in the White House smiling like the Cheshire cat. No wonder he was bored during the first Presidential debate. He already had it in the bag, and he’d preferred to be on the golf course rather than talking to that “Romney moron”, who actually thought he was participating in a free “election”. Useful idiot, that Romney fellow.
I’ve found it oddly amusing to see commentators on Fox News and the web talking post-November 6th about how “Obama is besieged”, or about politics in general. It’s as if they hadn’t seen the election returns. It’s as if they didn’t know, and I mean KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the election was rigged in every swing state for “Obama +2″ or “Obama +4″, regardless of GOP registration or predictable post-2012/Tea-party turn out models. The West election in Florida is a brilliant example, i.e. all precincts closed, all votes in and counted, looking good for West +4000 votes and 15 minutes later, -1000 votes. Poof, another targeted Republican loses and the chosen Democrat wins. Obama pulled the first fraud on America in 2008, and he locked it down forever in 2012. Fox News, the WSJ, Rush Limbaugh and others may still continue with the same B.S. as before the election, because what else are they going to do: turn off the mikes and cameras and go silent?? They have a BUSINESS to run, the “conservative political” business. Elections occurred in 2012 and they didn’t matter. The Presidency was stolen, a defacto Coup d’état, but no one can or will stand to do anything about it.
Obama knew this was going to happen last October 3rd in Colorado. Obama planned the result and had the foreign money to pull it off. I’ll bet he’ll have that “Cheshire cat” smile beaming in his next official portrait. You betcha!
#39 “Actually, Darrell Issa has been doing a LOT of good work.”
He’s my congressman, but I don’t follow you. He’s been “investigating” for at least two years now.
Prosecutions? 0
Referrals? 0
Resignations? 0
Results? None
*** FAILED **
He’s in a safe GOP district and throughout his career, been a generally ineffective congressman. I guarantee you that neither the Democrats nor Obama are quaking in their shoes over Issa’s investigations.
Just more noise.. nothing to see.
We can hope.
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting on him to tell the truth. If he was the honorable man he’s always been portrayed as, he’d have resigned and told the truth before the election. Like most Pentagon brass types these days – current and former – he’s just another political hack. It’s too bad…he seemed to be an exception to that, but I’ve not trusted him since he agreed to take over as DCIA.
When you have set up a voting machine that is a fraud, will steal elections in the light of day, can count on every black robot, now along with his “hispanic” counterpart, and every other ethnic minority, razzed up to hate whitey after forty years of ethnic immigration, Marxist schooling, and incessant hate rhetoric, what’s the problem with lying to the public at large? This thug has gotten away with more than anyone imagined he would and will continue to do so. Those who put him in power understood the protective force of melanin. We have to let him do whatever he wants because he is black and we are not. Get used to it.
Despite our wishes and the needs of the nation, nothing will come of this beyond the destruction of a few people the administration has no further use for. They have only begun to play the trump cards they have. And their firewall is some combination of a racism/war on women claim, coupled with a compliant MSM and a democrat senate.
The unfortunate truth is that the Obama administration CAN AND WILL DO ANYTHING THEY WANT. Here is their process:
1. They do whatever they want on whatever issue interests them.
2. If challenged, they demagog the challenger until the challenge goes away and the challenger is discredited. The MSM focuses on the challenger and the demagoguery and ignores the issue.
3. If real substance begins to emerge (via alternate media, not the impotent Congress) they kick up a lot of dust to deflect attention.
4. If the dust doesn’t cover the scandal, they launch an “impartial” investigation.
5. They then work behind the scenes to undermine and drag out the investigation.
6. They refuse to deal with the issue while the investigation is underway, citing “fairness”.
7. If the investigation turns up anything survivable, they ignore it (see Simpson Bowles, etc.).
8. If the investigation begins to get traction, and is life threatening, they claim executive privilege (see Fast & Furious).
9. They then go back to step 1 and start over on their next issue of interest.
We are somewhere between step 3 and 6 above. Even my beloved alternative media has no real understanding of how powerful, ruthless and politically capable these people are. They haven’t even begun to break a sweat.
I find it curious that no one seems to know who wrote the info that was provided to Amb Rice. This sounds suspiciously like Hillary’s “To the best of my recolletion my mind is a complete blank” approach to the Rose Law Firm issues.
It worked last time didn’t it? Why would it not work this time?
Maybe because few people gave a rat’s rump about the Rose Law Firm?
Or maybe because people are tried of that ploy.
