The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Obama’s Benghazi Fall Guys

Posted on | December 19, 2012 | 24 Comments

It took long enough, but President Gutsy Call finally located three State Department employees who don’t have enough political juice to protect them from getting blamed for the predictable failure of the administration’s Libya policy:

The A.P., quoting an unidentified administration official, said Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, and Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, had resigned. The third person, who was not identified, was an official with the department’s Bureau of Near East Affairs, The A.P. said.

You have to picture in your mind Obama’s advisors huddled with Hillary’s advisors, going over a list of State Department personnel, trying to figure out who doesn’t have a key Democratic Senator or an influential DNC contributor to defend them against this “under-the-bus” move.

So now we know who the three least-connected State Department employees were, thus providing Obama with the chance to say that he has now solved the problem that his policies caused. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Disinformation’s effort to deceive voters has succeeded remarkably, with 56% of the gullible sheep telling CNN they fell for that farcical Susan Rice dog-and-pony show.

The resignations of the “Benghazi Three” followed the publication of a report from the Libya Cover-Up Scapegoat Search Committee:

The report, posted Tuesday night on the State Department’s website, also identified “leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus.” It suggested 29 ways the department can improve its operations, but recommended no disciplinary action.
The Accountability Review Board’s report . . .

(“Accountability”! Like the kids says, “LOL.”)

. . . comes after more than three months of intense debate in Washington over who was behind the attack, what motivated the attackers and why U.S. authorities weren’t able to stop the violence, which took the lives of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

It’s the standard Obama-era Jedi mind trick: Four Americans dead, don’t blame the President, nothing more to see here, move along.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! The professor obviously appreciates the way the passive voice magically relieves the important people from the burden of responsibility. Somebody got screwed over, but who did the screwing?

 


Category: Barack Obama, Libya

Comments

24 Responses to “Obama’s Benghazi Fall Guys”

  1. Finrod Felagund
    December 19th, 2012 @ 6:00 pm

    Like I’ve said before: you can’t fool all of the people all of the time, but sometimes you can fool 51 percent (or in this case 56 percent) of the people at election time.

  2. Obesity? Oh, that's not your fault, either. Blame this Bacteria! - Lowering the Boom
    December 19th, 2012 @ 6:18 pm

    […] out of the spotlight with various, um, maladies and our President chatters on about gun control, while three other State department officials take the fall. Then we have the Left and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) blaming guns– and law […]

  3. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 19th, 2012 @ 6:25 pm

    Any of these fall guys red heads? Red heads always catch the crap.

  4. Becca Lower
    December 19th, 2012 @ 6:52 pm

    Great point, EBL! Also, were they wearing red shirts?

  5. Proof
    December 19th, 2012 @ 7:23 pm

    Compare the intensity with which the administration pursued Benghazi and Fast and Furious with the latest flurry of gun control activity. Each of the three incidents involved the death of American citizens, but the first two were the direct responsibility of the administration, while the latter, albeit horrific, was a truly random act of violence.

  6. richard mcenroe
    December 19th, 2012 @ 7:50 pm

    Good. Now subpoena them to testify.

  7. DaveO
    December 19th, 2012 @ 8:45 pm

    Key part of all of this is that Secretary Clinton doesn’t make decisions. She is a sop to her husband’s allies. The decisions and work are done a couple of layers down. Also means Ambassador Susan Rice isn’t a decision-maker either.

  8. scarymatt
    December 19th, 2012 @ 8:56 pm

    The two that were named sound like they might actually be the right people to fire, at least as far as the lead up is concerned. I don’t follow the conclusion that these were simply the highest, least well protected people around.

    Does someone really think that the Secretary of State or the President would be micromanaging embassy security? Sure, they should get blame for setting these guys up for failure. But anyways, this is a lot better than the promotions and lateral transfers after Fast and Furious (yes, I’m sad, too, that my expectations have been lowered so).

  9. Four Unknown State Department Employees Thrown Under Obama’s Bus Over Benghazi | The Lonely Conservative
    December 19th, 2012 @ 9:50 pm

    […] lack of ownership of Benghazi’s security issues.”I guess the buck stopped with the obscure Benghazi Fall Guys, and not with Secretary of State Hillary “Headache” Clinton or President […]

  10. T OLSON
    December 20th, 2012 @ 4:26 am

    scarymatt-we already know that the people who dies REQUESTED security upgrades repeatedly and were denied. And that on the day of the massacre, the offensive video “protest” was a lie! And that the requests for helpful intervention on the day of it REQUIRED a response by the President! Because it involved violating another nations airspace! So there HAVE TO BE HIGHER UPs involved!

