This time we almost made the pieces fit
Didn\’t we?
This time we almost made some sense of it
Didn\’t we?
This time I had the answer right here in my hand,
Then I touched it and it had turned to sand,
The terrific songwriter, Jimmy Webb, wrote those lyrics, as the lament of someone who thought things were finally coming together…and then realized they weren\’t.
Fortunately, they do not resonate with me in my personal life (I have a beautiful wife, both inside and outside – better than I deserve). But they do apply to my ingoing expectation regarding Stephen Collinson\’s article, currently featured at cnn.com
The headline, “Hillary Clinton\’s Real Libya Problem”, suggested that, finally, one of the news venues which usually suck up to Hillary and Hubby Bubba was going to talk seriously about what a mess was made of Libya while she was Secretary of State.
But, to paraphrase the song, Mr. Collinson had the answer right there in his hand….and, with his touch, it turned to sand.
Why do I say this? Here is a portion of the article…in rust, with my comments in blue. I\’m pretty sure you can figure it out:
Hillary Clinton has another Libya problem. Ok, what is it?
She\’s already grappling with the political headaches from deleted emails and from the terror attack that left four Americans dead in Benghazi. Very true. So far, so good.
But she\’ll face a broader challenge in what\’s become of the North African country since, as secretary of state in 2011, she was the public face of the U.S. intervention to push out its longtime strongman, Moammar Gadhafi. Truer words never spoken. Right on target.
Libya\’s lapse into the chaos of failed statehood has provided a breeding ground for terror and a haven for groups such as ISIS. Its plight is also creating an opening for Republican presidential candidates to question Clinton\’s strategic acumen and to undermine her diplomatic credentials, which will be at the center of her pitch that only she has the global experience needed to be president in a turbulent time. Yes. Congratulations, Mr. Collinson, you are spot-on so far. You should have stopped right here. But, unfortunately, you didn\’t.
Gathering questions over Libya also point to one of the central complications of Clinton\’s campaign for the Democratic nomination, due to formally launch on Saturday: the fact that she must own a record at the State Department that lacks clear-cut diplomatic triumphs. She\’ll also have to answer for misfires in the Obama administration\’s wider foreign policy as GOP candidates who have not faced the same tough choices can nitpick her record with the advantage of hindsight. Oh, for God sake. You ruin a perfectly good, perfectly logical commentary with that? Yes, it is true no Republican candidate has been Secretary of State, so no Republican candidate has faced those choices. Does that mean their criticisms of the Libya disaster have no meaning – criticisms that you yourself have made in the previous paragraphs? And attacking Ms. Clinton\’s (and her boss\’s) performance in a country they allowed to descend into a lawless terrorist haven is nothing more than “nitpicking”? Holy excrement. To paraphrase Don McLean (another terrific songwriter, and contemporary of Jimmy Webb), did the brain you were using until now suddenly catch the last train to the coast?
Libya has long been a vulnerability for Clinton because of the deaths of U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in an attack on the Benghazi consular building and a CIA installation on September 11, 2012. Heyyyyy, that brain got off the train and is functioning again. You\’re damn right it\’s a “vulnerability”. You become vulnerable when you leave a diplomatic compound without either highest security status on 9/11 – the one day of the year terrorists would most like to strike – or viable contingency plans if there were an attack. Four of our people died as the direct result of that misfeasance.
But Republicans have yet to prove that she was personally negligent or to convince voters that she\’s not fit for higher office because of the controversy. So now they\’re opening a new front on the wisdom of the intervention itself. Yet to prove she was personally negligent? There goes your brain again. WHO established security priorities for Libya while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State? WHO do you think the people are going to blame for this? George friggin\’ Bush?
Ok, that\’s about as much as I can stand.
You\’d think that after two months of Queen Hillary giving media – very much including CNN – the back of her hand on interviews and questioning of any kind, they might be a little less inclined to run cover for her. But this article suggests that the HIPPO era – Hillary The Pampered, Protected One – continues.
I\’m starting to wonder what she or Hubby Bubba could do that would change mainstream media\’s remarkable mass sucking-up.
Hmmm……I think I got it. How about a charitable “Foundation” where only a tiny fraction of the money goes to charity, most of the money is hidden, countries/organizations contribute large amounts expecting to get something for their money besides a warm feeling of charity, and the result makes both Clintons fabulously wealth….oh, wait.