In other news, the jobless rate went up markedly according to the last report. And most of those losses were …. Ohio and Penn.
anyone who thinks petraeus will say something significant is assuming that the obama administration doesn’t have more serious stuff they can charge him with. if they didn’t already have him in their back pocket, the affair they knew about “for months” would still be under the radar. remember, his testimony was initially going to be delayed, then he “changed his mind.” more like he got his orders from those who reminded him how much worse it could get.
the truth and possible prison, vs. the company line and obscurity plus his pension? bet on door number two.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Robert Hanlon
Well, many here in the US abided by Hanlon’s Razor. Except Obama’s performance has been spectacular at achieving the Progressive’s goals. Obamacare? Open borders? Muslims embedded in Gov’t and with our troops? Defunding the military? Arming Islamists against docile dictatorships? Appointing Progs to the Supreme Court? Corrupt Justice Dept? Massive voter fraud? Certainly, the list is near endless at this point.
The Dem machine knew we would attribute O’s actions as “in over his head,” etc., etc., etc., and used our lack of accurate attribution to covertly do exactly what they’ve intended for over 40 years. After 4 years of major setbacks to life and liberty, we might want to re-examine our portrayel of O’s performance.
Lest we forget, we are observers, the audience. We The People are merely the producers, i.e. the money men for the show and its stars. The money men for the staging by the people we choose to play out their script. Written by their writers, edited by their lackeys, promoted by their PR teams and directed to their aims for the production. We allow them their “artistic freedom” to do with the money the best for their production. We The People, by our own choice can take it or leave it. And HOPE it’s a HIT.
No not the kind of hit this production is proving to be.
What happens behind the scenes of the public staging is and shall always be unknown to us. People in political showbiz have their own agenda. Agenda evident within living memory from behaviours of the stars of the show which have nothing whatever to do with oaths private or public OR respect for Law and the dignity of the people they are elected, again again and yet again, to “represent”. Knowing them to be untrustworthy to oaths private and public or to any sense of service to We The People. WE – that means ALL not only their pet populations continue to keep them in the jobs they have manifestly failed to do.
Who and why is given center stage at any given time is managed by the production teams behind the scenes. Absolutely unaccountable to anyone outside their incestuous brother/sisterhoods.
So we continue with our guessing games. Guessing games. If we haven’t learned by now that politicians of all colourations and geneses become conjoined when given power over lives and treasury of others we are incorrigible.
We The People. Eagerly and joyfully – a festival – marching to the pipes and drums and the caterwauling of their cheerleading bands show ourselves fully deserving the contempt they unapologetically have for us when an outsider/upstart/ordinary citizen patriot? tries to enter their exclusive stable to clean it of its detritus and rot.
Talk about a CHANGE of the nation, How in God’s name was America once known as the Home of the Brave and the Land of the Free?
I don’t know if this information is true or not. I found it in the comment section on another site. It is interesting. One thing for sure, these people are evil, but also it seems, incredibly stupid. Here are the comments:
I got this from a friend in the intel community. It says what I/we’ve known all along. It is bad. FWIW.
“…I made some valuable contacts in military and intelligence community [through work several yrs ago]. I heard from
one old one today and am
passing on what he told me. He said the Benghazi affair is complex. It boiled
down to a failure of the policies of Hillary Clinton, Valerie Jarett, Susan
Rice, and two individuals in the white house .. Clapper and Dolan who work in
national security.
It was part of what I have been saying for some time .. a Hillary Clinton/US
State Dept. CIA wet dream that goes back to the 90s setting up Islamists for
ideological incompetent stupid reasons. . Clinton, Valerie Jarett, Susan Rice
and several individuals in the Obama White House are ideologues and dangerously
incompetent as Benghazi is only one of many that most Americans know nothig
about. Some of the worst are Clapper and Dolan in the White House and they
helped create Benghazi decision not to go in with US forces to rescue the men .
even after they had been promised rescue. He said that the Petraeus – Allen
bimbo eruptions were set ups .. the generals did screw around but the two women
made it possible for a coup against the military by Obama and civilians in the
CIA. More will come out regarding Paula Blackwell part in what amounts to a coup
against the US military which has been trying to steer policy towards fewer wars
in the Middle East and elsewhere and really did not want Iraq if truth be told.
