Earlier this week, I wrote about Geraldo Rivera’s reversal in the wake of reports that Fox chief Roger Ailes had ordered his mic cut during a contentious discussion in which Rivera argued that allegations against the Obama administration over “Benghazi-gate” were overblown and politically motivated. Rivera has since denied the rumor in a tweet: “Contrary to published accounts no one at Fox News ever either cut my mic or told me what to say…” But Rivera’s change of heart has been undeniable. On The O’Reilly Factor tonight, he not only joined his colleagues in criticizing the Obama administration over Benghazi, he joined in their efforts to make comparisons to Watergate.
Of course, it’s possible Rivera simply had a change of heart on his own. But considering he previously declared that President Obama is owed an apology over “preposterous” and “reckless allegations” from Republicans, you’d think he’d explain his reversal – which, by the way, occurred in advance of the “whistleblower” hearing in Congress this week. If Rivera thought the pre-election accusations were “reckless,” why did he sit in tacit agreement as Bill O’Reilly compared Benghazi to Watergate and called it “the same old story?”
“It is never the crime, it is never the act itself, it is the cover up,” Rivera concurred. As if anything the Obama administration did regarding Benghazi was a crime. Beyond the way Republicans and Fox are nakedly politicizing a tragedy, that is. Rivera went on to say, “They did it for tactical advantage to win the election. They won the election. They succeeded, just as Richard Nixon succeeded in winning the election in 1972 by a landslide – by dismissing the Watergate investigation as minor and tangential.”
Rivera said mildly that Benghazi is not “as big as Watergate” because there’s no “crime at the heart of this.” But he added, “There is something deeply disturbing. There’s clearly an effort, a transparent effort… because they spun it as something it was not.” And, he thinks this will be as big as Watergate for Hillary Clinton. “Watergate was a cancer on the presidency that metastasized and ultimately claimed the president. I don’t believe this is a cancer on the presidency but I do believe that this is a malignancy on the future candidacy of Hillary Clinton."
4/12/18 update: Video no longer available.
MARK TRAINA
NAAWP PRESIDENT, CEO and NATIOINAL SPOKESPERSON
CANDIDATE for GOVERNOR of LOUISIANA, 2015
[email protected]
www.marktraina.webs.com
(504) 231-3056
Whoever he is, this is a really strange post.
He makes a series of nearly incoherent statements, which appear to be loaded with strange misspellings. He decides that the Benghazi matter is a “cover-up” without having paid attention to any of the facts of the matter. He quotes Hillary Clinton during the Watergate investigation in 1974, except that the quote was actually made by Howard Baker, quite famously at the time. He misquotes Hillary’s response to a GOP Senator who was attempting to bait her during her January testimony. Somehow, Mark thinks that Hillary used profanity, which is odd, since she did not.
He wants to talk about the IRS matter, which is a totally separate issue. And if he wants to discuss why some Cincinatti IRS employees used “tea party” as a flag while identifying non-profits, he might want to check the reports that will come out this week about it. If he wants to say that this was a higher level issue, then he could ask the person then in charge of the IRS, who was a George W. Bush appointee…
He seems to want to equate the Benghazi matter with Watergate, except that as has been repeatedly proven, they are completely different. The Watergate scandal was a matter of a criminal break-in that was part of a larger pattern of criminal and corrupt behavior by the Nixon Administration and 1972 re-election effort. And Watergate then involved a criminal cover-up to boot. The result was a parade of Nixon people resigning and/or going to prison, and Nixon himself being forced to resign before being impeached, convicted and sent to prison himself. Benghazi is a matter of a local al Qaeda sect attacking our consulate, taking advantage of riots that were breaking out all over the Middle East that week as a result of the offensive “Innocence of Muslims” video. In the midst of the melee across the region, our military was unable to send security forces in time to save the lives of the four Americans who died in the attack. This matter was discussed at length in September last year and throughout the fall, including an ARB report that was submitted, identifying people in the State Department who had made mistakes during the crisis. Two of those people were removed from their jobs, according to Thomas Pickering, who stands by the ARB and its conclusions.
For some reason, the GOP wants to say that the talking points issued to Susan Rice for discussion on TV shows after the attack are somehow a “cover up”. They aren’t. They were simply the way that the State Department, CIA and everyone else involved thought would be best to initially discuss the matter – during an ongoing investigation in Libya and to avoid generating more problems in the US. If President Obama had wished, he could have campaigned on the attack, saying “al Qaeda is on the run, but they are continuing to strike at us while they do so. Americans should stand together to tell these people that we won’t back down to their demands.” This is the sort of approach that Karl Rove would have manufactured for George W. Bush in the same situation. Obama’s people chose not to do this, opting instead to not get everyone riled up during a moment when there were still deadly riots going on in the Middle East. And let’s not forget that these are riots that resulted in 75 deaths and in hundreds of people being injured, not even to discuss all the damage. So it’s clear the Obama people were trying not to inflame the situation further. The GOP, through its various media outlets like Fox News and AM radio, chose to try to blow the situation up further, in the hopes that this would make Obama look soft and weak on foreign policy. The GOP’s talking points about this were heard loud and clear in the media over the next two months leading up to the election, getting their biggest airing during Mitt Romney’s humiliating belly flop at the end of the second debate. So it’s not like this point of view wasn’t heard. It was heard, and the American people still decisively re-elected Barack Obama.