  11. scarymatt
    December 20th, 2012 @ 5:52 am

    My point is that the guys who just got thrown under the bus seem extremely plausible as the guys who actually denied the requests (if job titles mean anything). So they deserve all the tread marks they’re getting.

    I’m also glad that you agree with my comment that there’s more blame to be apportioned higher up the ladder. Of course, the top rung is generally only dealt with by the people and their electors, and we all know how that went. I doubt that Hillary (or anyone under her) was responsible for the ridiculous scapegoating. As a practical matter, I’m not sure what more can be done.

  12. Matthew w
    December 20th, 2012 @ 7:00 am

    PHEW !!!!
    Good thing that the State Department janitors are unionized, or else they would have been fired!!!

  13. Matthew W
    December 20th, 2012 @ 7:00 am

    Mmmmmmmmm, redheads.

  14. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 20th, 2012 @ 8:48 am

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2250911/Is-Kate-Middleton-expecting-ginger-heir-Even-chance-royal-couples-child-redhead.html And you were wondering why she was in the hospital with severe morning sickness?

  15. Benghazi Consulate: Gun Free Zone - US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum
    December 20th, 2012 @ 9:32 am

    […] gullible sheep telling CNN they fell for that farcical Susan Rice dog-and-pony show."" Obama’s Benghazi Fall Guys : The Other McCain [Quickly, now! We need a firewall at State! Ohhh! They've already got one! If Hillary's not […]

  16. richard mcenroe
    December 20th, 2012 @ 9:57 am

    So a bunch of mid-level flunkies got together across the ATF, DOJ, and DEA to organize a Fast and Furious act of war against a sovereign neighbor state. Now a bunch of mid-level flunkies at State, DoD andCIA enabled the massacre of our diplomats. And not one senior administration official was responsible for either.

    When the end of the world does come it will not be with a bang, or a whimper. Just a discreet e-mail from some GS-9…

  17. richard mcenroe
    December 20th, 2012 @ 9:59 am

    If an Ambassador has a complaint, the Secretary of State hears about it.

  18. Larwyn’s Linx: Disastrous Gun Law Sparked School Shootings | Preppers Universe
    December 20th, 2012 @ 10:17 am

    […] tax revenue without raising taxes: PethThe End of the University As We Know It: AEIScandal CentralObama’s Benghazi Fall Guys: RSMTreasury Prepares to Lose Big on GM Bailout: BeaconObama stimulus: Gun buyers nationwide tweet […]

  19. Diggsc
    December 20th, 2012 @ 11:36 am

    Let’s see if I have this correct. Obama sits in a corner of a conference room in his golf jacket watching real men kill OBL, and it’s enough for the Dems to claim 27 times at the DNC convention that he killed OBL . A couple months later, Obama sits in the corner of a conference room in his PJs, watching a live feed of real men battling for their lives against supporters of OBL, waits long enough to deny the requests for fire support, then heads to bed, and that’s somehow not his responsibility.

    If it can’t be blamed on a Republican (preferably Bush), then it can’t go higher than an assistant Secretary. Got it.

  20. McParland: Bungling and comically inadequate security produced the tragedy in Benghazi (6) | Jack's Newswatch
    December 20th, 2012 @ 12:03 pm

    […] Obama’s Benghazi Fall Guys […]

  21. Winefred
    December 20th, 2012 @ 12:45 pm

    Nothing that I have heard about this report answers what I think is one of the most basic questions, one with a very short and definitive answer: we know that the CIA/contractor group of which Ty Woods and Glen Doherty were members, wanted to head for the consulate to try and protect the Ambassador and staff, but they were ordered to stand down — an order which everyone now knows they disobeyed, at the cost of their lives. They received an order — somebody gave it. Who? No matter how many links there may have been in the chain of command, someone was at the top, and gave the order. It’s a one-name answer. Who was it, and is that person still employed at tax-payer expense?

  22. Veritas
    December 20th, 2012 @ 3:26 pm

    Asst Secretary of State have as much input into policy as five year olds have in deciding what kind of car dad is going to buy.

  23. Obama’s Benghazi Fall Guys « A Moral Outrage
    December 20th, 2012 @ 9:58 pm

    […] TheOtherMcCain It took long enough, but President Gutsy Call finally located three State Department employees who don’t have enough political juice to protect them from getting blamed for the predictable failure of the administration’s Libya policy. […]

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