The unnecessary wars since Bill Clinton, through Bush II now Obama indicate the
corporate nature .. these decisions are being made for military industrial
complex reasons not because they are BEST for us. In addition, todays’ CIA . is
NOT your father’s CIA. The clash of insiders in the corporate mercenary groups
and REGULAR military are at a BOILING point. The CIA which is OWNED by corporate
interests like Dyncorp, L-3, Northrum Grumman to name a few have been ruthlessly
waging wars in our name illegally around the world. The REAL clash between
regular military and corporate special operations mercenaries preferred by the
Clinton faction just took out their major competition with the removal of
Admiral Gaoette and General Ham not to mention Petraeus and looks like Allen
will be gone too. He said Joint Chiefs head Dempsey should be fired . he is a
toadie who would sell his mother into prostitution. And Panetta and Hillary are
guilty of war crimes. People do not realize but during recent events they not
only took out General Ham and Admiral Gaoette they have also replaced 14 other
high ranking officers they believed were challenging their incompetence and
desire to go to war witihout congressional approval. The regular military does
NOT want these endless wars .. but the civilian and new corporate military does.
In fact the US NAVY has been purged of good officers the last YEAR under Obama
… at least 14 were removed not for sexual misconduct . that is the cover but
because they were not wanting to play the GAME. Meantime, the new corporate
owned CIA and Obama Administration considered the military challenge to their
desire for more war in the Middle East was unacceptable. After what amounts
basically to Hillary screwing up Benghazi .. with Obama’s help and others in the
White House . .the military is at the BREAKING point and this administration
KNOWS IT. He said Hillary should be tried on war crimes not just for Benghazi
but things that go all the way back to the 90s. So should Panetta. Others on the
TO GO list include Muehler of the FBI, Clapper and Dolan in the Obama White
House. The current spate of sex scandals IS a set up. He also said he was
ashamed of the military for not exposing all this at the beginning. They do not
want to be seen as mutineers. BUT sooner or later it will be exposed. He feels
Obama will be impeached and it’s his own personal opinion the CIA should be
disbanded . it is corporate now and has LITTLE to do with US government or our
interests. He also hoped the American people would lead this charge up San Juan
Hill . he felt congress was USELESS and nothing would come of their
investigations, that most of the STRUCTURE of US government is no longer
legitimate. On a personal note he said he welcomed the secession movement and
saw that as about the ONLY hope in the future. what it boils down to .. there
was a coup against the military and a LOT of good people have had their lives
ruined while the evil bastards like Hillary thrive. So take it or leave it .
.just passing it on to you.
Will the Committees call General Ham and Admiral Gaouette? They were relieved of their command shortly after the Benghazi attack and we have not heard a word about what they were instructed to do during this attack. Surely, they will be called to testify. They know important details about what was happening (real time) during the attack and must know who was calling the shots regarding standing orders.
Read Voltaire’s Candide.
Contemplate a grain of sand.
Tend your own garden.
Hostess has gone Galt– get your Twinkies while you can!
Obama, the Clintons, Jarrett, Axelrod, Emanuel and hundreds of other Democrats will watch you and your family die without blinking an eye or lifting a finger. Staten Island proves it. Benghazi proves it. Remember that picture of all those Democrats watching the SEALS kill Osama Bin Laden? Why did the White House release that ghoulish picture? Why did the White House make a point of letting the world know Obama gets a kill-list every morning? Democrats are the party of penury, oppression and death.
Do you know how to know when 0bama or any Dem (& far too many GOPers) is lying? When his lips are moving.
Great discussion all.
As a retired military officer who commanded troops in Afghanistan, I can attest that COIN is a failed strategy. Our troops were always at risk trying to win the hearts and minds while the politicians took credit for doing nothing. I would have thought these “Generals” would have learned that ridiculous lesson of “hearts and minds” from their Vietnam days. You don’t win wars by loving your enemy. You break their will to resist in whatever way necessary. Diplomatic, economic, information operations are great non-violent ways to this end. And sometimes they work. But when they don’t, and your threatened national interest is of such great import, you open the cage and let loose the “Dogs of War”. When that dog comes out of its cage, it must and will kill the intended target. Bottom line is, I want my Generals and Admirals to be fire-breathing, war-loving bastards – not statesmen – not politicians. That is for the diplomats. When my military comes to your town, they are going to destroy your way of life until you submit to our will. This is why military conflict is ALWAYS the absolute last option you employ. People will die – yours and mine. And without this fear, a military force is a farce.
BO has taken this ability off the table. No one in the world fears the American military. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even think about attacking our Ambassadors.
“Peaches” as DP was called at USMA will do what he and his counterparts have been doing for decades. He will follow his orders.
Thanks Wretch for clarifying things. I always look to motive and then work out a time line. One thing about crooks, they cannot keep their story straight. In this case, If there is any question about how obama deals with adversity, just look to his past.
It is a case study in the thuggery of the most corrupt political organization on Earth: The Chicago political machine. Plain and simple it is the politics of personel destruction. Get the dirt and let the games begin.
