May 14, 2013 at 2:35 P.M. Attempts to edit my essay "Why Philosophy is For Everybody" were obstructed. I will attempt to transfer that essay to this blog in order to edit the work at some future point.
May 13, 2013 at 1:41 P.M. I am at computer #1, where graphics have appeared at the bottom of my screen making writing difficult and the hyphen as well as dash key has been loosened.
I will try to cope with these difficulties. I do not know whether these difficulties will reappear when I work on another computer. I am NYPL, Morningside Heights.
"The Republicans' Benghazi Obsession," (Editorial) in The New York Times, May 10, 2013, at p. A28.
"How to Generate Distrust On Drones," (Editorial) in The New York Times, May 10, 2013, at p. A28. (No Republican concern about the "ethics" of drones?)
Jonathan Weisman & Mathew L. Wald, "I.R.S. Focus On Conservatives Gives GOP an Issue to Seize On," in The New York Times, May 13, 2013, at p. A1.
"Who Can Take Republicans Seriously?: A peace offering is pointless when they refuse to be real negotiating partners," in The New York Times, May 13, 2013, at p. A20.
Michael D. Shear & Jonathan Weisman, "Obama Dismisses Benghazi Furor But Assails I.R.S.," in The New York Times, May 14, 2013, at p. A1.
Charlie Savage, "Phone Records of Journalists Seized by U.S.," in The New York Times, May 14, 2013, at p. A1.
"White House Under Fire: It condemns I.R.S. audits of political groups," (Editorial) in The New York Times, May 14, 2013, at p. A24.
This is the season when election agendas are created from the various investigations of officials, generating juicy scandals by digging-up dirt, probing the sex lives and finances of candidates.
Republicans still do not accept the loss of the presidential election nor Mr. Obama's presumption in refusing to accept their definition of "his place" in the grand scheme of things in Washington, D.C. -- Mr. Obama refuses to be a "figure-head" president.
Particularly infuriating to the Right is the obvious superiority of Mr. Obama and Ms. Rodham-Clinton to anyone in the GOP ranks of potential presidential candidates.
"Before Wednesday's hearing on the attack in Benghazi, Lybia, Republicans in Congress promised explosive new details about the administration's mishandling of the episode. Instead, the hearing showed, yet again, that sober fact-finding is not their mission. Common sense and good judgment have long given way to conspiracy-mongering and a relentless effort to discredit President Obama and a former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham-Clinton."
Republican efforts to use the Benghazi incident to further embarrass or damage Hillary Clinton are bound to explode in their faces.
Most Americans, regardless of politics, see such efforts and their proponents as crass, self-seeking, political opportunists who are exploiting a tragedy for the nation for personal political advantage in forthcoming interim elections.
This is precisely what Americans find most unattractive about the GOP's so-called "angry white men," especially when they happen to be women: Republicans seem to assume that people who disagree with them are to be destroyed through the use of the investigative powers of government in behind-the-back, dirt-digging explorations designed to smear and wound -- or destroy -- a person's life and identity. The harm and suffering experienced by victims of such tactics tends to be permanent. (Vincent Foster, Esq.?)
Having experienced such tactics and daily violations of my civil rights (and those of persons I love), from politicians and officials who presume to comment on my "ethics," I find the ugly farce surrounding these investigations (not just Benghazi, also IRS targeting of Tea Party groups) hypocritical and absurd:
"Republicans have held numerous [hearings] and briefings on Benghazi and are threatening to hold even more. It is a level of interest they did not show during George W. Bush's administration when there were 64 attacks on American diplomatic targets or in the years they spent cutting back on diplomatic security-budgets. ..." (emphasis added!)
Obviously, much of the Republican attack is aimed at forestalling a Hillary Clinton presidential run (this may be the best way to persuade her to run for office!) by covering the candidate in dirt before the campaign begins. ("A Commencement Address by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham-Clinton.")
Ms. Clinton has never looked more presidential than when putting Congressional Republicans in their place during the first wave of hearings in these matters.
We know what happened in the aftermath of the Benghazi attacks. The president and Ms. Clinton did everything in their power to deal with the crisis, dispersed the hostility against us (so that it did not spread throughout the region), and were magnificent in coping with the blowback. End of story.
Nothing will improve on the very thorough Pickering/Mullen report's assessment. Ms. Clinton acknowledged full responsibility for any deficiencies in security at any embassy on her watch. There were fewer troubles or losses at embassies during her tenure than under her predecessor in office. Loss of life in Benghazi is not a suitable subject for political grandstanding. ("Is Lindsey Graham an Enemy Combatant?" and "Mr. Boehner's Disgrace.")
The IRS's alleged differential treatment of Tea Party and/or GOP applications, if accurate, is wrong and potentially criminal.
Mr. Obama is a former Constitutional Law Professor at the University of Chicago Law School who is familiar with the First Amendment. Mr. Obama would never order the IRS or any other agency to target people for harassment based on their political beliefs. That sort of thing is limited to New Jersey and Miami, Florida.
Ms. Clinton is out of office and has never headed the IRS. I cannot imagine how even Republican opponents of the former Secretary of State find a basis to blame Ms. Clinton for the IRS scandal.
Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton (Ms. Clinton served as a very young legislative aid during Watergate) recall, I am sure, Republican Richard M. Nixon's "enemies list" and Mr. Nixon's alleged use of the IRS to target those enemies. Such brass knuckles or Mitt Romney-like tactics are simply not Mr. Obama's style.
Republicans were not critical of Richard Nixon's use of the IRS to run political interference against Democrats in the early seventies. Suddenly, they are shocked when unidentified Democrats may have attempted to do the same under Obama. Try to keep it real, GOP members.
