Could Susan Rice be the only Thorn in the Rose Garden?

President Obama in the Rose Garden with Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton at his side.

UPDATE - See This Link To Rachel Maddow's Blog for recent revelations that the Director of Intelligence had originally chosen not to publicly implicate Al Qaeda in the Benghazi attacks.  For this reason, Susan Rice cannot be held accountable for that particular fact being omitted.

It's now been just one and a half weeks since Obama's reelection was made clear.  Our nation gave us a "Forward Mandate" and simultaneously, we gave the President a vote of confidence.

But is he maybe too confident?

I'm thinking he is... and he just might be shooting from the hip a little too soon in regard to Susan Rice, our nation's ambassador to the U.N.  Just today, the President chastised the Tea Party Republicans for going after Rice in their conspiracy theories about Benghazi and the incident that happened there.  The President has made it clear that he believed the attack to be "terrorism" by definition - but the conspiracy hullabaloo has not ended with that.

“If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me,” said the President. “And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation, is outrageous.”

Right-wing operatives now want to pin the tail on the donkey.  They want to make the President and his administration accountable for the deaths of Navy Seals and State Department officials.  The fringe Republicans who claim to have supported Hillary Clinton in 2008 are now feigning concern that she has "fallen on the sword" for Obama and his "terrorism condoning" administration.  How convenient that they can just separate her from that administration when it best suits them, right?

However - the point is that they are going after Rice.  They say that the attack in Benghazi had nothing to do with the propaganda film against Muslims which Rice claimed to be the impetus.  They say that Rice used the attack in an effort to wag her finger at Christian America and reduce terrorism to a mere difference in opinion.

I am almost inclined to think they could be right about that.

Susan Rice was indeed the first person to tell America's media that the attack was a response to our own anti-muslim propaganda.  If the Benghazi attack and the outrageously offensive video were unrelated to each other, we deserve at this point, to know that.  Obama has won his re-election and he can only benefit further from the truth being made clear.

Rice has been silent on the matter and has not stepped forward to defend the supposed intelligence that she made us all privy to. However, she did reiterate the same talking point on ABC a number of times without first informing the American people that her husband is the executive producer of that very media outlet.  Now who's spreading propaganda?

As a liberal Democrat, I have not quite been as convinced as President Obama has to trust Susan Rice and I have my own reasons for that... You can read all about that here.

But my views on gay rights are not the only thing that puts me at odds with Susan Rice. I am not fond of political animals who think only of their prospects on election day... and I think that just might describe Rice perfectly. At the time of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Rice reportedly said, "If we use the word 'genocide' and are seen as doing nothing, what will be the effect on the November [congressional] election?"

I am very happy that the President has won his reelection, but I don't know that we need him to tangle with John McCain again unless he's really sure that Susan Rice is not playing him for a rung on the ladder.

"Let Us Not Be Nuts."

"Here is a grand old party frozen, suspended, mesmerized, in thrall to a gaggle of showboats and radio entertainers and small mobs of fist-shakers standing staunch for unreality, and no Republican elected official dares say, 'Let us not be nuts'."
- Garrison Keillor

John Boehner (R-OH) - I Don't think women should be paid as much as men for doing the exact same work. That's why I voted against The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338). I also voted against protecting credit card holders from sudden interest rate increases surprise changes in terms of agreement (H.R. 5244).


Michele Bachmann (R-MN) - I don't want small businesses to get a tax-cut as a hiring incentive to create jobs. That's why I voted against the Small Business Lending Act (H.R. 5297). However, I did make firearms exempt from repossession during bankrupcy, but that was only for businesses - not individuals like you (H.R. 5827)


John McCain (R-AZ) - I think companies like Halliburton/KBR should be allowed to lock rape victims in shipping containers for days - even weeks - to keep them from testifying in court against the company. This happened to a young woman named Jamie Leigh Jones and she's my daughter's age. That's why I voted against Amendment 2588 to the Defense Appropriations Bill H.R. 3326. I also voted against repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', a pay increase for soldiers and a program to treat PTSD.