Obama destroyed his first 2 political advisaries byway of pure corruption. He has never gone after the ideaology of the merit of the arguments they presented, he always goes after the person. Like some petulent 7th grader who thinks their social status will rise by attacking those deemed his betters.
This is not the correct order of things. Not to mention that the machine whacked obama’s gay lovers without a thought. It was neccessary to continue their agenda.
But at what expense?
We all pay. And the price tag is rising in more than just a fiscal sense.
Freedom lies in the balance.
“And we are to believe that November 2012 is P4′s month of coming clean? He already parroted the movie protest meme last time. We are supposed to believe what he says now? He’s a womanizer and put the security of the country in jeopardy for a piece of tail. Not the most honorable of men.” — End of expected MSM explanation. Nothing to see here. Just move along.
Constitutional crisis? Get real, dude. All of this is crafted for our benefit. Isn’t it amazing that NONE of the hard questions were asked before the election? Outraged senators were passive for months. What is happening is that the dictators from the left and right are manuevering. Neither side wants us to see what they are doing with our money.
Jeremiah 17:9
It’s a design placed in motion long before. Wait.
There is some poor schnook in prison, who was perp walked…with federal agents present, in front of pre-alerted “news” cameras in a midnight raid on his private residence…for violating a measly parole ban on using the internet. Which part of that story adds up for you, my fellow countrymen?
Harry Reid refuses to put a budget forward for our fiscal review, as is mandated by our current passed legislation. They are hiding, in essence, the required “use of funds” document for the intended use of our money, because they don’t want us to see it. Which part of that intentional secreting of vital facts sits well with you, my fellow countrymen?
Over 90% of the mass media apparatus, openly conspires to distort facts, coverup misfeasance, malfeasance, graft and corruption when it comes from radical leftists, so that we are constantly drinking from a poisoned and toxic information stream. WE, the people, therefore…are completely incapable of appropriate representative self-governance. Not just on the “big” issues, but on the thousands of details necessary to give informed consent to legislators to act on OUR behalf. It is OUR House, OUR White House, OUR Senate…not theirs. Which part of the media being active co-conspirators in the rape of our information stream do you think we should let pass by with no more than a tsk-tsk, my fellow countrymen?
Academia indoctrinates our children with these same radical leftist lies and distortions, coming from the likes of Zinn, Chomsky and Elizabeth Warren.
Hollywood, long a snake pit of radical leftist betrayal in love with leftist dictators, thugs and murderers, poisons the cultural well.
What makes anyone think that those who have seized our economy, are gutting our military, lie to us, abandon our allies, run guns to drug dealers and have been seeped in radical leftism…are going to all of a sudden “come clean” and allow truth to be told about Benghazi?
The very notion is irrational. They will continue down the path they are on. THEIR “struggle”…is to take us where we would not go willingly. To hide who they are and what they intend. Their co-conspirators in the media will continue to aid and abet the overthrow….er…”transformation”. Hollywood and academia will continue to indoctrinate the culture.
And the “victims” who are “oppressed”…will continue to vote for their “saviors”.
Lastly, the Republican Party will continue to fritter around the edges, weak, tepid, timid and halting. You, my dear countrymen…have milquetoast “champions” for your country, fighting determined and organized revolutionaries. You are losing your country to radical leftists…and our side has limp-wristed buffoons to engage the battle to save it. Too cowardly to speak the truth, too ineffective to combat the lies, too weak to confront the enemy within.
Nothing….nothing…will come of Benghazi. There will be no net effect. Nor of Fast and Furious, the seizure of healthcare, the cooked books at Fannie and Freddie, the sieve that is our southern border, the foreign contributions through the credit card scandal in our highest elective campaign, the refusal to allow a budget to be scored, or any other despicable corruption for which a leftist regime escapes accountability. Nothing.
Because we lack the will to defend a nation against it.
Any negotiated settlement will necessarily keep all or part of the truth from the American people. We have a right to know what happened before, during, and after this incident. Between this, Fast & Furious, Top Secrets being leaked, and a myriad of other scandals – the picture is looking worse and worse for this administration.
So what.
They ran on in-your-face lies. Even their idiot supporters know it. They are proud that they lie. Their idiot supporters in the media delight in covering the lies up.
The people “voted” for the cabal that lies for a living. They prefer free cell phones and redistribution to a nation of laws. Their “leaders” flaunt it. Just like Zimbabwe.
It’s over. Everything that happens each and every day proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Get used to it or get out.
“If Petraeus really does testify to this effect, he will inescapably be alleging under oath that the president was a liar.”
