In case you haven’t noticed, at the same time that Fox News has been exploiting the Benghazi tragedy as the worst scandal since Watergate, it has also been working to whitewash the record of lies and missteps of Iraq war architect Donald Rumsfeld. Yesterday, Rumsfeld got yet another friendly platform from which to attack Obama over Benghazi - and which also served to bolster his own national security bona fides.

Rumsfeld’s visit to Your World with Neil Cavuto yesterday was at least the fifth time he appeared on Fox to both lecture President Obama about foreign policy and to hold himself up as a voice of national security respectability.

“This is a serious matter,” Rumsfeld intoned repeatedly to Cavuto. He said the Democrats will “do the country harm” if they don’t participate in the Republicans’ Obama Impeachment and Clinton Defeat Select Committee.

Host Cavuto didn’t mention that we have already had two Senate reports, eight House reports, and a State Department review led by Thomas Pickering and Mike Mullen, each of whom have served in Republican administrations. Furthermore, there are good reasons to expect the Republicans to run a show trial rather than a serious inquiry.

For a stab at balance, Cavuto mentioned that Republicans “have botched intelligence” as well. Why mention a pesky thing like how that botched intelligence caused a 10 year war? Or how Rumsfeld himself was a purveyor of same? How, for example, he told America about WMDs in Iraq: “We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat?”

Rumsfeld did say the “I” word. As in “Iraq,” not as in “I was wrong.” In acknowledging mistakes had been made about Iraq, he pointed a finger at Democrats by saying they saw the same intelligence the President had. “So that is a totally separate question,” Rumsfeld insisted.

Yeah, totally separate. Just pay no attention to how the Obama administration’s “cover up” reiterated the same intelligence it was given by the CIA. Certainly, Cavuto paid no attention. I doubt many Fox viewers did either.

To be fair, Cavuto did ask if botched talking points are criminal (referring to Benghazi) and then pointed out that “Republicans were all on talking points in the early days of the bust up in Iraq.” Which is a nice way of putting such Rumsfeld comments as, “There is no question but that (our troops) would be welcomed” in Iraq or that he doubted the war would last even six months.

Rumsfeld is not the only one getting his resumé polished, perhaps in anticipation of a Republican administration in 2016. Or maybe just to give added oomph to attacks on Obama now. Dick Cheney and George W. Bush have also gotten the red carpet treatment that lets Fox viewers know this is an Important Friend To America (unlike Obama).

Earlier this week, Jon Stewart brilliantly raked Fox News over the coals of hypocrisy as he juxtaposed the network’s Benghazi scandal mongering with its Iraq War cheerleading. But, sadly, it’s worse than that. Fox is working to reshape history to fit its partisan agenda in just the same way it is working to mold the present and the future.

Video below via Crooks and Liars.