Carly Fiorina (R-CA) - I want to give all of America's jobs to China and India. I use the term "globalization" rather than "outsourcing" because we've added yet another way to take away American jobs. You see, by successfully promoting H1-B Visa programs, we can actually ship immigrants into the USA and give them your job for much cheaper than what you'd work for. You can call that "insourcing". When I was queen bee at Hewlett Packard, I laid off 18,000 American workers and made decisions which led to 30,000 more being laid off when I was gone.


Charlie Crist (R-FL) - I like to tell everyone that I'm concerned about the environment, but under my governorship, Pensacola FL became the American city with the absolute most polluted water. That was before the oil spill in our gulf. When the BP disaster happened, I thought it was more important to collect $25 Million from the oil company for tourism advertisements telling everyone to come to our beaches before I even knew whether or not that was safe. I have been suspected of being in the closet as a homosexual for quite some time now, but I think dashed those myths by signing a few anti-gay laws including one that forbids gays from even getting civil union in Florida, let alone marriage. And just to rub it in, I got married the week after I passed the no gay marriage bill.


Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) - I really hate homosexuals. In fact, my Senate staff likes to send death threats to gay bloggers in their spare time. I tried to pass a law that would effectively open up all of our Federal land including National Parks to hunting. This would probably result in children being shot, but I don't care. Even John McCain says I'm "reprehensible" because I attacked the patriotism of my veteran opponent to get my first seat in the Senate. I want to privatize social security, eliminate the IRS and get warrantless wiretaps on US citizens. I want to make it a felony just to drive a woman to an abortion clinic.

The Right Wing Has Now Self-Imploded...

Has the "liberal media" been unkind to the right wing lately? Perhaps... Or maybe we are just witnessing the end of an era.

First up, the Hutaree Militia has skyrocketed on search engines and now we have a group of half-assed unibombers to hold up in infamy.

Just a few weeks before that, the story broke that the Republican National Committee had plans to use "fear", "self-centeredness" and "tchotchkes" to solicit donations from party faithfuls. A painfully embarrassing slideshow demonstration which fully illustrated their lack of respect for their own GOP donors was left in a hotel room where some underpaid Democrat was sure to find it... Ooops!

Around the same time, lifelong Republican gone Democrat, Eric Massa was explaining to a sympathetic Rush Limbaugh that he had been ousted from his NEW party, not for tickling male interns, but for being a turncoat...

Then this week, after healthcare reform became a done deal, we had bailout supporters Sarah Palin and John McCain claiming ownership of the Tea Party Patriots. This is ironic considering that the Tea Party Patriots were "forced down our throats" by Fox News 24/7 as a "grassroots uprising" that was supposedly not just more Republican astroturf... In the same fell swoop, the co-mavericks decided to co-opt the phrase "hell no" to be their new party slogan.

Following that, umpteen reports came in that Teabaggers had been acting out in outrage over their new healthcare benefits by throwing bricks through windows, calling congressmen "fa**ots" and "ni**ers" and putting crosshairs on the offices of elected officials who voted to give them extended healthcare.

Then, just yesterday, the father of a US Soldier finally stood up to the Westboro Baptist Church and it looks like the "God Hates Fags" church will finally get their day in court... The Supreme Court. But wait, it gets better... Bill O'Reilly of Fox News declared that he would give $16,000 to the hate group... just to help out.

Speaking of court appearances, just today the anti-abortion activist who shot a doctor in church was sentenced to life in prison.

John McCain, now on the campaign trail again, has been clumsily trying to avoid answering any questions as to why he voted for Corporate Rape.

Speaking of rape, apparently The Vatican has sexually abused everyone in the world at some point while the Pope did his best to hide the dirty deeds...

Moving right along, McCain's "naughty librarian" sidekick, Sarah Palin has decided that she would pay for her new reality show on the discovery channel using old kickbacks from Alaskan state money that she installed before she quit her job as Governor there.

And finally, RNC Chair Michael Steele has joined the ranks of hypocritical Republicans with naughty sexy things going on, using tax payer money in an effort to "seduce donations".