And your point is? The president has been a liar on several occasions yet nothing has ever been done about it other than a very successful cover up by a willing main stream propaganda machine.
One congressman has now used the “L” word in connection with Benghazi.
Masterful grasp of the obvious.
“The arrogance and dishonesty reflected in all of this is a little bit breathtaking.”
Is that like being a little bit pregnant ?
This is of course a trick question.
There is no America in the age of Obama.
No consequences will accrue to Obama or Petraeus for the American lives callously wasted in Benghazi. That’s not how America works anymore. We are a responsibility-free nation. Government does not work for us; we exist to glorify government.
So put aside any fantasies you may be indulging that wrongdoers in government should or will suffer consequences. Those days are long gone; that’s what Nov. 6, 2012 proved.
“When pressed to identify who came up with the infamous ‘Mohammed video’ talking points, neither Clapper nor Morell could recall the person responsible.”
What this has to mean — as both men, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Acting Director of the CIA Michael Morell — are paid the big bucks to recall security details, is that they’re deliberately “forgetting,” in order to cover the butt of the POTUS.
I hope to God that this whole Benghazi affair — because that’s the affair at issue, not the smoke-and-mirrors Petraeus affair — blows up in Obama’s face. The lies, the coverups, the feigning of concern for the families of the four dead Americans, the getting rid of the top military brass, the brazen and shameless gloating of this administration, is despicable and barely believable. That the President of the United States and his courtiers are such blatant and malevolent scam artists and Mafia-like thugs is disturbing in the extreme.
With this scurvy gang at the helm of the U.S. ship of state, who needs brigands and pirates? They’ve already lined up their enemies and are making them walk the plank. Until the media and a vast swath of the American public wake up and realize that Obama and his henchmen are the enemy, the whole Western world is in free fall and in for a very bumpy landing, if there’s a landing at all.
lettruthspeak, anyone still yammering on about the military-industrial complex is a bit dated. I’m sure the ideological idiocy of the women Obama allows to run our national interest is to blame for Benghazi, and I’m sure there’s some crypto-purge going on at the high levels of our military, but there’s no military-industrial complex left to orchastrate plots.
It’s just idiots voting for idiots.
Who says Joe Biden will never become President?
Will Petraeus set the record straight?
Judging from what we just heard from Peter King, I’d say the answer to that is a resounding “no.”
I second jojo, #62, and cf #73 and proreason #75
Our government has descended to little more than machinations and behind the scenes orchestration.
To Barack and Michelle, the very notion that they had to come out and try to appeal to the little people for another 4 was distasteful, how foul, enough of the system survives that the king and queen had to beseech the peons.
Ugh. Have to work to fix that flaw.
The fact that a majority of the voting public fell for their lies seals the deal, that America is finished.
Has no one heard about the Lord God Almighty, Who is all-knowing and more powerful than this crooked administration? Our Creator God made Barack Hussein Obama and has counted the hairs on his head. He knows his going out and his coming in — and all of the things he does in secret.
It’s time for Americans to reclaim their Judeo-Christian heritage and to pray like they’ve never prayed before, for deliverance from this fraudulent POTUS and administration. Nothing is impossible with God.
I’m not making this up. This isn’t pie-in-the-sky. Miracles still happen and that’s what the U.S.A. needs right now. God hates evil: “But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers” Jeremiah 20:11-13.
Old Salt @ 54 – Issa has forced Obama to claim executive privilege on Fast & Furious for one thing.
He has patiently (maybe too patiently) been removing the veils used by Holder, Obama et al. to stonewall several issues. What has been most desparately stonewalled by Obama? Fast & Furious, Benghazi and the drilling moratorium. That is where he is most vulnerable.
All Issa needs to do now is offer Kurt Mix immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony about the details of the BP top kill operation. Given that BP has given up a bigger fish in its plea deal with DoJ for allegedly lying to Congress about the flow rate, Issa has an opening to get a second opinion regarding the flow rate from the “underling” in charge of the operation. The issue is truly important enough, someone is presenting false testimony before Congress? Harumph!!! (That means you Ed Markey). If Obama already has Mr. Big, how can he complain about being lenient with a small fry in the cause of openness and truth in testimony before Congress? Remember the “most open administration in history”?
Given immunity, Mix’s testimony would expose Obama’s soft underbelly on the “missing oil”, for instance. And whathe details of the plans Chu aborted. Remember the 19 hour gap in the info flowing to the press? Anderson Cooper does. That is this administration’s Rose Mary Woods’ gap in the tape recording.