A continued emphasis on Benghazi isn’t revealing any new facts, but it is showing more of the underside of the various arguments that were happening inside and outside the State Department. It’s clear that Gregory Hicks was not happy with how things were handled. The ARB report shows that Hicks isn’t that far off in his displeasure. The difference is that Hicks thinks he knows US military capabilities better than the people who actually do know those capabilities. Hicks thinks they could have somehow moved troops in, in time to save the consulate. This is not true, even according to people who think that maybe they could have gotten there before the second attack when the second two Americans were killed. In every scenario, the Ambassador is still killed. Hicks and right wing media think that the military should have dropped everything and run to Benghazi, which is understandable. But that forgets that we had red flags everywhere in the area, due to the rioting, which was impacting multiple embassies in multiple countries. So what we’re looking at here is not whistleblowers trying to talk about wrongdoing, but instead a bunch of finger pointing over how things could have been handled better. Darrell Issa, regardless of what he tries to say right now, is very much trying to mount yet another political attack on President Obama and on Hillary Clinton. This has been the nature of his career, and the saddest part of it is that he will end his career as a GOP congressman known best for his political attacks and his failed attempt to become governor of California.
Mark tries to bring up Kenneth Starr as a way to say that there is something evil about Hillary Clinton. But he doesn’t say to what he’s referring. Mark discusses Jennifer Flowers, which is a strange detour, given that we’re discussing State Department policy in 2012. Mark’s intent there seems to be to make nasty and irrelevant personal comments about Bill Clinton, and then to accuse the Clintons of murder.
The next section is an incoherent attack on MSNBC which makes so little sense I wouldn’t know where to start with it. This is followed by a repetition of Mark’s fact-free statements about the IRS situation and another comparison to Richard Nixon.
Frankly, I still don’t know if this is a parody or not. If it really is a parody, I’m again truly impressed. If this is a serious attempt at discussion, the only logical reaction is “What the heck?”
“BENGHIZAGATE vs WATERGATE”
FACT: Somebody needs to tell Hillary to DUCK, because all this BENGHIZA-CRAPS Definitely Coming Her Way! This is tooOOOO EFFIN FUNNY!
How is one “COVER-UP” Different from the Other?
QUESTION: “What did the President know and when did he know it?”
(Hillary Rodham Clinton, in 1974, during the WATERGATE Investigation!)
QUESTION:“What the Hell Difference does it make who knew what or when it happened?”
(Hillary Rodham Clinton, in 2013, during the BENGHIZI-GATE Investigation)
By the way, why is the IRS Targeting Conservatives?
My Goodness how little Politics have CHANGED in the past 37-years!
FACT: The LIBTARDS continue to want to have their CAKE and EAT it to!
OBAMA’s REGIME TRIED TO CLOSE THE “BENGHIZAGATE”!
OBAMA’s “BENGHIZAGATE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS”
FACT: Hillary Clinton actually wrote the Book on “DEMONIZATION POLITICS”! If you don’t believe me just ask the Former Federal Prosecutor Kenneth Starr!
FACT: Jennifer Flowers is actually a Friend of mine! I met her for the very first time back in October of 2012, at the "RINGSIDE, POLITICS with a PUNCH FORUM on St. Charles Avenue. Jennifer is a very Charming Lady. During one of our many conversations Jennifer personally told me the Hillary has always known that Bill Clinton was a very well-known Womanizer down in Hot Springs. When I recently asked Jennifer the Infamous QUESTION regarding Bill’s Manlyness she said, and I quote, “Arkansas is a very Small State!”
FACT: Over the Bill Clinton Governorship years down in Arkansas a bunch of People who decided to take on Bill or Hillary Rodham Clinton came up DEAD or MISSING! President Obama needs to really watch his Back! If Provoked, Hillary Rodham Clinton can be a very VICIOUS BACK-STABBING BYTCH!
OBAMALIES and LIES and LIES!
President Obama in his own words …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshyt.”
(W.C. Fields)
FACT: MSNBC took part in the BENGHAZI POLITICAL COVER-UP and CHRIS MATTHEWS acted as the WHITE HOUSE ON-AIR DAILY SPOKES PERSON!
FACT: Heads need to Roll over at MSNBC and CHRIS MATTHEWS needs to be the 1st to GEAUX BYE BYE!
FACT: BENGHAZIGATE is DEFINITELY the OBAMA ADMINISTRATIONS Worst Watergate Type Nightmare!
FACT: The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION also Targeted Conservative Groups for IRS Tax Purposes! In particular Individuals and/or Groups that Supported Mit Romney’s Presidential Bid.
FACT: We haven’t seen Political Corruption like this since Richard Nixon left Office! This is Chicago Type Politics Impure and Very Simple!