Have you ever seen those videos of animals still running around after their heads have been chopped off, simply because they don't understand that they're already dead?

No Meaning Behind 'NoH8' Appearance

No Meaning Behind NoH8 Appearance
Republicans Use McCain Family As Distraction
This Viewpoint Column was published on February 11,2010 in The Florida Agenda Newspaper

When Cindy McCain, the wife of Senator John McCain, recently participated in the highly publicized photo shoot for the “NoH8” campaign against California's Proposition 8, I was so proud of her. I emblazoned my Facebook page with Mrs. McCain's glamourous photo and hailed her as the "true Maverick" in their family, for supporting the leglization of gay marriage.

Then, just a week later, her husband reversed his position on the controversial Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. He was previously for repealing the antiquated anti-gay military policy, but now he's suddenly and voraciously supportive of keeping it in place.

Their daughter, Meghan McCain (who also supports gay marriage and repealing DADT) recently appeared as a guest on “The View.” I was hopeful that the mystery of John McCain's flip-floppy opinions would finally be put to rest. Quite the opposite—now I fear that little Meghan might have put herself in the precarious position of having to defend the politically indefensible: her father.

Cindy McCain had been an unfortunate target of mine when I was campaigning for Barack Obama in '08. The Obama campaign officials urged those of us at ground level to "avoid attacks on family members" and to "run a clean campaign." We obviously didn't listen. It was just too easy to point out the hypocrisy of McCain/Palin "family values" when it came to subjects like pill-popping (Cindy was addicted to prescription painkillers) and teen pregnancy (Sarah’s teenage daughter had a baby). But when Cindy McCain boldly posed for the “NOH8” campaign and announced her support of overturning Proposition 8, I hoped for an opportunity to give the gal a pat on the back and say "job well done... I really like you, Cindy!" But the fact of the matter is Cindy McCain, and her camera-friendly daughter Meghan, are just a distraction from what's really happening on Capitol Hill.

John McCain is the one who gets to vote on our rights, regardless of petty things like his family's opinion (and for that matter, the opinion of 74% of the military). The McCain women are being trotted out by the Republican party to present a more moderate image, separate from the Tea Party movement. Repubicans know Sarah Palin and her angry extremist views are bad for the party; so in an attempt to separate from Palin, Republican officials created various media campaigns around Meghan and Cindy McCain to make the Republicans appear more mainstream.

These “mainstream McCain campaigns” paint a false picture of the Republicans’ true motives. In reality, gay marriage in California is being handled by the Supreme Court, and the McCains have very little influence on that, if any at all. So Cindy and Meghan’s support of the issue is merely a token gesture. The real issue involving the McCain family is only DADT, and only one member of their family has a stake in that: John. And on that issue, John is sticking to the traditional Republican party policy of discriminating against the gays. So much for progress.

Enter young Meghan McCain, on the ever-popular women's perspective show “The View.” Does she have a perspective on her mother's recent pro-gay advocacy?

Meghan McCain: "I almost started crying during the photo shoot,
I've never been more proud of my mom. She's um... very... she doesn't like to rock the boat and I'm very proud of her for taking a stand."

Ok, very good. But John McCain is not a Supreme Court judge in California, so let’s move on. Does she have an opinion on her father's support of keeping DADT in place?

Meghan McCain: "My personal take on it is that my father
thought it was Admiral Mullen's personal account [that gays should be allowed to join] and my father wants more of a military research kind of thing to present to the Senate, and obviously I disagree with my father but it's a complicated issue [...] but let's look at the current President who made a lot of promises to the gay community in the last election that he hasn't necessarily fulfilled... so let's not just look at my father because it's not just him in this case."

FAIL. Sorry, Meghan, but your father has a vote on this issue, and Barack Obama does not. DADT must be repealed in the Senate, because that is where it was birthed... and John McCain was certainly one of the Senators who made it happen in the first place.

If Meghan McCain cannot understand the basic legislative process that her father is a part of, then perhaps she should not offer an opinion.

So basically, what we have here is a family of Republicans who pretend to be strong advocates for only the issues which they have no control over, but hide behind the party on the issues where they get to vote.