And did you notice how testy Sec. Salazar has become of late with the combined IGs breathing down his neck. He once was Mr. “Boot on the Neck”. Now he’s apologizing to a reporter. We’ll see how he likes having the tables turned. Make no mistake, Salazar et al illegally instituted a drilling moratorium in the middle of the night because BP was about to stop the flow of oil in May 2010. They still needed an evil straw man oil company to get the public support needed to get Cap & Trade over the hump in the Senate, so Obama could sign the bill and take over the oil business. Stopping the flow of oil before Harry Reid had the votes would foil the plot.
When potential success by Mix threatened the plot, Chu aborted the top kill operation to keep C&T in play.
Does that sound cynical and anti-American? Yes? Then it fits the Obama modus operandi that is becoming so familiar via Fast & Furious, Benghazi and the drilling moratorium.
Even after Chu killed the top kill, he did all sorts of other foot dragging to keep on the political pressure. Remember the last minute decision to do extra seismic runs for Marcia “McNumbnuts’ McNutt during the well integrity test? Stall as much as you can while the well was flowing and run up BP’s fines. Destroy the economics of the deep water drilling industry. Back then Chu was the Nobel Prize winning physicist, now he’s Mr. Solyndra. Times have changed.
But now the investigative arm of the IG’s group has been forced onto the case by Issa. They have a report due out very soon. It won’t reflect “honor” on Salazar, Browner or Obama.
Put on the popcorn, this is going to be fun!!!
Just wanted to say that comment #73 cfbleachers has it dead on. Perfecty analyzed, perfectly stated. Alas, I hope for salvation, but fear all is lost. It is said that everyone will rise to their level of incompetence. It is such that our nation has done just that. It is mind-numbingly hard to fathom that we could be led by such worthless skin that infects and infests our White House. It has been a long time coming. Scoundrels the lot of them. So there they sit, in all their self-congratulatory arrogance. Sad, that because they are so blinded by hatred, stupidity and childishness, that they don’t ever get that their judge is not us, but the ONE who is yet to come. So Obamas, Clintons, and all your minions, enjoy feeding off the carcass that is what is left of this once great nation. In the end you are all going to end up with one gigantic bellyache.
John@69: “I can attest that COIN is a failed strategy. Our troops were always at risk trying to win the hearts and minds while the politicians took credit for doing nothing. I would have thought these “Generals” would have learned that ridiculous lesson of “hearts and minds” from their Vietnam days. You don’t win wars by loving your enemy.”
‘Hearts and minds’ did work in Viet Nam. By 1974 under General Creighton Abrams, over 90% of populated South Viet Nam had been pacified; there were very few, if any, internal enemy forces or infrastructure remaining in the South.
North Viet Nam, sponsored by China and Russia, continued to invade from the North, but even then, the South was able to hold them at bay until the US congress cut off funding for the South. Without that funding, the South was unable to counter the continuous invasions from the North.
From Ace:
“David Petraeus is going to tell members of Congress that he “knew almost immediately after the September 11th attack, that the group Ansar al Sharia, the al Qaeda sympathizing group in Libya was responsible for the attacks,” CNN reports.
In his closed door meeting on the Hill, “[Petraeus] will also say he had his own talking points separate from U.N. ambassador Susan Rice. [Hers] came from somewhere other in the administration than his direct talking points,” Barbara Starr of CNN reports, referencing a source close to Petraeus.
The former CIA director will move to further himself from comments that didn’t accurately characterize the terror attack that Rice made 5 days after on national television shows.
“When he looks at what Susan Rice said,” CNN reports, “here is what Petraeus’s take is, according to my source. Petraeus developed some talking points laying it all out. those talking points as always were approved by the intelligence community. But then he sees Susan Rice make her statements and he sees input from other areas of the administration. Petraeus — it is believed — will tell the committee he is not certain where Susan Rice got all of her information.”
If this testimony from Petraeus does come to pass- then the House should immediately charge Hilary, Clapper, Dolan, Rice and Panetta with contempt of Congress.
Then they should demand that there will be no raising of the Debt Ceiling until these clowns plus Holder are in jail. Add in – no more aid to Egypt – the Camp David Accords are done- no Obamacare, and in massive across the board cuts to non military salaries , staffing, welfare with means testing for Medicare and upping of the retirement age.
What we just heard from Peter King is that today’s questioning of General Petraeus was “cordial” and they all thanked him for his service and that he testified the talking points he mouthed on September 14 had been “edited” and the talking points Susan Rice spewed all over the airwaves on September 16 had been edited from the original understanding and assessment that the September 11 attack was planned and coordinated “terrorism”.