“It’s is gonna be LOTS O FUN watching HILLARY and BARACK throw each other under the BUS in 2013!” (TRAINAISM, 2013)
“You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the People all the time!” (W.C. Fields)
fatuous1 is MARK TRAINA an outspoken Civil Rights Activist from South East Louisiana.
Additionally, he is currently the President of the Prestigious “LOUISIANA BLOGGERS CLUB”! Some describe Mr. Traina as a Racist; however, he describes himself as a “REALIST”.
Mr. Traina is the Author of “THE REALIST”, a book published in 2012, shortly after his retirement from the JPPSS. He is also very famous for his so-called TRAINAISMS, for example, “Good parents know that structure, discipline and respect for authority must start in the home or it will never end up in the School!” Mr. Traina writings have been Published in News Papers, Magazines and Blog Sites across the Globe!
The fatuous1 can be reached at [email protected] or by cell at (504) 231-3056. His website is (www.marktraina.webs.com)
http://marktraina4govna.blogsp… …
PS: If you like my BLOGS, TWEETS & POSTS Please feel Free to COPY them and Forward them to everyone you know!
“SLAVERY is a NON-ISSUE in 2012, Black on White Crime is all about IGNORANCE, FRUSTRATION and INTOLERANCE!” (TRAINAISM)
But comparing Benghazi to Watergate in this way is patently ridiculous. And it’s clearly part of the daily memo at Fox News, because it’s popping up on other shows as well. My favorite one of the bunch was the Hannity segment with Leslie Marshall being shouted down by both Hannity and Pat Buchanan. I do hope Newshounds will post this clip as it’s instructive. Where else will you get the hysterical spectacle of Pat Buchanan saying that Watergate wasn’t that bad – it was just a few guys breaking into Larry O’Brien’s office, after all – but Benghazi, well that’s so much worse because we’re talking about the DEATHS of FOUR FINE AMERICANS!!! I’m fortunate that I was not drinking anything when Buchanan said that or I might well have choked.
Benghazi as much worse than Watergate? Really? Let’s see about that. Benghazi was a situation where an al Qaeda sect in the area attacked our consulate, taking advantage of the region-wide riots going on at the time, instigated by the offensive “Innocence of Muslims” video. These terrorists shot up the place, set off explosions and killed four people, including our ambassador. I’m sure Buchanan would agree with that, but then he’s missing the main point. The murders weren’t committed by Americans and they weren’t committed by the Obama Administration. The murderers are Libyan terrorists and the investigation is continuing to work to bring them to justice. The argument the GOP wants to have about Benghazi isn’t about the deaths of our people but rather about the political messaging that went on afterward. And they already tried this last fall, hoping to make President Obama look weak and soft on foreign policy. As we saw, this tactic badly failed and Romney was humiliated both in the second two debates and in the election itself.
Now, Watergate? That was overtly criminal behavior by President Nixon’s staff and cronies, which the Nixon Administration desperately tried to cover up afterward. The cover-up was part of the criminality, and the end result was that a bunch of people were charged, prosecuted and convicted. Nixon himself was forced to resign in disgrace. He didn’t resign because there was a political argument over how to discuss a terrorist attack. He resigned because corruption was rampant enough in his administration that this was only one of the criminal acts that CREEP and other Nixon groups were committing.
And if the right wing wants to bring up Iran-Contra, that too was a criminal matter, wherein multiple laws were broken by zealots who thought it would be “a neat idea” to sell weapons to Iran (illegal right off the bat) and then transfer the proceeds to Contra funders in Central America (also illegal). The idea was to allow the Reagan people to continue funding the Contras after it had been prohibited, and to achieve an election year hostage release in 1986. Little would the voters know that the hostages’ ransom was in the form of illegal arms shipments for which the money was shuttled to other illegal projects. Unfortunately for the Reagan team, this all blew up in their faces when a local Middle Eastern paper noted a small bit of what was happening and the story went global. And once again, a bunch of people wound up charged, prosecuted and convicted.
Equating rampant criminality in two different GOP presidential administrations with an argument over perception and policy differences with the current president is beyond silly. It’s a pathetic attempt to rewrite history. And the value of resources like this website is that we can make this clear, not just for today but for people looking at this history in the future.
:^)
[just FYI Antoinette, 8.2 was the magnitude of the big 1906 earthquake that leveled San Francisco, CA]
“Nixon trainee Roger Ailes throws his weight around……”
Yes indeed Antoinette — and I’ll bet that, inside the executive offices of Faux Spews Channel, Jabba the Ailes probably imitates “Weird Al” Yankovic in his side-splitting video “Fat”, which, as all us thinking people know, is a parody of the late Michael Jackson’s mega-hit “Bad”:
“Your butt is wide,
Well mine is too,
Just watch your mouth,
Or I’ll sit on you,
The word is out,
Better treat me right,
‘Cause I’m the king of cellulite,
Ham on, ham on, ham on whole wheat, all right
My zippers bust, my buckles break
I’m too much man for you to take
The pavement cracks when I fall down
I’ve got more chins than Chinatown……"
:^)