The events of September 12, 2013, in Benghazi, Libya, were unambiguously tragic. However, while most Americans would hold the band of terrorists at the scene responsible for the attacks on our diplomatic facility and CIA post, Fox News and Republicans in congress have been fiercely battling to find any excuse to blame President Obama and/or Hillary Clinton.
With the circus sideshow offered today by GOP Representative Darrell Issa’s House committee, the effort to politicize the affair hit a new low. Although much was promised prior to the hearing, there was nothing illuminating that came from it. This was even after Fox pundits repeatedly vowed that the information they knew was going to be unveiled would be shocking and devastating to the administration. Their previews were so emphatic that Stephen Colbert made a point of launching a “Benghazi – Something That Will Make You Mad Clock.”
It’s fair to say that Colbert is furious today. And so are some of the right-wing media fluffers who are appalled that these unproductive hearings were ignored by much of the television press. NewsBusters went to the trouble of compiling the aggregate minutes that each of the cable news networks allotted to the hearings. To no one’s surprise, Fox dominated their competition. But that’s because the Benghazi Show was a Fox News Presentation from get-go. The other networks might have devoted more airtime to the story if there were anything actually newsworthy emanating from it.
What NewsBusters didn’t bother to report to their deluded audience was that all the extra time that Fox spent airing the live hearings was focused largely on Republican members of the committee. Media Matters did their own compilation and discovered that 71% of the 65 minutes they monitored featured GOP members making statements and questioning the witnesses. And that was even after anchor Megyn Kelly announced that their coverage had been unfairly weighted toward Democrats. That, of course, was not true, yet Kelly kept her promise to feature even more Republicans.
Now that the hearings have concluded with no smoking gun – not even a gently glowing ember – we can expect Fox and the GOP to set aside these spurious allegations and pursue some other fabricated scandal. And if you believe that, you haven’t been watching Fox the past 17 years.
September 12, 2013 needs fixing.
Turns out this whole fiasco was about state dept people who thought the military should have done something and how they were all mad that the military wouldn’t. The military would have been happy to help except that time, lack of resources/equipment and just plain ole logistics made doing anything meaningful impossible. Just like the thirteen embassy/consulate attacks during W’s two terms. But, you know, BENGHAZI!!!
And all the viewers and listeners of fox and hate radio would have known all this had they been viewing and listening to….anything else. They would’ve even known that there wasn’t a conspiracy to cover anything up. The CIA didn’t want al qaeda, specifically, to know we were on to them. They are the enemy, remember? So the CIA ensured Rice’s statement reflected that.
All this was public knowledge well before today’s total waste of taxpayer money and time.
And when fox/Megyn Kelly finally came off the hearing to cover the Cleveland, Oh story (where all other media was), it was like
“Ok, fuck it. I think the damn horse is dead.”
Meanwhile, the ad at the bottom of the article (at least for me) is Lindsey Graham wanting me to sign a petition to “get to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi”. Yeesh.
Maybe Lindsey Graham should help us all get to the bottom of what’s up with this guy? Jeez, Lindsey, come out already-nobody cares!
Poor deluded dears. I’m still mad that Glen didn’t come through “on Monday!” three weeks ago with his big secret unveiling of whatever it was that would cause impeachment! Only Glen knew. Only Glen could save the US from the big bad commie, fascist, Muslim, Kenyan, Jew-hating, white-hating, family-hating, Fox-hating, golf-loving, unAmerican Commander in Chief who watched the Benghazi killings on his special WH TV set that is tuned in to everything bad happening in the world in real time! ‘Cause he can! Glen, you lied! I am shocked. And so is Fox..that they were foiled again in their pitiful search for more lies about Dems and this President. BENGHAZI! I’m sure they are having shirts printed up this second, just so no one forgets whatever it is that we are supposed to remember about this. (It says WHITEWATER underneath in smaller type.)
First of all, Mediaite pointed out that Megyn Kelly did NOT imply that the coverage was “unfairly weighted toward Democrats. Actully, Megyn was essentially voicing eevrybody’s frustrations that they had to go to commercial breaks – i.e. pay the bills – and break away from the hearings at all. Only Huffington Post interpreted that as a nefarious attempt to cut off coverage.