Whew, that really clears things up, Peter. (not)
While some 10 Congresswomen are claiming that criticism of Susan Rice who lied on behalf of her President is sexist and racist.
jms @3: Gaslighting is a very apt description.
Where is the timeline av compilation showing EVERY member of the Obama administration – The One included – describing Benghazi as a protest to an “insulting” video?
They who control the news, control the views.
Marx invented sociology (good) which has led to perfected propaganda methods and the Alinsky methods obama is an expert on. But he cannot prevail in the long run. Even he says “he can’t do it from the inside”. Is that why Russia patrols off our shores. Communism is socialism by force. They have also had to moderate.
The Devil is an expert on chaos but he most often out smarts himself also–going up on the Bigger and Better Opponent, the Prince of Peace.
It DOES NOT MATTER! OBAMA OBVIOUSLY IS THE “FORBIDDEN FOREIGNER” PREDICTED OVER U.S. OF DEUTERONOMY 17:15 & also the SELF-PROFESSED ‘ANTI-CHRIST”(MARXIST) PUT OVER U.S. OF REVELATION, CHAPTER 11. FACTS: 1. A WOMAN BEGAN MAN’S GIVEN 6,ooo YEAR REGN THROUGH HER “INTELLECTUALIZING.”(1ST SIN)
2. NOW, “WOMEN ALONE” ELECT THE ANTI-CHRIST OF REVELATION, CHAPTER 11 OVER U.S. LEADING TO THE TWO-WITNESSES TO COME & WITNESS AGAINST U.S. FOR 3 1/2 Years, leaving ONLY 144,000 Israelites from the tribe of Joseph(England & America), including the Jews, but the tribe of Joseph replaces the tribe of Dan(Irish)as being protected during these last days of man, so to say… Yes FOLKS, ONE WOMAN’S “INTELLECTUALIZING” BEGAN MAN’S AGE & NOW OUR SINGLE LARGEST MAJORITY BLOCK, WOMEN ALONE, VOTED FOR THE PROMISED “FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMATION OF GOVERNMENT INTO MARXISM, WHICH REQUIRES A HOLOCAUST! LET’S SEE? WHO? DUH! WHITE MEN! AGAIN, DUH! Again, just quoting Spriptural topics about our near future destiny…
Anyone who has been paying attention and doing their own research knows that our “leaders” are sociopathic liars who will do or say anything for their own power and reputation. The media are bought and paid for and their “news” amounts to a Psychological Warfare Operation to manipulate the thoughts and opinions of the average American. Lies, manipulation, power, power, power…America is paying the price for abandoning it’s core principles and values and is getting the leaders it deserves. The Sheeple believe everything is just fine….but so did the fools still dancing in the ballroom of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. The people with brains went below decks and could see the damage for themselves and knew she had only an hour or two before she slipped beneath the icy waves forever. It’s going to get a lot worse faster. Get out if you can. Good luck to everyone.
Petraeus can’t redeem himself in my eyes. He put personal ambitions above country. Why obama cut him loose and in a position to benefit from truth telling is the mystery. Thought his useful tool, useful fool was no longer needed?
The man who made up the story and scandal about Jefferson being the father of Sally Hemming’s children (they all have different fathers or so modern DNA says)was an adviser to his campaign, the most fractitious in American history, Adams and Jefferson in 1800, was a disgruntled and vengeful ex-campaign worker.It is all searchable online -see quotes of the founding fathers, jefferson and then the 1800 adams jefferson race.
I wouldn’t think Petraeous vengeful except as nothing to lose by the truth telling to gain some creds back with his natural political allies? Maybe seeing the light and or his personal self interest now driving him? Who can say?
obama dumb in turning him loose and letting his self interest lead to testifying truthfully and fully. Is a half truth a lie if it works to deceive?
Cultivating one’s garden was good enough for Voltaire, who lived a pampered life. But we know how it ended, with tumbrils taking aristocrats, priests, nuns and miscellaneous people to the guillotine. Obama is not a bad guy. Neither was Louis XVI nor Nicholas II. I don’t get a good feeling about how the country is going. Whether Petraeus has the balls to tell the truth about Benghazi is an open question. He may be putting his life on the line. Let’s pray to God for the best, but we also recognize that the survival of America may not be in God’s plan for the world’s people.
#28 from Victor should be flagged for deletion. This is a r a c i s t l i b e l that is not germane to the article.
If the killers were organized or tolerated by the government of Libya it would have been an act of war. If the government of Libya was simply unable to stop them, then it was premeditated murder.
I don’t think it was terrorism, though. The guards were soldiers and the ambassador was a point man for America’s policy in Libya and Syria.
Terrorism, to me, is when you try to target noncombatants solely because they are soft targets and kill them merely to cause a general fear and suffering. If we generalize the word to mean other things, then we’ll have no word to use when talking about this yet more despicable behavior.
We knew Nono’ is/was a liar 4-5 years ago when he lied about attending a church preaching hate of white people for 20 years. Elected by parasites.
Were I DP, I’d have many copies of video testimony scattered about the country with the usual note to release to a trusted pressie in the event of an untimely demise. That and copies of any documentation that showed Obama’s involvement. I would imagine Fox News might be interested in obtaining and disseminating such materials. Of course, DP would have to make sure that the right people knew about his plan.
North Viet Nam, sponsored by China and Russia, continued to invade from the North, but even then, the South was able to hold them at bay until the US congress cut off funding for the South
Let me amend that: The DEMOCRATS in the Democratically-controlled Congress cut off the funding.
I would not advise any of my friends to accept a ride in Air Force One with POTUS on-board. Just too risky, even with the Secret Service in disrepute.
That’s probably the most secretive opportunity for a coup. Lots of “contenders” have met their ends in unexplained airplane crashes.
I wonder who most complained about the lack of military ballots and who actively blocked them.
It occurs to us that since Nixon and Clinton, we have never had a president who is so consistently referred to as a liar.
That, my fellow Americans, is indeed a very sad commentary on our view
of the White House. But what are we to do, when day after day the lies,
corruption, mendacity and pretense emanate from an admninistration so very
pre-occupied with covering up Benghazi-gate, rather than tell us the truth?
In re-eecting Barack Obama, Americans have ratified their own demise and
the ultimate economic collapse of this once great nation.
Good luck, America.
Given the status of our news organizations I wonder how much of this is reaching little leftie supporters of the WH trash, the president that is. Are any of the simps becoming aware that they’ve been had, that perforce their politics are as corrupt as the Chief Executive Filth?
Petraus will take the “L” pill for Obama, even though Obama has just destroyed his life.
No one has to allege he lied. Hes a known liar and this time he must not get away with it. If it weren’t for BO/D…those 4 heroes would still be here serving their country in one capacity or another. Much more than our liar in chief.
First, “Thank You” for this honest intelligent look at what happened and who’s who. I believe Clapper and Morell do know who made the change. I believe it was either Clinton and/or Obama. Obama may have seen this as another potential war the U.S. would have to follow through on and so wanted downplayed it until after the election. Patraeus I firmly believe was made to be the fall guy/distraction. He very well may have seen himself as either going along with the President and being destroyed or telling the truth knowing that this administration was going to destroy him. He was faced with a damned if you do and damned if you don’t reality. I’d vote today for Patraeus to be President. I also believe he is telling the truth. Something this administration seems not to know how to do.
Just noting something. I brought up the possibility of the whole matter being a “Honey Trap” targeting Petraeus. Including the possibility that the operation was run by the White House against its own DCIA. The interconnections between the women involved, and our command structure are statistically … improbable, to put it mildly.
This is not probative, but at the very least it is suspicion inducing. Admission to the White House as a guest [not a tourist!] is not something that one finds normally in the mix of a cluster copulation such as this.
And yet, Jill Kelley and Paula Broadwell were not strangers to the inside of the Executive Mansion. Officially, the visits were not with Obama; but there is a whole host of Enemy operatives based out of the White House, who lack scruples, morals, and loyalty to anything but “Teh Won”.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/16/woman-in-petraeus-scandal-visited-white-house/
We have means and opportunity for a conspiracy. Not probative, but an anomaly not to be ignored.
Subotai Bahadur
@wretchard,
Was Barack Hussein Obama a Soviet Communist mole?
Even though present-day Russia is not the USSR and is no longer communist, the communist infrastructure of subversion exported by the former USSR took on a life of its own in the US, the EU, and elsewhere.
The UN ambassador besmirched her own reputation when she agreed to speak about a subject that she may or may not have known about.We’ll see if her allegience to obamama is greater than her sense of self preservation.
#97 Surak
I agree about #28 Victor; he’s always showing up in the BC dropping his anti-Israel, anti-Jewish fetor around; I don’t know why he thinks he’s so welcome at BC when he ain’t…You can always tell anti-Semites — they just have to squeeze off a few rounds about the Jews no matter what the conversation. You can be talking about baseball and the anti-Semite remark will come up. I always insist that anti-Semitism rots the brain; there just aren’t any smart anti-Semites around; sooner or later they all reveal themselves to be at the mental level of a concentration camp guard…